Mukunda - Mala. Shri krishnah saranam mama .

MUKUNDA - MALA

 

1- I Salute, bowing down my head. King Kula-shekhara whose city the pilgrimage to Shri Rangam was proclaimed everyday!

2. I Salute Mukunda of eyes like lotus petals, of teeth white like jasmine, moon or conch, in the form of a young cowherd, whose feet are worshipped by gods like Indra, whose abode is Vrindavan and who is the son of Vasudeva!

3. O Mukunda! Kindly make me cry for you always as ‘Shri Vallabha (the beloved of Lakshmi), Varada (the giver of boons), the compassionate One, the beloved and lover of devotees, the expert in destroying the worldly sorrows, the Master, the One resting on a snake, the One dwelling in the whole universe.’

4. Victory to the Lord, the son of Devaki! Victory of Krishna, the Light of the Vrishni clan! Victory to the Lord of soft body, dark blue like a cloud! victory to Mukunda, the One who removes all burden on earth!

5. O Mukunda! With prostrations, I beg you, single-pointedly, for just this: “By Your grace, may I never forget Your Lotus feet, in life after life!”

6. I do not salute Your pair of feet with the motive of going beyond the pairs (of opposites, i.e. the limited existence in the world)! Nor is it with the idea of saving myself from the terrible hell known as Kumbhipaka! Not even the desire to enjoy with the lovely damsels of soft, beautiful bodies in the heaven’s garden known as Nandana is behind my worship of You! My only wish is that I may meditate upon You in the temple of my heart always, wherever I am!

7. I have no interest in gaining more merit, acquiring more wealth or enjoying more sense-pleasures! O Lord, let anything happen which is destined to be my lot as per my past actions. This alone is my intense prayer: may I have very steady devotion to Your lotus feet in life after life!

8. No matter where I stay, even for long time, in heaven or on earth, or even in hell (Naraka), O slayer of the demon Naraka, I will always think of Your feet that put to shame even the charm of the lotus flowers of autumn, even at the time of my death!

9. O Krishna! May the royal swan of my mind enter today itself into the nest (safe palce) of Your lotus feet. How can one (otherwise) be sure of remembering You later, when one’s pranas are leaving one’s body (i.e. one is on the throes of death), with phlegm, wind, and bile blocking one’s throat (and making breathing itself difficult)?

10. On Hari alone I meditate constantly; on Him who has a soft smile on His lotus face, who is the son of the cowherd Nanda, who is higher than the highest and who is adored by sages like Narada.

11. Tired by roaming in the desert of worldly existence, ! find now this beautiful lake named Hari. Taking a refreshing bath in it, drinking its water which is His radiant , compassion, I give up all my sorrow today! This lake ‘Hart has His lovely hands and feet as the lotuses, His charmins eyes as the fish in it, His attractive arms as the rising waves in it, and relieving us of all our exhaustion, it has indeed great depth.

12. O mind, do not stop ever in your revelry in the Lord, the destroyer of the demon Mura, holding the conch and the disc, having eye like lotuses. I do not ever know any other joy comparable with the nectarine remembrance of the feet of Shri Hari!

13. O dull mind! Do not fear at all, thinking in various ways the possible long tortures in hell (the place of Yama). These sins (of the past) that are our enemies cannot ever overpower us, as Lord Shridhara is our Master. Putting aside all laziness, medidate on Narayana who can be easily gained by devotion. He is the One who removes the distress of one and all in the world; is He not capable of protecting His own servant?

14. The boat known as ‘Vishnu’ alone is the refuge for all humanity who are caught in the ocean of worldly existence, contantly hit by strong winds of the pairs of opposites (heat & cold etc.), pulled down by the weight of responsibilities regarding son, daughter and wife, getting drowned in the water of sense objects which are ever a problem and not having any (other) boat at all!

15. O mind! Do not get anxious as ‘How shall I cross the ocean of worldly existence which is deep and hard to cross?’ Just your firm devotion to the lotus-eyed God, the destroyer of the demon Naraka, alone will take you across, undoubtedly!

16. O Lord of the three worlds, O Giver of boons! Grant to us the boat of ‘devotion to Your lotus feet!’ We are sinking in this great ocean named ‘worldly existence’ which has its water called ‘desire’, and has the rising waves of ‘delusion’ caused by the wind of ‘lust’, has the whirlpool of (attachment to) ‘wife’ (woman), is terrible with sharks of (selfish entanglements with) sons and brothers!

17. O Madhava! O Lord of earth! May I never see, even for a moment, people who, with their diminished merits, have no devotion to your lotus feet! May I never hear any poetic composition which has other tales as their content than the stories of Yours! May I not even remember those people who deny You in their heart! May I never, in life after life, be one who does not worship You!

18. Lord Shripathi alone is to be served and worshipped constantly for He has ‘affection’ for His devotees, grants ‘fearlessness,’ removes ‘afflictions’ of the suffereing, has ‘generosity,’ removes all ‘sin’ and bestows upon His devotees incalculable and bountiful ‘benefits!’ There are six evidences (cases in support) for these (six) great qualities. They are Prahlada, Vibhishana, the elephant, Draupadi, Ahalya and Dhruva (respectively)!

19. O tongue, chant ‘Keshava.’ O mind, think of the enemy of Mura. O two hands, worship Shridhara. O ears, listen to an stories of Achyuta. O eyes, behold Krishna. O feet, walk the temple of Hari. O nose, smell the basil leaf from the feet of Mukunda. O head, bow down before Lord Adhokshaja!

20. O people, listen to this ‘treatment’ for the disease of birth and death (the trasmigratory existence). Great sages like Yajnavalkya who know the deep secrets of the Spirit prescribe this. Drink the nectarine, supreme medicine named Krishna who is the One immeasurable Light within you. This, upon being drunk, grants to you the supreme health known as eternal liberation!

21. O mortals! Listen to this; it is most beneficial to you! I shall tell you briefly. You have indeed entered deeply into the ocean of worldly existence which has many waves of afflictions. Leaving aside all kinds of (wrong) knowledge (or ignorance), chant, in your mind, this sacred formula | (mantra) of ‘Namo Narayanaya’ along with Om and along with repeated prostrations.

22. In comparison with You, the earth is a tiny dust particle; all water in the world is but a drop; all fire is a small, light sport; wind is a thin outbreath and space is a tiny hole only. Rudra, Brahma and such gods are insignificant and other gods are like insects. Such is the Vision of You where Your infinite glory shines victoriously, having no bounds!

23. May our life be enriched constantly by such devotion to You, O Lord of lotus eyes, that we may ever taste the nectar of meditation upon Your lotus feet daily, with joyous tears flowing down from our eyes, with our throat choked with emotion making our voice affected, with all our limbs experiencing horripilation, with our head bowed down in respect and with our hands folded in a gesture of offering (flowers or our pranams).

24. Gopala (cowherd), O ocean of mercy, O Lord of Lakshmi (daughter of ocean), O Slayer of Kamsa, O One who showed compassion to the elephant, O Madhava, O younger brother of Balarama, O Teacher of the three worlds, O Lotus eyed One, O the Master of the Gopis, kindly protect me! I know not any one other than You!

25. May the Crest-Jewel called Gopala lead us to the good! He is indeed the precious stone called Garuda at the sight of which the snakes of various dangers to devotees flee! He is the protective jewel for the three worlds. He is the precious jewel that acts like the cloud (bringing showers) for which the Chataka bird of the eyes of Gopis eagerly await. He is the jewel of the highest standard of beauty. He is the single decorative jewel on the big, beautiful breasts of the jewel among His wives, namely Rukmini and He is truly the Crest jewel among all gods!

26. O tongue, chant! Please chant again and again the mantra ‘Shri Krishna’ constantly for this mantra fulfils our very life. This mantra destroys all the enemies, it is adored by statements of all Upanishads; it takes us across the ocean of worldly existence; it is the mantra that destroys all the darkness (of confusion in our minds) accumulated over a long time; it gives us rulership over everything and can protect us even when we might be bitten by the snake of some very bad addictions!

27. O mind, drink the divine ‘medicine’ of ‘Shri Krishna.’ This is the medicine that removes the worst delusions; it makes our mind contemplate as saints and sages do; it causes great pain to mighty demons (that might try to trouble us, like Hiranya-kashipu did to Prahlada); it breathes fresh life in the three worlds; it brings great benefit to devotees; it destroys all fear that rises in the worldly life and it leads us to the highest good!

28. Lord Narayana is victorious — without remembering whose lotus feet, all study of Vedas is (wasteful) like crying in a forest; observing various VOWS daily as mentioned in Vedas can only reduce one’s body fat ( and not give spiritual benefit at all); all social service is like offering oblations into ash (and not into fire, in which case alone it would be meaningful); taking bath at holy places is like the elephant’s bath (i.e. wasteful, for an elephant pours mud upon itself after bath!)

29. Who did not get their desires fulfilled, uttering the holy name ‘NARAYANA?’ Even sinners got great benefit by chanting this name! Alas! Our speech did not engage itself in the chanting of this very holy name in the past; therefore, all this sorrow in the present, beginning with entering the womb (of mother), has come to us!

30. O Master of the world, O Lord who is the enemy of demons like Madhu and Kaitabha! The one reward that I seek in life, the one favour that I beg you for and the one act of Grace that I expect of You is this alone: Kindly remember me as your most humble devotee and as the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Yours.

31. What wretched fools we are! Alas! We seek to serve some low person who might own a few villages and can give us very little! And this is the case when (as an option), we have Lord Narayana, the best Person, our Master, the Ruler of the three worlds, worthy of adoration with all our heart, the bestower of His own state to His devotees!

32. O Cupid, vacate my mind! My mind is the place meant for the lotus feet of Mukunda. You are already reduced (to a bodyless existence) by the fire from the eye of Lord Shiva. Don’t you remember the power of Shri Murari’s disc?

33. O tongue, I pray to you with folded hands. Take to the names of the Lord, pointing to Shri Narayana. These holy names indicate the truth that is higher than the highest and are, to the pious, like fruits exuding honey.

34. This body which, by its (youthful) growth, looks beautiful will surely fall one day, after growing old and having all its joints slip off. O deluded man of spoiled mind, why do you suffer more and more with all kinds of medicines (to make the body younger etc.)? Drink (by chanting) the sweet name of Shri Krishna which keeps away all ills.

35. I know not anything else than this much, with regard to You: Your wife is the daughter of the great (milk) ocean; Your son is Brahma, the Creator; the Vedas extol You; all the gods are Your servants; liberation is the grace that You bestow; all this world is the show of Your power; Devaki is Your mother and Arjuna (son of Indra) is Your friend.

36. May Shri Krishna, the Teacher of the three worlds protect us. I salute Shri Krishna. The demons who are enemies of gods are killed by Shri Krishna. Salutations to that Shri Krishna. This world has sprung from Shri Krishna alone. I am the servent of Shri Krishna. All this entirely stays in Shri Krishna. O Shri Krishna, save me!

37. Therefore, O Lord, be gracious upon Me who has none other than You. O Vishnu, show kindness towarvs me, You are indeed most compassionate. O the Infinite One, You ought to uplift me who has sunk in the ocean of worldly existence and is miserable. O Hari, You are the Supreme Person.

38. I salute the lotus feet of Shri Narayana. I perform always the worship of Shri Narayana. I chant the pure (and the purifying) name of Shri Narayan I remember the changeless principles that Shri Narayana is.

39. “Shri Natha, Narayana, Vasudeva, Shri Krishna, the lover (and beloved) of devotees, the One with disc in hand, the One with lotus arising from the navel, the One who never falls, the slayer of Kaitabha, Shri Rama, the One with lotus eyes, the slayer of Mura...”

40. Ananta (the Infinite), Vaikuntha, Mukunda (the giver of liberation), Krishna, Govinda, Damodara (He with a rope at His waist), Madhava (Shri Lakshmi’s Lord)” — in this way, a man is easily in a position to utter the names of the Lord. Yet, no one utters. Oh, how prone to evil addictions people are!

41. They surely attain the supreme state of Vishnu who meditate on Shri Vishnu, the infinite, changeless One, ever present in our own heart lotus and ever granting fearlessness to those who fix their minds on Him.

42. I offer to Narayana all that I do with the body, speech, mind, organs of action and perception, intellect, by force of my nature.

43. Saluations to Madhava, the slayer of Madhu who is reclining on Adi Shesha and whose lovely form is comparable with the blue sky where the drops, sprinkled upon His body by the waves of the milk ocean, shine like stars.

44. I need not beg for it; I need not buy it; it does not get spoiled with time; it need not be cooked; it does not diminish; it is not difficult to carry! Such is the food provisions that I have with me for my further journey (after the fall of this body) from here. It is none other than the ambrosial Name of Shri Krishna!

45. This composition was made by King Kula-shekhara who is ever the bee that hovers over the lotus feet of Shri Krishna of lotus eyes and who had two good, dear friends named Padma and Shara who were both gifted with wonderful memory and were adept in poetry!

 

 

 

* Shri Krishna is my refuge *