Glorious is the push and pull of your grace

tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha

So grant me, Lord, that love divine,
The purest gift to call you mine.
Bestow the bond that nothing can end,
Before you, in utter humility, repeatedly I bend.

(Damodarashtakam — Verse 7, Line 3)

My dear Lord, for my heart to be drawn to you requires both my rational endeavor and your transcendental, causeless grace.

Yet, O all-attractive Lord, I cannot even endeavor properly without your grace, for it is by your grace that you grant the revelations and realizations that initiate and animate my effort. You reveal such splendorous displays of love that, by remembering them, I can push my heart toward you. Through your grace, you also grant me realizations from within my own heart and through other hearts—both through the sacred association available to me now and through the luminous commentaries of saintly teachers of the past.

O causelessly merciful Lord, your mercy not only initiates but also completes my endeavors. Without your grace, all my efforts to push my heart toward you remain mechanical and non-transformational. It is only your mercy that pulls my heart toward you—with a force far stronger than my strongest pushes. As and when you see fit, please bestow your supremely excellent grace so that I may be uplifted and united with you in love—for you are the one whom my heart has forever longed to love.

By your grace, O tirelessly loving Lord, you first enable me to push my heart toward you, and then you pull my heart to you. May your glorious grace reign supremely victorious.