Turn my heart from the deluding variety of this world to the illuminating variety in you

namo ’nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam

I bow to you, O timeless one,
Whose endless plays are never done.
In my heart, may your pastimes gleam,
As the pinnacle of love, the deathless dream.

(Damodarashtakam, Verse 8, Line 4)

My dear Lord, your pastimes are unlimited and unlimitedly attractive, yet my perception is sadly the opposite. To my conditioned mind, the options for worldly enjoyment seem endless.

O infallible Lord, help me realize that the world’s variety exists only in appearance. In actual experience, it all feels the same; there’s no deeper happiness beyond some superficial short-lived sensory stimulation. The captivating variety soon gives way to numbing monotony, which makes me misuse my intelligence to invent newer illusions of novelty—each promising something different yet delivering only disappointing, leaving me ever more frustrated.

The variety in you, O unlimited Lord, is real, substantial, and transformational. In the divine reality of your personal arena, I behold ever-new facets of you, who possess limitless glories. I discover countless ways in which you express love for your devotees—and they, in turn, express love for you.

Please, my merciful Lord, protect me from being distracted, dissuaded, or deluded by any superficial sense of sameness in your pastimes. Help me dive deeper and relish the ever-new, ever-fresh, ever-rich flavors of love revealed therein. Thank you for giving glimpses of your endless attractiveness by manifesting some of your pastimes in this world. May those glimpses draw my heart ever closer to you—forever and ever.