Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.6.22-23
Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protectionPrayers for Protection on Every Side
“[Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed Mahārāja Parīkṣit that the gopīs, following the proper system, protected Kṛṣṇa, their child, with this mantra.] May Aja protect Your legs, may Maṇimān protect Your knees, Yajña Your thighs, Acyuta the upper part of Your waist, and Hayagrīva Your abdomen. May Keśava protect Your heart, Īśa Your chest, the sun-god Your neck, Viṣṇu Your arms, Urukrama Your face, and Īśvara Your head. May Cakrī protect You from the front; may Śrī Hari, Gadādharī, the carrier of the club, protect You from the back; and may the carrier of the bow, who is known as the enemy of Madhu, and Lord Ajana, the carrier of the sword, protect Your two sides. May Lord Urugāya, the carrier of the conchshell, protect You from all corners; may Upendra protect You from above; may Garuḍa protect You on the ground; and may Lord Haladhara, the Supreme Person, protect You on all sides.”
What the purport teaches
- Following the proper system, the gopīs prayed for protection of the child’s different bodily parts. They invoked names including Aja, Acyuta, Keśava and Viṣṇu.
- Their prayer sought protection from the front, back, sides, corners, above and ground. They asked Lord Haladhara, the Supreme Person, to protect Him on all sides.
- The purport explains that even women in cultivators’ households knew these protective mantras and their use with cow products. It presents this knowledge as a part of Vedic civilization.
Try this today
Read the translated prayer aloud once, paying attention to its careful requests for protection.
Ask yourself
What does the prayer’s attention to every direction reveal about the gopīs’ loving concern for Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.