Sri Ramachandra Kripalu

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April 19, 2013

Happy Ramanavami everybody!

Dickens was a clever fellow, wasn’t he? I reckon he hit the nail on the head with the
Ghost of Christmas Past. Just as Scrooge was haunted by this Ghost, I too feel the
presence of the Ghost of Ramanavami Past all around me today. Is this how it is for
everybody? Do we all go through life shaped and then haunted by an unchangeable past
and hemmed in by an unpredictable future? I wonder, what past am I creating today?
How will it haunt me later?

Thankfully for me, unlike Scrooge’s Ghost, my Ghost only shows me warm and wonderful
memories of Ramanavami. From its annals of collective memory, it shows me the joy of
Lord Rama’s birth and from my own personal memory, it shows me the joys of
celebrations past.

As I pick the song for today I am haunted more than by just Ramanavami. This song has
sent me hurling back in time to my school years. Every morning I would be woken by
Vividh Bharati’s 6 am devotional music program which featured songs like my choice of
the day. I would sip my tea standing on the veranda, watching the sun make its way up
the horizon, listening to the songs on the radio accompanied by mum’s voice joining in as
she busied herself in the kitchen. She would have woken much earlier, for she would
have showered, then finished her half-hour morning puja, made filter-coffee and be well
into making lunch. On festival days and holidays, this morning devotional music would be
followed by Venkatesha Suprabhatam and Vishnu Sahasranamam on my father’s
favourite possession – a Grundig tape recorder that he bought in Germany in the 1960s.
For the rest of the festival day, there would be non-stop Carnatic Music.

What a feast my mum would lay out for us! There would be panagam and kosumalli in
addition to the festival menu of many dishes with vadai & payasam. How many hours she
would have spent in the kitchen! Why don’t I remember thanking her? Forget festivals, did

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I even thank her for getting up early enough to pack me a cooked lunch everyday? I can’t
remember. So after all, I too have a ghost which haunts me –the Ghost of ingratitude, of
taking my mother’s love for granted, for were not her meals just edible love?

Today’s song is by the great poet-saint Tulsidas (1532-1623). He extolls Rama’s beauty in
wonderful verse, calling him equal to ‘innumerable Cupids’, like a ‘lustrous white lightning
in his yellow garments’. The sounds of the words ring as pleasingly as the description of
his Lord. For lyrics and translation, see footnote. His prayer is basically for the Lord who
is the ‘destroyer of the great fears of life’ to ‘live in the lotus of my heart’. Is that not our
prayer too?

So here is the voice which sang so beautifully through my growing years, Lata
Mangeshkar, singing Sri Ramachandra Kripalu Bhaja Mana.

Watch Video At: https://youtu.be/YBt0zQ1eZf8

For those who are unfamiliar with the life of Tulsidas, there is a Hindi film made in 1954
which is available on youtube with subtitles. Though it does stretch what is essentially
quite a short story, I still enjoyed watching it; I do like the innocence of old films.

Footnote (Lyrics) :

श्री रामच द्र कृपालु भज मन हरण भव-भय दा णम् ।

नव-कंज-लोचन कंज-मुख कर-कंज पद-कंजा णं॥१॥

कंदप अगिणत अिमत छिव नव नील नीरद सु दरम् ।

पट पीत मानहु तिड़त िच शुिच नौिम जनक सुता वरम् ॥

भज दीन ब धु िदनेश दानव दै य वंश िनक दनम् ।

रघु न द आनंद कंद कोसल-चंद दशरथ न दनम् ॥

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िशर मुकुट कु डल ितलक चा उदार अ ग िवभषू णम् ।
आजानु भुज शर चाप धर स ग्राम िजत खर दूषणम् ॥

इित वदित तुल सीदास श कर शेष-मुिन मन र जनम् ।

मम दय कंज िनवास कु कामािद खलदल-गंजनं॥

shrI rAmachandra kripAlu bhaja mana haraNa bhava bhaya dAruNam

nava-kanja-lOchana kanja-mukha kara-kanja pada-kanjAruNam

kandarpa agaNita amita chavi nava nIla nIrada sundaram

paTa pIta mAnahu taDita ruchi shuchi naumi janaka sutA varam

bhaja dIna bandhu dinEsha dAnava daitya vansha nikandanam

raghu nanda Ananda kanda kOsala chanda dasharatha nandanam

shira mukuTa kuNDala tilaka chAru udAra anga vibhUshaNam

AjAnu-bhuja shara chApa dhara sangrAma jita khara dUshaNam

iti vadati tulasIdAsa shankara shEsha muni mana ranjanam

mama hrdaya kanja nivAsa kuru kAmAdi khaladala ganjanam

O Mind (mana)! Pray (bhaja) to compassionate (kripAlu) Ramachandra who destroys

(haraNa) the great (dAruNa) fears of life (bhava-bhaya). With eyes (lOchana) like a new
(nava) lotus (kanja), with a face (mukha) like a lotus (kanja), and feet (pada) like a
crimson (aruNa=dawn) lotus (kanja).

With boundless (amita) splendour (chavi) like innumerable (agaNita) cupids (kandarpa),
he is as beautiful (sundaram) as a new (nava) blue (implies rain?) (nIla) cloud (nIrada). I
bow (noumi) to that groom (varam) of Janaka’s daughter (sutA), who is like (mAnahu) a
lustrous (ruchi) white (shuchi) lightning (taDita) in his yellow (pIta) garments (paTa).

I bow (bhaja) to the Sun-like (diNesha) friend (bandhu) of the wretched (dIna), destroyer
(nikandanam) of the demons (dAnava & daityA) dynasties (vansha). Son (nanda) of the
Raghu dynasty, root (kanda) of joy (Ananda), gladdens (chanda) the Kosalas (his
mother’s dynasty), son of Dasharatha.

Beautiful (chAru) with a crown (mukuTa) on his head (shira), earrings (kunDala), and
mark on his forehead (tilaka) and limbs (anga) generously (udAra) decorated
(vibhUshaNam). With long hands to his knees (AjAnu-bhuja), holding (dhara) a bow
(chApa) and arrow (shara) , winner (jIta) of the battle (sangrAma) with khara and
dhUshaNa.

Thus (iti) says (vadati) tulasIdAsa. He who pleases (ranjana) the minds (mana) of
Shankara and Adisesha (sEsha muni), who has contempt (ganjanam) for the wicked
things (khala-dala) like (Adi) desire (kAma), please dwell (nivAsa kuru) in the lotus (kanja)
of my heart (hridaya),

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