॥ Narayaniyam Dasakam 31-40 ॥
“Ramanarayana” translation Of Narayaneeyam By P.R.Ramachander.
Dasakam 31 Humbling the pride of Maha Bali
(this is the continuation of Dasakam 30)
Oh Lord who cannot be defeated by anyone,
Seeing the splendorous light of your body,
That asura became happy and with an idea,
Of satisfying you and making you happy,
With folded arms told you,
“What do you desire from me?, Oh son of a Brahmin,
If you ask me for money or food or house or land,
I can assure you that I will satisfy your request.” ॥ 31.1 ॥
When you heard the words of Maha Bali,
Indicating his great power and riches,
Though you were full of mercy,
With an aim to destroy his pride,
You first praised the asura clan,
And requested for three feet of land,
For if you ask for all the land,
Would you not become a laughing stock? ॥ 31.2 ॥
Mahabali swollen with great pride asked you,
“Why are you asking for only three feet of land,
From me who the lord of the entire universe?
You are childish because you can demand the entire world,
What is the use of this small land that you are asking”
It was this pride which later made Maha Bali,
Not even able to give the three feet that was asked for,
And for getting rid of his pride, Maha Bali,
Had to suffer chastising words as well as imprisonment,
Even though he did not really merit them? ॥ 31.3 ॥
When you told him that a person who will not be satisfied,
By three feet of land, will not be satisfied even if he gets the entire universe,
Mahabali got ready to give you the three feet and took water in his hands,
And then Oh Lord who blesses, with an intention of testing him,
You induced sage Shukra to openly say “Do not give, Do not give,
For this is Lord Hari, who takes away everything.” ॥ 31.4 ॥
Then the emperor of Asuras strongly told,
“If it is indeed Lord Vishnu himself who is begging me,
I have reached complete fulfillment of all my desires,
And I would definitely give it to him, with happiness.”,
And then though sage Shukra cursed him,
With the water given by his wife Vindhyavali,
He gave everything to you along with water, What a great surprise. ॥ 31.5 ॥
When The King of asuras without any apprehension,
Gave all that he owns to you, devas and sages caused a flower rain,
And in the sight of everybody, your divine form,
Went on growing up to the cosmos and grew beyond. ॥ 31.6 ॥
That Brahma washed the top of your feet that reached his world,
With the water kept in his sacred bowl, and that water,
Was the one that purified all the world* and due to their joy,
Devas and Gandharvas danced and the drum was played,
By your great devotee Jambhavan, who went around the world. ॥ 31.7 ॥
*Became river Ganges
Oh God, then the asuras started a war without the consent of Bali,
And they were defeated easily by your attendants who came there suddenly,
And then you told the asuras that you are the embodiment of time,
And yy whose blessing only they had earlier won in wars,
And also told them that their war was absolutely useless,
And obeying you they all left for Patala. ॥ 31.8 ॥
Facing Maha Bali who was tied by the ropes of Varuna,
Brought there by the lord of all birds, you told,
“Since you are the Lord of the world give me the third step,”
And when without hesitation or fear Maha Bali told you,
“Oh God, keep your holy feet on my head,”
Lord Prahlada himself came himself and prayed to you. ॥ 31.9 ॥
You blessed Maha Bali, by saying “All that I have done was aimed,
At destroying your pride Oh Lord of Asuras,
And due to your good deeds, you have achieved everything,
And let you get a world which is much greater than heaven,
And later let you come and merge with me,”
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur, you who got completed,
The Yaga done by Maha Bali through Shukra and others protects me. ॥ 31.10 ॥
Dasakam 32: Incarnation of Fish
(Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of fish to save the Vedas from an Asura called Hayagreeva))
Long, long ago in the deluge that happened after,
The rule of the sixth Manu, Vedas were stolen,
From the mouth of Brahma who was going to sleep,
By Hayagreeva who was a very great Asura,
And at that time, did you not take the form of a fish? ॥ 32.1 ॥
In the hands of Satyavrutha, the Dramila* king,
Who was doing his evening ablations,
You appeared as a mall radiant baby fish. ॥ 32.2 ॥
*Progenitors of Tamils
W hen the king who was a sage who was doing penance,
Left you in the water and saw you getting scared,
He put you in his pitcher and took you to his hermitage,
But Oh Lord within a few days you filled completely that pot,
Later a pond and still later a lake. ॥ 32.3 ॥
Later according to your orders themselves,
Sage Sathyavrutha using his yogic powers,
Took and left you in the great ocean and to the sage,
Who wished to see the deluge, you told,
“Please wait for another seven days.” and then vanished. ॥ 32.4 ॥
When the time told by you came,
The entire earth went under the water,
And Sathyavrutha along with the Saptha Rishis,
Was turned and tossed in the waters and surrendered to you. ॥ 32.5 ॥
Then they all, according to your orders boarded,
In a boat which was the shape that the earth had assumed,
And were greatly frightened by the vehicle on water,
And you appeared before them as very big fish in the ocean. ॥ 32.6 ॥
Seeing your fish form of the size of a hundred thousand yojanas,
Which was glittering with radiance, they all became happy,
And according to your orders tied their boat on your horn. ॥ 32.7 ॥
You with your fish form towed the earth which was a boat,
And showed Sathyavrutha and other sages,
All the parts of the world, and was praised by Sathyavrutha,
And taught all of them the supreme knowledge of self. ॥ 32.8 ॥
At the end of the deluge, you established the seven sages
In their respective places and made king Sathyavrutha,
As the Vaivaswatha Manu and due to the anger,
Of his having stolen the Vedas, you rushed towards Hayagreeva. ॥ 32.9 ॥
With your lofty horn, you tore apart the chest of Hayagreeva,
Retrieved the Vedas sand gave them back to the pleased Brahma,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur, please protect and save me. ॥ 32.10 ॥
Dasakam 33: The story of Ambareesha
(Ambareesha was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu who was always protected by Vishnu Chakra. When sage Durvasa got short-tempered and tried to harm him, that Vishnu Chakra chased sage Durvasa and left him only at the request of Ambareesha.)
Though Ambareesha who was the son of Narapathi,
Who was the son of Nabhaga,
And who himself was the son of Vaivaswatha Manu
Was the king of earth surrounded by the seven oceans,
He was at all times devoted to you and spent his time drowned in you. ॥ 33.1 ॥
Pleased by the devotion of him, who was doing all actions only to please you,
Oh Lord without any loss of time, you wanted to bless him,
And without his demanding, you gave him the Sudarshana Wheel,
Which had one thousand sharp edges, for his protection. ॥ 33.2 ॥
During that time that Ambareesha along with his virtuous wife,
Lived In Madhuvana on the banks of Yamuna with an only aim of worshipping you,
And observed the Dwadasi penance for the entire year along with worship,
And gave away ten million cows as a gift to Brahmins. 33.3
On a Dwadasi day during the breaking of fast, after doing worship of Vishnu,
Sage Durwasa paid a visit to him in his house at Madhuvana,
And the king invited him for food and that sage,
Who had a natural inclination to cause problems,
Walked slowly to Yamuna to complete his noon ablations. ॥ 33.4 ॥
The king due to the anxiety of proper time for breaking fast getting over,
With all his attention concentrated on you, broke fast with only water,
And the sage who returned by that time, coming to know that he has broken his fast,
Berated the king and tearing a piece of his own hair created,
A wicked being called Krithya to destroy the king. ॥ 33.5 ॥
Even when Kruthya armed with a sword marched towards him,
As if it intended to completely burn the world,
The king did not budge from his position,
And your Sudharshana wheel, seeing that your devotee is in danger,
Made kruthya look like a fly which has fallen into the fire,
And started chasing the sage and went after him. ॥ 33.6 ॥
Scared that great sage ran around in all the worlds,
And wherever he went the wheel chased him,
And when he went and sought the protection of Brahma,
He forsook him saying, “who can prevent the wheel of time?”,
The sage went and sought the protection of Lord Shiva,
And he did nothing but he saluted you and kept quiet. ॥ 33.7 ॥
Then you, who are everywhere, told the sage who came and saluted you,
“Sage, I am the slave of my devotees and you well know that,
Knowledge and penance are respected only if it is mixed with humility,
And so go and pray at the feet of king Ambareesha only. ॥ 33.8 ॥
Then itself the great sage went to the place of Ambareesha,
And when he caught the king’s feet, the king praised,
your great weapon and then the holy wheel went away,
And that sage praised the king’s great devotion to you,
And his mercy even to those who do harm to him,
And wished him all sort of good things. ॥ 33.9 ॥
The king who waited for the coming of the sage for one full year,
Did not take any food or drink during that time,
And he fed the great sage well and bid farewell to him who was pleased,
And then took food and he became more devoted to you,
And attained salvation, and Oh Lord of Guruvayur, please protect me. ॥ 33.10 ॥
Dasakam 34: Story of Rama till the meeting with Hanuman
(This Dasakam relates the story of Rama, till he meets Lord Hanuman)
Sage Rishyasringa performed a fire sacrifice in Kosala,
Called Puthra kameshti, and gave the potent payasam,
Arising out of the sacrificial fire to king Dasaratha,
And eating that payasam his three queens became pregnant,
And later you were born as Rama along with,
Bharatha, Lakshmana and Shatrugna to these queens,
Fulfilling the word given to devas to kill Ravana. ॥ 34.1 ॥
Oh God, with the permission of your father, you along with Lakshmana,
Armed with a bow went along with sage Viswamithra to protect his fire sacrifice,
And due to the two chants taught by the sage, you did not have any travel problems,
And as per the words of the sage, you killed Thadaga for the good of mankind,
And you reached his hermitage along with several divine arrows given by the saint. ॥ 34.2 ॥
In the beginning of the fire sacrifice, you drove away Mareecha with your arrows,
And later killed other asuras and on the way, you liberated Ahalya from her curse,
And reaching the city of Mithila, you broke the bow of Lord Shiva,
And married Sita who was really Goddess Lakshmi but was the daughter of earth,
And returned back to your country after marriage along with your brothers and their wives. ॥ 34.3 ॥
After the very angry Parsurama stopped you on the way and gave you his own luster,
You reached Ayodhya, Oh pretty Lord and lived in your palace with Sita happily,
And when Bharatha with Shathrugna had gone to his uncle’s house for a stay,
When your father wanted to celebrate your coronation,
It so happened that it was prevented by the daughter of the king of Kekaya. ॥ 34.4 ॥
You along with Sita and Lakshmana went to the forest,
So that the word of your father is honored and obeyed,
And you stopped the citizens of Ayodhya who followed you,
And reached the place of Guha and wearing matted locks and tree hide,
You crossed the river Ganges and on the way saluted sage Bharadwaja,
And according to his advice, you lived happily on the great Chithrakoota mountains. ॥ 34.5 ॥
You became sad when Bharatha told that your father died due to son’s separation,
And gave libations of water to your late father
And giving your slippers and country to Bharatha,
And later you went and saluted sage Athri and then went to the wide Dandakaranya,
And on your way killed the asura called Viradha and later Oh God,
You saw the happy end of sage Sharabha and granted him salvation. 34.6
Then later you went and met sage Agasthya and saluted him, and took an oath,
To kill all the hoards of Rakshasas so that the sages can live without problems,
And from the saint received the bow of Vishnu as well as Brahmastra,
And on the way met Jatayu the eagle, who was the best friend of your father,
And happily lived with Sita in Panchavai on the banks of the Godavari river. ॥ 34.7 ॥
You who are having the never tiring power, unable to tolerate Soorpanaka,
Who came there with entreaties of love, send her to your brother Lakshmana,
And the very angry Lakshmana cut her nose off and you fought,
With Khara Dhoosha, Trisiras and more than ten thousand Rakshasas,
Who became angry because of the taking away of the prettiness of Soorpanaka,
And you killed them all without effort instantly. ॥ 34.8 ॥
Hearing the news from his sister, Ravana who was full of anger and passion,
Went and met Mareecha and according to his wish, Mareecha appeared,
As a magical deer in front of your hermitage and when Sita wanted the deer,
You chased the deer and killed him, and hearing him shout in deceptive voice for help,
Sita sent your brother to help you and Ravana abducted Sita,
And knowing that though you became sad, realizing that,
An opportunity and motive to kill Ravana have come, you were happy. ॥ 34.9 ॥
Then, when you were going in search of Sita, and when Jatayu breathed his last,
Telling you that Ravana killed him when he tried to prevent the abduction of Sita,
You did after death ceremonies for that great friend, and later killed Kabandha,
Who attempted to catch both of you and eat you both,
And then visiting Shabhari who was your devotee, you met Hanuman,
Who was the son of wind God on the banks of Pampa and became,
Happy because you got his help, Oh Lord of Guruvatyur, please protect me. ॥ 34.10 ॥
Dasakam 35 The story of Rama after treaty with Sugreeva.
(This is the second part of Ramayana and ends with the going away of Sri Rama from this earth)
After meeting with Hanuman, through him you entered into a treaty with Sugreeva,
Threw the skeleton of the asura called Dhundhubhi by using the thumb of your feet,
And then just by one arrow put a hole in the seven sala trees with one trial,
And later you killed the very powerful Bali who tried to kill Sugreeva,
By very unfair means of hiding behind a tree by using an arrow,
And later you suffered and spent the entire rainy season without Sita’s company,
Near to the hermitage of the saint called Matanga ॥ 35.1 ॥
Later after getting scared by the harsh and angry words of your brother Lakshmana,
Sugreeva summoned the monkey army to search for your wife Sita and when they all,
Saluted at your feet and when they were about to start for the search,
You were happy and gave your signet ring and sent a message through Hanuman,
And those monkeys underwent great difficulties in search of your wife Sita. 35.2
As per the words of Sampath, who got back his wings when he heard your story,
That Hanuman jumped and crossed the ocean, saw Sita in the city of Lanka,
Gave her your ring, destroyed Asoka garden, killed Akshaya kumara in war,
Suffered the ties of Brahmastra, met Ravana, burnt the entire Lanka,
And speedily came before you and gave you the hair brooch of Sita. ॥ 35.3 ॥
Then you along with, great monkeys like Sugreeva and Angadha and an army,
Spread all over the land, straight went to the sea, and there met a brother of Ravana,
And gathering the secret information about Ravana told by him,
Requested the sea to give way and when your words were not honored,
You got Prepared to shoot a fire arrow at the God of the sea, and seeing its power,
The sea god was scared and provided a pathway in the middle of the sea. ॥ 35.4 ॥
Building a bridge using the mountains brought from everywhere by the monkeys,
You went to Lanka and you troubled the asura army by monkeys armed,
With only teeth, mountains stones and trees, in the middle of your valorous war,
Indrajit tied you and your brother Lakshmana using the serpent arrow,
And speedily Garuda came there and released both of you from the bondage.,
By the wind generated by the flapping of his very huge wings. ॥ 35.5 ॥
Later that Lakshmana, lost his life by the weapon Shakthi of Indrajit,
And he was brought to life again by the smell of the medicine mountain,
Brought by Hanuman and he killed Indrajit who was very notorious by war of delusion,
And you who lost your balance due to the illusion of asuras,
Was consoled by Vibheeshana and you killed Kumbhakarna,
Along with the army that created tremors on the earth by their march. ॥ 35.6 ॥
You accepted the chariot and armor sent by Devendra, during the war with Ravana,
And in the war, you cut the head of Ravana using the Brahmastra,
And later accepted Sita who was purified by her entering into the fire,
And then along with the monkeys who died earlier but were given life by the devas,
Vibheeshana and your wife Sita, you came to Ayodhya in the Pushpaka Vimana. ॥ 35.7 ॥
After your coronation as king, you lived for more than ten thousand years happily,
And alas you sacrificed the Sita who was in a family way due to public scandal about her,
And you got Lavanasura killed by Shatrugna
And later killed the unjust Shudra called Shambhuka,
And at that time Sita who was living in Valmiki’s hermitage
Gave birth to two of your sons. ॥ 35.8 ॥
According to the suggestion of sage Valmiki, who made your sons sing,
His sweet epic Ramayana in the hall of fire sacrifice,
When you wanted to take back Sita, she entered the earth and vanished,
And the God of death informed you that your time of death has arrived,
And for a certain purpose, you abandoned your brother Lakshmana,
And entered along with all your retinue the Sarayu river and reached Vaikunta. ॥ 35.9 ॥
It is definitely true that this famous incarnation of you as man,
Is to teach that excessive attachment to desire and Dharma,
Would lead to anguish at parting from each other and
Sacrifice and sufferings of innocent fellow beings,
For if this is otherwise, Oh God who holds the holy wheel,
How can there be sorrow in your mind which is full of divine joy?
And Oh virtuous lord of Guruvayur, please cure my diseases. ॥ 35.10 ॥
Dasakam 36: The incarnation of Parasurama
(Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of Lord Parasurama to get rid of the evil and bad kings of the world. He was born as the son of sage Jamadagni. To take revenge on the Kshatriyas who troubled his parents, he massacred them for twenty-one generations.)
In olden times you took the incarnation of Dathathreya,
The son of sage Athri and his wife Anasooya,
And owing to constant harassment by your disciples,
You lost all enthusiasm and started wandering at will,
Along with your wife and you were seen by you,
Great devotee Karthaveeryarjuna, the king of Hehaya,
and you gave him the boon of eightfold wealth,
And also gave him the boon of dying at your own hands. ॥ 36.1 ॥
Oh Lord Vishnu, then to honor the boon given by you to Karthaveeryarjuna,
And to annihilate the entire clan of kings, who were causing harm to Brahmins,
And who had become a great burden to earth and were kept in check,
Only by the valour of king Karthaveeryarjuna, you were born in the Bhrugu clan,
As the last son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka with the name Rama,
Causing very great delight to both your parents. ॥ 36.2 ॥
By the age of fourteen, you had completely mastered all the Vedas,
And cut off the head of your mother due to the order of your father,
Who got very angry with her due to her momentary attraction,
To a great Gandharwa and also killed your brothers,
Who did not obey your father’s order and later,
When your father became peaceful, obtained a boon from him,
To bring all of them back to life and were also blessed by your mother. ॥ 36.3 ॥
Then you went from your hermitage, where Kama Dhenu,
Had been brought by your father to please your mother,
As per the directions of the respectable elder sage Bhrugu,
To the Himalayas and worshipped Lord Shiva there,
And from him got his white axe, killed the asura indicated by him,
And got further very many blessed arrows and other arms,
And got sage Akrita verna as a friend and returned home. ॥ 36.4 ॥
At that time the king Karthaveeryarjuna who had come to hunt in the forest,
Was welcomed by your father and saw the great wealth given by the cow,
And was worshipped along with his army by your father as guests,
And on returning home as per the advice of a bad minister,
He sent the minister to buy Kamadhenu from your father,
And when he tried to take the cow by force and your father prevented it,
And your father was killed by the minister but his army was destroyed by the cow
But the evil-minded minister who was having an army abducted the cow’s calf. ॥ 36.5 ॥
Hearing about what happened from your father,
Who was brought back to life by sage Shukra,
Along with your friend Akrita Verna,
You meditated on Lord Shiva,
And armed with bow, sword and white axe,
Brought by Mahodhara a servant of Lord Shiva,
And getting in to a chariot also brought by him,
You went and requested the king to return the calf,
Several times and when he did not give,
You waged a terrible war against the great king, ॥ 36.6 ॥
Karthaveeryarjuna, the king of Hehaya conducted that great war,
Along with his ten thousand sons, seventeen divisions of the army,
Several very valorous captains and crowds of his devoted friends,
And soon your white axe and arrows killed all his army,
And rest of his army ran away in fear and he attacked you along with his other sons. ॥ 36.7 ॥
Karthaveeryarjuna who was earlier playing by constructing a dam,
In the Narmada river by his two thousand hands, just for fun,
And destroyed the pride of Ravana who was worshipping there,
Used several divine weapons and arrows against you,
But they were stopped by you, and you also stopped the holy wheel,
And this made Karthaveeyarjuna understand that you are Vishnu himself,
And then when he started meditating on you, you cut of all his sins,
And put an end to Karthaveeryarjuna. ॥ 36.8 ॥
And then, when the very angry sons of Karthaveerya killed your father,
Seeing mother Renuka beating her chest several times
You took a fierce oath and by meditation got chariot and arms,
And fought in all directions using the sword and arrow,
Against the Kshatriyas who were traitors of Brahmins,
And made the entire earth free of Kshatriyas. ॥ 36.9 ॥
Then you brought back your father to life again,
And completely destroyed people belonging to clan of kings,
And offered libations to your ancestors,
In Samantha panchaka which are tanks of blood,
And gave away all your land other wealth to Kasyapa and others,
Waged a great War against king Salya, and stopped it,
When sage Sanathkumara told that Lord Krishna would kill him. ॥ 36.10 ॥
Oh Lord of Guruvayur who was Parasurama himself,
When after you discontinued the use of weapons,
And was doing penance in the Mahendra mountain,
Seeing the landmass submerged in the sea from Gokarna,
After hearing the prayers of very many sages,
Using the bow summoned by meditation,
You sent an arrow called fire arrow,
Fearing which the sea moved away with its water,
And you saved and brought up the land of Kerala,
And you who is such a God, please protect me. ॥ 36.11 ॥
Dasakam 37: The happenings leading to Incarnation of Krishna
(The story of the incarnation as Lord Krishna starts with this Dasakam and continues till Dasakam 88. In this, the circumstances behind the incarnation are described in detail. It also includes the killing by Kamsa of all the siblings born before Kamsa to Devaki.)
Oh Lord Vishnu who is the form of divine joy,
Though all the asuras were killed by you
In the battle between Asuras and devas,
Some of them in whom good deeds and sins
Were remaining and did not attain salvation,
Were born in the earth and the earth unable to bear their burden,
Took refuge at the feet of Brahma, who was already approached by all devas. ॥ 37.1 ॥
When the goddess earth lamented pitiably saying,
“Ho, ho I am being crushed by the weight of bad asuras,
And has almost gone and fallen and drowned in the sea,
And so please protect me and you can know about,
My sufferings by asking these Devas assembled here”,
Brahma saw her with compassion and also,
Looked at the faces of devas who were standing with forlorn faces,
And Oh Lord Vishnu, he started meditating on you. ॥ 37.2 ॥
Then Lord Brahma addressing all the devas told them,
“Oh devas, what mother earth has told is very much true,
And it is Lord Vishnu who is taking care of the interests,
Of all of you and also this Goddess of earth, and so,
Let us all approach Lord shiva,
And with him go to the ocean of milk and surrender to him,
And also sing his praises without any delay”,
And all of them came to the place of your residence. ॥ 37.3 ॥
All of them reached the shores of the ocean of milk blessed by a gentle breeze,
And stood together meditating on their feet and Lord Brahma,
Took your great words deep into his mind and making everyone happy,
Told,“ That divine soul Lord Vishnu told me as follows:-“ ॥ 37.4 ॥
Then that Lord Brahma told them your own words as follows,
“ I understand the sufferings of earth and devas due to the very bad kings,
And to completely annihilate those kings, I would be born,
In the Yadava clan, taking my fully complete incarnation,
And let all the devas and deva maidens be born in the clan Of Vrishnis*,
To serve me, along with their power.” ॥ 37.5 ॥
*cowherds
Oh God, hearing your words which were like nectar in their ears,
And getting a completely peaceful mind by the nectar of your mercy,
They all went back to their respective places of residence,
And due to your presence, in the holy and famous city of Mathura,
Vasudeva the son of Soora married the lucky daughter of Devaka. ॥ 37.6 ॥
After the marriage of Devaki and Vasudeva, Kamsa, the brother of Devaki,
Respected them well and went as their chariot driver and on the way,
You told as a voice of the sky, “Hey evil one, Her eighth son would kill you,”,
And the enraged Kamsa was greatly scared and took his sword to kill Devaki. ॥ 37.7 ॥
When that evil one caught hold of the hair of Devaki and was about to kill her,
Vasudeva tried to plead and console him and when he did leave his grip,
Told that he would undertake to give all the babies born to Devaki to him,
And this made Kamsa go home with happiness and later when Vasudeva,
Handed your first brother to Kamsa, he did not kill the child due to love,
And Oh God, this shows that even evil hard-hearted ones have sometimes mercy. ॥ 37.8 ॥
During that time according to your wishes, when the famous sage Narada,
Told Kamsa, the king of Bhojas as follows, “You all belong to the asura clan,
And the Yadavas belong to the deva clan and Oh lord, do you not know,
“That Vishnu as per the request of devas is going to be born to kill you.”,
Kamsa made life difficult for all the Yadavas and killed all the children of Vasudeva. ॥ 37.9 ॥
Then the king of snakes became the fetus of the seventh pregnancy of Devaki,
And Oh Madhava, according to your suggestion Maya Devi, put that child,
In to the womb of Rohini and at that time you who are the embodiment of divine joy,
Entered the womb of Devaki and the devas submitted prayers to you,
And Oh God, you who did all this may please remove all my sickness,
And bless me with supreme devotion towards you. ॥ 37.10 ॥
Dasakam 38: The incarnation of Krishna
(This Dasakam deals with the birth of Krishna in prison and his transport to The labor room of Yasoda who was the wife of the Yadava Chief Nandagopa.)
Oh Lord who is the personification of complete joy,
When the time neared for your incarnation,
The rainy season came along with heavy rich clouds,
Which appeared as if is a powerful light emanating from you. 38.1
When all the environment got cool due to the heavy rain,
And when all good people were joyous because due to fulfillment of their desires,
And at midnight when the moon has just risen, you were born in this world,
So that you can remove the sufferings of all the three worlds. ॥ 38.2 ॥
In the room of your birth, though you were indeed a baby,
Your bluish-black cloud-like form looked as if it was attracting all sorts of wealth,
And the dazzle of your crown, bangles and armlets was mixed along with,
That of the conch, wheel, mace and lotus and was throwing light everywhere. ॥ 38.3 ॥
Oh Lord, who was the son of Vasudeva, due to the look tinged with shyness,
Of Goddess Lakshmi who was completely merged in your chest,
The atmosphere in that place was so surcharged that, it looked as if,
That all the evils in that house due to the badness of Kamsa would be swept away. ॥ 38.4 ॥
Due to seeing you, who is even unattainable to sages, who have attained self-control,
Vasudeva filled both his eyes with your very baby-like form,
And was transported to great ecstasy and horripilation and with choked emotion,
Sang your praises, with his eyes being filled up with honey-like tears. ॥ 38.5 ॥
That Vasudeva with a very joyous mind praised you like this,
“ Oh God who is the divine spirit, be pleased with me,
You are the knife that cuts off the tender creeper of sorrow,
Please remove all my sorrow by your compassionate glance.” ॥ 38.6 ॥
You who were also praised by your mother Devaki,
With eyes full of tears of joy, told your mother and father,
About the happenings in their previous two births, ॥
And as per their request changed your divine form into that of a baby. ॥ 38.7
Due to your suggestion Vasudeva who was the son of Soora,
Readied himself to swap you with the daughter of Nandagopa,
And lifted you, who can be carried only by the mind of great saints,
By his two hands like a young swan seated on a lotus flower. ॥ 38.8 ॥
Then the Yoga Maya, according to your suggestion,
Drowned all city people of the cowherd’s place into deep slumber,
And all the inanimate doors of the prison which were securely locked,
Opened by themselves and this indeed is nothing but wonderful. ॥ 38.9 ॥
Then the very lucky Vasudeva carrying you was shown the way,
By Adhisesha who prevented him from getting drenched in the rain by his hoods,
And lighted his path by the gems on his head,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur, who is like that please cure my diseases. ॥ 38.10 ॥
Dasakam 39: The coming out of Yoga Maya and the festival of Krishna’s birth.
( Vasudeva brings the child Yoga Maya born to Yasoda to the prison. In spite of the baby being a girl, Kamsa tries to dash the baby against a stone. She appears before him and tells him that he who is born to kill him is elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Yadavas of Gokula celebrate the birth of a son to their king.)
When Vasudeva was going ahead carrying you with him,
He saw that the river Yamuna was full of water due to floods,
But that great ebbing water, as if by remarkable divine magic,
Surprisingly receded to a depth sufficient only to wet his feet. ॥ 39.1 ॥
Vasudeva entered the house of the cowherd Nandagopa,
Where all the ladies taking care of cows were sleeping,
And all the doors were open and the little baby girl was crying softly,
And put you in the bed of delivery, and took the girl Yoga Maya,
And speedily returned back to the city of Mathura. ॥ 39.2 ॥
After that, woken by the cry of your baby sister,
The servants informed the news of delivery to Kamsa,
And he rushed there completely perplexed,
And was only able to see a female child in his sister’s hands. ॥ 39.3 ॥
Deciding firmly that this was only a magical trick played,
By the cunning Lord Vishnu, he snatched the baby from his sister’s hands,
Like a big elephant plucking a young lotus flower from the pond,
And dashed your sister who does not have birth or death on a stone. ॥ 39.4 ॥
Then she slipped from the hands of Kamsa,
Like your devotee slipping away from the rope of God of death,
Assumed a very different form, flew up into the sky,
And holding resplendent weapons in her eight arms and shined. ॥ 39.5 ॥
Oh Lord Your sister told him, Oh Cruel Kamsa,
“What would you accomplish by killing me,
For your god of death is already born elsewhere,
And now start getting worried of your welfare,”
And she vanished and she was praised by all devas,
And she is being worshipped in several temples. ॥ 39.6 ॥
Next day morning when the arrogant asuras,
Called Pralamba, Baka and Poothana came to know,
The words of the great goddess from Kamsa,
With a desire to kill you, started roaming everywhere,
Without fear killing all children, indicating that,
There is nothing in the world that cannot be done by people without mercy. ॥ 39.7 ॥
Oh Lord Mukunda, later lying on the delivery bed of Yasoda,
When you started shaking your feet and creating sound,
All the ladies got up and informed everyone, the birth of the son,
And what to say, the entire Gokula became drowned in happiness. ॥ 39.8 ॥
How wonderful, Then that Yasoda won a victory over all blessed persons on earth,
Looking closely at you who was as pretty as a new blue lotus,
And drank your prettiness by her eyes till she was satisfied,
And then fed you her milk slowly caressing your flower-like body. ॥ 39.9 ॥
That Nandagopa becoming extremely joyous and happy,
Gave all sort of Charity to Brahmins, to ensure you’re well being,
And similarly, the cowherds did very many holy acts for your sake,
And Oh Lord who grants good to the entire three worlds,
You kindly cure and save me from my diseases. ॥ 39.10 ॥
Dasakam 40: Salvation to Poothana
(Poothana not knowing where the baby to kill Kamsa was born kills several babies indiscriminately. She reaches Gokula and while she tries to feed Lord Krishna, he sucks her life out and leads her to salvation.)
Later your father Vasudeva after meeting Nandagopa,
Who had come to the capital Mathura to give tribute to the kingdom,
And who was the storehouse of all known good qualities,
After learning about the slaughter of children
Kamsa’s friends told as follows. ॥ 40.1 ॥
“Oh friend, hearing about the birth of a son to you,
Makes me as happy as I myself got a son,”
And by thus telling he conferred the honor,
Of being your father on Nanda Gopal. ॥ 40.2 ॥
He continued, here as well as in your place,
Very bad and evil omens are found to occur,
And so please return back to your home as quickly as possible”
And Nandagopa after hearing these words,
Returned quickly fearing that something bad will happen to you. ॥ 40.3 ॥
At that time in the land of Vruja, a young lady,
Who was very pretty and having luxurious tress,
Around which bees were found to caress,
Came very near to you, Oh Lord who has,
Taken the very deceptive form of a baby. ॥ 40.4 ॥
That Poothana who had stolen the life of many babies,
And who was born in the family of Rakshasas,
And who has dressed in a pretty manner,
Made the cowherd maidens drown in thought,
As to who she is and caught and lifted you up. ॥ 40.5 ॥
That Poothana with her pretty attractive form,
Due to her bewitching ways mesmerized,
The Gopis, who was unable to stop her,
And started to breastfeed you inside the house. ॥ 40.6 ॥
At that time, you who was very angry with her,
For having killed innumerable babies,
Climbed into her lap and sucked her breast,
Which was coated with poison,
Similar to the sucking of mango fruit. ॥ 40.7 ॥
When you sucked her breast along with her soul,
That Poothana made a sound like thunder,
And reverted back to her real form of Rakshasi,
And spreading both her hands fell on the floor. ॥ 40.8 ॥
When the Vruja desa heard that horrible sound,
And happened to see her colossal ugly form,
It was filled with Gopis who were aghast,
And you were playing on the chest of Poothana and,
Was lifted away fortunately by the Gopis. ॥ 40.9 ॥
Oh Lord of Guruvayur who is good to all the worlds,
You who were sought to be protected by the Gopi lasses,
By my chanting your own names, become pleased,
And make me healthy and accept me as your slave. ॥ 40.10 ॥
– Chant Stotra in Other Languages –
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 1 to 10
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 11 to 20
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 21 to 30
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 31 to 40
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 41 to 50
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 51 to 60
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 61 to 70
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 71 to 80
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 81 to 90
Narayaneeyam Dasakam 91 to 100