Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
“Ramanarayana” translation
Of Narayaneeyam
By
P.R.Ramachander
(The superiority of devotion as a method of attaining God is argued out in this chapter.)
Oh Lord Krishna , who is within all beings and the God who blesses even Devas,
I think the best remedy for removing fear of the dying man who becomes sad imagining
That things which are not there exists, is the extolling of the virtues of your feet,
For only by such devotion all sort of fears one is subjected to can be removed,
And that is the reason why the devotee who practices the method of worships,
As taught by you does not dash on any thing , even if he runs due to illusion,
With closed eyes in a strange path that he is not accustomed to. 91.1
Oh divine God , due to the directions given by your power which is inside me,
All the acts that I do again and again either by my body or by my mind or by my words,
Are offered by me now to you and even though your devotee belongs to a lowly caste,
When he surrenders his mind, acts , words, sense organs, sensations due to them,
And his soul to you , he makes this world great and very much blessed,
But a Brahmin who is indifferent to your feet does not become blessed. 91.2
For reaching the greatest goal of salvation , among the various methods,
Is the one through devotion and in this I will hear the stories of your incarnations,
Sing your name again and again clapping my hands
Which will melt my mind quickly and some times laugh loudly,
Sometimes cry and some times shout your names wildly,
And some other times sing and sometimes jump like a mad man,
And travel away from the routine of the very ordinary people,
Oh God, shower mercy on me to help me do that. 91.5
I salute the five elements like earth , which are you yourself,
The birds , fishes , animals and others, men , relations ,
Enemies and the entire universe made of these five elements,
And Oh Lord of the universe, by serving you I would get ,
Firm devotion, detachment and understanding that,
The knowledge that everything that we see is yourself ,
Without any effort due to your great mercy . 91.6
Due to my mind melting and merging with you , not getting tired,
By the life on earth involving feelings like hunger and thirst,
Always meditating on you and not leaving your feet even for a second,
And understanding that likes and dislikes are created illusions,
I would travel with a pleasant mind without any sorrow or joy,
Due the moon light showered on me by the crescent moons of your toe nails. 91.7
Let me not be troubled by the illusion which hides your real form,
By the mirages like earth, water and air appear before me,
Which pushes beings to sorrow depending on their Karmic load,
Oh God of the universe , Sage Prabudha has told that the only way,
To conquer this illusion is the real and firm devotion to your feet . 91.9
(This chapter deals with the act of devotion mixed with rituals. Devotion is a superior and
easier method in the Kali age)
Oh God, in the mode of worship that is different from that prescribed by Vedas,
I would visualize you in the pretty and purely cent percent Sathva aspect,
Which is agreeable to my mind using stone, mud or in my mind or elsewhere,
And along with the little amount of devotion that I have earned, offer you,
Clean flowers like Thulasi , scented substances like sandal paste and food offerings,
Regularly and through pure worship attain your blessings and grace. 92.2
I sympathize with women and low born who do not get an opportunity,
Of hearing or singing your stories and holy names but I am sad and pained,
About those twice born castes who , in spite of their having reached near your feet,
Are more interested in pleasures of life or sacrifice this great opportunity,
For the sake of earning their livelihood and in spite of being taught by you several times,
Do not care to understand your teachings and I am wondering within myself,
About all that these people can do due to pride coming out of wisdom and high birth.92.3
This great sinner to hide his evil acts shouts loudly “Rama, Krishna”,
So that is heard in all directions and due to his shameless shouting,
I am not able to say several things that I really want to say.
This my brother who has defeatist mentality acts as if he always prays Lord Vishnu,
And these non devotees make fun of your devotees ,
Who have surrendered their mind to you and please do not make me one of them. 92.4
In the Kritha yuga men please you , who is sage with white splendour, by penance,
In the Tretha yuga , they please you ,who is red and holding various accessories,
Of fire sacrifice in your hand by performing fire sacrifices,
In the Dwapara yuga they please you who is black in colour and,
Who holds conch, wheel and flower by performing thanthric worship,
But in Kali yuga they please you who is blue in colour,
By singing your names, and listening to your great tales. 92.5
In the Kali age devotees are found everywhere more so in the Dravida region,
And even there more on the banks of Cauvery, Thamraparni , Kruthamala,
And on the banks of the very holy Neela *river and Oh Lord of Guruvayur,
Please do not tie me, who was born in this region and also possessing some devotion,
Tightly by the rope of worldly pleasures and help me,
Fulfill my desire of serving you always with devotion. 92.7
*Bharatha puzha of Kerala
Oh greatest among Gods, great sages have pointed out that Ganges, Bhgawad Gita,
Gayathri mantra, Tulasi leaf, Gopi Chandana, Saligrama , Ekadasi fasting,
And chanting of your holy names are the eight methods , which are easy to practice,
Lead to increase of your grace and ultimately lead one to salvation in this Kali age,
And so please grant me interest and desire to practice them with devotion 92.9
He who sacrifices all activities and surrenders to you , Oh God who is all beings,
Is not born as a debtor to devas, sages and manes , nor is he their slave,
And all the Karmic load that he inherits are wiped out by you living in his heart,
And so Oh Lord of Guruvayur , destroy my sorrows caused by sins committed by me,
And make my devotion to you perfect and ever living. 92.10
(The very interesting fact that anything or person will have some thing to teach you is
brought out.)
Like water I would be without dirt and wash away dirt from everything
And would be sweet for every one,
Like the fire in spite of eating different types of food,
I would not get affected by the food that I eat,
Like the fire that burns from different types of wood,
Being the same , I would understand my soul is no different ,
From the millions of the soul in this world,
From the growth and diminishing phase of the moon,
I would understand all changes are for the body,
And does not affect the soul inside and not only that,
By your grace I will understand that soul is same,
Though it appears different occupying different bodies. 93.4
Like a small child , not spoiled by pride I would live without problems,
Oh God, Like a solitary bangle without any company , leaving out,
The sound of conversation , I would start living,
Like a mechanic making arrows not hearing the sound of procession of the king,
I would concentrate my mind on you and lead a life without knowing any other thing,
Like a snake staying in the rat hole, I would live in houses made by others. 93.7
I understood from the spider that you merge yourself with the world created by you,
I would understand from the hunter that I would become like you , if I think of you,
This body dirty from birth to death and
Which turns to ashes after death is a good teacher,
If we examine properly that body makes us understand the wisdom,
Of the difference between soul and non soul and also teaches renunciation,
And to me , my body affected by many diseases teaches wisdom and detachment. 93.8
Those who are made pure by actions without attachment to their fruits,
And those who have become pure by observing acts of Dharma,
From the teachings of the great Guru , gain knowledge about your form,
Which is very distinct from the body as well as the sense organs,
And which is every where and which is called the supreme Brahmam,
And the fact that properties like stoutness , thinness , diversity and so on,
Which are attributed to you , who is the divine supreme Brahman,
Arise out of the association of yourself with some distinct body,
And is similar to fire being called small , big , bright or dim. 94.1
The greatly shining fire of wisdom produced by churning of the base stick,
Called teacher by the upper fire stick called disciple ,
Burns the misconception that this physical world is real,
And also the delusions caused by past deeds and the body that it creates,
And when there is nothing else is left to be burnt , that fire of wisdom is put out,
And in that state definitely one becomes identical with the divine supreme God. 94.2
Except for the realization of the God , when you become one with it,
There exists no other method whatsoever to remove all sorrows and distress,
For methods such as cure of diseases by chants, the six tactics adopted ,
By kings to deal with their enemies and eight fold concepts of Yoga,
Are not quite effective like this method , and even if some results are realized,
Those who perform them forget you completely due to pride of their achievement ,
And when they reach this baser state ,they would suffer countless sorrows. 94.3
Oh Padmanabha , There are no other worlds which are fear free like Vaikunta,
At the time of deluge even the Brahma gets scared in Sathya loka ,
Due to his being completely engulfed in your divine form, and when this is so,
What would the fate of the householders who do actions devoid of Dharma ,
And have earned in their life endless sufferings and so Oh God,
Who blesses , who is the friend of the oppressed and a sea of mercy,
I request you alone to cut off all my attachments completely. 94.4
What is the point of describing that state of the freedom of the soul,
For such a state is far, far away to any one with an unclean mind,
And it is for sure that this state of the mind cannot be attained,
By anything other than devotion to you , and so Oh Lord Vishnu,
Please bless me with staunch devotion to you where,
I surrender everything to you, using which , I would speedily,
Get salvation with minimum teaching from a Guru. 94.6
There are some others who completely believe only in Vedic sayings,
And alas Oh God, they are not understanding , that they are working unnecessarily,
For those who carry those sayings which do not give rise to devotion,
Are like those who are breeding a cow which is barren,
And Oh God , let me not read any of those words that does not mention,
The stories of your pretty incarnations which are divine and capable of destroying sins,
And also describe your form of supreme divine joy. 94.7
Oh God who is everywhere, I do not know any thing of your form, your importance ,
And your activities and this is certain , Oh God who gave salvation to even Shishupala,
Even at this stage let my mind not waver and let me with great attention ,
Pray Only you and be able to see and touch your idols as well as your devotees,
And let my mind be engaged in your worship, salutation, prayer,
And singing of your great qualities always. 94.8
Oh God , I am your servant and let me offer you all that I get in my hand,
Let me be able to again and again be able to do lowly services in your temple,
And I worship you in the shining four formed form which shines,
In the Sun, Fire , Brahmin and the Soul and let my mind melt in the love of God,
Always without stop and turn in to a continuous flow. 94.9
Oh God who gave birth to this universe, at the time of the formation of this world,
You were in the body of Hiranya Garbha who is the universal form of all beings,
And later attained the state of living beings with three characteristics,
Due to illusion and kept on increasing till you attained the state of devotion,
And later destroyed the other two qualities by the Sathva aspect and later destroyed,
Even the Sathva aspect and later became the God,
Without any support whatsoever and without any properties. 95.1
For the people wedded to rituals several means of fulfillment are there,
But Oh Lord Krishna , they lead to trivial joy or that which is temporary,
And you have taught your friend Udhava that the best possible method,
Of attaining you is only through the path of devotion and to the worldly ones,
The joy that they attain when they sing about you is indeed matchless. 95.3
To the one who attains a joyous mind through devotion to you,
There would not by any other desires and he would see only joy everywhere,
Like a world appearing full of water to the one who lies inside the pond,
And that type of devotee does not desire for heaven of Indra,
Sathyaloka of Brahma nor occult powers which makes the mind happy,
And not only that he does not even desire the salvation which comes automatically. 95.4
Due to not being able to control the sense organs , even when momentary pleasures
Attack your devotee due to the repeated attacks of devotion ,
Those pleasures get weakened and would not be able to win over the devotee,
For ,similar to the raging fire completely burning away heaps of firewood,
When the collection of your devotion completely burns away sins,
How long can the false pride of sense organs last? 95.5
How can the mind get pure without melting of the mind ,
Thrill of the body, and tears of joy ?
What benefit can one without devotion get by doing penance or acquiring knowledge?
If the divine collyrium of enjoyment got out of knowing your divine stories,
Keeps on cleaning the mind this soul can clearly see the inner truth,
And this inner truth cannot be attained by any amount of reading Shastras. 95.6
Oh God, with my mind running all over your limbs again and again,
I would fix my mind on your lotus like smiling face in between those limbs,
And when my mind melts and merges with the non dual divine Brahman in you,
Without thinking on any other thing, I would merge in Samadhi with you. 95.9
(God is everywhere but he is more so in certain things and places. Such centers are
identified.)
Those who with devotion carry out the Dharma prescribed to different Varnas,
As well as that Of a Brahmachari after completely dedicating their actions to you,
When detachment increases in their mind , leave out such actions,
And realize that they are themselves the divine Brahmam which has the form,
Of existence, consciousness and bliss, which is same in all materials and beings,
And which is the cause as well as not the cause for the entire universe,
And also get the real knowledge of you who is pure and great. 96.3
The three paths of Jnana Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga and Karma yoga are the methods,
Of this world to reach you who is the divine Brahmam, and among the three,
Jnana Yoga is meant for those people who get detachment and dispassion,
But for those who are attached to this world , the method prescribed is Karma Yoga,
But for those who do not have great attachment and also do not have great detachment,
And get devoted to you by the narration of stories of your greatness,
It is well known that the path prescribed for them is Bhakthi Yoga. 96.4
Sage Vyasa says that an attempt at Jnana yoga without devotion is waste,
But the one who learns about supreme soul from the teacher ,
And attains stead fast devotion to you , gets salvation in his palm,
But due to instability of mind , the accusation that it is difficult to follow,
The path of devotion applies equally to the path of Jnana also ,
And it is relatively easy to master the technique of meditation,
Due to your mercy as well as constant practice by the devotee. 96.7
Once there was a Brahmin who when he lost all his hard earned wealth,
Became one with a mind full of the dirt of anger and hatred,
And consequently was shunned by the society at large,
And told like this, “ The reason for my sorrow is not,
Outsiders, time , action or effect of planets like Sun,
But I am sure my mind is the reason for it and that mind does all actions,
Insinuating the capacity of action as well as consumption on the soul,”
And then he became extremely serene and attained you easily,
Oh Lord please also bless me with that type of serenity. 96.9
Once upon a time there was king called Pururuvas who was infatuated,
With a celestial lady called Urvasi and after serving her for a long time,
Attained detachment and concluded that the carnal pleasures are insignificant,
And again and again sang about this conclusion of his and later
Became full, by earning devotion to you and also divinely happy and attained salvation,
And oh Lord of Guruvayur ., please make me detached of minor pleasures,
And also make me your great devotee and alas the problem standing in my way,
In attainment of this are my diseases and so destroy all my illnesses. 96.10
Hey God, Keeping my mind fixed on you and spending this life,
Offering thought words and action as an offering to you,
Going to pilgrimage to those holy places which are worshipped,
By your present day devotees and those who have lived earlier,
Treating a thief, a Brahmin and animals in a equal manner,
Leaving out insults competition, and jealousy from life,
I would worship always you in all beings where ever you exist. 97.2
Till my mind firmly and truly recognizes that a Brahmin and a thief,
Are different forms of yourselves, I would continue worshipping you,
Always as indicated earlier till I get to know that the soul is one entity,
And spend all my life with you only , Oh God , once this Dharma,
Of a devotee is started it will never , ever die out and so,
Oh Lord of the universe , whatever happens please,
Grant me this very interesting path of devotion and bless me. 97.3
Markandeya thus gained very long life, and being attracted by incomparable bliss,
He spent six periods of different Manus by concentrating his mind deeply in you,
In the banks of the river Pushpa Bhadra and the seventh king of the devas,
Tried to entice that sage by sending celestial maids, gentle breeze and the God of love,
But since they all wilted in the heat of the great penance of Markandeya ,
He failed miserably and Oh God who ever has so far conquered your devotees? 97.5
When things were like that you who along with your friend Nara,
Very much wanted to see Markandeya and paid a visit to him,
And that Markandeya praised you continuously by several prayers,
But refused any boons from you , though you were prepared to give any boon,
And when you compelled him, he requested you to show him Maya(illusion),
For he being a sage without any desire and mind filled with devotion,
Was not aware of the sorrow caused by Maya and wanted to see it,
Out of his simple curiosity and sense of wonder. 97.6
As soon as you left that place , from the thick clouds shaken and flown fast,
By huge cyclones and storms, rain poured and filled the seven seas,
And the entire earth was covered by floods and Markandeya floated in it,
For billions of years and was troubled by it and saw at a distance you,
As a small baby black in colour, keeping its thumb in his mouth
And lying on a banyan leaf and floating in that water making him greatly surprised. 97.7
That king of sages was thrilled from head to feet on seeing you,
And with a desire to touch you , speedily went near you,
And he was sucked inside you through your inhalation,
And there inside he saw the entire universe,
And later he came out through the process of exhalation,
And fell down and you showered your glance on him,
And that sage who was extremely elated wanted to hug you,
And then you disappeared from there and everything became as before. 97.8
Later Lord Shiva wanted to see your favourite devotee and he came,
Along with Goddess Parvathi and appeared in front of Sage Markandeya,
And he blessed that sage with agelessness and immortality and other powers,
Without the sage asking him and Lord Shiva went back to his place.,
And this proves that even that enemy of God of love can only be pleased,
By serving you and this clearly proves that you are the sacred trinity,
And the one God who controls every body. 97.9
( The difficulties in concentrating on God the concept without any form is brought out.)
Though you do not have birth, actions, name and also different attributes,
You assume all of them independently for the good of the world through Maya,
Taking in to your control, knowledge and ignorance though you are formless,
Due to your being innately miraculous , you shone in various forms,
And Oh God , I salute you who is full of divine joy and the form of salvation. 98.2
Your form is not animals, birds, human beings, devas, asuras male or female,
Your form is not wealth, actions, caste , characters, existing and not existing,
So say the people who know you and they say that you are the one who would,
Still remain at the end , when we keep on rejecting things as not yourself,
And you are the one recognized by several sayings of the Upanishads ,
With great difficulty by your definitions as the divine supreme being,
And you shine in that form and my salutations to you. 98.3
Existing or non existing or being problematic to decide whether existing or non existing,
Is this rope of ignorance which is assumed and identified as the snake by many,
And this world is similar to that as it appears as existing to all of us,
And this same illusion , under the presence of the tide of the divine mercy,
When we slowly start understanding the implication of Vedic philosophy,
Becomes the great axe of wisdom and helps us to clear the forest of life,
And Oh God who is everything, my salutations to you. 98.6
When we think about the principle of the world, like the Gold in the case of ornaments,
Like the clay in case of pot and other earthen vessels , the Brahmam in you,
Which is without any second in this world shines lustrously,
And like a man realizing the truth after waking up after the dream ,
And like the realization about the rope after the day break,
When ignorance is removed, the real truth in the principle,
Would become clear and shine, Oh Krishna my salutations to you. 98.7
The reason for the sun shining , fire burning and wind blowing,
And gods like Brahma doing the jobs like sacrifices allotted them efficiently,
Is the fear that they have in you and all of them were appointed,
In the places that they occupy by you and Oh Krishna,
Who is the great God controlling everything, our salutations to you. 98.8
Using the three yogas namely Jnana, Karma and Bhakthi, I sing about you,
Who creates this world inlaid with the three Gunas Sathva, Rajas and Thamas,
Who is the meaning of the sacred sound Aum formed by three letters,
Who is the unified form of three Gods namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva,
Who has the form that is praised by three Vedas Rik, Yajur and Sama,
Who knows the three states of human beings namely waking up , sleep and dream,
Who has taken incarnations in the three ions namely Thretha, Dwapara and Kali,
Who has taken measurement of the three worlds in his Vamana incarnation,
And who does not change in the three periods namely past, present and future. 98.9
Victory to the spot less and taintless form of yours which is truth and pure,
Which is ever wakeful , which is not related with anything,
Which is divine and does not have any wishes whatsoever,
Which is without any second and without any emotions,
Which shines due to the presence of all good qualities,
Which does not have a cause and does not have any emotions,
Which does not have any end , which shines with infinite glory,
Which is innately present in the minds of great sages practicing Samadhi,
And which has incomparable joy within it, which has a shining form. 98.10
May not, your very powerful wheel of time with twelve spokes,
Three hundred and sixty teeth and which rotates with immeasurable speed,
And which drags forcefully this world and which cannot be stopped by any one,
Cause any harm to me, who does not have any support except your feet,
Hey Lord Vishnu, Hey ocean of mercy, Hey Lord of Guruvayur,
Please save me from all diseases and give me protection. 98.11
Oh God Vishnu , all those who are already born and also those ,
Who are going to be born have not yet found the limit of your greatness,
And understanding their greatness , I again and again chant your names,
I also praise you with several prayers, you who live in Vaikunta,
Which is shining above all these three worlds. 99.5
Oh World , you do not know that this world was created by Lord Vishnu,
And also that within your heart there is another image of Vishnu,
And in spite of that fact you spend your time ,
With illusion covering your mind like a film of snow,
With thoroughly misunderstanding the names and forms,
With the mind and body satisfied with pleasure of senses,
And with interest in rituals like Yaga but with no interest in Vishnu. 99.7
Due to that reason by which , though you assume the form of the three worlds,
You exist outside it as the endless and purest knowledge ,
And your greatness is indeed wonderful for only a very small part of yourself,
Is seen occupying all the three worlds and the rest of it,
Which is nearly three fourth of the whole shines above the three worlds,
Oh Lord my salutations to you who is like that. 99.9
I find it difficult to understand that abstract form of yours which is not clear,
But find it very easy to comprehend that pure Sathva form of yours,
Which is equivalent to the waves of the great ocean of nectar,
And due to that greater than everything that I perceive here,
And very pleasant to my mind and I surrender to that form of yours,
Oh Lord of Guruvayur , Oh Krishna, please protect me quickly. 99.10
(This is the last chapter of Narayaneeyam. This describes the poets description of God as
he saw him in front of his eyes while writing this chapter. The last line of Narayaneeyam
is “Long life, Health and happiness.”)
Oh Lord , let your eyes ,which cools the entire world by its merciful looks.
Which are made more prettier by your eye bows which move,
Like the small tides of the completely filled ocean of mercy,
Which are further made prettier by the black gleaming eye lashes,
Which eyes are having the shape petals of red lotus,
And within those eyes are the extremely pretty pupils,
May be turned on me who does not have any one except you. 100.3