Brahma Samhita

Song Title: Isvara Parama Krsna
Official Name: Brahma Samhita

Spoken By: Lord Brahma to Lord Govinda
Source: Brahma Samhita (Chapter 5, Verses 1, 29–56)
Compiled By: Vyasadeva

In the Brahma Samhita, Lord Brahma offers his heartfelt praises to Lord Krishna, acknowledging Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the ultimate cause of all causes. This sacred prayers is highly revered in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition, and Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, emphasizes its importance, encouraging devotees to chant and accept Krishna as the Supreme Lord. By reciting this powerful prayer, one can deepen their devotion and understanding of Krishna's eternal supremacy.

Verse 1

ishvarah paramah krishnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaha
anadir adir govindaha
sarva-karana-karanam

Translation:
Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He
is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.

Verse 2

chintamani prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-
laksavriteshu surabhir abhipalayantam
lakshmi-sahasra-shata- sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire,
in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with
great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakshmis or gopis.

Verse 3

Venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam
barhavatam samasitambuda-sundarangam
kandarpa-koti-kamaniya vishesha-shobham
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like
lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of
blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.

Verse 4

Alola-chandraka-lasad- vanamalya-vamshi-
ratnangadam pranaya-keli-kala-vilasam
shyamam tribhanga-lalitam niyata-prakasham
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified
with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who
always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Syamasundara is
eternally manifest.

Verse 5

angani yasya sakalendriya-vrittimanti
pashyanti panti kalayanti chiram jaganti
ananda-chinmaya-sad-ujjvala- vigrahasya
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
 I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality
and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses
in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests
the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.

Verse 6

advaitam achyutam anadim ananta-rupam
adyam purana-purusham navayauvanam cha
vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure
unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without
a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal purusha; yet He is a
person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.

Verse 7

panthas tu koti-shata-vatsara-sampragamyo
vayor athapi manaso muni-pungavanam
so 'pyasti yat prapada-simny avichintya-tattve
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by
the yogis who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to pranayama by drilling
the respiration; or by the jnanis who try to find out the non-differentiated Brahman by the process
of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.

Verse 8

eko 'py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim
yac chaktir asti jadad-anda-caya yad-antah
andantara-stha-paramanu- chayantara-stham
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof.
In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in
Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the
universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.

Verse 9

yad bhava-bhavita dhiyo manujas tathaiva
samprapya rupa-mahimasanayanabhushaha
suktair yam eva nigama-prathitaih stuvanti
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I adore the same Govinda, the primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion,
sing the mantra-suktas told by the Vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness,
thrones, conveyances and ornaments.

Verse 10

ananda-chinmaya-rasa- pratibhavitabhis-
tabhir ya eva nija-rupataya kalabhihi
goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Radha, resembling
His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four
artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhis], embodiments of the extensions of Her
bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.

Verse 11

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti- vilochanena
santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti
yam shyama-sundaram achintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krishna Himself with
inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye
of devotion tinged with the salve of love.

Verse 12

ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan
nanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu
krishnah svayam samabhavat paramaha puman yo
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krishna and the
different avataras in the world in the forms of Rama, Nrisimha, Vamana, etc., as His subjective portions.

Verse 13

yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotisu ashesha-vasudhadi-vibhuti- bhinnam
tad brahma nishkalam anantam ashesha-bhutam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated
Brahman mentioned in the Upanishads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the
mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.

Verse 14

maya hi yasya jagad-anda-shatani sute
traigunya-tad-vishaya-veda- vitayamana
sattvavalambi-para-sattva- visuddha-sattvam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the
ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the
threefold mundane qualities, viz., sattva, rajas, and tamas and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding
the mundane world.

Verse 15

ananda-chinmaya-rasatmataya manahsu
yah praninam pratiphalam smaratam upetya
lilayitena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world
by the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the mind of recollecting souls as the
transcendental entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa.

Verse 16

goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale cha tasya
devi-mahesha-hari-dhamasu teshu teshu
te te prabhava-nichaya vihitash cha yena
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
 Lowest of all is located Devi-dhama [mundane world], next above it is Mahesa-dhama [abode
of Mahesa]; above Mahesa-dhama is placed Hari-dhama [abode of Hari] and above them all is
located Krishna's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted
their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.

Verse 17

srishti-sthiti-pralaya- sadhana-shaktir eka
chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga
icchanurupam api yasya che cheshtate sa
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

The external potency Maya who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by
all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore
the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself.

Verse 18

kshiram yatha dadhi vikara-vishesha-yogat
sanjayate na hi tatah prithag asti hetoho
yah shambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

 Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same
as, nor different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state
of Sambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.

Verse 19

diparchir eva hi dashantaram abhyupetya
dipayate vivrita-hetu-samana-dharma
yas tadrig eva hi cha vishnu-taya vibhati
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
19) The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them,
is the same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the
same mobile manner in His various manifestations.

Verse 20

yah karanarnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
nidram ananta-jagad-anda-saroma- kupaha
adhara-shaktim avalambya param sva-murtim
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, who bears the
name of Sesha, replete with the all-accommodating potency, and reposing in the Causal Ocean with
the infinity of the world in the pores of His hair, enjoys creative sleep [yoga-nidra].

Verse 21

yasyaika-nishvasita-kalam athavalambya
jivanti loma-vilaja jagad-anda-nathaha
vishnur mahan sa iha yasya kala-vishesho
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

Brahma and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Maha-
Vishnu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Maha-Vishnu]. I adore
the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Maha-Vishnu is the portion of portion.

Verse 22

bhasvan yathashma-shakaleshu nijeshu tejaha
sviyam kiyat prakatayaty api tadvad atra
brahma ya esa jagad-anda-vidhana-karta
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

 I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom the separated subjective portion Brahma receives
his power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the sun manifests some portion of his own
light in all the effulgent gems that bear the names of suryakanta, etc.

Verse 23

yat-pada-pallava-yugam vinidhaya kumbha-
dvandve pranama-samayesa ganadhirajaha
vighnan vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Ganesa upon the pair of
tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all
the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.

Verse 24

agnir mahi gaganam ambu marud-dishash cha
kalas tathatma-manasiti jagat-trayani
yasmad bhavanti vibhavanti vishanti yam cha
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, viz., fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction,
time, soul and mind. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom they originate, in whom they exist
and into whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.

Verse 25

yac chakshur esha savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir ashesha-tejaha
yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrita-kala-chakro
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:

The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is
as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun
performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.

Verse 26

dharmo 'tha papa-nicayah shrutayas tapamshi
brahmadi-kita-patagavadhayash cha jivaha
yad datta-matra-vibhava-prakata- prabhava
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, by whose conferred power are maintained the
manifested potencies, that are found to exist, of all virtues, all vices, the Vedas, the penances and all
jivas, from Brahma to the meanest insect.

 

Verse 27

yas tv indra-gopam athavendra-maho sva-karma-
bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti
karmani nirdahati kintu cha bhakti-bhajam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Translation:
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who
are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of
one's activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their
previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than
in that of Indra, king of the devas.

Verse 28

yam krodha-kama-sahaja-pranayadi- bhiti-
vatsalya-moha-guru-gaurava- sevya-bhavaihai
sanchintya tasya sadrishim tanum apurete
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
 

Translation:

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, the meditators of whom, by meditating upon Him under the
sway of wrath, amorous passion, natural friendly love, fear, parental affection, delusion, reverence
and willing service, attain to bodily forms befitting the nature of their contemplation.

Verse 29

sriyah kantah kantah parama-purusah kalpa-taravo
druma bhumis cintamani-gana-mayi toyam amrtam
katha ganam natyam gamanam api vamsi priya-sakhi
cid-anandam jyotih param api tad asvadyam api ca
sa yatra ksirabdhih sravati surabhibhyas ca su-mahan
nimesardhakhyo va vrajati na hi yatrapi samayah
bhaje svetadvipam tam aham iha golokam iti yam
vidantas te santah ksiti-virala-carah katipaye

Translation:

I worship that transcendental seat, known as Svetadvipa where as loving consorts the Laksmis in
their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Krishna as their
only lover; where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all
water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant, effulgence
is full of transcendental bliss and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty,
where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk; where there is eternal existence
of transcendental time, who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not subject to
the quality of passing away even for the space of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to
a very few self-realized souls in this world.