NARAYANEEYAM, DASAKA 96

               NARAYANEEYAM, DASAKA 96
Narayaneeyam, considered to be a Magnum Opus of Meppathur
Narayanabhattathiri,  is a masterly
summary of  Srimad Bhagavatam in 1034
sanskrit slokas of great poetic merit. 
The whole work is divided into 100 dasakas of mostly ten slokas  each. It was completed in 100 days at the end
of which Bhattathiri, who was suffering from chronic rheumatic disease, was
completely cured and also had a beatific vision of the Lord of Guruvayoor as Venugopala
. In the last sloka of each dasaka Bhattathiri cries out his heart,  praying to the Lord to end his afflictions
and restore his health. Dasakas 91-99 contain the essence of the Eleventh Canto
of Srimadbhagavatam
which focuses on
the sadhanas for Self-realisation or mukti, liberation from the
cycle of births and deaths. As in the previous dasakas,  Bhattathiri directly addresses the Lord of
Guruvayoor in these dasakas also.    
 .        
Given below is the text
of the 96th  dasaka which
describes the vibhutis (deivine manifestations) of the Lord  and also about Gnaana, Karma and Bhakti
yogas..
त्वं
हि ब्रह्मैव साक्षात् परमुरुमहिमन्नक्षराणामकार-
 स्तारो मन्त्रेषु राज्ञां मनुरसि मुनिषु
त्वं भृगुर्नारदोऽपि।
प्रह्लादो
दानवानां पशुषु च सुरभिः पक्षिणाम् वैनतेयो
नागानामस्यनन्तः
सुरसरिदपि च स्रोतसां विश्वमूर्ते ॥१॥
O
Lord of Guruvayur, Embodiment of the whole world and of immeasurable greatness
! You are the Parabrahma, the Ultimate Reality.  Of alphabets (aksharas) You are the
alphabet ‘A’ (‘अ’), 
of mantras You are Om (ओम्), of Kings you are Swayambhuva
Manu,  of saints (maharshis)
You are Bhrigu and Narada, of asuras You are Prahlada, of animals You
are Kamadhenu, of birds you are Garuda, of serpents You are Adisesha,
of rivers you are the celestial Ganga.  
ब्रह्मण्यानां
बलिस्त्वं क्रतुषु च जपयज्ञोऽसि वीरेषु पार्थो
  भक्तानामुद्धवस्त्वं बलमसि बलिनां
धाम तेजस्विनां त्वम्।
नास्त्यन्तस्त्वद्विभूतेर्विकसदतिशयं
वस्तु सर्वं त्वमेव
  त्वं जीवस्त्वं प्रधानं यदिह
भवदृते तन्न किञ्चित् प्रपञ्चे ॥२॥
Of
those who revere brahmins you are Bali, of yagnas You are japa yagna
(chanting the names of the Lord), of valiant fighters you are Arjuna, of
devotees you are Uddhava, of strong men You are the strength, of the shining you
are the light.  There is no end to your
greatness. Whetever is wondrous in this world is Your manifestation only. You
are the prakriti and purusha
There is nothing in this world which is not You (your manifestation).        
धर्मं
वर्णाश्रमाणां श्रुतिपथविहितं त्वत्परत्वेन भक्या
  कुर्वन्तोऽन्तर्विरागे विकसति शनकैः
सन्त्यजन्तो लभन्ते।
सत्तास्फूर्तिप्रियत्वात्मकमखिलपदार्थेषु
भिन्नेष्वभिन्नं
   निर्मूलं विश्वमूलं परममहमिति त्वद्विबोधं
विशुद्धम्॥३॥
Those
who follow the discipline of the varnas (brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya
and sudra) and ashramas (brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha
and sanyasa) as laid down in the Vedas with devotion to you
and surrendering (the fruits of their actions) at your lotus feet will
development detachment and gradually give up this path.  In them will arise the knowledge (experience)  that “ I am that  Brahman, 
whose swarupa is Absolute Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, the
One and only One immanent in all beings, the root cause of the worlds and
itself without a cause.” Thus he gains the highest and the purest knowledge of
You, O Lord!   
  
ज्ञानं
कर्मापि भक्तिस्त्रितयमपि त्वत्प्रापकं तत्र ताव-
  निर्विण्णानामशेषे बिषय इह भवेज्ज्ञानयोगेऽधिकारः।
सक्तानां
कर्मयोगस्त्वयि हि विनिहितो ये तु नात्यन्त सक्ता
  नाप्यत्यन्तं विरक्तास्त्वयि
च धृतरसा भक्तियोगो ह्यमीषाम् ॥४॥
Knowledge,
Action and Devotion- all three lead to You. Those who have gained complete  detachment from all materialistic things  and pleasures of the senses (vairagya)
qualify for the path of knowledge. Those who are totally attached to material
things and pleasures of the senses are fit only for the path of Action. The
path of Devotion, bhakti, is for those who are partially attached to and
partially detached from sensual pleasures etc. 
    
ज्ञानं
त्वद्भक्ततां वा लघु सुकृतवशान्मर्त्यलोके लभन्ते
  तस्मादत्रैव जन्म स्पृहयति
भगवन्! नाकगो नारको वा।
आविष्टं
मां तु दैवाद् भवजलनिधिपोतायिते मर्त्यदेहे
  त्वं कृत्वा कर्णधारं गुरुमनुगुणवातायितस्तारयेथाः
॥५॥
Knowledge
and Bhakti can be gained in this martyaloka (world of humans) by their punya
(fruit of meritorious actions done by them in their previous births).  For this reason even the denizens of swarga
(
heaven) and naraka (hell) desire to take birth in martyaloka.
Fortunately,  I have taken a birth in
this martyaloka  with a human body
which is like a ship to cross this ocean of samsara.  With a guru (spritual teacher) as the
captain of this ship and You, acting as the favourable wind, kindly take me
across this ocean of samsara.     
अव्यक्तं
मार्गयन्तः श्रुतिभिरपि नयैः केवलज्ञानलुब्धाः
   क्लिश्यन्तेऽतीव सिद्धिं बहुतरजनुषामन्त
एवाप्नुवन्ति।
दूरस्थः
कर्मयोगोऽपि च परमफले नन्वयं भक्तियोग-
    स्त्वामूलादेव हृद्यस्त्वरितमयि
भवत्प्रापको वर्धतां मे॥६॥
Those
who are keen on taking to the path of Knowledge and seeking the Unmanifest Brahman
by following the methods propounded in the Upanishadic and mimamsa texts,
pass through great difficulties and achieve their objective only after taking many
births. The path of action is also far far away from the Ultimate objective of mukti,
liberation.  But the path of devotion,
bhakti,
is sweet from the root upwards and takes one to You quickly.  May this bhakti increase in me, O
Lord!  . 
 
ज्ञानायैवातियत्नं
मुनिरपवदते ब्रह्मतत्त्वं तु शृण्वन्
    गाढं त्वत्पादभक्तिं शरणमयति यस्तस्य
मुक्तिः कराग्रे।
त्वद्ध्यानेऽपीह
तुल्या पुनरसुकरता चित्तचाञ्चल्यहेतो-
    रभ्यासादाशु शक्यं तदपि वशयितुं
त्वत्कृपाचारुताभ्याम्॥७॥
Saint
(Vyasa) disagrees that more effort is required only in the path of
Knowledge.  After hearing  about the Brahman from a competent guru,
if one takes refuge in unwavering devotion to Your lotus feet, his mukti,
liberation, is at the tip of his hand.  Dhyana (meditation) is equally difficult
because of the wavering, unstable nature of the mind.  But it can be brought under control by
practice, Your grace and your captivating form.
  
निर्विण्णः
कर्ममार्गे खलु विषमतमे त्वत्कथादौ च गाढं
    जातश्रद्धोऽपि कामानयि भुवनपते!
नैव शक्नोमि हातुम्।
तद्भूयो
निश्चयेन त्वयि निहितमना दोषबुद्ध्या भजंस्तान्
    पुष्णीयां भक्तिमेव त्वयि हृदयगते
मंक्षु नङ्क्ष्यन्ति सङ्गा ।८॥
Relinquishing
the most difficult path of Karma  and having developed liking and keen interest
in stories of your leelas, I am unable to give up desires (for sensual
objects). While fulfilling those desires, I shall remind myself that they are
stumbling blocks in the path of bhakti, and endeavour to cultivate unwavering  devotion  to your lotus feet. Once You are firmly established
in my heart all attachments will snap completely.    
कश्चित्
क्लेशार्जितार्थक्षयविमलमतिर्नुद्यमानो जनौघैः
  प्रागेवं प्राह विप्रो ’न खलु मम जनः कालकर्मगहा वा।
चेतो
मे दुःखहेतुस्तदिह गुणगणं भावयत् सर्वकारी’-
  त्युक्त्वा शान्तो गतस्त्वां मम च
कुरु विभो! तादृशीं चित्तशान्तिम्॥९॥
Once upon
a time a brahmin, whose mind became detached and purified when he lost all his
hard-earned wealth, said when people tormented him that “Neither people, nor
time, action or planets is the cause of my sorrow.  The mind which projects doership and
enjoyership on the atman,  is the root
cause of my sorrow.”  Saying thus he became
calm and peaceful and merged in You. O Lord! give me similar calmness and peace
of mind.  
ऐलः
प्रागुर्वशीं प्रत्यतिविवशमनाः सेवमानश्चिरं तां
   गाढं निर्विद्य भूयो युवतिसुखमिदं
क्षुद्रमेवेति गायन्।
त्वद्भक्तिं
प्राप्य पूर्णः सुखतरमचरत् तद्वदुद्धूतसङ्गं
    भक्तोत्तंसं क्रिया मां पवनपुरपते!
हन्त! मे रुन्धि रोगान्॥१०॥
Long
ago King Pururavas was madly in love with Urvasi and  (subsequently) he enjoyed her company for a long
time. Then he was fed up and became extremely detached. Singing repeatedly that
the pleasure from women is frivolous and worthless, he gained devotion to your
lotus feet and,  attaining jivanmukti,
 went around immersed in supreme bliss. O
Lord of Guruvayur!  make me devoid of all
attachments and the crest jewel  among  your devotees.      

  

Sri P R Ramamurthy Ji was the author of this website. When he started this website in 2009, he was in his eighties. He was able to publish such a great number of posts in limited time of 4 years. We appreciate his enthusiasm for Sanskrit Literature. Authors story in his own words : http://ramamurthypr1931.blogspot.com/

Author Socials Follow me

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.