Sri Mukunda Mala Stotra

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 24-26

Lord Purusottama, the best of males,
As sov'reign over the three worlds prevails;
He is our Master and worshipful Lord,
Whose feet are most worthy to be adored;
Narayana who dwelleth in all hearts,
The highest transcendental state imparts.
And yet a lowly base wretch we acclaim,
A village master, for some paltry gain;
To flatter with service we seek afar,
Alas, what pitiable fools we are! 24

O Lotus-eyed, may we our life's days spend,
Palms folded, head bowed, hair standing on end;
With broken voice and frequent sobs and sighs,
May tears copious stream down from our eyes;
With constant relish of pure nectar sweet,
In contemplation of your lotus-feet. 25

That body bowing where the dust is pressed,
To Krishna, of all bodies is the best;
Those eyes that see the beauty of Hari,
From gloom of darkness visible are free;
The intellect a brightness radiates,
Like moonlight, which Madhava contemplates,
That tongue that Narayana's praise repeats,
Sheds pure nectar and ambrosial sweets. 26

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 27. It seems in this verse Kulashekhara desires to emulate the conduct of the king Ambarish.

O tongue! vibrate Keshava's wondrous praise,
O mind! contemplate Mura's foe always,
O hands! adore the Lord of Shri sincere,
O ears! you must Acyuta's accounts hear,
O eyes! Krishna's beauty eagerly see,
O legs! proceed to temples of Hari,
O nostrils! inhale the rare fragrance sweet,
Of Tulsi leaves that decorate his feet,
O head! bow down in fond salutation
To Adhoksaja, beyond perception. 27

Well, as I alluded to it above, the conduct of Ambarish is famously recounted in the Bhagavat, in words like these,

His mind absorbed in Krishna's lotus-feet,
Whose voice doth fame of Vaikuntha repeat,
His hands in cleansing temples of Hari,
His ears hearing Acyuta's deeds with glee,

His eyes Mukunda's images beheld,
Embracing devotees his joy excelled,
He smelt the fragrance of the Tulsi sweet,
That decorate his tender lotus-feet,
And with his tongue he relished dainty fare,
Of votive food offerings made with care;

Oft with his legs to Hari's fane he went,
At Hrishikesha's feet his head he bent,
In servitude he fulfilled his desire,
Nor did to any selfish end aspire;
He sought the grace of blessed refugees,
Uttamasloka's worthy devotees.
(SB. 9.4.18-20)

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 28/29

Recital of the holy Vedic lore,
Is weeping in the wilderness, no more;
The only fruit that vows and fasts produce,
Is that the body's fat one may reduce;
The libations of sacrifice outpoured,
Upon a heap of ash hath no reward;
The effort bathing at holy shrines spent,
Is as the bathing of an elephant;
If there be no fond recollection sweet,
Of divine Narayana's lotus feet.
May that Almighty one triumphant be,
Whose contemplation is of great glory! 28

O Cupid! be gone from me far away,
Mukunda's lotus-feet in my mind stay,
Remember Hara burnt you with his eye,
Murari's discus you cannot defy. 29

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 30

The Lord Narayana, source of all shines,
And on the coils of the serpent reclines,
Lord Madhava, the beloved of Shri,
Is verily the son of Devaki;
Who doth blessing upon the gods bestow,
Who wields the discus and mighty horn-bow;
Whose exploits are endless and glorified,
The world doth in his abdomen abide;
The ruler of the universe and Lord,
Divine lover of Goddess Shri adored,
The master of senses, herder of kine,
Govinda, the illustrious sublime;
Aside from meditation to pursue,
O mind, what else is there for you to do? 30

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 31-34

May I not see those who want piety,
And thereby lack devotion unto thee,
And may I never cease thy deeds to hear,
Worthy to tell, delightful to the ear;
Let me not hear other topics profane,
And reject those who false doctrines proclaim,
O Madhava, from birth to birth I pray,
That I from thee may never turn away. 31

The fruit of my birth in this world will be,
O Madhu and Kaitabha's enemy,
For which I pray, and by your grace alone,
When you accept me as one of your own;
Recall, Lord of the world preeminent,
I serve the servant of your dear servant;
Nay, think of me as servant of your slave,
The servant's servant's servant, this I crave 32

Talks on his mystery with joy are filled,
Exceedingly sweet with nectar distilled;
With folded palms, I pray to you, O tongue,
May Narayana's holy name be sung. 33

At Narayana’s lotus feet I bow,
To worship Narayana is my vow,
The pure name of Narayana I tell,
And on Narayana’s mystery dwell. 34

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 35/36

Shrinatha, husband of the Goddess Shri,
Narayana, supreme in majesty,
Vasudeva, the transcendental Lord,
Shri Krishna, the one by pure love adored,
O Chakrapani, who the discus rears,
Padmanabha, from whose navel appears
The lotus, Acyuta, immutable,
Who did the dread Kaitabha demon kill;
Shri Rama, the one full of all delight,
Padmaksa, of eyes lotus petal bright;
The one who removes all sorrow, Hari,
The enemy of Mura, Murari. 35

Endless Ananta, Vaikuntha's great Lord,
O Lord Mukunda, O Krishna adored,
Govinda, Damodar, Madhaveti,*
Whoever has of speech capacity,
But will not utter these sweet holy names,
Alas, as the chief of sinners remains. 36

*famous line from SB.X.40.31

Thus did these fond damsels their woe express,
By Krishna's departure plunged in distress,
And called, unheedfull, loud and plaintively,
Govinda, Damodar, Madhaveti.

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 37

O Lord who succours devotees distressed,
Who doth on the coils of the serpent rest
Like a gem; and the gem Garuda bears,
The three worlds as a protective gem wears.
The cloud-gem gopi's thirsty eyes delight,
The medal of exquisite beauty bright;
The jewel that conspicuously rests,
On Rukmini's ample protruding breasts.
The gem that on the gods all welfare grants;
May he have grace on us, his supplicants,
And may that crest jewel of cowherders show
His favour and auspiciousness bestow. 37

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 38

The Shri Krishna mantra is the one spell,
Which doth dread mighty adversaries quell;
Of all speech that Upanishads proclaim,
That mantra is of the highest acclaim,
It breaks the bonds of worldly existence,
And drives away the gloom of ignorance;
That mantra doth with opulence requite,
A spell to save from the sin-serpent's bite;
I urge you tongue to make my life complete,
That mantra always repeat and repeat. 38

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 39/40

Shri Krishna is the herbal remedy
Which cures the sage's mental malady;
The potent medicine, concocted well,
The Indra's of the Daitya host to quell;
The tonic to revive the triple sphere,
The physic granting devotees welfare;
It cures the worldly distemper with ease,
And eradicates of fear the disease;
O mind! that Krishna physic drink to gain
The benefit, and true welfare attain. 39

Within the lotus clusters of your feet,
O Krishna! I do fervently entreat,
That like a royal swan my mind may stray
Ensconced therein even this very day;
For when my death arrives in season due,
How else, O lord, shall I remember you,
When all my frame is wracked with pain and care,
And coughing up of mucus, bile, and air? 40

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 41/42

Meditate, O my mind. O tongue proclaim
His glory; O head, bowing down remain,
O hands, be joined in prayer honour to show,
O body, be prostrated, lying low;
Take shelter, soul, of him of lotus-eyes,
Who on the motionless serpent bed lies;
Sublime virtue and blessedness receive,
And thus the supreme perfection achieve. 41

Whoso accounts of Janardana hears,
But is not garlanded with loving tears,
Whose body hairs do not all stand on end,
Fie on his life! Alas, he is condemned. 42

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 43/44

My forceful senses have plundered by stealth,
My faculty of intellectual wealth,
And cast me down into the gloomy well,
In ignorance to grovel and to dwell;
Extend your hand, O Lord compassionate,
O Lord of gods, your servant extricate. 43

This frame transmutation will undergo,
With shaking joints and decrepitude's woe,
And certainly it will drop down one day,
O foolish mind, you ask the remedy;
This then is the physic that I prescribe,
The Krishna-tonic constantly imbibe. 44

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 45/46

It is a wonder in this world to think
How some reject nectar and poison drink;
As Narayana's name they do not sing,
But prefer topics vain and trifling. 45

Let my friends and kindred cast me aside,
And let my preceptors and gurus chide,
But as for that, for supreme bliss I strive,
In love for Govinda whereby I thrive. 46

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda Mala 47/48

O mankind! truly I say with arms raised,
By whom and whenever the names are praised,
Such as, 'O Mukunda, O Lion-man!
O the illustrious Lord Janardan!
Each day, at death, or in the battle fray,
Thinks other blessings pebbles, wood or clay. 47

O wise and self-controlled, aloud I cry,
And exhort you with love, arms raised on high;
This dread transmigtatory existence,
Is like poison of potent virulence;
To counteract the terror and the fear,
The mantra, 'Hail to Narayana!' hear. 48

[madanmohandas]

Mukunda mala 49-51

My mind for a moment cannot retreat,
From the divine Lord Krishna's lotus-feet,
No, even if my dear friends criticise,
And even if my preceptors chastise;
The gossips and the garrulous will blame,
And people may denounce me as for shame,
They may denigrate my high pedigree,
And I be a blot on the family;
But as for that, whoever may reprove,
May I be intoxicated with love! 49

May Krishna, Guru of the triple sphere,
Protect us from great danger and dread fear;
To Lord Krishna, O people, always bow;
By Lord Krishna the demons were laid low;
To Lord Krishna I bow in humble wise,
The universe from Krishna did arise;
In Lord Krishna the creation exists,
And the wide world in his person subsists;
I am myself Lord Krishna's lowly slave,
O Lord Shri Krishna protect me and save! 50

( In the original the author teaches some grammar in the case endings which in English require prepositions, so we have 'may Krishna', 'to Krishna', 'by Krishna', to that Krishna', 'from Krishna', 'in Krishna', 'of Krishna, or the pseudo dative 'Krishna's', and finally, 'O Krishna!')

O little cowherd, ocean of mercy,
Dear husband of the daughter of the sea,
O Madhava, by whom Kamsa was slain,
Thou wert kind to the elephant in pain;
O Rama's younger brother, lotus-eyed,
And preceptor of the three worlds beside,
O master of the cowherd damsels fair,
Afford to me divine protective care;
May thy favour be granted unto me,
Since I acknowledge no other than thee. 51*

*(Cited in divine Rupa's Padyavali 36, attributed to Sri Vaisnava)

[madanmohandas]

It seems quite intriguing that of some five editions of Mukunda Mala, each have varying verse counts, some more some less, and yet the one that seems most comprehensive is missing a verse that I found in another edition. Some are likely to be accretions by other poets. Anyway the one I came across, albeit not in the comprehensive edition is yet cited in Padyavali under anonymous. Now, I'm not sure where to put it, it would have to be included in an appropriate place in the text; contiguous with a verse of similar conceit. Here is the verse, as yet not numbered in this text, but is found in Padyavali 7, which I had done already. I suppose if it is inserted here as 52 it will only disrupt the numbering for the last few verses. That will make this rendering consist of 61 verses plus the homage to Kulashekhara himself.

Who from affection confers fearlessness,
Who promises to relieve all distress,
Whose condescension expiates all sins,
Whom he favours the highest blessing wins;
Who is the sublime worshipfullest Lord
By Shri, the Goddess of beauty adored.
Some here that bear testimony to this,
To the world entire bear true witness,
Prahlad and Vibhisana reverent,
Panchali and the royal elephant,
Ahalya who was from a curse set free,
And young Dhruva, the pious devotee.