Desiring you, O Lord, means selecting, elevating, and concentrating desire

na cānyaṁ vṛṇe ’haṁ vareṣād apīha

From you who are the best among those who bless,
Other than your love, I seek nothing less.
For all I wish, O Lord divine,
Is that pure love for you be mine.

(Damodarashtakam — Verse 4, Line 2)

My dear Lord, devotion begins with selecting you as the supreme object of desire. Through this and many lifetimes, I have chased countless things—none have ever fulfilled me as you can. Please help me realize that there is nothing beyond you that can truly satisfy my soul.

O omnipotent Lord, choosing you as my heart’s most desirable is not like choosing a favorite food or a passing fascination. To love you means I must elevate all my other desires; I cannot call you my favorite and still cling to favorites that are impure or anti-devotional. Please bless me so that all my desires become purified by your uplifting mercy.

O supreme shelter, at life’s final moment, all my desires must converge on you alone. In this life, while serving you, some desires may flow toward the many things and people connected with your service. Yet when life draws to its close, let me fix my whole heart solely on you—the one whom I must remember to return home.

O my constant companion, may I thus use the power of desire you have given me, to give all of my desire to you.