Dasakam 71-80 Translation

Dasakam 71-80

“ Ramanarayana” translation
Of Narayaneeyam
By
P.R.Ramachander

Dasakam 71 Killing of Kesi and Vyomasura

(The killing of Kesi who came as a horse and Vyomasura who came as a Gopa boy and imprisoned the Gopa boys and cows in a cave.)

An Asura called Kesi , who was a very close friend of Kamsa,
And one who used to get success in all his attempts.
Possibly thinking that people of Sindhu * can easily approach you ,
Came before you in the form of a horse born in Sindhu*. 71.1
*Sindhu is sea as well as a region where horses are bred.

Though he was wicked and had taken a form of Gandharva(Horse),
He with his fierce sound that hurts ears scared all people,
And came speedily towards you,
After destroying all the hamlets of Gopas. 71.2
*Gandharva also denotes horse.

This asura who came in the form of a horse(Tharkshya),
Kicked you , who had kept his leg on Garuda(Tharkshya),
On your chest , because possibly he had heard that the sage Bhrugu,
Had kicked you and thought foolishly that he can also do it. 71.3

You evaded the kick of his hooves,
And speedily threw him to a very great distance,
And though he lost his consciousness then,
He woke up and due his very great anger,
At you ,rushed towards you to bite you. 71.4

Then having decided to kill that horse,
You thrust your hand in to his mouth,
And enlarged the arm to immense size,
And killed him by obstructing his breath,
And though he came as a horse ,
He attained salvation merging with you. 71.5

You thus did the new type of Aswamedha sacrifice,
Which consisted of killing a horse and this made,
All the devas very happy and they decided to call you Kesava,
The killer of Kesi and prayed you in several ways. 71.6

Narada who had told Kamsa that you are the son of Vasudeva,
And then later prevented Kamsa from killing of Vasudeva,
Arrived at that place as soon as Kesi was killed,
And sang many prayers addressed to you. 71.7

Once a great asura who was a great magician,
Who was a son of Maya the architect himself ,
Who was a great enemy of devas and was named Vyoma,
Came in search of you who was interested,
In playing “hide and Seek” with other Gopa boys. 71.8

That Vyomasura joined other boys pretending to be thieves,
In the play of thieves and Police and took away
The Gopa boys and their cows in to a cave ,
And closed it by a stone and you killed that Vyomasura,
Knowing about this and freed your friends. 71.9

Oh God who is the Lord of Guruvayur, by such acts,
Which are indeed sports which are wonderful,
You made the Gokula a limitless place of joy,
And went on doing this again and again,
And be kind enough to protect me from my illness. 71.10

Dasakam 72 The coming of Akroora

(Akroora a Yadava who was a great devotee of Lord Krishna arrives as an emissary of King Kamsa to invite Krishna and Balarama to the bow sacrifice.)

Oh Lord who is sleeping on a serpent bed,
That Kamsa after knowing from Narada that you are living in Gokula,
Became heart broken and due to great fear, summoned Akroora,
And asked him to fetch you in the pretext of “Bow sacrifice.” 72.1

Being a devotee for a very long time,
Who did not come to see you out of fear for Kamsa,
And being able to come to see you as per his orders,
That Akroora felt a very immense joy. 72.2

That Blessed Akroora who was coming in a chariot to see you,
Again and again remembering his wishes regarding you and enjoying them,
Prayed to God , due to fear of the event of meeting you not happening,
Did not know about anything that was happening outside him. 72.3

During his journey , he was immersed in the following thoughts,
“Would I be able to see him who has been sung about by Vedas?
Would I be able to touch him? Would I be able to hug him?
What would he say to me? Where would I be able to see him?” 72.4

Oh lotus eyed one, Akroora who gradually entered Brindavan,
Which was made holy and sanctified by the touch of your feet,
Which was worshipped by Lord Shiva, Brahma and other Gods,
Felt as if he was completely immersed in joy at one occasion ,
And felt as if he was fainting in another occasion. . 72.5

He saluted and worshipped the spots where you had played,
He rolled in the dust which had the stamp of your lotus like feet,
Oh Supreme divine being , what shall I tell now,
Even during those times there were great many devotees,
But there were only very few who were intoxicated by devotion like this. 72.6

Akroora savoring the elixir in his ears due to the flow,
Of your nectar like stories , saw the houses of Gopas,
And walked as if he was floating in the river of joy,
And reached near your house , when it was dusk. 72.7

Oh God, who is everywhere , as soon as Akroora reached your presence,
He saw you with Balarama interestingly seeing the milking of the cows,
And it appeared as if you were expecting to see a great devotee,
And exhibit the divine truth within you to others by your light. 72.8

Akroora saw you both as the ones who were very clean after evening bath,
Wearing very pretty yellow silk and blue silk and looking pretty,
And were wearing very less ornaments but were looking charming,
And with faces drowned in the nectar of your sweet smiles. 72.9

Then you received Akroora who was one of your great devotees,
As he was alighting from his chariot at a great distance and who in turn,
Saluted you by falling at your feet and your lifted him up and embraced him,
And with few words you enquired about his well fare and later,
Took him to your home holding his hand accompanied by Balarama. 72.10

After doing honors to Akroora who was a Yadava with great reverence,
And having heard from him about the impending performance of “Bow sacrifice”,
The fact that everybody was invited to that function was advertised among Gopas,
You spent that night with Akroora talking about many things. 72.11

Oh God, Several very jealous Gopis not seeing you told,
“That deceiver must be in either house of Chandra*,
Or Chandra Bhaga or Radha or Mithravrinda,
And spending his time deceitfully there,”
Oh Lord of Guruvayur , please protect me. 72.12
*Other Gopis

Dasakam 73 The travel of the God to the town of Mathura

(Lord Krishna with Lord Balarama leaved Brindavana to the cityof Mathura along with Akroora. The Gopis who love him become very sad.)

Later when the Gopis heard about your travel to Mathura,
They became extremely sad and assembled in a common place,
And went on telling, “What is this? What is thing?,
How this event came about” and kept on complaining. 73.1

Those lasses thought about you only and cried,
“How can this son of Nanda who is the seat of mercy,
Completely leave us who do not have any other support,
Alas, Has God started behaving to us like this?” 73.2

When you started on your journey in the last hours of that night,
When your father and other friends were present with you,
To console those very pretty ones in their great sorrow,
You sent one of your friends to meet them. 73.3

You consoled them by the message,
“Very shortly I shall come back and meet you,
And the luck of meeting with me would be yours soon,
And I would definitely drown you in the sea of nectar.” 73.4

With heightened sorrow and loud imploring when those Gopa maidens,
Were seeing you from a distance, sending to the place where they stood,
Your gentle slightly sad glances again and again
You along with Balarama got in to the chariot of Akroora. 73.5

Accompanied by the carts of many Gopas and the mind of Gopis,
Who were very close to you ,crossing the forest
With sorrowing deer and trees , you reached the shores of Yamuna, 73.6

On the way Akroora the son of Gandhini dipped in to the river water,
For doing his noon ablations and saw you inside the river clearly,
And when he came out of the water . he also saw you sitting on the Chariot,
And he was wonderstruck, Oh God , is it surprising ,
To see you who are all pervading , everywhere ? 73.7

That blessed Akroora when he dipped in the water once again,
Saw you reclining on a snake and holding lotus, wheel , mace and conch,
Shining In the midst of several Gods and very many great sages,
And saw you as the greatest being in a perfect manner. 73.8

That Akroora then got deeply immersed in the ocean of bliss by seeing you,
And praised and prayed you in various methods and later when he saw,
He was not able to see you but he was still in the ocean of bliss as before,
Came to your divine presence with hairs standing upright all over his body. 73.9

When you asked him , “Is the water very cold so as to cause this state to you?”
Akroora became much more joyous than before and did not reply him at all,
And Oh lord of Guruvayur you sat along with him in the chariot , Please save me. 73.10

Dasakam 74 Entry of the God in to Mathura

(Lord Krishna arrives in Mathura , In the city he kills a washer man who refuses to give him cloths, rewards the weaver who presents him cloths , cures Sairandhri who is a hunch backed woman and breaks the bow kept for bow sacrifice.)

You reached Mathura in the noon and stayed in a park in the town’s border,
Finished your meals and along with friends went to see the palace,
And you entered the main thoroughfares as if you were dragged,
By the chain of the accumulated blessings of men and women of that place,
Who had only heard about you and were thirsting to see you in person. 74.1

Oh God, then those women of the town ,who were like the rosy luster of your feet,
Who were shining like your body with the luster of their breasts,
Who were changing like your eyes, Who were very mind stealing like your chest,
Who were without blemish like your very radiant soft smile, and who were shining,
In their ornaments like your shining hair with peacock feathers, came to see you 74.2

You traveled in the main road there making people happy by your glances,
And this made the people assembled there drown in joy and surprise,
And at that time you requested a washer man who was passing by for cloths,
And when he sneeringly refused saying that they were meant for the king,
You cut off his head by your hand and he attained salvation. 74.3

Oh Lord, you then gave salvation for a large hearted weaver,
Who was prepared to give you suitable cloths to wear
Oh Lord who knows what type of blessing any one will get?
Oh Consort of Lakshmi , when you were worshipped by a flower seller,
With gifts of garlands , bouquets and songs of prayer,
You gave him great devotion to you and limitless wealth. 74.4

Oh Lord , then on the way you met a pretty hunch backed woman,
Who presented you with perfumed unguents and you ,
And also presented her mind with intense love for you ,
And later to make her body resemble her very straight mind,
You caught hold of her by your hand and within a short time,
Straightened her and made her look like the beauty of the universe. 74.5

Oh Lord , at that time the people who had not done that much sin,
Having complete faith in you , presented you with a betel leaf,
Or garland etc as per their ability and means and saluted you,
Unfortunately I was not standing in your way along with,
Flowers or any other gifts with a folded hand,
Oh Lord , because of this I am suffering great pain , now. 74.6

Oh God , even as that lady who was sent away by you with a promise
That you will see her later was passionately looking at you from a distance
You entered the main tower of the town and it looked as if,
Your fame has already entered the city in the guise of milk,
That flowed from the heavy breasts of Devaki when your arrival,
Was heralded by the noise and din of the city all round you. 74.7


After entering the city of Mathura where a great festival was on,
You went in to hall where the “Bow sacrifice “ was in progress,
The security of the bow either due to your sweetness or due to your splendour,
Allowed you free passage and even when the bow decorated by flowers,
And which was worshipped earlier was telling you, “No, No’,
You took hold of it , stringed it , pulled it and broke it. 74.8

Oh lord , that high decibel sound produced by the braking of the bow by you,
Seemed to herald the festival of killing of Kamsa , which was to happen the next day,
And caused great thrill and horripilation for all the devas, and the shivering it caused,
To Kamsa was greatly enhanced by the loud wails of the security guards,
Who were thrashed and beaten by you by the two pieces of the broken bow. 74.9

Oh Lord , then you with the great fame of granting satisfaction to the good,
And fear to the wicked , admired the prosperous look of that great town,
And by evening reached back to the garden where you were staying,
And told your friend Sri Dhama about your pangs of separation with Radha,
And slept that day with satisfaction , that the opportunity to lessen the burden,
Of the earth has at last arrived, and Oh Lord of Guruvayur, please protect me. 74.10

Dasakam 75 Killing of Kamsa

(Next day Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama go to the wrestling arena, kills the four tusked Elephant called Kuvalayapeetha, defeat and kill Chanura and Mushtika and later kill Kamsa himself. Then he makes Ugrasena the father of Kamsa as the king of Mathura. He also gets the friendship of one of his great devotees called Udhava.)

Next day morning as per the orders of the very frightened Kamsa,
The big drums heralding the commencement of the wrestling match started to play,
Making the assembled kings to occupy the allotted seats for them to watch the wrestling.
And Nandagopa also arrived to the palace at that time
And there Kamsa sat on the tallest tier ,
And you along with Balarama and your other friends ,
Decorating yourselves nicely and in a proper manner,
Arrived at the gate of the competition which was blocked ,
By the very angry elephant called Kuvalayapeeta. 75.1

Hearing your words, “Evil creature go away from my way speedily,”
And goaded by the mahout the speeding elephant caught you with his trunk,
And you freed yourself quickly from it like a child play and forcefully hit its frontal lobe,
Which rivaled the pot like breasts of the Gopa maidens with which you had fought,
And hid yourself in between the legs of the elephant and came out with a smile. 75.2

Then you who are an expert in eluding the forceful grasp of great sages,
Eluded the elephant and ran around and played and suddenly
You felled the great elephant and when it again rushed with ire towards you,
You uprooted its tusks even when it was alive,
And collected valuable gems at the bottom of the tusk,
And gave them to your friend Sri Dhama possibly with an intention,
Of making ,a pretty necklace using them and presenting it to Radha. 75.3

Oh God , seeing you enter the arena along with Balarama,
Carrying the tusks of the slain elephant ,
Due to their mind being stolen by your very great prettiness,
Those people assembled there told among themselves,
“Ho , Nandagopa is indeed a lucky one in all the three worlds , no, no it is the Gopis,
No it is Yasoda , no, no it is ourselves, we are the only ones with blessed eye sight.” 75.4

Many people did not understand that you are that which is everywhere,
Which is eternal, Which is the personification of divine joy,
Which is the real Brahman , which is beyond space , time and causation,
And the one shining amongst the Gopas till you went to Mathura
And was seen by them when their real period of blessing came ,
And that the sins of those people who saw you were destroyed,
And became ever joyous and started recounting your childhood exploits. 75.5

Then according to the orders of the king, Chanura an expert in wrestling,
Fought with you and Mushtika an expert in fist fight fought with Balarama,
With mutual raining of powerful hits with fists, pushing down and,
Dragging and several types of fights with each other,
And that wresting expert Chanura even before experiencing death,
Wonder of wonders , experienced relations, freedom, catching and freeing*. 75.6
*These are the states of every Soul with God.

When the shocked people started talking with other , alas, alas,
These are children with tender bodies and the wrestlers have hardened bodies,
We will not able to watch this unequal fight “ and started to depart,
You rotated Chanura round and round with your hand ,
And when he was about to die , dashed him on the floor and killed him,
And immediately Bala Rama also killed Mushtika by crushing him,
And all those wrestlers present there ran away from the arena out of fear. 75.7

The very wicked Kamsa knowing not what do ordered the stopping of drum beat,
And ordered your respected parents to be executed
And take you, who is everywhere to a very far off place
And you got angry hearing these orders,
And jumped to the top of the palace like the Garuda swooping on a mountain,
And caught hold of Kamsa in spite of his brandishing a mighty sword. 75.8

Immediately you crushed the joints of Kamsa the king and threw him down,
From the top of the palace and you jumped and fell on Kamsa,
And then all the devas showered flowers and petals on you ,
Surprisingly Kamsa who was thinking about you always due to fear,
Attained salvation , and Oh Divine God , this was because ,
Of his memory of his previous birth as Kalanemi who was also killed by you. 75.9

You then killed the eight brothers of Kamsa and after that,
Quickly saluted your parents and made Ugrasena the king of Mathura,
And thus fulfilled the wishes of all Yadavas and you then made Udhava,
Who had learned Dharma from Brahaspathi and was your great devotee,
As well as your friend and due to this he started living in the capital happily,
And Oh Lord of Guruvayur , please be kind enough to remove all my diseases. 75.10

Dasakam 76 Sending message through sage Udhava

(Lord Krishna and Balarama complete their education under sage Sandhhepini, and as his fees brought back his dead sons alive. He then sent his friend Udhava to Vrindavana to console the Gopis who were suffering due to his coming away. Udhava consoles all of them with proper words and comes back. He also understood the great devotion these Gopa maidens had for Lord Krishna.)


After this you who know ,everything that is to be known, along with Balarama went to The hermitage of Sandeepani and finished your education within sixty four days,
And then brought back the dead sons of the Guru from Yama’s place ,
And gave them to your Guru as fees and returned back to your city,
Of Mathura , blowing your conch named Panchajanya. 76.1

Though repeatedly thinking of the Gopis who were pining with love ,
Due to your deep love and compassion for them all,
And also wanting to show to your best friend and devotee Udhava ,
The intensity of devotion of the Gopis , which can never be seen elsewhere,
You sent Udhava as your emissary on a visit to Brindavana to see the Gopis. 76.2

He reached Brindavan , which was a symbol your greatness ,at dusk,
And by telling about you , made Nandagopa and Yasoda very happy,
And in the morning seeing a gem studded chariot,
The Gopis assumed that Lord Krishna has come,
And later hearing that only your servant has come
They left of all their duties and came to see Udhava. 76.3

Those Gopa beauties seeing Udhava who was dressed and ornamented like you,
Recalled to their mind clearly the love sports that you had played with them,
And became incapable of talking and throwing to the winds shyness
And decorum , forgot that they were talking to a stranger ,
And started talking him in a very choked and faltering voice. 76.4

“Oh Sir, were you sent by that hard hearted one to please his parents?
Where is that one who has become a lover to the very urban beauties?
Oh Hari, Oh dear , please save us, Oh pretty black one,
Who can forget your embraces, kisses and deeds in the sport of love,
As well as your words consisting of false promises?” 76.5

The Gopis who were your sweethearts further cried, due to their excess love
“Please give us your well pressed flower like body ,
With disheveled hair due to Rasa Kreeda you played with us,
Which is drenched with sweat here and there making it more desirable,
For hugging and embracing once more , Oh ocean of mercy “
Oh God who attracts all the three worlds by your love . 76.6

Later Udhava made , those Gopis , who were lamenting due to love ,
And were extremely upset, very peaceful by telling them your message,
Which was pregnant with spiritual wisdom and spent a few days with those Gopis,
Who had a satisfied mind and for whom you were everything . 76.7

Udhava was filled with surprise and was dumb stuck to know,
That in Gokula all household chores were being done,
With the accompaniment of songs about you,
And when two people meet each other , only your stories are talked about,
And all acts of every one was an imitation of what you used to do,
And even when they prattle anything while dreaming, it would be news about you. 76.8

Udhava gladdened the heart of the lotus eyed darling of yours Radha by telling,
“Oh Radha , your sweet heart Krishna when he is alone with me talks with interest,
Always about you saying , “this object is a pet object of Radha,
Oh Friend why are you not talking with me like Radha when she is angry in love.” 76.9

Passing to them your message “ I would come to visit you soon,
I am not coming only due to pressure of work,
Do not grieve because even in parting memory becomes very strong,
When soon you would get divine joy , you would feel meeting and parting to be same,”
Udhava made all those Gopis as people without sorrow. 76.10

Udhava came back from Gokula with a very gladdened heart and told,
“Nowhere else in the world can we see this type of devotion,
Which I have never seen nor heard. What is the use of Vedic sayings?
Or even staunch penance . My salutations to the Gopis.”
And you became very happy to hear these words,
Oh Lord of Guruvayur , Please remove the collection of my diseases. 76.11

Dasakam 77 Love with Sairandhri and killing of Jarasandha and Kala yavana.

(Lord Krishna satisfies the passionate yearning for him of Sairandhri, gave her a son called Upasloka , sent Akroora to know the news about Pandavas, killed the armies of Jarasandha and got Kalayavana killed by Muchukunda )

After that , nattily dressed and accompanied by Udhava you went to the house,
Of Sairandhri , who was suffering due to extreme love sickness,
And who was all the time thinking of the festival of joining with you,
And who adorned and dressed herself in the hope of your coming. 77.1

As soon as you went to her house, her mind attained satisfaction,
And her busts heaved hither and thither due to happiness and excitement,
And she with great joy provided honoured hospitality to you,
And you took her to her private quarters and made her happy. 77.2

At the time of your coming away , when you asked about the boon wanted by her,
That unfortunate one requested similar enjoyment for some more nights,
And we know a wise one would have asked for salvation but
It is surprising that she did not ask your company forever? 77.3

After that Oh God , you entertained the deer eyed one as much as possible,
During some more nights and you also gave her a son called Upasloka,
And that Upasloka learned from Narada the secret of eternal realty and became great 77.4

After that ,once along with Balarama and Udhava you happened,
To go the house of Akroora ,who was very pleased with that,
And honoured all of you with great hospitality and sang your prayers,
And you sent him to find out the news about Pandavas ,
Who had then come from the forest to the town,
And also understood from him the activities of Dritharashtra, 77.5

Jarasandha who was a close friend and father in law of Kamsa,
Was blinded with rage at your slaying of Kamsa,
And not able to properly think about possibility or otherwise,
Came for war with the kingdom of Mathura,
And you using the chariot and charioteer got from heaven,
And accompanied by Balarama and a very small army,
Completely wiped out his twenty three Akshohini* army . 77.6
*21870 chariot and elephants , 65610 cavalry,
And 109359 infantry

When Balarama with force captured and tied the very strong Jarsandha.
You set him free with the hope that he would come with another big army,
Though it was known that at that time there was none more powerful than Jarasandha,
And he had a very huge army acquired by several mighty conquests. 77.7

Though that Jarasanda who suffered a great defeat and lost all hope,
Due to the frequent encouragement given by several kings,
Came to fight with you sixteen more times and in those wars,
Oh Lord Vishnu you killed three hundred and ninety one akshouhini army. Alas. 77.8

When he came the eighteenth time with a three crore Yavana army,
Led by Kala Yavana, you constructed a city in the middle of the sea,
With the help of Viswakarma almost within no time,
And using your yogic powers transferred all people to the new town. 77.9

You wore a garland and feigned as if you were running away from the city,
On foot , and Kalayavana who was not blessed enough to die from hands of God.
Pursued you and you entered in to a cave in the forest and hid yourself there,
And Kala yavana who was pursuing you entered the cave and kicked a sleeping figure ,
There, thinking it was you and king Muchukunda who was sleeping there woke up,
And made Kala yavana in to ashes and you showed your divine form,
To that king who was one of your very famous devotees. 77.10

Oh God , that king told you, “I am a king of the Ikshuvaku clan ,
And when I started hating all luxuries that belong to the king,
And started wanting only your grace I renounced all pleasures”,
And as he did not ask for any boons whatsoever, you became pleased,
And bestowed on him devotion to you which was equal to salvation,
And salvation also in a very short period of time, and directed him,
To do penance as a redemption to the sin of hurting others,
In the course of his life when he was a king and also later.,
So that this would set an example to all others who hurt others. 77.11

Then later you went to the city of Mathura and killed all Kala Yavana’s army,
And when you were returning to Dwaraka , you were again stopped by Jarasandha,
And you thinking to make him little proud and gave him victory over you and ran away,
And went and reached Dwaraka and oh Lord of Guruvayur please save me. 77.12

Dasakam 78 Life in Dwaraka and getting a message from Rukhmani

(Lord Krishna a long with his people shifted to Dwaraka a fortified island created by him and had a very pleasant joyous life there.Lord Balarama marries Revathi , the daughter of king Revatha. There he receives a message from Rukhmani a princess that she is in love with him and her brother Rugmi is trying to get her married to Shishupala against her wishes,Through a Brahmin and sends message that he will marry her.)

Later with the dazzle of your pretty body ,
You decorated the island of Dwaraka,
Built by Viswakarma with all his skills,
Which is endowed by all riches by Devas,
And which was new and in the middle of ocean. 78.1

When the king called Revatha , according to counsel of Brahma,
Gave his daughter in marriage to Lord Balarama,
You along with the large number of Yadavas who came in hoards,
Celebrated the marriage in a gala fashion and made it great. 78.2

Oh God , When Rukhmani the daughter of king of Vidharbha,
Who was deeply in love with you and wanted to marry you,
Her brother Rugmi out of his ignorance offered her in marriage,
To Shisupala , the king of Chedhi who was wicked but a friend of his. 78.3

That lass who was greatly in love with you,
For a very long time , becoming deeply dejected,
By this sudden decision against her wishes,
Sent a Brahmin with a message ,
To inform you about the pain created ,
By the God of love in her. 78.4

That Brahmin reached speedily your great city,
Which was difficult for the evil ones to enter,
And became pleased when you ,
Who is an expert in destroying the sorrows of the world,
Received , honoured and worshipped him. 78.5

That Brahmin told you , “In the town of Kundini,
A princess called Rukmani shines who has,
Great love towards you but has lost her courage,
And I have been sent by her to meet you. 78.6

She is praying to you oh Lord of the universe,
“ Hearing a lot about your goodness even earlier,
I have fallen in love with you and now,
I understand that Shisupala the king of Chedhi,
Is coming to steal me and so darling of devotees,
Please show mercy and save me from this.” 78.7

Hearing from that Brahmin friend , the words of Rukmani,
“If you are forsaking me who does not have any support,
I shall take my life away”, Your mind was filled with pity. 78.8

Then you told him, “Oh friend, I have more pain out of love, than her,
And so I would bring my darling away from there in the presence of other kings.” 78.9

Oh Lord of Guruvayur you, who then you proceeded with a delighted Brahmin,
In your chariot to Kundina within a second, please reduce my pains a little. 78.10

Dasakam 79 The abduction of Rukmani

(Onher way back from the temple to the marriage hall Rukhmani is abducted by Lord Krishna along with Lord Balarama and a big Yadava army. He gets married to her.)

When you reached Kundina , followed by an army led by Balarama,
And was received properly by Bheeshmaka the father of Rukmani,
And hearing from the Brahmin lad about your arrival,
She was filled with extreme happiness and saluted him. 79.1

That night some how inched out along with the sorrow of the citizens,
After seeing you as the most handsome one on earth.
And also hearing about the acts of their prince Rugmi. 79.2

At that time the moon faced Rukmani who has pledged her life to you,
Decked with auspicious ornaments fitting the occasion and with luster,
Started from her house guarded by valorous soldiers ,
From the women’s area of the palace to the temple of Parvathi. 79.3

That princess Rukmani went along with respectable women ,
And saluted and worshipped Parvathi with devotion,
And fell at the lotus feet of that goddess and again and again,
Prayed that you alone should be her husband. 79.4

When other kings were jostling with each other to see Rukmani,
Due to the wish to see her and when you were standing peacefully,
That princess Rukmani came out of the temple,
Lighting up the entire area with her great radiating beauty. 79.5

When due to her splendorous beauty she drove,
All kings in to the throes of great ecstasy,
Oh God she also attracted you by her glances. 79.6


You went speedily near Rukmani and told her,
“Hey moon faced one , where are you trying to go,”
And then caught her by your hands and made her,
Board your chariot and abducted her and the sound,
Of the your enemies there filled the entire earth. 79.7

Balarama and other Yadavas easily defeated those kings,
Who were shouting, “where has the cowherd gone?”
And they were not even able shake you a bit,
Like the dogs attempting to fight the lion, Great wonder. 79.8

And then you imprisoned Rugmi who came to war with you,
And disfigured him by shaving of his head and face and killed his pride,
But you freed him and sent him back as per the advice of Balarama,
And you proceeded to Dwaraka along with your wife who was goddess Lakshmi. 79.9

Filled with shyness due to its being a new relationship,
Filled with love , joy and also passion,
Was Rukmani whose face lit up with her smile,
And Oh Lord, you took her to a lonely place and,
Engaged in love play and increased her joy. 79.10

Like this during day and night by jocular conversations,
While you were increasing her happiness,
one day by making an ambiguous talk ,
You created great sorrow in the very innocent Rukmani. 79.11

Then you enhanced her joy and happiness by still bolder talks,
And new methods and increased the pleasure more than before
Of Rukmani who was your dearest darling and Oh Mukunda,
Please cure diseases of mine , who is narrating your story. 79.12

Dasakam 80 The story of Syamanthaka

( To clear his name against the unfounded charge that he had stolen the Syamanthaka from Sathrajit, Lord Krishna, fights with Jambhavan and recovers the gem. He marries his daughter Jambhavanthi as well as Sathya Bhama the daughter of Sathrajit. Goes to meet Pandavas who were supposedly burnt in a lac palace , comes back on hearing of the murder of Sathrajit, kills Kruthaverma and ultimately hands over the Syamanthaka gem to Akroora.)

Oh God ,later you then begged Sathrajit to give you,
The Syamanthaka gem that he got from Sun God,
And I feel that the reason for that are many,
And I am of the firm opinion that it was for marrying,
Sathyabhama, daughter of Sathrajit who was in love with you. 80.1

Prasena the brother of Sathrajit went to the forest wearing that Gem,
Which was not given to you by the petty minded Sathrajit,
And one lion misunderstanding the gem to be a piece of flesh, killed him,
Nit only that Jambhavan who was the lord of the forest killed that lion,
And took away the gem and presented it to his son. 80.2

Due to the gossip floated by Sathrajit , people believed,
That it was you who has stolen the gem by killing his brother,
For the stain of character on good people is like nectar to others,
And you though being one who knew everything that is to be known,
Like an ordinary man started to search for Syamnthaka along with others,
And seeing the body of Prasena as well as the lion ,
Went inside the cave of the monkey to enquire further. 80.3

Jambhavan,, that very old and very great devotee of yours,
Without recognizing you and with the thought in his mind,
That there is none in the world who can defeat him,
Who is famous and surrendered completely to Sri Rama,
And also shouting “Oh Rama who is everywhere, Oh Hari , be victorious”,
Worshipped you in large measure and for a long time with his fist. 80.4

Later Jambhavan recognized you as Rama himself,
And presented you with his pretty daughter Jambhavathi,
As well as the Syamanthaka gem and you accepted them,
Blessed Jambhavan, retuned back to Dwaraka,
and immediately returned the Syamanthaka gem to Sathrajit. 80.5

Later that very intelligent Sathrajit ,
Disturbed by the shame of his earlier act,
Gave you the Syamanthaka gem, as well as,
Sathyabhama his daughter who was earlier,
Pledged by words to some one else, and you,
Whose actions cannot be guessed by any body else,
Became happy when you got what you wanted and ,
Returned back the Syamanthaka Gem to him self. 80.6

When you were sporting with the very bashful Sathyabhama,
You heard that the Pandavas were all burnt in the lac palace,
And you went to their land to enquire about it,
And alas at that time Sathadhanva at the instigation ,
Of Akroora and Krutha Varma killed Sathrajith,
And stole the Syamathaka gem from him. 80.7

Seeing Sathyabhama who came to Hasthinapura to tell you,
The news of her father’s death , without any delay you killed Sathadanwa,
And made Sathyabhama happy., meanwhile Balarama ,
Who had some misgivings about the whereabouts of Syamanthaka gem,
Went to the capital of Mithila and taught fight with mace to Duryodhana. 80.8

Oh God , it seems Akroora did bad acts to kill Sathrajith,
Only according to your wish and so You did not get back,
The syamathaka gem from Akroora and it is believed,
That this was done so that his wealth will increase. 80.9

Oh God , is not this Akroora one of your steadfast devotee,
And then how did his mind make him do these evil acts,
And I feel that that this was got done by you to destroy his pride,
That he was a very great man with mental peace and wisdom. 80.10

You later summoned Akroora who had run away out of fear,
With Kruthavarma and brought out the truth that the syamanthaka jewel,
Was entrusted to him by Sathadhanva and gave him that great gem,
To him , who was leading a very disciplined life according to Sasthras,
And you took rest on the bosom of Sathyabhama, and Oh God,
Who is the Lord of Guruvayur please take care of me. 80.11