He Govinda He Gopala He Govinda
Gajendra Moksana
(refrain) he
govinda he gopāla he govinda rākho śarana ab to jīvana hāre
Refrain: Oh Lord of Cows, Govinda! O Protector of Cows, Gopala! O Govinda! Please protect me, for I have lost the battle of my life.
nīra
pīvana hetu gayo sindhu ke kināre sindhu bīca basata grāha caraṇa dhari pachāre
For the sake of drinking water, I went to the banks of a river. In the middle of the river resides a crocodile. The crocodile grabbed my feet with his sharp teeth.
cāra
prahara yuddha bhayo lai gayo mañjhadhāre nāka kāna ḍubana lāge kṛṣṇa ko pukāre
I have battled with the crocodile for four hours and he dragged in the middle of the river. As my nose and ears are being submerged into the water, I immediately call for Lord Krsna for help.
dvārakā
meṅ śabda bhayo śora bhayo bhāre saṅkha cakra gadā padma garuḍa leyiṅ sidhāre
My cry and words reached Dvarka, and as a result, great commotion and noise resulted. But at once, with His conchshell, cakra, His mace, and the lotus flower, He immediately comes by with His vehicle Garuda.
sūra
kaha śyāma suno śaraṇa hai tihāre ab ki bāra pāra karo nanda ke dulāre
Sura Dasa says, "Oh Lord Syama! Please hear my humble request. I surrender to Your lotus feet. Please deliver me, Oh Darling of Nanda Maharaja!"
Translation
Refrain: Oh Lord of Cows, Govinda! O Protector of Cows, Gopala! O Govinda! Please protect me, for I have lost the battle of my life.
For the sake of drinking water, I went to the banks of a river. In the middle of the river resides a crocodile. The crocodile grabbed my feet with his sharp teeth.
I have battled with the crocodile for four hours and he dragged in the middle of the river. As my nose and ears are being submerged into the water, I immediately call for Lord Krsna for help.
My cry and words reached Dvarka, and as a result, great commotion and noise resulted. But at once, with His conchshell, cakra, His mace, and the lotus flower, He immediately comes by with His vehicle Garuda.
Sura Dasa says, "Oh Lord Syama! Please hear my humble request. I surrender to Your lotus feet. Please deliver me, Oh Darling of Nanda Maharaja!"
Notes
Bhakti Caru Swami and Laksmi Shankar popularized this bhajan through their albums "Krsna Bhavanamrta Volume 1" in 1996 and "Mira Bhajans" in 1979, respectively. They both rendered it in Raga Ragesri in Dadra Tala. A variation of Verse 3 is: " dvāraka se cale gopāla garuḍa ke bichāre cakra se grahu ko māri gajarāja ko uddhāre " From the Dvarka, Gopala arrives on the back of his vulture-vehicle, Garuda. With His sudarsana disc, He killed the crocodile and redeemed the elephant, Gajendra. This is sung as the elephant, Gajendra, per the pastime in the Srimad Bhagavatam.