Narayaneeyam : English translation
( “Ramanarayana” translation Of Narayaneeyam By P.R.Ramachander )

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Dasakam 41-50 Translation

Dasakam 41 The cremation of Poothana and happiness in play of Krishna.

( The scariness created by Poothana’s death , her being given salvation by the God and childhood pranks of the baby Krishna are described here.)

After having heard all that was told by Vasudeva,
While Nandagopa was returning internally scared,
Saw some thing that has uprooted several trees,
And sought your refuge and surrendered to you. 41.1

All the Gopas after hearing the news from the Gopis,
Became scared , wonderstruck and became at a loss,
And chopped the huge fearsome body felled by you,
In to pieces and took them to distance and burnt it. 41.2

The smoke arising from the body which was purified,
By your drinking milk from her breasts , rose to very great heights,
And created a doubt among every body , that the smoke,
Was a result of burning a sandal or Agaru or Guggulu trees. 41.3

You imparted fragrance to the body of Poothana,
And it looked like that you were loudly saying to the wise cowherds,
“ Are you able to see the effect of contact with my body,
And this is not far off for you as you all will get it soon.” 41.4

The Gopas were drowned in joy by seeing your face ,
And were telling to each other, wonder of wonders,
This devil did not kill the baby and it is also a wonder,
That the foretelling of Vasudeva about the baby became true.” 41.5

Oh son of Vasudeva , due to your living there,
The Vruja desa day by day became more and more prosperous,
And possessed many good things which will never get spoiled,
And provided full of boundless divine joy to the people. 41.6

The Gopis became very busy in talking with each other,
In their homes about your pretty form and bewitching smile,
And after completion of all their duties came to see you,
Every day and enjoyed by being able to see you. 41.7

Oh God, with stretched arms to lift you ,the Gopis prattled,
“oh little cherub are you not seeing me alone?”,
“hey all, do you not see that baby is smiling only at me?”, and
“Hey baby please come to me , please come only to me “. 41.8

You resembled a bee going from one red lotus to other,
When with an aim to caress your flower like body,
And to enjoy the pleasure of your soft touch,
The Gopis passed you between them endlessly. 41.9

When putting you in her lap and while feeding you,
Yasoda used to get immersed in the beauty of your smiling face,
And was transported to an immeasurable state of real joy,
And Oh God Hari you who are like that save me from this disease. 41.10

Dasakam 42 The killing of Chakatasura

(Chakatasura, the asura who came in the form of a cart was destroyed by the baby Krishna when he was left near the cart by the baby Krishna.)

Oh Lord during one of your birthdays , when,
Several ladies , gents and Brahmins arrived as guests,
The Lady Of Vruja, left you near a big cart,
And was busy in walking around and cooking in the kitchen. 42.1

Then she heard from near you,
The sound of breaking of wooden pieces,
And shout laced with fear from the boys ,
With whom you had entrusted the baby. 42.2

Hearing that great sound of the uproar,
The Gopis came running with the breasts heaving,
And they saw you lying safely amidst,
The scattered wooden pieces in Nanda’s home. 42.3

The Nanda , Gopas , Brahmins and others came
Running asking “ Aha, What happened to the baby?”,
And seeing that you were safely in the hands of Yasoda,
Consoled themselves with their eyes full of tears. 42.4

Nanda and others stood there with fingers on their noses,
Saying, “what a great wonder, how this happened,
And how this very big cart has been broken to pieces,
And we are not able to find any cause for it.” 42.5

Oh God those cowherd boys who were supposed ,
To protect you said that when you did not get breast milk,
You were seen crying with shaking of your pretty legs,
And the cart broke in to pieces because of your one kick,
And assured others, “We have seen it, we have seen it.” 42.6

Then people who did not know your greatness told,
That, what these children are telling is unbelievable,
But those who have seen the salvation of Poothana,
Believed them and felt that it would have happened like that. 42.7

The ladies of Vruja with the flow of extreme love,
That can never be stopped caressed your limbs softly saying ,
“ Whether these coral coloured leaf bud like feet have been hurt?
Are there any wounds? Was there pain to these hibiscus like tender feet?” 42.8

Nandagopa ,your father unable to control his emotions,
Snatched you from your mother saying,
“Hey darling , This time he has been saved ,
By the grace of the great God, Please give me my little one”,
And hugged and caressed you again and again. 42.9

You have like this destroyed the asura ,
Who came as a cart to kill you,
And not a powder of him was seen anywhere ,,
And this happened because , he has merged,
Within your form of sublime purity. 42.10

Oh Lord of Guruvayur , after that in your house,
The Brahmins who were invited for your birthday,
Carried out special worship for your well being ,
And showered on you their auspicious blessings,
And Oh God who drowned the entire Vruja desa,
In joy by your baby pranks , remove my sorrows. 42.11

Dasakam 43 Killing of Trinavartha

(Another asura called Trinavartha came in the form of a cyclone and lifted baby Krishna from the cradle. The baby kept on increasing its weight and that made the asura drop the baby. Lord Krishna then killed him.)

Oh Lord of Guruvayur, one day your mother,
Was not able to lift you due to your being too heavy,
And so put you in bed , wondering why this was happening,
And prayed God and was engaged in the work of her home. 43.1

Then a horrific sound was heard from far away distance,
And a great asura called Trinavartha came in the form of a cyclone,
Filling all directions with dust and stole and lifted you,
Who was the stealer of others mind due to your pretty form. 43.2

Due to the darkness created by the dust which was everywhere,
When the Gopas were not able to see anything all round them,
Your mother came to the place where you were lying down,
Wondering herself as to what has happened to you,
And not finding you there started crying and shouting. 43.3

At that time the asura whose speed was reduced,
Due to your very great weight , became very tired,
While Gokula was filled completely with dust and uproar,
And the wail of the cry of your mother spread everywhere. 43.4

Hearing the wailing, Nandagopa and other Gopas,
And Gopis rushed to the house and by the time they started crying,
The very exhausted Trinavartha , intending to give salvation,
To you who is the one giving salvation to every one,
Understanding that he cannot do it , dropped you down from the sky. 43.5

Then immediately after the wailing and crying Gopas and Gopis,
They saw a very huge body falling on the rock outside,
And on his chest saw you without any harm, playing and smiling
And they felt happy and relieved and also sad. 43.6

From the very huge body of the very wicked asura,
The Gopas lifted you like lifting a blue gem from a mountain,
Though you were laughing loudly without any care,
And were beating his body with your lotus like hands. 43.7

Oh God we salute you who was lifted ,embraced , kissed,
And passed on from one to another and you leapt in to the
Lotus like hands of the Gopis who wanted to have you but were hesitating, 43.8

Your parents and others said, “what can be done by us,
And let the Govinda who removes the sorrows ,
Of all his devotees , protect our little darling,”
And prayed you lord, to protect yourselves. 43.9

Why ,oh Lord of Guruvayur , you who have killed,
This asura who had the form of the gas,
Are not curing my diseases caused by gas?
What should I do? And I pray again to you,
To completely cure all my diseases. 43.10

Dasakam 44 Naming ceremony and casting of horoscope

(Worried by these happenings Nandagopa and Yasoda consult their Guru sage Garga , who knew that Lord Krishna was God himself. Sage Garga consoled them and at their request named him as Krishna. Krishna would mean that which leads to joy and peace. It also means a boy who is black.The sage also made a horoscope of the boy and read his future. He named Rohini’s son as Rama)

Oh Lord, Sage Garga who is an expert in the science of astrology,
Came as per the secret request of Vasudeva , to your house,
To conduct naming and other ceremonies,
To you who is very much beyond all ceremonies. 44.1

Afterwards the very much pleased Nandagopa,
with great zest to conduct the naming ceremony,
Respected Garga who was greatest among sages,
With a soft smile and made a request to him. 44.2

Sage Garga , thrilled at the prospect told,
“Since I am the Guru of the Yadhu clan,
This ceremony should be performed very secretly,”
And named you along with your elder brother. 44.3

The sage Garga must have decided to conduct the ceremony in secret,
Possibly wondering as to how he will ever give a name to you,
Who has one thousand names or even countless names. 44.4

Adding the prefix “Krish” to the suffix “Na”,
To denote that you are embodiment of true joy,
Or possibly denoting you as the one who destroys sins of the world,
The great sage named you as “Krishna.”. 44.5

He also gave you other names and also ,
Gave names like Rama to your elder brother,
And explained their significance to Nanda your father,
Without revealing that you are God but made him understand,
That you are a superman with qualities which are not in others. 44.6

That great sage telling about your greatness told,
“He who shows love to your son , would be free from Maya,
And will never ever suffer sorrows of this world,
And he who causes trouble to him would be destroyed.” 44.7

Again sage Garga telling about your greatness told,
“This baby will win over very large number of Asuras,
Keep his own people in a place devoid of any sorrow,
And you will hear about his very pure fame.” 44.8

That sage further described without revealing you are Hari,
That “you will cross all obstacles with the help of this baby,
And so remain always with devotion to this baby”. 44.9

Oh Lord of Guruvayur , You who was nurtured and pampered,
By the very happy Nanda Gopa and others,
After the departure of sage Garga , may please ,cure my illness. 44.10

Dasakam 45 Childhood pranks

(Krishna , became a slightly older baby and kept on doing the childhood pranks which entertained everybody.)

Oh Krishna who is along with Balatama,
You both were crawling on your legs and hands,
And lit up different places charmingly,
And anxious to hear the jingle of your own anklets,
Rotated your legs and moved prettily. 45.1

With a very pretty soft, soft smile revealing your teeth,
With curls of hair falling all over your face,
With soles of your feet visible while you are crawling,
And with your bangles sliding and resting on your wrist,
You both have completely charmed the minds of onlookers. 45.2

When with a look of ecstasy people try to catch you both,
You make some peculiar sound , laugh loudly and run away,
And then turn back your lovely face and stare at them,
Oh son of Vasudeva , what a great pleasure you gave to those people? 45.3

When you were running like that , some time you slip and fall,
And then manage to get up with dirt coated all over you,
And those sages who are dust free salute you with a smile,
And by that time your mothers reach there,
And with pity take you up and hug you as you are,
And then they shower and cover you with kisses. 45.4

When her breasts are filled with milk , the very lucky Yasoda,
Would cradle you in her lap , and feed you with her mind wavering with excitement,
In the middle , Oh baby who has put on the guise of cowherd,
She attained the acme of joy by seeing your charming face and budding teeth. 45.5

When you started walking and running , and started playing with neighboring children,
You who used to engage in several attractive mischief and pranks,
And started chasing and catching pet parrots, cats and calves,
The Gopas with loud laugh used to prevent you by blocking your way. 45.6

Oh killer of Mura, wherever you and your brother Balarama went,
The eyes of the enraptured Gopis followed you ceaselessly,
And they forgetting their household chores, their children and also servants,
Used to follow you often and were seen to have time for nothing else. 45.7

With extreme desire to eat butter that was given to you by the Gopis,
Some times you used to sing sweetly and dance attractively,
And some other times you ate the butter given by the kind Gopis,
And also drank the freshly boiled milk given by them. 45.8

Oh God, possibly thinking that “ I was forced to beg Mahabali,
But I am not prepared to beg before these weak damsels,”
You decided to abandon the way of getting things by begging,
And took resort to the other way of very cleverly planned theft. 45.9

The ladies of the Vruja desa did not bother about your stealing their curds,
And they were not pained by it also , most probably because,
You had drowned them in the ocean of joy by stealing their minds,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur who was like that , please cure my diseases. 45.10

The sloka 11 and 12 given below are not there in the authorized Vanamala version.

One day seeing the shining moon above the tree branches,
You mistook it to be a fruit and you pestered your parents for it,
And when they for fun asked you to call it yourself,
On your summoning the moon descended straight in to your hands,
Along with the innumerable stars and you appeared in your supreme form. 45.11

When the father was wonderstruck and started prattling “What, what is it”,
You drowned that father for a moment in the divine ocean of joy,
And later brought back the illusion of you being his son,
And Oh God who is like that , save me from my diseases. 45.12

Dasakam 46 The story of Yasoda seeing the universe in the mouth of baby Krishna.

(Lord Krishna’s friends complained that he had eaten mud. When he denied it, his mother asked to open his mouth. There Yasoda saw the entire Universe.)

Oh God once , when you were sucking and drinking milk ,
From your mother, lying flatly on her open lap,
You broke in to a yawn and the Gopi who was your mother,
Happened to see the entire universe in side your mouth. 46.1

Oh Lord of the universe , at another time ,
When you were playing with your friends,
You deceived them while gathering fruits,
And they went and complained to your mother that you ate mud. 46.2

Oh God , felling that you who have made all the earth and water,
Inside you at the time of the great deluge,
Would become sick by eating little mud,
Your mother became very angry with you. 46.3


When your mother asked you with concern,
“Hey kid who puts on an act of obedience,
So you have eaten mud , in spite of my telling you,”,
Oh God you smilingly kept silent ,
Making her feel that her anger is without any effect. 46.4

Then when your mother being upset chided you,
“Little one , if you do not agree with,
What all these children are telling with certainty,
Please open your mouth, let us see.”
And without any hesitation , you opened,
Your mouth which was like , a just opening lotus flower. 46.5

Possibly with an idea of satisfying the curiosity of your mother,
Who was minutely examining your mouth for traces of mud,
You not only showed her this entire earth,
But also the universe consisting of all worlds. 46.6

She saw in your open mouth , in one place forests,
In another place sea , yet another place the sky,
In yet another place nether world, men asuras and devas,
And there was nothing that she was not able to see in your mouth ,
For all the fourteen worlds and their things were there. 46.7

In your mouth again she saw you as the one,
Who sleeps in the ocean of milk,
As the divine one who lived in Vaikunta,
And also you as a baby just standing in front of her.
And was there any form of yours that she did not see there? 46.8

Seeing in your mouth the entire unfolding universe,
She also saw you clearly standing with open mouth in front of her,
And this clearly explained to her that ,
All this world is limitless and temporary. 46.9

Then , when for a second she returned to the world of realty,
You charmed her with the very affectionate illusion ,
And asked from her more milk and lay on her lap,
And Oh wonderful child , please take care of me. 46.10

Dasakam 47 Getting tied to the mortar.

(When baby Krishna was left half fed by Yasoda to mind some house hold chores, he got angry and broke the curd pot. Angered by this Yasoda tried to tie him to the mortar . But the length of any rope was not just sufficient. Seeing her exasperated, Lord Krishna made her tie him to the mortar.)

One day you went near your mother , churning curds,
Due to the desire to drink milk from her,
You stopped her and climbed on her lap,
And started drinking as you wanted. 47.1

When your feeding had just half finished,
And when your lotus like opened with a smile,
Oh Lord your mother left suddenly,
To mind the milk that was kept for boiling. 47.2

Oh God , due to the welling anger due to,
Your drinking milk , being stopped in the middle,
You took a churning rod and alas, broke the curd pot. 47.3

Then hearing the very loud noise that was heard,
Your mother came running to find out about it,
And saw the curd which had spread all over,
Which was like your fame which is spread everywhere. 47.4

When she was not able to see you,
Who is being searched by the Vedas,
That blessed mother saw you sitting on the mortar,
And feeding butter to a cat. 47.5

Immediately that Yasoda became very angry,
Caught hold of you who had a shining lotus like face,
Due to the act of fear that you were putting on,
Before her friends, and took a rope to tie you. 47.6

Oh God , That Yasoda decided to tie you,
Who made good people want to get tied up with you,
And even though she tied many ropes to tie you,
Those ropes always were short by two inches to tie you. 47.7

Oh Hari, when her friends were staring with smile and wonder,
You seeing your mother very tired and covered with sweat,
Were filled with pity and though you had a form which is not bounded,
Wonder of wonders ,Gave permission to being tied by your mother. 47.8

As soon as your mother went to the house after tying you,
And saying , “Let this mischief be tied to this mortar for some time,”,
You started eating the butter that you had stored in the hollow of the mortar. 47.9

Oh Lord, the gods in the heaven praised you,
“Oh god, if you are available to only those without attachment*,
How did Yasoda who has great attachment to you , tie you,”,
And Oh God please save me from this sickness. 47.10
*Pasa the word also can be translated as rope.

Dasakam 48 Freeing Nala khoobara and Mani Greeva from their curse.

(nala Khoobara and Mani Greeva were sons of Lord Kubhera who had become trees by the curse of Sage Narada. These trees were standing in the courtyard of Lord Krishna’s house. The child Krishna dragged the mortar in between those trees and broke both the trees, Nala Khoobara and Mani Greeva regained their original forms.)

You with a soft belly, who was praised by the extremely happy devas,
Who were surrounding you was called as “Dhamodhara” by them,
And you slowly caught the mortar and stood and saw to Marutha trees near by. 48.1

Nalakoobhara was the son of Kubhera the god of wealth,
And so was Manigreeva who was very famous,
And both of them by penance to Lord Shiva prettiness and form,
Became very arrogant and lead a life without thinking about you. 48.2

Those Nala Khoobaras who were once surrounded by large number of ladies,
Who were dancing and singing under the total influence of alcohol,
And were taking bath in the nude in the holy river Ganges,
And were drowned in various types of romantic sports with those ladies
Were seen by sage Narada who was your great devotee,
And who was worshipped by the entire universe. 48.3

Even though the ladies on seeing the sage , gathered their cloths,
And dressed themselves and were being clearly seen by the Nalakhoobaras,
They blinded by zest and having lost their wisdom did not stop what they were doing,
And were told by the great sage as follows so that they would get devotion towards you,
And also would be able to keep away their minds from base acts. 48.4

“You both would live as Marutha trees for a very long time ,
And after seeing Lord Hari, you would go back to your places,”
And hearing this curse those Nalakhoobara and Manigreeva,
With anxiety to see you quickly , became Maruth trees in Vruja desa. 48.5

You who were slow moving approached those trees,
Without any hesitation or fear , and entered in between those trees,
Which were very much worn out due to their age,
And pulling the entangled mortar made the trees fall. 48.6

Oh Govinda, as soon as you broke those two trees,
Two very radiant yakshas came out of those trees,
And immediately started singing your praises. 48.7

Definitely devotees of other Gods would gradually,
Reach and worship you, and these devotees of Shiva,
Have reached your feet due to the blessing of Narada,
And prayed for great devotion to you and went back. 48.8

Hearing the horrible sound of the trees falling ,
The Gopas were scared and came running to the spot,
And you were freed from your bondage By Nanda,
Who was staring at the very much ashamed and bent face of Yasoda. 48.9

The Gopas saying that “ This baby who was caught in between the trees,
Was only saved by the power of Lord Vishnu, without any problems,”
And took you to your home and Oh Lord of Guruvayur,
You may kindly save me from this diseases. 48.10

Dasakam 49 Entering in to Vrindavana.

(Upset by the various bad happenings the Yadavas decide to shift to Vrindavana (literally forest of Thulasi) near the Govardhana(mountain that increases cows) mountain as well as on the banks of river Yamuna.. Krishna likes the new place and started wandering here and there\. He joins other cowherd boys in grazing the calves.)


Those Gopas completely ignorant of your greatness,
Seeing the omens which did not have proper reasoning,
Thought that they were omens which are bad,
And decided to change their place of residence. 49.1

Then the great Gopa called Upananda , prompted by you,
Told that “West of this place , there is a charming forest called “Vrindavana.” 49.2

Without further delay Nandagopa and his friends,
Started to that great forest after leaving their dwellings,
And immediately the cart in which you were with your mother also started. 49.3

Due to the very interesting sound made by the rolling of cart,
Due to the reverberating sound made by the hoofs of cows,
And due to the interesting indistinct baby prattle of yours,
The Gopis did not feel weary at all due to the travel. 49.4

Oh God , With the trees with jasmine creepers on full bloom,
And due to the grass land which shined as if it was paved with emerald,
The Brindavana was extremely pretty and made you happy. 49.5

There in Brindavana the Gopas settled down happily,
In the newly built crescent shaped houses,
And you along with other Gopa children,
Inspected the sylvan beauty of the forest around. 49.6

You went and saw river Yamuna, the daughter of Kalindha,
Which with its very clear water was flowing in curved paths,
Which was full of the pretty musical chatter of the swans,
And which had fully open lotus flowers similar to your smiling face. 49.7

You also enjoyed seeing the Govardhana mountain,
With hundreds of peacocks making their sound,
Which had different colours due to reflection of light on several gems,
And which appeared to be touching the land of Brahma by its tall peaks. 49.8

Then later you wandered along with the Gopa lads,
Though the forests which was covering all the four sides,
And seeing there the Kalindi river fully flowing in curves,
And felt that it looked like the passionate and lonely sweetheart. 49.9

With great enthusiasm to graze the calves in that forest,
You started traveling in that forest along with Balarama and other friends,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur who did like that , save me from all diseases. 49.10

Dasakam 50 Killing of Bakasura and Aghasura

(Lord Krishna kills two more asuras who came in the form of a calf and another who came who came as a crane.)


Oh gracious lord , later you who was bewitching to all eyes,
Along with Balarama and other friends started walking in Vrindavana
Which was very pretty and full of hoards of honey bees,
And being interested in grazing the darling calves,
You went along with horn , flute and a stick made of cane. 50.1

Oh God, who was the consort of Lakshmi , as soon you kept your feet,
Which looks after the earth and which was caressed by the lotus hands of Lakshmi,
In the very holy Vrindavana , the trees, creepers , earth mountain and fields,
There were found to completely teeming with all sorts of wealth. 50.2

While you were wandering all over the forest full of tender grass,
And in the banks of Yamuna filled with very cool breeze,
And on the peaks of the very lofty Govardhana mountain ,
Grazing your calves, you recognized one asura,
Who had joined your herd in the form of a calf. 50.3

You after noticing him waving his tails very forcefully,
And seeing his horrific stare by turning his head back,
Caught hold of his legs , lifted and rotated him several times,
And as soon as he was dead flung his body on a tree. 50.4

Hey Lord Vishnu , when the very bad asura with a very gross body,
Felled very many trees by his fall and ruined the forests all around,
The devas who were crowding the skies , due to their joy,
Which ebbed in them , showered flowers on your head. 50.5

When the cowherd boy s asked you how very sweet scented flowers,
Were falling from the top on your head , you playfully replied,
That it was the flowers which went up from the trees,
When you threw the body of Asura on them. 50.6

When another very hot summer day when you and your friends,
Went to the river Kalindi to quench your thirst , you all saw a huge crane,
Which looked like huge mountain, whose wings Indra forgot to cut in the days of yore,
And which crane was flapping its wings very vigorously. 50.7

When the cowherd children were drinking lots of water from the river,
That crane ran near you and picked you up and swallowed you,
And within an instant threw you out , as if he has swallowed fire,
And when he was trying tear you apart by his very sharp beak,
You caught hold of the two ends of the beaks,
Split them apart and killed him. 50.8

When that crane went to the town of the God of death,
Possibly to see his elder sister Poothana or perhaps ,
To see his younger brother Agha who were waiting to see him,
You accepted the shower of flowers from devas and went home. 50.9

Oh Krishna , who made your mother and father overjoyed,
And the Gopis , who rush to see you when they happened to hear,
The sweet music that was flowing from your flute,
And stare at you with greatest joy and expectation,
As the one who is living in the famous temple of Guruvayur,
Please remove all my diseases and drive them out. 50.10

( P.R. Ramachander  is from Chelakkara, Kerala. He specialized as a biometical statistician as well as an applied geneticist and served as Head of Division of four different ICAR research Institutes in India as Head of division of Statistics. After 36 years of service during which he wrote 150 research papers, and three books he retired in the year 2000.

He was deeply interested in bringing out the majesty of his religion to the young. As a result he took up translation of  Hindu prayers in to English, The result of  the work of God , got done through him is this web site.He has also published two booka, one on Rudram and another on Lalitha Sahasranamam. Ramachander is now 70 and lives with his partner in life Smt.Jayalakshmi (who is his inspiration in life)  in Bangalore. He is also blessed with a dutiful son and a darling daughter as well three glorious grand children Maithree, Rohan and Yamini )  More...

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