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

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Dasakam 51-60 Translation

Dasakam 51 The killing of Aghasura and the picnic lunch in the forest

(Aghasura attacked Lord Krishna and the Gopas in the form of a big Python. How Lord Krishna killed him is described in the first part. The second part deals with the picnic lunch these boys had with Lord Krishna,)

One day along with the children of Vruja Desa,
You decided to have a picnic in the forest,
And with several children surrounding you,
As well as accompanied by different several tasty dishes,
And snacks , you went to the forest in the morning 51.1

When you started to the forest, the holy dust from your feet,
Which is capable of purifying all the three worlds,
Rose from there and was received by the overjoyed sages. 51.2

Oh Lord, when you were grazing the cattle,
In the land which was full of grass along with Gopas,
The very fierce Aghasura assuming the form of a python,
With an intention to do sin ,stopped them in their way. 51.3

When you were little far away and behind the group,
With interest to indulge in playing,
The Gopas entered the mouth of the python ,
Which had a body like a mountain and a mouth like a cave. 51.4

When without thinking the Gopas and cows entered,
Inside the python and when their body started boiling in heat,
Oh Lord, you realizing it , also entered the mouth of the python,
With an intention of saving your friends who were without any support. 51.5

When you inflated your body making him not able to breath,
The great snake started writhing and struggling in agony,
And you speedily wrenched open his thick neck,
And sent out the Gopas and calves outside his body and came out. 51.6

The great light which emerged from the body of that Asura,
Stood waiting in the sky so that it can merge along with you,
And wonder of wonders merged with you when you came out,
And the devas who were in the sky danced and sang during this time. 51.7

Followed by lord Brahma and
Other devas who were full of wonderment,
At the time of noon , you went to a different spot
With all your friends and made a festival of your lunch. 51.8

Tucking the flute and the horn in your waist,
Telling sweet words and holding handful of rice,
You made the Gopa boys laugh and took your food,
And this made the devas pray you with happiness. 51.9

The devas prayed, “the happiness that you get,
By taking food sitting in the midst of the Gopa boys,
Seems to be much greater than your taking food with us,”
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur , please cure me of all my diseases. 51.10

Dasakam 52 Destroying pride of Brahma.

(Lord Brahma wanted to test your power and hid all the calves and Gopa boys with you. Then you , yourself took the forms of each individual calf and the Gopa boy. This continued for one full year. Later Brahma came and begged your pardon.)

Then that Brahma watching you give salvation to Aghasura,
And observing your great power which was not seen in other incarnations,
Decided to test you and using his power of delusion ,
Caused the entire of herd of calves vanish from there. 52.1

When the group of Gopa boys drowned in sorrow,
At the disappearance of the herd of calves,
You left your half finished meal and as if to obey Brahma’s wish,
Started searching for the calves and then that Brahma hid ,
The Gopa boys also with their half finished meals. 52.2

Later you , yourself became the calves and groups of Gopas,
As well inanimate things like flute , vessel and milk stand,
And happily played as to how you were playing before Brahma came,
And you due to your deception came back in various different forms. 52.3

Later you who had taken both the forms of calves and Gopas,
And inanimate things like milk stand , vessel and flute,
Was received by the cow mothers and mothers of Gopas,
With great delight ecstasy and happiness. 52.4

While before this happened , the Gopis and cows ,
Due to the self centeredness of the soul ,
Were greatly loving them as their children,
But when they got you who is the God himself as their child,
They were drowned in ecstasy and great joy. 52.5

Even your brother Balarama was able to realize this only at the end of the year,
That the cow herd clan was really nurturing and pampering only you,
In your various different forms, indicating the real fact,
That though both of you are incarnations , you both were different. 52.6

When after one year Lord Brahma restored the real Gopas and calves.,
He was terribly perplexed that he could not find any difference,
Whatsoever among the real Gopas and calves and your forms,
And to dispel his confusion by all your forms ,
You appeared before him with four hands and a crown,
With the blue colour of the water rich clouds. 52.7

Lord Brahma saw the differently varying forms of yours,
Some with Goddess Lakshmi gently massaging your feet,
Some with you sleeping on Adhi Sesha, giving great joy,
Some with your eyes shut in the deep yogic sleep,
And some with you being served by sages like Sanaka and Sanath kumara. 52.8

Seeing before him innumerable forms of you as Lord Vishnu,
And in every place seeing himself attending on you,
When drowning in delusion Brahma lost his senses,
You appeared before him in your old form of a child,
With a ball of half eaten food in your hand. 52.9

Oh Lord of Guruvayur , who made Lord Brahma loose his pride,
And made him bow before you again and again in humility,
And made him return back to his abode in Sathyaloka,
And who returned with the happy gopa lads and calves home,
Please be kind enough to cure all my diseases. 52.10

Dasakam 53 Killing of Dhenukasura

(Lord Krishna becomes a young boy and started taking care of the cows instead of the calves. You happened to enter the forest of palm trees in which Dhenukasura lived in the form of a donkey .You got him killed through your elder brother Lord Balarama.)

Oh Lord of the universe , after a charming baby hood,
When you entered the stage of a boy,
You left the job of looking after calves,
And started with happiness the job of looking after the cows. 53.1

Oh Lord of Guruvayur, this change is greatly befitting,
For you who took the incarnation to protect the earth*,
Started looking after the herds of cows*,
When you reached this stage of boyhood. 53.2
*”Gothra” means earth as well as cow herds.

One day when you were wandering in the forest ,
Along with Balarama enjoying the sylvan beauty,
According to suggestion of your close friend Sri Dhama,
You happened to enter the forest of Dhenukasura. 53.3

When as per your wishes your brother Balarama,
Vigorously shook the palms in that forest,
Fruits of the palm tree belonging to different stages fell,
And the weak looking Dhenukasura came there as a donkey. 53.4

Possibly due to the fact that you were sincerely,
Engaged in looking after the herds of cows*,
You thought , how can I kill this asura called Dhenuka*,
And made that asura who had fought with all devas,
Be killed by your elder brother Balarama. 53.5
*Dhenuka could also indicate herd of cows.

Then , when the servants of Dhenukasura came in the form of Jackals,
Oh Lord , you along with your brother , playfully and without effort,
Lifted them and threw them on the palm trees as if they were Jamun fruits. 53.6
*Jambu indicates jackals as well as Jamun fruits

When you both completely killed all the jackals,
God Varuna who also has the name of Jambuka,
Became scared and got rattled and hid that name of his,
Remain, only in the Vedas and not popularly used. 53.7

Oh killer of Mura, the devas in the heaven praised you thus,
“ The fruits of your incarnation has now been realized,.”
And you told your friends smilingly, “fruits realized , indeed”,
And ate along with your friends lot of palm fruits. 53.8

You then returned home eating with all your friends,
Who were entirely satisfied and proud by eating ,
Lot of big honey dripping fruits with very thick meat,
And some of them carrying big loads of such fruits home. 53.9

When you all shared these fruits with all people,
They said, “Dhenuka has been killed, killed,”
And ate the very juicy and tasty fruits,
And added , “Victory to you, Let you live long”,
And oh Lord of Guruvayur , protect me from diseases. 53.10

Dasakam 54 The coming of Kaliya to Yamuna(Kalindhi)

(The Cobra called Kaliya once troubled Lord Garuda, When Garuda came to attack him , he came to Vrindavana where Garuda cannot enter due to the curse of a sage.. He mixed his poison in the river waters. Once tall Gopa boys and cows drank that water and died. You brought back all of them from death.)

Once a sage called Soubhari interested in the service of God,
Did penance in side the water of Kalindhi for twelve years,
And during this time he became attached to the fish in the river,
Indulging in romantic sports and he happened to see,
Lord Garuda travel in front of his eyes. 54.1

Seeing your Garuda who was hungry ,
Eat one of the fishes in the river, Soubhari became internally sad,
And told Garuda that if he eats any fish from this river,
He would not live and attain death. 54.2

During that time a serpent called Kaliya , due to his very strong poison,
Became proud and ate the portion of food reserved for Lord Garuda,
And when Garuda depending only on your lotus like feet ,
Became angry and try to attack Kaliya by flapping his wings,
Kaliya had to take shelter in the waters of Kalindi,
Where Lord Garuda has no entry due to the curse of the sage. 54.3

That cruel snake Kaliya when he started residing in Kalindi,
Due to the power of his poison , the trees in the shore of the river,
Wilted and birds flying on the sky fell down dead,
And seeing this your mind melted with mercy. 54.4

During that time ,one day when you were wandering in the forest,
Without the company of Balarama, due to the terrible heat of the summer,
The calves and cowherd boys became extremely thirsty,
And drank the water of the river till their thirst is quenched. 54.5

Hey Achyutha, seeing all of them fall down without life there,
You became drenched with mercy and ,
With a simple glance of your nectar filled,
Mind brought them back to life. 54.6

The cow herd boys wondering “What is this?
Why is there a great joy which cools our body”
Stood up and seeing you in front of them,
And remembering the other divine acts that you did,
And having understood that this also is your sport,
Came running to you and hugged you. 54.7

Similarly the cows also regained their life in an instant,
And with great joy , saw you in front of them,
And with their eyes filled with tears of joy,
Went round and round you making soft mooing sound. 54.8

Your Gopa boy friends thanked you and saluted you,
And told, “Oh Mukunda, the hairs all over our body,
Are standing erect and we feel great joy inside,
And the effect of this poison is indeed wonderful.” 54.9

Thus oh lord even when your devotees die,
You with your very pretty glance,
Revive them giving back their life,
And you who is endowed with such great mercy,
Oh Lord of Guruvayur , remove all my diseases. 54.10

Dasakam 55 The dancing on heads of Kaliya.

(You then destroyed the pride of the serpent by dancing on its heads..)

Oh Lord, Then you having decided to send away Kaliya,
From the waters of Kalindhi you speedily went near the Kadamba tree,
Which was situated near the banks of the river Kalindhi,
Whose leaves had all got dried up due to the poisonous fumes. 55.1

You then climbed the tree using feet which are soft like tender leaves,
And jumped in to the river which was tumultuous with its waves,
And went very deep in to those dreadful waters. 55.2

Due to the weight of your body which carries all the three worlds,
The water in the river went in to deep turbulence ,
And rose up making horrendous sound,
And drowned one hundred bow distance of the shore. 55.3

Afterwards hearing the great sound made by the water,
Which swirled and agitated causing turbulence,
Kaliya who lost his wisdom due to uncontrollable anger,
Rose up from the river water and approached you. 55.4

You saw in front of you that Kaliya , who was spitting,
Poisonous liquid which looked like the raging fire,
From his thousand hoods, and he appeared like ,
the Anjana mountain with very many peaks. 55.5

That Kaliya who was spitting the horrible poisonous fire,
Along with eyes burning out of anger bit you in several places,
You, who is extraordinarily powerful , and finding you not bothered,
Alas wrapped himself round you so that you cannot move. 55.6

After this , when being not able to see you ,
The Gopa boys and cows who were on the shore,
Stood sorrowing for you and due to bad omens ,
In their homes Nanda gopa and others reached the bank of Kalindhi. 55.7

Oh Lord , all of them seeing your very pitiable state,
Decided to give up their lives and seeing which,
You freed yourself from the clutches of the snake,
And rose up from the water adorned with a smile. 55.8

Then you climbed on the hood of the king of serpents,
With your feet which showered pretty light all around,
And started dancing there to the accompaniment ,
Of the sound of the tinkling bells in your anklets,
And keeping beats with the bangles of your hand. 55.9

Oh Lord of Guruvayur , the Gopas became happy,
When you started dancing on the hoods,
And the sages also became happy,
The Devas showered flowers from the sky,
And Oh God who is like that please cure me from disease. 55.10


Dasakam 56 Humbling of the pride of Kaliya and blessing of the God

(When his wives requested his pardon, you showed him an alternate place to live and sent him out. Later when a forest fire attacked the Gopa boys, you saved them)

Oh God, thus, when in the sky , the group of deva lasses,
Were singing prettily to the accompaniment of the drum,
Played by the devas, you along with prettily waving ear rings,
Danced on the hood of Kaliya for a long time. 56.1

Oh Hari , you removed your steps from those hoods that go down,
And put your feet pressed on those hoods that were raising,
And kept time with your hands and danced for a long time. 56.2

Hey Madhava , the king of snakes Kaliya with all his heads,
Bent down due to the crushing blow of your dancing feet,
Vomited blood and turned the waters of Kalindi in to red,
And became so tired that his wives came out,
And fell in surrender at your feet. 56.3

Oh God, those wives of the snake sang your praises ,
Which showed them, the way that even great saints,
Cannot attain , without any inhibition whatsoever,
For they had heard about your greatness,
And were having a mind that would melt due to your greatness. 56.4

Oh Achyutha , with heart full of increasing mercy ,
When you saw and felt the devotion of the wives of the serpent,
Which made your heart beat fast, you saved Kaliya from death,
And he completely offered himself to you by prostrating before you. 56.5

You told them to go to the Island Ramanaka ,
Which is in between the seas and assured them,
That Garuda who was a serpent enemy ,
Would never trouble them there,
And Kaliya with a bent head agreed to your words,
And along with other snakes left that place. 56.6

You decorating yourself with the sparkling jewels,
Offered to you by the wives of the serpent king,
And also wearing the silks offered by them,
At dusk joined your people who were waiting for you,
In the shores of Kalindi and they all got drowned in their tears of joy. 56.7

Then during that night due to great darkness,
When none of you were able to go to your homes in Vruja,
They all surrendered to your lotus like feet and slept,
And at that time the forest caught fire and it surrounded them . 56.8

Then hearing their cry “Please save us, save us”,
Made in a very loud pitiable voice ,
You completely drank the entire forest fire,
And there is nothing great about it,
Because it is known that your mouth itself is fire. 56.9

Then the very happy and contended Gopas praised you ,
“ It is well known that yellow *colour is that of the fire,
But due to this act of drinking*, it shines further”
Oh Lord of Guruvayur, please destroy all my sins as well as diseases. 56.10
*Peetha denotes yellow colour and act of drinking

Dasakam 57 Killing of Pralambhasura

(An asura called Pralamba came to kill you in the guise of a gopa lad. While playing the fame of losers carrying winners, Lord Balarama killed him.)

Then on another day , Oh God who fulfills our wishes,
You along with Balarama , both of you being dressed well,
Went to the forest along with the Gopa boys and calves. 57.1

You pointing out the great beauty of Brindavan,
As well as playing with the children holding their sticks,
You reached the shade of the banyan tree called Bhandareeka. 57.2

That time Pralambhasura who wanted to kill you,
And who did not have an iota of mercy,
Took the form of a Gopa boy and ,
Reached you who had long hands reaching the thigh. 57.3

Though you understood his intention ,
You acted as if you did not know about it,
And you showed great friendship to that Asura,
And played below the banyan tree a mock war,
Along with the very healthy Gopa boys
Dividing your self in to two groups. 57.4

Oh God you divided the Gopa boys ,
In the groups led by you and the one lead by Balarama,
And you included the asura who was afraid of you,
In the group to which you were the leader. 57.5

With the condition that loser should carry the winner,
On his shoulders and run after the wrestling fight,
You exhibiting your nature of being a slave to your devotee,
You carried and Ran ,Sri Dhama who was in the other group. 57.6

Like this when numerous Gopa boys carried others,
And also They were carried by others in the group,
Pralambhasura who was defeated by Balarama,
Fearing you, carried him for a long distance. 57.7

Seeing that he wanted to carry him far away from you.
Balarama increased his body weight very greatly,
And this made Pralabhasura take his real form,
And even Balarama was scared on seeing his asura form. 57.8

When the asura form grew very tall,
Balarama was able to see you from far off,
And left off his fear and started hitting the asura,
By his clenched fist and crushed him. 57.9

When you saw Balarama after his victorious return,
After killing that very clever Asura ,
You affectionately hugged him and immediately,
The devas started showering petals on your heads 57.10

Oh Hari who shines with the luster of black bee,
You who are the support of the entire earth,
Carried out the killing of Pralamba properly,
And Oh god do not wait any further,
And cure all my diseases speedily. 57.11

Dasakam 58 Saving of Gopas and Gokula from forest fire and seasons in Brindavan

(Again Lord Krishna saves them from another forest fire which surrounded all of you by simply transporting all of you back to Vrindavana in an instant. This chapter also contains the description of Vrindavana during different seasons.)

When you were immersed in the joy of playing with Gopa boys,
And spent some time to kill Pralambhasura,
The calves without any one to mind them,
Went on grazing and reached a forest called Ishika. 58.1

The cows who lived in Brindavana , where the heat of summer is not felt,
Reached the forest of Ishika which is outside Brindavan’s boundary,
And due to the parting with you as well as due to torrid heat of summer,
Were parched by the heat and became tired due to thirst. 58.2

Hey God you along with your helpers searched far and wide,
And at last found the cows which lost their way and were suffering,
And when you instructed your friends to drive them back instantly,
And went near the cows, alas a huge forest fire surrounded all of you. 58.3

When the forest fire raged furiously breaking the timber,
With terrible sound and spread very speedily all around,
Oh God you all became like half baked and fell in agony,
And all the people and animals rushed near you shouting,
“Oh God, Oh God please save us from this dangerous fire”. 58.4

You told them , “Do not be scared so much and close your eyes”,
And when they obeying your words, closed your eyes, wonder of wonders,
In an instant they felt that the fire has gone and the forest has gone,
And they found themselves places in the Bhandeera forest. 58.5

Laughing and entertaining them , when they told,
“Oh Victory, victory to you , your Maya is indeed great,”,
You roamed about in the forest where the Summer,
Can be recognized only by the blossoming of Patala trees,
And looking after and helping to graze all the cows. 58.6

You spent the entire summer in the banks of Yamuna,
With the intensity of heat that is similar to the pain of those who hate you,
Which dries up all the sins within you similar to its drying all trees,
And which is similar to the luster of heat generated by your hand. 58.7

The rainy season with its cluster of clouds ,
Which is similar to the dazzle of your body,
And with its continuous streak of lightning,
Which reminded one of the yellow silk that you wear,
Started playing effortlessly in the caves of the mountain. 58.8

That Govardhana mountain worshipped you living in the caves,
By praying with pretty sounds of very happy and joyous peacock,
And offering you with flowers falling from the Kutaja and Kadamba trees. 58.9

Then you enjoyed the autumn which followed the rainy season,
Which had copious water clear like the minds of your devotees,
By grazing your cows in the fertile grass lands,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur, please give me good health. 58.10

Daskam 59 Song of the flute

(Lord Krishna becomes a lad and starts playing flute. All the gopa women of Vrindavana fall in love with him.)

Seeing daily your form which is the true divine joy,
Which is as soft as Kalaya flower,
Which increases passion and attracts everybody,
All the Gopi maidens became infatuated in you. 59.1

Oh Lord Hari, due to churning of their minds by the God of love,
The Gopis were very much interested in seeing you again and again,
And were not even to able to bear your going to the forest in the mornings. 59.2

When you were going ,they fixed their mind on you
And went on staring at you without any break,
And when they heard the music of your flute from far off,
They entertained themselves by talking about your playful acts. 59.3

As for you , as soon as you reached the forest,
You made it a habit of sitting below a pretty tree shade,
With your legs stretched over each other,
And playing mellifluous music by your flute. 59.4

Oh Lord , the music from your flute,
Was capable of making even deva maidens,
Shiver due to the arrows of God of love,
And was capable of making animals and birds benumbed,
And was capable of making even stones melt. 59.5

Moving your soft fingers over the holes of flute,
And keeping beat to the music by tapping your red feet,
Was your form , which though not visible to the Gopis directly,
Made them think and again think about it and made them swoon. 59.6

The deva maidens who were walking on the sky,
And the birds, cows and all other animals,
Were lucky to see you without any hesitation
And the Brindavan was touched by your holy feet, and they ,
Were respected by the Gopa maidens as the ones who were lucky. 59.7

The Gopa maidens thought “ When will we be able to taste,
The nectar of your lips that was left out by your flute?
It is but a distant dream, alas that is but a wish unfulfilled.”.
And suffered great sorrow again and again by extreme love.” 59.8

Oh Lord, thus the gopa maidens day by day ,
Due to the blessing of the God of love,
Increased their passionate love towards you,
And reached a stage, in which all day long,
They were not able to do anything. 59.9

Oh Lord of Guruvayur , the gopa maidens were indeed lucky,
Because while love occurs by itself, the way to salvation,
Can only by arrived at by constant Endeavour,
And both of these were easily got by these Gopa maidens,
And God, please be kind enough to save me. 59.10

Dasakam 60 Stealing of the cloths of Gopis

(The Gopis start doing a penance to Goddess Karthyayani to make them consorts of Lord Krishna. While they were taking bath in the river without any cloths, Lord Krishna steals all their cloths and made them come out of the water and beg for them. Later he promises them that all their wishes would be fulfilled.)

Heart being affected by passion created by the God of love,
Those twinkle eyed beauties, with a wish to serve,
Your lotus like feet , worshipped the Karthyayani idol,
Made by them selves out of sand , in the banks of Yamuna. 60.1

Those beauties , in the mornings went in a crowd,
Talking with each other your name and stories,
Reached the shores of Yamuna, took bath,
And worshipped the goddess with flowers and incense,
And with a prayer, that the son of Nanda should become their husband, 60.2

Seeing them observing the penance of Karthyayani,
For one month, made your heart melt with great pity,
And with an intention of blessing all of them,
You reached the banks of the river Kalindi. 60.3

At that time when their penance was complete,
They all kept their dresses in the banks of Kalindi,
And were indulging themselves in water sports,
And when they saw you there, they felt ashamed. 60.4

Then , when you saw the beauties with bent head,
Due to shyness, you collected all the cloths in the shore,
And climbed on a tree and sat on its branch. 60.5

Then you told them with a smile and in fun,
“Oh ladies with pretty eyes, please come over here
And search for your cloths and take them yourselves,”,
And those lasses were extremely embarrassed. 60.6

Then when they told you, “Oh Lad , live long,
Why are you troubling us who are your slaves.
Oh lotus eyed one , please give back our cloths,”,
But you gave nothing but your smile to them. 60.7

Seeing them coming to the shore with folded hands in salute,
Having got themselves purified themselves by this act,
From the sin of taking bath in the water in the nude,
They had no other refuge except you only.
And you gave back their cloths with a blessing and told. 60.8

You told those maidens without any support,
“ Hey, I have understood the desire of your mind,
And you would get proper answer to your desire,
From the nights blessed by the light of the moon.” 60.9

Those doe eyed damsels hearing those nectar filled words,
Which fell from you , Oh Lord of Guruvayur,
Made them see you again and again without your noticing them,
And made them return with a slow gait to their homes. 60.10

Oh Lord full of mercy , who blessed the Gopis thus,
And later started roaming deep inside the forests like before,
Oh Hari, please cure all my diseases speedily. 60.11

( 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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