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“Ramanarayana” translation
Of Narayaneeyam
By
P.R.Ramachander
(This chapter is the summary of the detailed geography of the earth as known at that time
as well as the people occupying different parts.)
I sing about you, Oh Lord who took the form of love* to please thy beloved,
Who is engaged in divine sports, has a very pleasing smile and is pretty,
Who is well served by Goddess Lakshmi and the sons of Prajapathis,
And who is in the pretty continent of Kethumala which is to the west of Ilavarsha. 21.4
*Some people say it is Pradyumna.
I sing about the God of universe, who took the incarnation of fish,
Who is worshipped by Vaivaswatha Manu, the lord of the continent,
Who is the chief of those who have love to his devotees,
Who shines graciously in the heart non jealous devotees,
And who is in the continent Ramyaka, which is north of Ilavarsha. 21.5
I seek protection of the God Yagna Varaha murthy, who is praised by the wise,
Who is being served by Goddess earth with great chants and prayers,
Who had such a gross and big form that his tusks touched the clouds,
And who is in the continent of Utharakuru north of even Hiranmaya. 21.7
(Ajamila was born as Brahmin but became a sinner. At the time of death, he called his
son “Narayana, Narayana.”. The agents of Vishnu took him to heaven by arguing with
Yama’s soldiers that he is purified by this act.)
Oh lord , long ago there lived a virtuous householder Brahmin called Ajamila,
Who obeying the words of his father went to the forest and there he met,
An undesirable characterless woman who was drunk with exuberance. 22.1
Though he was having a peaceful nature being attracted by that loose woman,
He forsook his duties, enjoyed life with her leading to the life of Adharma,
And when he was in the grip of old age, he became attached,
To his son who was called “Narayana”, which is your name. 22.2
When he was in his death bed , being scared at seeing the three messengers of death,
Due to the fact that he was once upon a time , remembering your name,
He called his darling son by his name “Oh Narayana”. 22.3
Though he was a sinner and a man with very bad undesirable character,
As soon as your divine name came out of his mouth,
Your messengers having four hands and wearing yellow silk,
Came in between him and the messengers of Yama, the god of death,
Due to the power of your name being called out by him. 22.4
These attendants of yours stopped Yama’s messengers, who had tied him with a rope,
And were dragging him towards hell by shouting “Please release him”,
And those messengers of Yama who were stopped by your messengers,
Gave a full account of the sins done by Ajamila in his mortal life. 22.5
(This chapter contains the story of Daksha, Chithra Kethu and the Maruths.)
After that Daksha begot sixty daughters and through them several clans,
And Viswaroopa the son of one of his daughters, helped Indra to get victory,
By teaching him one of your prayers* , and Oh God,
“Is not ensuring victory to all , one of your great jobs?” 23.3
*Narayana Kavacha
The merciful sage Narada along with the great sage Angeeras consoled him,
And showed him the soul of his dead son and when that soul asked,
“Whose son am I ?” indicating that he did not recognize the king,
The king got consoled and was sent by the sages to do your service. 23.5
Though Dithi , the mother of Asuras served you and requested for a son,
To kill Indra, she got Maruts as sons and they became friends of Indra,
Proving the fact that even if bad people serve you, only good will result.
And Oh God who is like that , please save me. 23.11
(The story of Prahalada , the son of Hiranya Kasipu begins in this dasaka)
He after doing great penance , made Brahma to speedily appear before him,
And got a boon from him to be not killed either by Devas, Men or animals,
And as result became very arrogant and without even bothering about you,
Started destroying this world for which you are the Lord,
And snatched away the Heavens from the control of Indra. 24.2
When he was asked as what is the best among what he has learned,
He replied that it is devotion to God, and then Hiranyakasipu lost his joy,
And became angry with the teachers of Prahlada and later,
Understanding that it is due to Prahlada’s natural bent of mind,
He started thinking about methods to kill him ,
Who has completely surrendered at your feet. 24.6
When that Asura who became very angry , rolled his eyes in all directions,
And Oh Lord you with a form that is neither an animal nor a man,
Jumped out of the pillar making him ask himself,
“What is this form which is fearsome and wonderful” and was aghast,
And you with the white sharp hair all over you started growing big. 25.2
Let there be victory to this form of yours , with the colour of molten gold,
With very powerful eyes, with the hairs of your mane standing out,
And covering the sky as well as all the directions , With a open mouth,
Which was like a huge big cave, with a very long protruding toungue,
Which was similar to a sword when extended, and with two big protruding teeth. 25.3
I salute your form of the combination of man and lion, with a fierce looking jaw.
Crisscrossed by swollen nerve ends, With a very short but very stout neck,
Which is fierce looking due with the rays emanating from the from ,
The nails of those stout fingers, Which was standing with head touching the sky,
And which was making noise like the fierce thunder from clouds about to rain,
So that enemy would run away due to fear and nervousness. 25.4
Concluding that this must be Vishnu and that he will kill him,
Hiranyakasipu , the king of Asuras tried to go near him rotating a mace,
And you caught hold of his hands by your very stout hands and that hero,
Shook his hands and got free from your grip , and took a sword and a shield,
And after showing many steps and wonder of wonders, jumped at you,
And you looked as if you were prepared to swallow the entire universe. 25.5
Then the asura started rotating again without getting caught by you,
And you caught hold of him with both your hands and,
Pressed him on your thighs, you being seated on the threshold,
And you tore his chest with your very sharp nails, and drank his blood,
Gushing out of him with great satisfaction and roared like a lion,
As if the entire universe was going asunder. 25.6
(A king by curse was turned in to an elephant and lead a pious life. And he was caught by
a crocodile in water. In spite of a great fight the King of elephant was not able to free
himself. And when the elephant called Lord Vishnu, he killed the crocodile and gave
salvation to the elephant.)
When your devotee Indradhyumna , who was a Pandya king,
Was worshipping you on the Malaya mountain,
He did not notice the coming of sage Agasthya
Who had come there to be treated properly as a guest. 26.1
When due to his great strength and greatness of the divine place,
He spent all his time without suffering any hardship,
Once due to the heat of the summer and as per your suggestion,
He went to the lotus pond in the mountain slope
And enjoyed there with other elephants. 26.4
At that time a Gandharva called HuHu who was cursed by sage Devala,
To become a crocodile was living in the waters of that pond,
And he caught hold of the foot of this king like elephant,
And Oh God , you create problems to your devotees ,
So that you can bless them with great peace later. 26.5
(Indra was cursed by Durvasa and became old and weak. Consequently the devas were
defeated. Lord Vishnu suggested that they churn the ocean of milk to get nectar using a
mountain. When the mountain did not stand steady, Lord Vishnu took the form of a
tortoise and lifted up the mountain.)
Oh Lord Vishnu , you along with back which was harder than diamond,
Which had a width spanning more than one lakh yojanas,
And which was reaching up to the foremost depths of the ocean,
Lifted up the Mandhara mountain which had sunk. 27.7
And when the king of mountains came suddenly up from the water,
All the people there were boisterously happy and started churning,
And you entered in Vasuki as well as people on both sides,
Removed their tiredness and increased their strength and vim. 27.8
(Goddess Lakshmi arose from the ocean of milk was churned and Lord Vishnu chose her
as his consort. Later after several other things, Lord Vishnu in the form of Dhanvanthri
rose from the ocean of milk with a pot of nectar. Dhanvanthri is listed as a minor
incarnation of Lord Vishnu.)
That Lakshmi knowing well that Gods like Shiva and Brahma,
Were all ones who love their devotees but were not free from blemishes,
Put the garland of marriage on you who was pretty from all angles. 28.7
And then you yourself who was as pretty as the new cloud,
Came out in the form of Dhanvanthari carrying,
Two golden pots containing the divine nectar.
And Oh lord of Guruvayur , please destroy all my problems. 28.10
(The Asuras who were partners in the churning of the ocean wanted a part of the nectar.
Understanding that it would make them more strong, Lord Vishnu appeared as a pretty
damsel and agreed to serve the nectar to every one. But he served it only to the devas.)
Then seeing you who was having flitting eyes was very attractive and bewitching,
Playing ball in the garden with your garments slipping down ,
Lord Shiva who was the enemy of Manmatha, the God of love,
Became extremely infatuated and passionately embraced you. 29.9
When you slipped away from his embrace and ran away,
Lord Shiva pursued you and due to discharge of his virile fluid,
Suddenly came to his senses and being respected by you,
Explained your greatness to Goddess Parvathi and others,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur who has none to compare, protect me. 29.10
(When Mahabali became very powerful, Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of Vamana
and begged for three feet of land. He then assumed the form of Trivikrama and measured
the entire world in two steps. Mahabali requested him to keep his third step on his head.
Lord Vishnu then made this great asura king to stay in Patala.)
Bali who was killed by Indra , in the battle after churning for nectar,
Was brought back to life by Sage Shukra and with that body,
Did several fire sacrifices and thereby became very powerful,
And became not even afraid of the holy wheel of yours,
Conquered all the three worlds , from which the devas had run away. 30.1
Adithi , the mother of devas unable to see the suffering of her sons,
Went and requested her husband , sage Kasyapa to do some thing,
And according to his advice worshipped you adopting Payovrutha*,
And with great devotion worshipped you for twelve days. 30.2
*A famous penance to get children
When the worship was completed , you appeared before her,
Who was completely immersed herself in your devotion,
In the form with dark blue colour and with four hands,
And you told her , who fell down at your feet in salutation,
“I am going to be born as your son, but keep my appearance as a secret”,
And then you vanished from there. 30.3
Later you entered the seed of sage Kashyapa who was doing penance,
And thus entered the womb of Adithi, making Brahma praise you,
And Adithi gave birth to a divine child , who had a Vaishnavite signs,
On the auspicious Sravana Dwadasi day. 30.4
Hey God , then you were given sacred thread by sage Kasyapa,
And were given mounji grass, stick of palasa, deer skin, chain of beads etc,
And adorned by these and shining with divine light,
You performed the worship to fire and started to the place,
Where Mahabali was doing the Aswamedha sacrifice. 30.6
Though an asura , Mahabali was able to sprinkle that water on his head,
Which water is being sprinkled by Lord Shiva himself on his head,
Possibly because he was born in the clan of Prahlada,
Or possibly because he had carried out very many fire sacrifices,
Or possibly because he had great faith in Brahmin s,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur , please be kind enough to protect me. 30.10