Post by madanmohandas on Oct 2, 2021 4:26:31 GMT -6
Stotra Ratna of Sri Yamunacharya. I think I have misconstrued the last couplet of text 5 which I will amend with better advice.
I bow to Nathamuni, holy seer,
Of contemplative saints without a peer,
The source perennial from whence profound
Wisdom sublime and dispassion abound;
Whose loving faith and devout piety
Are like a vast unfathomable sea. 1
I bow in reverence and humbly greet
My master Nathamuni, whose two feet
Are in this life and in the life to come
My sole resort and eviternal home;
He represents on earth the farthest reach
Of glory, love, wisdom, which he did teach;
Diffusing fragrance from the lotus-feet
Of him who wicked Madhu did defeat. 2
Again at Nathamini's feet I bow,
Foremost of those who make ascetic vow,
Whose discourse has brought down upon the earth
Truths intuitive of the highest worth;
Whose blest fair speech pours out philosophy,
And swells the tide of love's ambrosial sea,
Spreading a flood of sublime ecstasy;
Love of the immutable mighty Lord
Acyuta, by the purest love adored. 3
To Parasar, of holy saints the best,
By whom the gem-Purana was expressed,
I bow in salutation. It was he
Who stablished doctrines of divinity;
How inert matter and the living soul
Are ruled by one creator of the whole;
And what his nature, how the soul attains
Freedom from vain pleasure, and glory gains. 4
I bow unto the founder of our clan,
Nammalvar, pious, pure, and holy man,
With heaps of fragrant Bakul flowers sweet,
We worship at the shrine of his blest feet.
Mother and father, daughters too, and sons,
Adore him and receive his benisons. 5
In the crown jewels of holy writ divine,
All my fondest aspirations combine;
I make my hymn to that divinity,
Our wealth and tutelary deity,
And sing the praise of him with joy replete,
Of lotus-petal eyes and lotus-feet. 6
Sharva, the Great Grandsire, and others too,
The sea of your glory cannot construe;
But in a poet's presumption, O fie!
I rashly seek the Lord to glorify! 7
But still, in spite of incapacity,
And tho' it be laborious for me;
As from four faces of the Four-faced one,
Forth issued the Vedic revelation,
The ocean of your profound glory deep
Both mountain and the grain of sand will steep. 8
What tho' I be of mean capacity,
Such will excite thy favour unto me;
Since exertion whereto I am resigned,
Is quite natural for my sluggish mind;
In this endeavour I am justified,
To hymn thy praises, O thou Lotus-eyed. 9
O Master, if you did not throw your glance,
Nothing then could come into existence,
Without the impetus from you, indeed,
Creation of beings could not proceed;
It is no wonder that you favour those
Who seek in you asylum and repose. 10
O Narayana! midst the learned, who
Does not reverence and acknowledge you?
Whose natural state is immutable,
Uncircumscribed and unsurpassable.
Brahma, Shiva, him of an hundred rites,
And the great liberated anchorites,
Represent mere droplets in the vast sea
Of your divine unlimited glory. 11
Who else is there, O Lord, apart from thee,
Supreme existence and resort of Shri?
Who else but thee is called the Lotus-eyed?
To whom is Purushottam's name applied?
Who else in but a millionth part sustains
The various universe and maintains
The separation and development
Of sentient and the non sentient? 12
.........
All hail! of mind and words beyond the reach;
All hail! the one object of mind and speech;
All hail! of infinite power and truth;
All hail! the sole boundless ocean of ruth. 21
.........
I will always attend thee devoted,
With all mental disturbance quieted,
When will I thine eternal servant be,
My Master, and afford delight to thee? 46
I bow to Nathamuni, holy seer,
Of contemplative saints without a peer,
The source perennial from whence profound
Wisdom sublime and dispassion abound;
Whose loving faith and devout piety
Are like a vast unfathomable sea. 1
I bow in reverence and humbly greet
My master Nathamuni, whose two feet
Are in this life and in the life to come
My sole resort and eviternal home;
He represents on earth the farthest reach
Of glory, love, wisdom, which he did teach;
Diffusing fragrance from the lotus-feet
Of him who wicked Madhu did defeat. 2
Again at Nathamini's feet I bow,
Foremost of those who make ascetic vow,
Whose discourse has brought down upon the earth
Truths intuitive of the highest worth;
Whose blest fair speech pours out philosophy,
And swells the tide of love's ambrosial sea,
Spreading a flood of sublime ecstasy;
Love of the immutable mighty Lord
Acyuta, by the purest love adored. 3
To Parasar, of holy saints the best,
By whom the gem-Purana was expressed,
I bow in salutation. It was he
Who stablished doctrines of divinity;
How inert matter and the living soul
Are ruled by one creator of the whole;
And what his nature, how the soul attains
Freedom from vain pleasure, and glory gains. 4
I bow unto the founder of our clan,
Nammalvar, pious, pure, and holy man,
With heaps of fragrant Bakul flowers sweet,
We worship at the shrine of his blest feet.
Mother and father, daughters too, and sons,
Adore him and receive his benisons. 5
In the crown jewels of holy writ divine,
All my fondest aspirations combine;
I make my hymn to that divinity,
Our wealth and tutelary deity,
And sing the praise of him with joy replete,
Of lotus-petal eyes and lotus-feet. 6
Sharva, the Great Grandsire, and others too,
The sea of your glory cannot construe;
But in a poet's presumption, O fie!
I rashly seek the Lord to glorify! 7
But still, in spite of incapacity,
And tho' it be laborious for me;
As from four faces of the Four-faced one,
Forth issued the Vedic revelation,
The ocean of your profound glory deep
Both mountain and the grain of sand will steep. 8
What tho' I be of mean capacity,
Such will excite thy favour unto me;
Since exertion whereto I am resigned,
Is quite natural for my sluggish mind;
In this endeavour I am justified,
To hymn thy praises, O thou Lotus-eyed. 9
O Master, if you did not throw your glance,
Nothing then could come into existence,
Without the impetus from you, indeed,
Creation of beings could not proceed;
It is no wonder that you favour those
Who seek in you asylum and repose. 10
O Narayana! midst the learned, who
Does not reverence and acknowledge you?
Whose natural state is immutable,
Uncircumscribed and unsurpassable.
Brahma, Shiva, him of an hundred rites,
And the great liberated anchorites,
Represent mere droplets in the vast sea
Of your divine unlimited glory. 11
Who else is there, O Lord, apart from thee,
Supreme existence and resort of Shri?
Who else but thee is called the Lotus-eyed?
To whom is Purushottam's name applied?
Who else in but a millionth part sustains
The various universe and maintains
The separation and development
Of sentient and the non sentient? 12
.........
All hail! of mind and words beyond the reach;
All hail! the one object of mind and speech;
All hail! of infinite power and truth;
All hail! the sole boundless ocean of ruth. 21
.........
I will always attend thee devoted,
With all mental disturbance quieted,
When will I thine eternal servant be,
My Master, and afford delight to thee? 46