Rama-caritabdhi-ratna of Nityananda Shastri
by Satya Vrat Shastri | 2005 | 75,230 words
This is the English translation of the Rama-caritabdhi-ratna by Pandit Nityananda Shastri. It is a distinguished Sanskrit Mahakavya (epic poem) that chronicles Lord Rama’s life in fourteen cantos, symbolic of the jewels yielded from the Milk Ocean when churned. His work showcases an extraordinary command of grammar, vocabulary, and rare poetic tech...
Appendix 2 - The jewel of the eulogy of Rama come out of the mouth of Siva
atha sivamukha-sampaditam sriramastavaratnam | adityabhasuranakhau vipada -samuha- paryayadavadahane davacitrabhanu | dasapriyau tava padau raghunatha dhiman manjusriyau saranayami sumangalaya || 1 || pasyat-priya tava tanu raghuvamsaratna hatra rujam sapadi darsita-harsa-sima | tapacchidindurugiva ksanada sukhastha ramramyatam manasi me'tra tamo'paniya || 2 || dahapaharisubhadrkprasarodabinduh tanapravarsaparidharsita-tarsi- duhkha | ramramhi . darsanapaye krtaloka -raksa sarvapriyo'bda iva rama jagat-sukhaya || 3 || vandye'rkavamsa upajanya bhavamstriloka- samkalpamatra - parikalpana- karmakaro | panya'nujaisca gurubhirghatito'bjanabha dampatya-harda - gurubhaktigururbabhuva || 4 || 410
The jewel of the eulogy of Rama come out of the mouth of Siva:�1. O Raghunatha (Rama), O the wise one, I take refuge for nice well-being in your beautiful feet dear to servants which have nails shining like the sun and which are the forest conflagration in burning (=destroying) one by one the forest of calamities. 2. O the jewel of the Raghu's race, may your image in good health dear to those who look at it take delight in my mind in full removing the darkness (of ignorance), the image which cures diseases, which at once shows the ultimate of delight, which removes torment, which gives comfort like the ray of the moon, which is wellstationed in the sky in the nights [ksanada sukhastha] is capable of double interpretation: ksanada sukhastha or ksanadasu khastha by splitting the words differently]. 3. O Rama, you who provides protection to worlds, who removes the torment of the thirsty who have pinned their hopes in you by raining on them the drops of water in the form of your auspicious sight which cures the inflammatory fever [which is nothing else than being away from you] move about in all delight in my view for the joy of the world like a cloud. 4. O you with lotus in the navel (=Visnu) who are an architect of creating the three worlds by your very intent, having taken birth in the solar race became the teacher for marital attachment, [fraternal] love and devotion to elders with your relationship with your wife, your brother and elders (=parents). 411
loke subhaya bhavata bhavata'vata sa kakodarah phanabhrtam ripuneva tata | bhindan sthitim rajanicaripatih pramethe, atha parisistamsah rama prasasaka itiha bhavan hi bhati || 5 || mammanyamanamanisam munibhih pradipra- srivayusununatamauli milat-sukanti | ramasya tat padayugam mukutam surajna- mahovinasi vinamami sada subhaya || 6 || bhusa satisu dayita bata yasya vama yogyam tvavama iti laksmanako'sti caru | bhutva ca sammukhamavancati vayusutir yojyat sa vah prabhuranindyadhiya'tisobhi || 7 || ante svabhistam prarthayate- namram krtarthayasi laksmana cedavama mampasi cet tvamapi janaki he'mba devi | yadyatanosi hanuman karunamavakra hamsayatam mama hi manasametya ramah || 8 || 412
5. O dear Rama, just as Garuda destroys serpents in time to save the world, in the same way you too destroyed Ravana (lit. the lord of demons) who was breaking the moral law (or breaching proper conduct) to save the world for its well-being. It is for this reason that you shine in the world as a ruler (one who disciplines the undisciplined). 6. I bow for my good all time to the feet of Rama which destroy sin, which are the crown for good kings [Rama being the lord of lords], with which unites the lustre of the shining crown of the son of the wind (Hanumat) bowing to them and which are being constantly meditated upon by the sages. 7. Wow! Whose dear wife is the ornament of the chaste among women, who occupies the place towards his left side [vama also means 'one who is against or anti to somebody'; since it will not go well with Sita, the word has to be understood in the sense of 'as one who is towards the left side'], while Laksmana looks good towards the right of him. The son of wind (Hanumat) bows to him in front. May that Lord in his excessive charm unite you with intellect with no blemish. 8. O favourable Laksmana, if you make me happy, O Mother Goddess Janaki, if you protect me, O straightforward Hanumat if you shower your compassion on me, then Rama coming over to my mind (manasa) be like a swan in the Manasa lake. 413