Excerpts from Stotra Ratna

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 43-46

You are attended by the perfect ones,
Sans blemish or the stain of afflictions,
Who take delight and exercise their skill
Exclusively according to your will. 43

O gracious Lord, who with your arms of might,
Afford your queen consort love's full delight,
With wondrous diverse sentiments replete,
Of amorous and fond affection sweet;
And while absorbed in lovesome play sublime,
A long age seems a brief moment of time. 44

You are the incomprehensible truth,
Divine, wondrous, and of eternal youth;
You are the profound ambrosial sea,
The lustrous essence of pearl-like beauty;
You are the splendour of splendour's Goddess,
Source of your lover's life and happiness,
Who like a friend provides what they require,
As Kalpa tree that fulfills all desire. 45

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

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 47-48

O fie upon my rash audacity!
My pride, uncleanness and immodesty!
When, O Supreme one, even yogins great
Must try extremely hard to meditate;
E'en Vidhi, Shiva and Sanaka stray,
For whom contemplation is far away.
And yet I entertain ambition bold,
To be among your attendants enrolled. 47

I am of guilt a thousand fold the store,
Tossed in the frightful sea far from the shore,
Of this existence transmigratory;
O shelter of the shelterless, Hari!
Let your compassion singular be shown,
And take me as one of your very own. 48

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 49-52

My thoughtless ignorance the way enshrouds,
Afflictions rain down from the gloomy clouds;
It is for me a miserable day,
Since I have stumbled from the path away;
Acyuta! Almighty divinity!
Look with a glance favourable on me. 49

I shall without the least falsehood confess,
Hearken to the sole prayer that I address;
If you show not your favour, Lord, in kind,
Another worthy 'twill be hard to find. 50

Aside from you no Master do I know,
Sans me, you have lost one favour to show;
Destiny hath contrived of fate this turn,
Almighty one! save me and do not spurn. 51

My body and whatever faculties,
My disposition, faults and qualities,
All at your lotus-feet I consecrate,
And my own very being dedicate. 52

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 53-55

My Lord, whate'er I have, whate'er I am,
I offer you in so far as I can;
But since you have stirred in me consciousness,
That you all things eternally possess,
What, O Madhava, could be further due,
Or what is there that I can offer you? 53

Since you this consciousness on me bestow,
Of my eternal bond with you to know,
On likewise confer on me love sublime,
Exclusive joy in you, O Lord divine! 54

I may be born an insect or a flea,
To joy in your devotee's company,
Elsewise 'twould be to me of little worth,
E'en as a four-faced god to take my birth. 55

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 56-59

Make me the object of glances benign,
Of the great souls, compassionate, divine;
Who vain pleasure and salvation deplore,
As worthless as dry straw, valued no more;
A moment's parting from whom causes pain
Unbearable, that you cannot sustain. 56

Nor body, happiness, nor vital air,
Nor self interest, nor desire, nor care;
Extrinsic things, O Lord, have no value,
If they cannot be utilized for you;
Let them into an hundred pieces break;
And this my resolution true I make,
That I may your faithful service pursue,
O Illustrious one who Madhu slew! 57

Though I be fraught with vile iniquity,
Ill disposed and the store of cruelty,
A brute of a man constrained by stern fate,
Consigned to a calamitous estate;
But, O ocean of grace, mercy extend,
In a flood of pure affection, O friend!
I sing your glory and recount your fame,
And constant recollection shall maintain. 58

Although incapable and disinclined,
By passion and by ignorance confined,
Your feigned praises I still rashly rehearse,
In this composition of halting verse;
But you who uphold the world and protect,
My mind can discipline, teach and correct. 59

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 60-63

You are father, mother, beloved son,
The friend, preceptor, and the darling one;
Of all the universe the rest and stay.
And I am yours, your attendant, I say,
This servant seeks asylum free of care,
And you, O Lord, should secure my welfare. 60

Though born in high and noble pedigree,
Pure and accomplished, devoted to thee,
Established in philosophy refined,
Who hold thy lotus-feet within their mind;
But I, Refuge-giver, due to offence,
Sink deeper and more deep in ignorance. 61

I have been a transgressor of the right,
A despicable ingrate, full of spite;
Envious, and a betrayer of trust,
Most vile and sinful, and the slave of lust;
How shall I cross of misery the sea,
And serve your lotus-feet eternally? 62

O Raghu's chief! you were kind to the crow,
Since he most humbly did before you bow;
And when, (as Krishna) Shishupal you slew,
He was absolved and attained unto you,
Although he did many offences give;
What crime is there that you will not forgive? 63

[madanmohandas]

Stotra Ratna 64

O Lord! thou hadst whilom taken a vow*,
That thou wouldst thy full protection bestow,
To one in distress who cried, 'I am thine!'
Dost thou recall this promise, Lord divine?
And didst thou in this vow exception make,
To exclude me a reject, and forsake? 64

The famous vow was made in Book VI of Valmiki Ramayana, Canto XVIII text 33. Here is Griffiths' translation,

Bound by a solemn vow I swear
That all my saving help should share
Who sought me in distress and cried,
'Thou art my hope and none beside!'

[madanmohandas]

Concluding verse of Stotra Ratna 65

Observing the great love and pure desire,
Of Nathamuni, my revered grand sire,
Whose soul was endued with devotion sweet,
And deep attraction to your lotus-feet;
And on account of his high dignity,
Be pleased to overlook my frailty. 64

Om Harih Om
Finis