.png)
विषय १ : मंगलाचरण
Topic 1 : Invocation
SHLOK
Meaning : I reverence Vani ,the goddess of speech and Vinayaka (Lord Ganesha), the originators of sounds represented by the alphabet, of the multitudes of objects denoted by those sounds, of poetic sentiments as well as of metres, and the begetters of all auspiciousness.(1)
Meaning : I greet Goddess Parvati and Her consort, Bhagwan Shankara, embodiments of reverence and faith respectively, without which even the adept cannot perceive God enshrined in their very heart. (2)
Meaning : I make obeisance to the eternal preceptor in the form of Lord Shankara, who is all wisdom, and resting on whose head even the crescent moon, though crooked in shape, is universally adored.(3)
Meaning : I pay homage to the king of poets Valmiki ji and the chief of monkeys Hanuman ji, of pure intelligence, both of whom sport in the holy woods in the shape of glories of Sita and Rama. (4)
Meaning : I bow to Sita ji the beloved consort of Shri Rama, who is the creation, operator and destroyer of the universe, she is the one who removes all the problems and gives the blessing of well being to everyone. (5)
Meaning : I adore Lord Hari, known by the name of Shri Rama, who is not only superior to all and but also lies beyond all causes, whose Maya (illusive power) holds sway over the entire universe including gods from Brahma (the Creator) downwards and demons, whose presence lends positive reality to the world of appearances even as the false notion of a serpent is entertained with reference to a rope and whose feet are the only bark for those who are eager to cross the ocean of mundane existence.(6)
Meaning : For the gratification of his own self Tulsidasa brings forth this very elegant composition relating in common parlance the story of the Lord of Raghus, which is in accord with the various Puranas, Vedas and the Agamas (Tantras), and incorporates what has been recorded in the Ramayana (of Valmiki) and culled from some other sources. (7)
सोरठा
Meaning : May Lord Ganesha, the leader of Shiva's retinue, whose very thought ensures success, who carries on his shoulders the head of a beautiful elephant, who is a repository of wisdom and an abode of blessed qualities, shower his grace.1
Meaning :By whose grace the dumb become fluent and the lame climb difficult mountains, may that merciful (God) who burns away all the sins of Kaliyuga, be moved (have mercy) on me.2
Meaning : May the Lord (Narayan) who is dark in complexion like the blue lotus, whose eyes are like the fully bloomed red lotus and who always sleeps in the Kshirsagar (ocean of milk), reside in my heart.3
Meaning : May Shankar (Lord Shiva), who has a body like the Kunda flower and the moon, who is the beloved of Parvati and the abode of mercy, and who has affection for the poor, who subdued Kamadeva, have mercy on me.4
विषय २ : गुरु वंदना
Topic 2 : Salutations to the Guru
Meaning : I bow to the lotus feet of that Guru Maharaj, who is the ocean of mercy and Shri Hari in human form and whose words are like a group of sun rays to destroy the dense darkness of great delusion.5
चौपाई
Meaning : I worship the dust of Guru Maharaja's lotus feet, which is full of delicious taste, fragrance, and the essence of love. It is the beautiful powder of the immortal root (Sanjeevani herb), which destroys the entire family of worldly diseases.1
Meaning :That dust is the pure vibhuti adorning the body of Lord Shiva in the form of Sukruti (virtuous man) and is the mother of beautiful welfare and happiness, it removes the dirt from the beautiful mirror of the mind of the devotee and by applying tilak it controls the group of virtues.2
Meaning : The light of Shri Guru Maharaj's toenails is like the light of gems; just remembering them awakens divine vision in the heart. That light destroys the darkness of ignorance; those who experience it in their hearts are greatly fortunate.3
Meaning :As soon as he enters the heart, the pure eyes of the heart open and the faults and sorrows of the night of the world vanish and the gems and rubies of the character of Shri Ram, hidden and manifest, wherever they are in whatever mine, become visible.4
दोहा
Meaning : Just as by applying Siddhañjana to the eyes, the Sadhakas, Siddhas and Sujanas see many mines in the mountains, forests and inside the earth out of curiosity.1
चौपाई
Meaning :The dust from the feet of Shri Guru Maharaja is a soft and beautiful eye-nectar, which destroys the defects of the eyes. Purifying the eyes of discernment with this ointment, I will narrate the life of Shri Ram, which liberates us from the bondage of the world.1
विषय ३ : ब्राह्मण संत वंदना
Topic 3 : Salutations to Brahmins and Sants
Meaning : First, I bow to the feet of the Brahmins, the gods of the earth, who dispel all doubts born of ignorance. Then, with loving and beautiful words, I offer my salutations to the community of saints, the repository of all virtues.2
Meaning :The character of saints is auspicious like the character (life) of cotton, whose fruit is dull, vivid and full of qualities. (That is, just as the cotton pod is dull, similarly the character of a saint is also dull because it is free from worldly attachments; cotton is bright, and the heart of a saint is also free from the darkness of ignorance and sin, hence it is clear.And cotton has qualities (fibres), similarly the character of a saint is also a storehouse of good qualities, hence he is full of qualities.) [Just as a cotton thread covers the hole made by a needle with its own thread, Or like cotton, it endures the pain of being rolled, cut and woven and yet transforms into a cloth and covers the private parts of others. Similarly, a saint, by enduring suffering himself, covers the flaws of others, due to which he has achieved respectable fame in the world.3
Meaning : The assemblage of saints, which is all joy and felicity, is a moving Prayaga (the king of all holy places). Devotion to Shri Rama represents, in this moving Prayaga, the stream of the holy Ganga, the river of the celestials; while the proceeding of an enquiry into the nature of Brahma (the Absolute) constitutes the Sarasvati (a subterranean stream which is traditionally believed to join the Ganga and the Yamuna at Prayaga, thus accounting for the name Trivení, which signifies a meeting-place of three rivers).4
Meaning :Discourses on Karma or Action, consisting of injunctions and interdictions, have been spoken of as the sacred Yamuna daughter of the sun-god in her angelic form washing the impurities of the Kali age; while the anecdotes of Vishnu and Shiva stand out as the triple stream known as Triveni, bringing joy and blessings to those who listen to them.5
Meaning : Unwavering faith in their own creed constitutes the immortal banyan tree and noble actions represent the royal court of that king of holy places. Easy of access to all on anyday and at every place, this moving Prayaga assuages the afflictions of those who resort to it with reverence.6
Meaning : This king of holy places is beyond all description and supra-mundane in character; it bestows the reward immediately and its glory is manifest.7
दोहा
Meaning : Men who having heard the glory of this moving Prayaga in the form of the assemblage of holy men, appreciate it with an enraptured mind and then take a plunge into it with extreme devotion obtain the four rewards of human existence during their very lifetime.2
चौपाई
Meaning : The result of dipping into the sacred waters of this king of holy places is instantly perceived: crows turn into cuckoos and herons into swans. Let no one marvel to hear this; the glory of contact with saints is no secret.1
Meaning : Valmiki, Narada and Agastya, who was born of a pitcher, have related the story of their birth and transformation with their own lips. Of the various creatures, both animate and inanimate, living in this world, whether in water or on land or in the air, 2
Meaning : whoever has ever attained wisdom, glory, salvation, material prosperity or welfare anywhere and by any means whatsoever, know it to be the result of association with holy men; there is no other means either in the world or in the Vedas.
3
Meaning : Wisdom dawns not without association with saints and such association cannot be easily had without the grace of Shri Råma. Contact with noble souls is the root of joy and blessings; it constitutes the very fruit and fulfilment of all endeavours, whereas all other practices are blossoms as it were.
4
Meaning : Through contact with the virtuous even the wicked get reformed, just as a base metal is transmuted by the touch of the philosopherís stone. On the other hand, if by mischance good men fall into evil company, they maintain their noble character like the gem on the hood of a serpent. 5
Meaning : Even the speech of deities like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, poets and men of wisdom falters in depicting the glory of pious souls. Much less can it be described by me, even as a dealer in vegetables finds himself incapable of expatiating on the qualities of gems.6
दोहा
Meaning : I bow to the saints, who are even-minded towards all and have no friend or foe, just as a flower of good quality placed in the palm of oneës hands communicates its fragrance alike to both the hands (the one which plucked it and that which held and preserved it).3a
Meaning : Realizing thus the noble disposition and loving nature of saints, who are innocent at heart and catholic in spirit, I make this humble submission to them. Listening to my childlike prayer and taking compassion on me, O noble souls, bless me with devotion to the feet of Shri Rama.3b
विषय ४ : खल वंदना
Topic 4 : Salutations to Wicked
चौपाई
Meaning : Again, I greet with a sincere heart the malevolent class, who are hostile without purpose even to the friendly, to whom others loss is their own gain, and who delight in others desolation and wail over their prosperity.1
Meaning : They try to eclipse the glory of Vishnu and Shiva even as the demon Rahu intercepts the light of the full moon (during what is known as the lunar eclipse); and they are valiant like the reputed king Sahasrabahu (so-called because of his possessing a thousand arms) in working others woe. They detect others faults as if with a thousand eyes and their (designing) mind mars othersí interests even as a fly spoils clarified butter.2
Meaning : In splendour they emulate the god of fire and in anger they vie with the god of death, who rides a buffalo. They are rich in crime and vice as Kubera, the god of riches, is in gold. Like the rise of a comet their advancement augurs ill for othersí interests; like the slumber of Kumbhakarna their decline alone is propitious for the world.3
Meaning : They lay down their very life in order to be able to harm others, even as hail-stones dissolve after destroying the crop. I reverence a wicked soul as the fiery (thousand-tongued) serpent-god Shesha, in so far as he eagerly expatiates on others faults with a thousand tongues as it were.4
Meaning : Again, I bow to him as the celebrated king Pæthu (who prayed for ten thousand ears in order to be able to hear the glories of the Lord to his heartís content) in as much as he hears of othersí faults with ten thousand ears as it were. Once more do I supplicate to him as Indra (the lord of celestials) in so far as wine appears charming and beneficial to him (even as the army of gods is beneficent to Indra).5
Meaning : Harsh Ianguage is dear to him even as the thunderbolt is fondly cherished by Indra; and he detects othersí faults with one thousand eyes as it were.6
दोहा
Meaning : The wicked burn with jealousy as they hear of other's welfare, be they his friends, foes or neutrals: such is their wont. Knowing thus, this humble soul makes loving entreaties to them with joined palms.4
चौपाई
Meaning : I for my part have made entreaties to them; they too must not fail to do their part. However fondly you may nurture a brood of crows, can you ever expect ravens to turn non carnivorous1
विषय ५ : संत-असंत वंदना
Topic 5 : Contrast between Saints and Evil-Minded
Meaning : I adore the feet of saint and wicked soul both of whom give pain, though some difference is said to exist between them. Whereas the former class cause mortal pain while parting, the latter give agonizing torment during their meeting. 2
Meaning : Though born together in the world, they differ in their traits even as the lotus and the leech (both of which spring from water). The good and the wicked resemble nectar and wine respectively; the unfathomable ocean in the form of this world is their common parent.3
Meaning : The good and the wicked gather a rich harvest of good reputation and infamy by their respective doings. Although the merits of nectar, the moon the seat of nectar the Ganga the river of the celestialsóand a pious soul, on the one hand, and the demerits of venom, fire, the unholy river Karmanasha which is said to be full of the impurities of the Kali age and the hunter, on the other, are known to all, only that which is to a manís taste appears good to him.4-5
दोहा
Meaning : Of course, a good man has a bias for goodness alone, while a vile person is prone to vileness. While nectar is praised for its immortalizing virtue, poison is extolled for its deadly effects.5
चौपाई
Meaning : The tales of sins and vices of the wicked, on the one hand, and of the virtues of the
virtuous, on the other, are like boundless and unfathomable oceans. That is why I have
enumerated only a few virtues and vices; for they cannot be acquired or discarded without
being duly distinguished.1
Meaning : The good as well as the vile, all have been brought into being by the Creator; it is the Vedas that have differentiated them by reckoning the merits of the former class and the demerits of the other. The Vedas, the Itihasas (such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata) and the Puranas unanimously declare that the creation of Brahma (the Creator) is an intermixture of good and evil.2
Meaning : It is characterized by pairs of opposites such as pain and pleasure, sin and merit, day and night, the good and the wicked, good birth and vile birth, demons and gods, the high and the low, nectar and poison, a happy life and death, Maya and Brahma, i.e., Matter and Spirit, the soul and God (the Lord of the universe), plenty and poverty, the pauper and the king, the sacred Kaashi or Varanasi and Magadha or North Bihar (the accursed land), the holy Ganga the river of the celestials and the unholy Karmanasha (in Bihar), the desert land of Maravara (Western Rajapμutana and Sindha) and the rich soil of Malava, the Brahmin who is a veritable god on earth and the barbarian who feeds on the cow, heaven and hell, attachment and dispassion. The Vedas and other sacred books have sifted good from evil.3-5
दोहा
Meaning : God has created the universe consisting of animate and inanimate beings as partaking of both good and evil; swans in the form of saints imbibe the milk of goodness rejecting water in the form of evil.6
चौपाई
Meaning : When Providence blesses one with such discrimination (as is possessed by the swan), then alone does the mind abandon evil and gets enamoured of goodness. By force of the spirit of the times, old habits and past Karma even the good deviate from goodness under the influence of Maya. 1
Meaning : But just as servants of Shri Hari rectify that error and, eradicating sorrow and weakness, bring untarnished glory to them, even so the wicked occasionally perform a noble deed due to their good association, although their evil nature, which is unchangeable, cannot be obliterated.2
Meaning : Even those who are impostors are respected on account of their garb, as the world is taken in by their attractive appearance. But they are eventually exposed, and cannot keep up their false appearance till the end, as was the case with Kalanemi, Ravana and Rahu.3
Meaning : The good are honoured notwithstanding their un becaning appearance, even as Jambavan (a general of Sugriva’s army, who was endowed with the form of a bear and possessed miraculous strength) and Hanuman (the monkey-god) won honour in this world. Bad association is harmful, while good company is an asset in itself: this is true in the world as well as in the eyes of the Vedas, and is known to all.4
Meaning : Through contact with the wind dust ascends to the sky, while it is assimilated with mud when united with low-lying waters. Parrots and Mainås nurtured in the house of the virtuous and the wicked repeat the name of Rama and pour a volley of abuses respectively. 5
Meaning : Smoke coming in contact with an evil (earthy) substance turns into soot; the same is used as a material for copying the Puranas with when converted into beautiful ink. Again, in conjunction with water, fire and air it is transformed into a cloud and brings life to the world.6
दोहा
Meaning The planets, medicines, water, air and cloth prove good or bad in the world according to their good or evil associations; only men endowed with a keen insight are able to know this. 7a
Meaning : The proportion of moonlight and darkness is the same in the bright as well as in the dark fortnight; only the two have been named differently by the Creator. Knowing the one as the nourisher and the other as the emaciator of the moon, the world has given it a good name and a bad one.7b