ESSENCE OF NARAYANEEYAM -Part 2 - Dasakams 51-69

Krishna's Childhood and Adolescent Days

Hi viewer, welcome back. 

Hope you travelled nicely through my earlier blog- Srimad Narayaneeyam - Part - 1. We shall continue the journey to witness the wonderful days with Krishna as a child and a youth.

Let us start this blog with a soulful music from Saint Thygaraja, Samaja Vara Gamana, on "Yadhava kula Murali". This is a song about Lord Krishna, describing how he moves - majestically like the heavenly elephant, Airavatham, which is also called Samaja (as it was born out of Sama Veda) - with unshakeable grace, and unchallenged leisure, confident and in full control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QoDpiH8h1M

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Text and meaning of the song "Samaja Vara Vamana":

sAmaja vara gamana sAdhu hrt sArasAbja pAla kAlatita vikhyAta

O Krishna, with the majestic gait of the large elephant, (Airavath)! O protector of the lotus-like hearts of the saintly! O Krishna, whose fame transcends time! 

sAma nigamaja sudhAmaya gAna vichakShaNa guNashIla dayAlavAla mAm pAlaya

O Expounder of the nectar-like music arising from sama veda ! Thou of great qualities and mercy! Care for me. 

vEda shirOmaNi mAtruja saptasvara nAdAchala dIpa svIkrta

yAdavakula muraLi vAdana vinOda mOhanAkara tyAgarAja vandanIya

Master of the vedas! O Light in the mountain of music, based on the seven swaras of Goddess Saraswati! Member of the yAdava clan! Player of the flute!                    O mysteriously attractive Lord, worshipped by TyAgarAja! 

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There are eighteen main Purarnas, in the Hindu scriptures. The most important is Sreemad Bhagavatha Purana, which is the condensed form of  all Vedas, as written by Sage Vyasa. It has 18000 slokas. Narayaneeyam is a further condensation of this Purana, and contains only a little over thousand slokas, with its philosophical and devotional contents intact. The important thing to note is that though the Narayaneeyam is incredibly short when compared to its original text, none of the essence or principles are lost in translation. To be able to read the the Bhagvatam is very very difficult. Reading the Narayneeyam can be used as a near-substitute. 

In addition to being a devotional work Srimannarayaneeyam contains the gist of all the Upanishads and is therefore, a work of great significance from the Vedantic point of view also.

The Holy book of Narayaneeyam is said to be one of the favourites of Lord Krishna. The devotee who religiously reads this book is blessed with a lot of things; but the most important blessing received is that of good health. There have been reports of even deadly diseases being cured by the power of Narayaneeyam and the grace of Lord Guruvayoorappan. 

The idol in Guruvayur, according to the legend, is neither Svayambhuva nor an artifact made by human hand. It is a Vigraha (life-like image) of Narayana carved out of stone, Pathala Anjanam (subterranean dark-colored stone), black bismuth. The story goes that one day lord Vishnu gave Brahma Dev an image of Narayana. The image was made of a very rare material called Pathala Anjana Sila. Lord Brahma gave it to Sage Sutapas. The Sage handed it over to Kasyapa Prajapati. He gave it to Srimad Vasudev, the father of Sree Krishna. Sree Krishna got it from His father and it was installed and worshipped at Dwaraka.

His form in the temple is called Divyakaisoravesham (Divine boy form of 10-15 years of age). Devotees feel the Chaitanya (Divine Cosmic Consciousness or Intellect) in the temple. This Chaitanya is pure innocence of child Krishna. The High Priests (Melsanthi) of the temple in sacred deference to worship of Child Krishna remain in temple premises in voluntary celibacy for a period up to 6 months.

Dasakam 51: Liberation of Agasura:

One morning Krishna set out for the forest along with his friends and calves for a picnic, carrying the food packets along with them. The sages on the way, were very happy seeing Krishna and happily pasted the dust emanating from his feet on to their bodies, celebrating the day. 

When they found a place, they started playing there, while the calves were busy grazing the ground, a demon named, Agasura, waylaid them in the form of a huge python, intending to harm all of them, keeping his mouth wide open and waiting for all of them to enter. The children, along with the calves, curiously entered the mountainous mouth, thinking it to be a cave, leaving Krishna behind.

The children soon felt the severe heat inside the mouth. Krishna, realising their suffering, entered the mouth to save his friends and instantly grew up in size such that the demon wreathed in pain and found it difficult to breath. Krishna ripped open the throat of the demon and all the children and calves came out safely. Then the soul of the dead demon raised up in the form of a brilliant light and merged with Krishna, as soon as he emerged from the mouth. 

All the gods danced in joy at this miraculous event and accompanied Krishna, when the boys decided to move to another safe place to continue their picnic. The ever unassuming Krishna, with his flute and horn tucked in his waist, and carrying the food parcels in his lotus hands, played with his friends, making them laugh heartily with his jokes. Seeing this, the gods, including Brahma, were even more happy and praised Krishna for enjoying the simple home made food in the company of his friends, more than the heavenly offerings made by the gods and noble sages.

Dasakam 52: Brahma's Pride:

After witnessing the ease with which Krishna slayed Agasura, Brahma wanted to test Krishna's powers and hence Brahma used his power of Maya and made all the calves surrounding Krishna to disappear from view. Hearing the commotion raised by the cowherd boys, following the disappearance of the calves, Krishna, who was in the midst of his meals, went after the calves, as if he is not aware of what is happening as he is the master of the same Maya. 

Now, Brahma made the boys also disappear from view. Krishna now decided to teach Brahma a lesson, through the same power of Maya. Now, it was Brahma's turn. He saw Krishna with all the calves and cowherd boys, continue with their meals, as if nothing has happened and played the whole day and finally returned back home at the end of the day. 

Brahma could see not only this, but also all the inanimate objects like utensils, meals, curd, horn, flute, pots etc intact. Brahma also saw the manifold forms of Krishna was welcomed by the respective mothers of the boys and calves. As mortals, it is customary for all of us to bestow love and affection on our offsprings by virtue of our ego; that being so, if Krishna himself assumes the role of divine children, how great an affection and love would be showered on them by the parents ? 

This effect of Maya went on for a year and everyone was happy with the manifest form of Krishna, without any shade of doubt. Not even, Balarama could unfold the secret, till at a later date. It shows that though both are brothers are divine incarnations, Krishna was different.

At the end of one year, as Brahma's Maya left, Brahma could see two sets of same boys and calves and he could not differentiate between them. Brahma was thoroughly confused. With a view to help Brahma identify all these "new" creations, Krishna reflected upon these 'new' forms in his own image. Now, Brahma could see all the new boys appeared, as if they are Krishna himself, with four arms, with all ornaments, crown etc and glowing with the radiance of the rain clouds.  

As if this is not sufficient proof, Krishna made Brahma see all of his 'new' creations getting fondled by Mahalakshmi, the mother of all creations; all these forms reclining on Adi sesha; all of them in complete in an yogic trance; each of them being worshipped by the sages like Sanaka and others, including Brahma himself. Thus Brahma was fully immersed in Maya. Now, Krishna finally decided to dispel this Maya. He showed Brahma, his form a year ago, when Krishna was left alone with his half-eaten meals in the forest, missing his friend sand claves.  

Brahma by now realised that Krishna is none other than the Supreme Lord Himself. Brahma realised his mistake and bowed down, heavily apologising. Brahma then left for Satyaloka, his abode, praising Krishna all the while. Now Krishna returned back to Brindavan village will all his entourage. Whatever appeared as an year was but a play of Maya indeed.

Dasakam 53: Dhenukasura Vadam:

Krishna by now had turned 5 years of age, crossing his childhood into boyhood days. He now started additionally rearing and caring for cows as well. Krishna incarnated for protecting the earth from the demons and in particular he loved protecting the cows (both are called "Gotra" in Sanskrit).

One day, when Krishna and Balarama were moving around the forest, his friend, by name Sridaama, wanted to visit the nearby area called Dhenukavana and all decided to visit the spot. Once they reached there, as directed by Krishna, Balarama shook a palm tree, when many ripe and semi-ripe fruits fell off it and scattered all around. 

Hearing this noise, the demon of the place, Dhenuka, came there in the form of a wild ass. Dhenuka also means cow in Sanskrit. Krishna, with a view not to kill the demon himself in view of the similarity in name with the holy cow, let his brother Balarama deal with the demon, since the demon was an enemy of the gods. Balaram completed the task quite easily.

Now, the two brothers were attacked by the followers of the demon, who came rushing there in the form of jackels (jumbukas). Both Krishna and Balarama effortlessly threw all of them up the palm trees, as if they were mere jambu fruits.(Incidentally, Varuna is also called Jambuka and when Varuna heard the boys calling jambuka's (jackal) name, he must have been terrified as if the boys are going to trouble him and he would rather let his name of Jumbuka be used only for Vedic purposes). 

The gods were happy at the destruction of the demon and they praised Krishna, saying that this could be the fruit of his incarnation. But Krishna jokingly told  the gods that the jambu 'fruits' have come down from heavens and enjoyed eating them with his friends. All of them gathered the rest of the juicy fruits, which had fallen down and returned  home with Krishna. The villagers partook the fruits brought by the boys and upon hearing the killing of demon Dhenukasura, all the villagers loudly praised Krishna, wishing him long life, prosperity and success. 

Dasakam 54: Entry of Kaliya, the serpent king:

There once lived a sage, named Soubhari, who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. He did penance for 12 years by immersing himself in the waters of river Kalindi, (Yamuna) wishing to serve the Lord. During this long period of time, the sage got attached to the fishes who played around him. He became angry, when one day he saw Garuda, the eagle, started eating the fishes. Garuda is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, son of Triksha  and also the enemy of serpents. The sage warned Garuda and cursed him that if he ever tried to eat any living being in that area, Garuda would loose his life. The place was thus insulated from Garuda.

In a later event, there was a fight between Garuda and a deadly serpent, named Kaliya, as the latter tried to snatch the food offered to Garuda. He was chased by Garuda and he then took refuge in the river Kalindi, since it is a safe haven, out of reach for Garuda. Due to the presence of Kaliya, the stretch of the river belt became highly contaminated with the poison emanating from Kaliya and all living beings were destroyed in it, including the trees around the river bed, not even sparing the birds flying over it. Krishna was upset over this.

One summer day, Krishna went to the river bed with his friends and cows, leaving Balarama behind. The boys and cows drank the river water to quench their thirst; but all of them collapsed due to the poison. Krishna, the most merciful, cast his benevolence on them through his glance and all of them were up and alive. The boys felt rejuvenated and quickly understood that their miraculous escape was due to Krishna's mercy. They happily embraced Krishna and thanked him. For the boys, it was nothing new, as they have witnessed many similar miracles performed by Krishna in the past. The cows, on their part, were also equally moved by Krishna's mercy and came running to him, shedding their tears in joy, mooing gently.

The boys were a thrilled lot, couldn't believe they are alive still, felt goose-bumps all over and could not express a word. They thought it could be due to the effect of the poisonous waters that they could not utter any word. Such is the curing power of Krishna's glance in bringing back alive, even the dead and making them hale and healthy again.

Dasakam 55: Kaliya Nardhanam:

Krishna made up his mind to put an end to Kaliya's atrocities by forcing him out of the place. With this in mind, Krishna went up a Kadamba tree at the banks of the river, which had withered out completely due to the poisoned air. At that time, his tender feet looked like fresh saplings on the barren tree. Krishna then jumped into the swirling river, amongst the fiery waves, diving deep down in search of Kaliya.

Though Krishna is a boy, it was perhaps due to the fact that he weighed heavily on account of supporting the entire universe that the waters surged upwards with thunderous noise and overflowed on both the sides of the river, splashing the waters  over a large area. Kaliya became disturbed by the agitation, swirl and heavy noise, and he emerged from the waters and approached Krishna.

Kaliya appeared deadly with his thousand hoods, hissing dangerously, emanating fiery sparks and spewing venomous poison. He looked like a mountain with multiple peaks, as he came near Krishna with burning eyes, emitting poison and intense heat all around. Kaliya bit Krishna hard, only to find that Krishna was unaffected by the strong bite. Kaliya then coiled around Krishna with a view to powerfully crush him. It was surprising to see Kaliya trying his powers on the Lord who has unlimited powers.

Meanwhile, the cowherd boys on the banks were terrified and worried at the disappearance of Krishna into the river depths. The elders of the village rushed to the spot as they witnessed many evil omens. Hearing that Krishna had drowned, they decided to give up their life in grief. 

Just then Krishna emerged from the waters, untying himself from the deadly grip of the serpent, smiling as if nothing has happened. Krishna then started dancing on the hoods, with his tender and soft feet, rhyming with the jingling of his anklets and the bangles. What a sight it was for all the cowherd boys and elders to rejoice, the sages to celebrate and gods to shower the flowers on little Krishna. 

This dance scene is brought out nicely through a thillana by Carnatic muscician, Ms. Aruna Sairam. You can enjoy it in the following link:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Cbhpd2zYw

If you wish to see a dance form of this thillana, please click the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU1SNjnGcP0

Dasakam 56: Taming of Kaliya:

Krishna continued his dance for a prolonged period on the hoods of Kaliya, while the celestial maids sang in praise, accompanied by the gods beating the drums in accordance, with Krishna's ear rings swinging back and forth. It was an adorable sight to see Krishna jump from the lowered hoods to the raised ones, subduing them with his tender lotus feet, beating the rhythm, in tune with the music, with his hands, at the same time.

Kaliya was battered and fully run-down by the continuous rhythmic pounding by Krishna, which subdued all the hoods by then. Kaliya was profusely bleeding and the river turned red due to the bleeding. The wives of Kalia, the serpent women, now came up and approached Krishna for mercy upon their lord, Kaliya and sang in praise of Krishna. Since the serpent women had prior knowledge about Krishna,  their prayers casually included deep messages, which were beyond comprehension even by the sages.  

At the devotional request by the serpent women, Krishna felt pity and let go of Kaliya, giving him another life. Kaliya fell on Krishna's feet in complete surrender. Krishna directed Kaliya to vacate the place and migrate to an island called Ramanaka, in the mid of the ocean, assuring that Garuda would not trouble him there. All the serpent women presented Krishna with precious stones, brilliant necklaces and silk garments, which he accepted and adorned himself. With Kaliya  having departed with other serpents, Krishna returned to the banks to join his folks, who were waiting there anxiously and all tearfully rejoiced with joy.

As darkness approached, the villagers decided to spend the night in the forest protected by Krishna. Suddenly they were engulfed by a wild fire and they started yelling in pain due to the scorching heat. Krishna instantly swallowed the fire in one gulp and brought relief to all. It is no wonder that Krishna could easily accomplish this, as fire forms his mouth, in his Virat Swaroop. 

The cowherds were extremely happy at the sight of Krishna swallowing the fire and wondered how the yellow colour (peethatha) which was only an attribute of fire till now had become an essence of Krishna too, by his drinking (peethatha) it.

Dasakam 57: Balarama killed Pralambasura:

One day, Krishna set out to the forest in all his fine attire, along with Balarama, cows and the cowherd boys for a stroll. Showing all the scenic beauty to Balarama, Krishna played with the children and came near a banyan tree, when he met demon Pralamba, the tall one with long hands, who assumed the form of a cowherd bay, intending to kill Krishna.

Krishna, though aware of the evil intentions of Paralamba, befriended him and called for a dual fight, where in the boys were divided into two sides, one side headed by Krishna and the other by Balarama. Krishna deliberately took Pralamba on his side. The rule was that who ever looses should carry the winner on their shoulder for a distance. Krishna lost to his friend  Sridhama and hence carried him on his back, as per the rule of the game. Krishna thus showed his love and affection for his devotees.

The game continued this way and one by one the losers carried the winners on their back. Pralamba, who lost to Balarama, carried him on his back and moved very far off from the place with an intention to separate him from Krishna. Sensing that he is being carried far away from Krishna, Balarama increased his weight as much as possible. The demon now revealed his real form. Balarama was taken aback at this unexpected change in form, and staying at the back of the tall demon, he could see Krishna at the distance. Balaram regained his courage at the sight of Krishna and smashed the demon with his fists, crushing him down in one stroke.

Balarama joined the boys after killing the demon. Krishna embraced Balarama affectionately. The gods showered flowers on both of them as they stood embracing each other.

Dasakam 58: Krishna, the Saviour:

After the Pralamba incident, Krishna and other cowherd boys were playing with each other in joy. The cows, in the meanwhile, strayed far into the forest area, known as Isheeka, in search of food. The cows ventured far away from Brindhavan, deep into the forest and began to feel the heat of the summer, became thirsty. Unable to find Krishna and the cowherd boys, the cows felt lost, not knowing what to do.

Krishna and others started searching for the cows and Krishna spotted the cows in Munja forest, wandering aimlessly and feeling lost. Unfortunately, when Krishna hurried to the spot, a forest fire suddenly caught up with all, engulfing the area far and wide and spreading fast, with heavy sounds of the cracking woods. The cows were trapped inside the heat, with no escape route, started bellowing for help to save them and expressing their refuge to Krishna. Who else than Krishna, the friend in need and remover of troubles can help them?

Krishna pacified the boys not to panic, asked all the boys to close their eyes and when they opened their eyes a moment later, all of them, including the cattle, found themselves in another forest area, called Bhandeera, with no trace of fire. The cowherds felt relieved and profusely thanked Krishna for his mercy. Krishna graciously accepted it and went ahead roaming and playing in the forest. The area was so cool that summer could hardly be felt, except for the flowering trees like Patala, which announced the arrival of summer.

Krishna thus spent his summer days, which were extremely hot and miserable, like how his enemies feel. He is the one who drives away the sins of his devotees, like the summer drying up the mud. The summer spread out its heat all around the Yamuna, like the long, lustrous arms of Krishna, which reaches out to all. 

Thereafter, Krishna spent the rainy days happily there, enjoying in the caves of the mountain, with the black rain bearing clouds resembling his body colour, and the  powerful lightnings resembling the dazzling yellow robes that he wore. While Krishna thus spent his days in the caves, the king of the mountains, Govardhana, used to worship Krishna daily, to the accompaniment of the joyous calls from the peacocks. The Kutaja and Kadamba trees bloomed with flowers all around, adding to the scenic beauty. 

Krishna also spent the Sarath (rainy) season in the Brindavan, tending the cows, with the crystal clear waters, like the clean minds of the devotees, flowing in the Yamuna, the fertile greeneries attracting the gracing cows. 

Dasakam 59: Effect of Krishna's Flute:

Krishna remained the talk of the town, especially with the topics women, who were enchanted and infatuated by his very appearance, which was like a fresh Kalaya flower, as he embodies the Truth, the para Brahman, the combined form of the three qualities, sat, sit ananda (truth, intellect and bliss). The Gopikas, affected by cupid Manmatha, always wanted to be in the presence of Krishna and could not bear separation from him even for short duration, when he left for the forest every day, only to come back the evening.

The lovely maidens, having beautiful eyes like that of a deer, would keep staring at the direction of the forest, where Krishna left for the day, with their minds going after him. The only solace for them from his separation, was to enjoy the melodious music which emanated from his flute from the distant forests. They spent most of their time sharing all his divine sports.

Krishna, upon reaching the forest area, would shelter under the cool shades of a tree, with his right leg slightly bent, crossing the left leg and would start playing the flute. The divine music set the hearts of all the celestial maiden beat faster due to cupid effect, make all the birds and animals to cease all movements and even melt the hardest of stones. Here is the lovely song from M.S.  - "Katrinile Varum Geetham":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iwMBHNjzl8

Here is a flute music. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQmUBh8s2AE

Meanwhile the Gopika maiden back home, unable to see Krishna in their physical presence, would take pleasure in making mental images of Krishna playing the flute, with his tender fingers hovering softly and quickly over the holes in his flute, while his soft feet tapping the ground in tune with the music. The Gopikas were so excited by visualising Krishna in this form, that they swooned in ecstasy.

The cowherd maidens felt that the celestial maidens, animals, birds, cows and the land on which Krishna roamed around in the forest to be extremely fortunate to physically be with Krishna, without any hinderance always. These cowherd maidens longed to taste the sweet nectar of his lips, even if it is the remains of the liquid absorbed by the flute. They understood that such a wish is far fetched and may not materialise in near future or may not happen at all and this thought sent them into deep depression, making them swoon often. 

As days went by, these maiden were so obsessed with extreme love for Krishna, that they became distracted and disinterested in performing their regular household duties. These maidens were very fortunate and blessed that they could feel love for the Lord and also have the opportunity to be physically with Him and attain ultimate bliss.

Dasakam 60: Krishna stealing the clothes:

These beautiful maidens desired to be of service to Krishna for ever and prayed to Goddess Parvati, by forming a sand idol at the banks of Yamuna. Carrying Krishna in their minds, they would assemble in the banks of the river daily at dawn, worship the goddess, make plenty of offerings and prayed to Her to make Krishna their husband. This vow or Vrata is known as Katyayini Vrata.

Thus, the charming maidens completed one month of the Vrata (vow) and on that day they all offered payers as usual, removed their clothes on the river bed and went under the waters for bathing. Krishna, desiring to bless them, reached the spot and saw them sporting in the waters of Yamuna. All of them, on seeing Krishna all of a sudden, were extremely ashamed and downed their heads in shame. Krishna took this opportunity, gathered all their clothes and climbed up a tree. 

He then teased them to come up and individually collect their respective garments. Extremely embraced by this act of Krishna, the maiden prayed to Krishna for favouring them with their clothes, blessing him with long life in return and promising to be His slaves always, but all in vain. Krishna was only offering them his smile as reply. 

The maidens finally came out of the waters, with folded hands offering namaskaram to Krishna, in complete submission to their Lord, pure minded. Krishna happily returned the clothes to them. Blessing them all, Krishna told them that he was aware of their heart's desires and that it would be answered soon on a moon-lit day on the sands of the river Yamuna.

These words dripped into their ears like honey and the maidens started returning to their home, walking slowly and often turning back to see Krishna's sweet face, in deep love. Krishna, after thus blessing the maidens, went into the forest area as usual.

Dasakam 61: Krishna and the wives of Brahmins:

Krishna set out for the deep forest with his friends, for an undisclosed purpose to help a few Brahmin women folks who were deeply devoted to him. After a long walk, the boys became thirsty and hungry. Krishna asked them to approach a few Brahmins who were performing a Homa sacrifice in the neighbourhood for food. But the brahmins were so busy with the rituals, that they ignored the boys. 

The boys returned back to Krishna, disappointed at the treatment met out by the brahmins. Krishna smiled at this and asked them to approach the wives of the brahmins to tell them about his arrival and assured them that this time they will get a good response since those women were kind hearted.

On hearing the news of Krishna's arrival nearby, the women folk were very excited and eager to see Krishna. They all rushed there with whatever eatables they can pick, which included chewables, drinkables, suckables, lickables and whatever, unmindful of the resistance from their husbands.

They saw Krishna standing there with peacock feather on his head, wearing ear rings which reflected on his bright cheeks, merciful eyes and keeping one arm around his friend's shoulder. After receiving the food from the women, Krishna blessed them and sent them back to attend to their household duties. He also made their husbands accept them, removing any resentment in the brahmin's minds. 

One of the women, who was physically prevented by her husband could not meet Krishna. She meditated upon Krishna and was instantly liberated and united with the Lord. The brahmins later realised their mistakes and understood the devotion shown by their wives upon Krishna.

Dasakam 62: Govardhana Mountain:

Once Krishna saw his men were busy preparing for a yagna and enquired Narada about why so much of preparations are going on, as if he did not know of it. Nanda replied that it was customary to offer prayers to Indra every year, thanking him for the rains, as all people on earth are dependant of rains for their food, more so for the gopas, who were fully depended on the rains for rearing their cattle.

Krishna, determined to teach a lesson to Indra, tried convincing Nanda and others by replying that rains are not due to Indra, but due to the good deeds of the people. He quoted that the trees in the forest are not offering any prayers to Indra. Krishna further said that since cows are the biggest wealth of the community, it would be appropriate to offer prayers to the cows, instead of to Indra. Same way, it would be appropriate to offer prayers to the great king of mountains, Govardhana, as it provided all that is needed for their sustenance. Krishna suggested that they should offer prayers to those  holy men, who were superior to even the gods.

Govardhana Mountain near Brindhavan

Hearing these logical words of Krishna, all the men, totally convinced, offered their respects to the holy men and worshipped the mountain with plenty of offerings, went round it and bowed in reverence. Krishna, using his powers, ensured that the mountain physically consumed all their offerings, thus, further convincing the men on his words. Krishna assured the men that in case Indra got angry at this, the mountain would come to their rescue. The gopas happily returned back home, upon this assurance.

Indra came to know of the stoppage of offerings to him and became very angry at Krishna. Though he was aware that Krishna was the avatar of Lord Vishnu and also that it was Vishnu who had exalted him to the high post, he was under the control Rajo Guna and got enraged. Thus infuriated Indra vowed to destroy all the wealth of the cowherd, Krishna and ventured into it. He must know better that if Lord Vishnu so decided, all the gods would step down from their exalted positions.

Indra mounted the elephant Airavat, with his weapon thunderbolt and sent a battalion of clouds, for creating a situation similar to that of Pralaya or deluge, to destroy Krishna's abode, called Vraja. The other gods, including fire and wind gods, laughed at this foolish move of Indra, wondering how can anyone escape the power of Lord's Maya. 

Krishna once again assured the gopas not to worry since, in the event of Indra attacking them, they have the blessings of the holy men and the Govardhana mountain to protect them. Krishna, wondering why Indra has not yet arrived at the scene, eagerly awaited him.

Dasakam 63: Krishna holding the mountain:

As expected, Krishna could see at the distant, heavy outcast of clouds gathering darkness, like his complexion, causing the earth to shake with sounds of incessant thunder. The rains started pouring heavily all over the place, with hailstorms determined to destroy Vraja. The gopas were a worried lot and came to Krishna for refuge. Krishna asked them not to be afraid of these events.

Krishna then swiftly uprooted the huge mountain and held it up in his tender hands, claiming at the same time that if this mountain, which was their family deity would not protect them from Indra, who else would.

While Krishna was holding the mountain like an umbrella, with his tender hands, as directed by Krishn, the Gopas quickly gathered all their belongings and along with their cattle, they all assembled beneath the huge mountain, where the flood waters could not enter. While effortlessly holding the mountain on his one hand, Krishna engaged the boys and girls in chat, caressing at the same time, the cattle, which gathered around him in refuge, giving all of them the required comfort of his protection. 

All gopas kept gazing at Krishna and were wonder struck at this sight of Krishna holding the mountain for a long time on his tender hands and were not sure if this happened due to the power of the mountain (or the power of Krishna). 

Meanwhile, Indra continued with his tirade of heavy rains for the next 7 days, waiting for Krishna to become tired of holding the mountain, looking for the opportunity when the mountain would be lowered to its original position. But little Krishna stood steadily without any let and did not budge an inch. The clouds had discharged all their waters and were blown away by the winds. Indra became scared of this happenings and fled the scene.

After the rains have subsided, the Gopikas came out from the shade of the mountain, where upon, Krishna gently kept the mountain back on its place. All of them were delighted and embraced Krishn and profusely thanked him. The gods praised Krishna and remarked it is no bid deal for the Lord to lift a mountain, when He had lifted the entire earth on his nose, during  Varaha avatar.

Dasakam 64: Krishna crowned as "Govinda":

The Gopas having witnessed many such miracles of Krishna, such as holding the mountain, asked Narada to share the secrets of Krishna's avatar. They were convinced that Krishna was the avatar of the Lord, when Nanda shared them what he had learnt from sage Garga, detailing Krishna's greatness. Hearing this, all were immensely pleased.

Indra, fully drained of his pride at the humiliation met by him, realised that Krishna was Lord Himself and came down to Krishna, fell at his feet, his jewel decked crown touching Krishna's feet. Indra offered the celestial cow, Kamadenu, also called Surabhi, as a gift to Krishna, profusely praising Krishna.

Surabhi bathed Krishna with her milk and named him as "Govinda", the protector of cows. Indra bathed Krishna with the holy waters of celestial river Ganges, as brought by his elephant, Airavath. With crowning of Krishna as the king of the cowherds (Gokula), the entire place assumed further prosperity and glory, better than the heavens and Vaikunta.

Let us praise the Lord "Govinda":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yzdifdmdjc

Thereafter, once, Nanda tried to take bath in the river, in the early hours and was taken away by Varuna's (Rain God) men to Varuna's abode, since it was against the code of ethics to take bath at that time. Krishna had to rush to meet Varuna to secure his father back. This was necessary as Krishna also had the main purpose of his incarnation as upholding the dharma and hence Krishna did not want to punish Varuna, as he acted well within his dharma.

Varuna was pleasantly surprised at the unexpected visit of Krishna and paid obeisance to Krishna. Nanda reached back home, after Krishna retrieved him from Varuna's abode. Nanda then described to his fellow men, what had happened.

All the Gopas were very much convinced that Krishna was Hari Himself and they longed to experience the Supreme bliss of Lord Vishnu. Krishna mercifully revealed to them his Supreme Abode, which is not easy to attain by even the sages. Krishna made them enjoy the bliss for a long period of time and then brought them back to normal life.

It is to be noted that only in Krishna avatar, the devotees were allowed to experience the Supreme Abode of the Lord. It dispelled  all doubts that Krishna was indeed the Supreme Lord Himself.

Please listen to Baja Govindam by Sri Adi Shankara:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA7QwA1ggb4

Dasakam 65: Gopikas attracted by Krishna 

Chapter 65 is unique in that it is the only Dashakam that has less than 10 verses.

In following Dasakams 65 to 69, Narayana Bhattathri condenses the Bhagavata Puranam's contents on devotion and love of the jeevatma towards the Paramatman, yearning of the souls to merge with the divine reality, taming of the pride of devotees on their nearness to God and ultimate unification through Rasa Krida, when time dissolves into the eternity.

Krishna had promised the Gopikas that he would make them experience the Supreme Love (see Dasakam 60) and with a view to fulfil this promise, he decided to perform a function to the God of Love, called Marotsavam (mara=cupid, Manmatha), on a cool moon-lit night at the banks of the river Yamuna, among its wooded surroundings, using his charming flute music to attract them. (His flute is named “Aakarshini” (the one which attracts).

The divine music emanated by Krishna, enchanted the entire world, not to mention about the Gopikas who were totally hypnotised into trance. Gopikas rushed to the forest spot in the direction from where the fascinating music came from, forgetting the work they were doing at the moment, such as tending their children or attending to their husbands. Some of the women were half-dressed when they rushed out, making it more enjoyable for Krishna. One of the women even came out wearing her necklace around her waist and her girdle around her neck, as if to expose her attractive hips to Krishna. Another one came out exposing her bosom, as if she was carrying water to bathe the King of Gokula for his coronation, but no one noticed it since every one was equally in trance of pure devotion. Some of them who could not leave their homes for whatever reason, entered into deep transcendental meditation and merged with the Supreme, leaving their physical bodies and became the most blessed ones to enjoy the bliss.

Thus these women attained their blissful union with Krishna instantly, though they never considered Krishna as Supreme Brahman. May the Lord, in a similar fashion, help me attain such liberation by focusing my mind and thoughts firmly and devotedly on his divine form. Krishna bathed all the women with his compassionate glance and smile, as they gazed steadily at him.

Dasakam 66: Krishna delighted the Gopikas:

Krishna purposely frowned upon them for their conduct, though heart of hearts he wished to fulfil the wishes of these love-struck maidens. Krishna copiously described the duties and virtues of the women, as mothers and wives and it was listened to by the Rishis in heavens only to be passed on to all on earth. Though his words carried lot of advise on dharma shastras, his actions were not meant to be followed by other men, as they are not pure and beyond all attachments like Krishna.

This advise aggrieved the misery of the women who thought Krishna was going to forsake them. Looking at their miserable forms, Krishna consented to engage with them unconditionally in romantic sporting on the sands of the river. He sat down on the sands, using the garments of the women as a cushion, in a hand in hand posture, kissing and embracing them softly, making them instantly ecstatic. Krishna removed their sense of "I"-ness, making them merge with him in oneness, in deep devotion and bliss. The women reached the height of ecstasy by embracing Krishna, who is the most beautiful in all the three worlds, who sports a sweet scented smile and whose lustre enhanced by his sweat on his body. The Gopikas felt the pangs of separation from him earlier, were now delighted at their union with him. It was a marvellous moment for them.

Dasakam 67: Krishna disappears:

The women, who enjoyed the divine ecstasy by embracing Krishna, felt extremely proud and they all thought individually they were so attractive the they were capable of attracting even the Lord of Lakshmi. Sensing their false pride, Krishna suddenly disappeared from the scene. Only Radha, who was very dear to Krishna since she was not affected by such false pride, Krishna made himself visible and both of them sported at a distance.

The maidens felt lost at the sudden disappearance of Krishna and searched the entire forest, undergoing extreme pangs of separation. They started enquiring all the trees, flowers and creepers in the forest, about the whereabouts of their sweet heart. One of them, falsely felt that she has seen Krishna and cried out in excitment, only to  be found it to be wrong, which put all of then in agony again.

Some women, who united with Krishna, assuming them to be Krishna himself, re-enacted the earlier acts of Krishna in killing Putana, Sakatasura etc. They all then resumed their search for Krishna and found Radha alone and assumed that Radha has also been forsaken by Krishna. After searching for a longtime and not able to find Krishna, they all reassembled at the spot and started praying to Krishna, singing his praise.

Krishna, who is beyond the influence of the god of love, out of compassion for them, now made himself visible to those grief stricken women. The women did all sorts of acts in disbelief, at the sudden sight of Krishna, due to excessive delight.

Dasakam 68: Krishna reappears:

The Gopis, excited upon seeing Krishna, rushed near him; but upon reaching him they all stood motionless by his enchanting presence, due to oozing of nectar-like bliss. One of the women, caught hold of his arms ans placed it on her bosom and stayed motionless for a longtime, enjoying the thrill. Another one, put the other arm around her neck tightly, as if to block her out from breathing. Another one, snatched the half-eaten betal from Krishna's mouth and put in on her mouth and chewed in ecstasy. 

Another one became angry at him for forsaking her and shouted at him. Krishna led them to the sands and sat on their garments as cushion, glowing with saffron pastes on his body. The Gopikas chided him for being unsympathetic to them, especially when they have surrendered to him fully. Krishna clarified to them that his act was to ensure their continued love for him and not out of any other reasons, such as being unsympathetic or hard-heartedness. Krishna assured them that they are dearest to him and asked them to enjoy his company, completely, uninterruptedly, on the soothing moon-lit night. The Gopikas were extremely happy to hear this and Krishna enthusiastically enjoyed the Rasa Leela with the Gopikas.

Dasakam 69: Rasakreeda, the Celebration of Divine Love:

The stage is getting ready for the great celestial feast of the Universe. We can very well imagine how Krishna would have decorated himself for the best performance, with peacock feathers on his hair, fish-shapped ear rings ready to dance on his cheeks, necklaces and lovely scented garments adorning his neck, body emitting attractive odour of sandal paste and other perfumes, yellow silk garment with golden girdle, anklets of gems dazzling in the moon light etc. 

Expectations running high, as Narada informed all the celestials not to miss this extra-ordinary event, all gods and celestial damsels, beautifully dressed, rushed to the Yamuna banks, eager to witness the spectacle, accompanied by their partners. 

Krishna now started to execute the Rasa Leela dance, with his gentle movements between the pairs of Gopikas, who assembled in a circle around Krishna and were appropriately dressed for the event with lovely robes and jewels, making them all the more charming.

There was exciting music flowing from Krishna's flute, in all ragas and tunes, rhyming with the sounds of the soft foot steps, jingling of anklets and  hand claps of the dancers. The pace picked up, as Krishna circled around the Gopis, brushing them repeatedly with his arms and the Gopis enjoying it, with their garments around their hips fluttering nervously in excitement and anticipation.

The Gopis confidently started singing loudly, one after the other, while not loosing focus on the lovely dance movements. Their ornaments and hairstyles started to  fall out of place. The celestials on their part poured flowers from above, enjoying thoroughly the dance with awe and reverence, feeling the union with the Brahman.

As the dance continued feverishly, one of the weak women started perspiring; feeling exhausted, she leaned on Krishna's shoulders. Another maiden caught hold of Krishna's arm and started kissing in, as if she wanted to smell the sandal paste in his arm, with her hairs standing in disarray at the thrill. Another one pressed her cheeks against Krishna's, with a view to squeeze the betel juice from his mouth and enjoy drinking it. The level of ecstasy and joy of the maidens knew no bounds and all of them enjoyed the Rasa Krida with Krishna, thus far enjoyed only by Lakshmi.

As the maiden became struck with the height of ecstasy, their songs and music came to a complete stop and all were completely immersed in bliss of the Supreme Lord, enjoying the Brahmananda. They still danced in trance, unaware of their physical bodies and the state of their ornaments and robes. The entire universe with all its stars came to a complete standstill. No one can utter any apt phrase to describe the moment.

During such a marvellous festival of love, featuring Krishna and the Gopikas, Krishna was seen in multiple figures, matching with all the Gopikas individually. The Gopikas were really fortunate by way of their past karma to get such an opportunity to dance with the Divinity. All of them shone further with beauty, due to the perspiration oozing out in their bodies during the Rasa Leela dance and were fully take-over by the extreme love shown by Krishna and the Supreme dance came to a halt.

Krishna then led them to the waters of Yamuna and played further with the Gopikas, who were by then fully exhausted, and fondled and caressed them to their heart's content, thus engaged in flirting amongst the cool breeze, with the air filled with lovely fragrance of the blossoming flowers. 

The Gopikas, hundreds in numbers, experienced the harmony with nirvana, the complete ecstasy, which is attainable only by the Yogis after strict practice. Gods like Brahma, Sankara and others, must have felt that the cowherd maidens were more esteemed than themselves, to have the company of the Lord, in his most beautiful form, which can be accessed only by the devotees.

Concluding Notes for Part 2:

As the day broke, Krishna asked the Gopis to return home, which they did unwillingly. All of them were relieved to find their kith and kin not even aware of their prolonged absence from home. This must be the play of Krishna's Maya. The incident was a delightful memory for the Gopikas to cherish for ever. With this Dasakam, we come to the end of the childhood and adolescent days of Krishna and we now enter the other phase of serious activity for Krishna for fulfilling the purpose of his avatar.    

SHARAD PURNIMA is the full moon day in the autumn season. The full moon on this day is closest to the earth and therefore its influence and healing benefits are immense and profound. The moon represents the mind and the sun represents the Light of Knowledge. On the purnima day, all of the sun’s light falls on the moon unobstructed. Therefore the full moon in all its glory represents a pure satwic mind endowed with knowledge. 

The minds of the Gopis of Vrindavan are likened to the full-moon and Sri Krishna, the Personification of Knowledge (Sun) danced in their minds! This is the true inner RAASA-KREEDA. The entire inner Raasa-kreeda is externalised and dramatized beautifully as the dance-sport of Sri Krishna with the Gopis. Therefore Sharad Purnima is also called as RAASA PURNIMA. In some parts of the country, Karthik Purnima which comes in the next calendar month is also called as Raasa Purnima. 

As per Bhagavat Purana, Krishna is blue in colour, representing Infinitude. Gopis are depicted as yellow (brilliant lustre) in colour. When they are dancing, the blue and yellow mutually overlap to yield green colour. Hence Krishna as well as the Gopis look like green emeralds! Green is the colour of balance, equilibrium and equipoise. In the infinite play of Prakriti and Purusha, there is divine equilibrium and balance in the cosmos (macro) and in each individual (micro). 

The Krishna-Gopi pair at the micro level represent “Consciousness+Thought” playing about within oneself – a mini Raasa! Infact, the Whole Universe is a MAHA-RAASA. From the celestial bodies, the planetary system, the silent mountain ranges, the rains, the roaring ocean, the flowing rivers, the passing breeze, the nodding fields upto the complex body system, the mind-intellect equipment – all are a play of Prakriti and Purusha – perpetual Raasa-Kreeda! So many mini Raasa-s in the Cosmic Raasa! 

Let us pray for Lord's protection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLfjOro6lnk

Bye for now, till we meet again for the concluding part of Narayaneeyam.

****************

ESSENCE OF NARAYANEEYAM - Part 1 - Dasakams 1 to 50.

GURUVAYURAPPAN

Hi viewer. Welcome to my blog.

The "Essence of Narayaneeyam" is simply the "presence of Lord Krishna". 

Many wisemen have written volumes of commentaries on the famous Narayaneeyam composition and therefore my blog would highlight the salient facets of this famous work, focusing on what we can learn from its contents in an essence. 

Let me start this blog with a devotional music on Guruvayurappan:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07m324pmuZk

Kerala is aptly called the "God's Own Country", with numerous shrines for Bhagavathi, Iyyappa, Rudra and Krishna. The present blog focuses on Guruvayoor Kshethram, 28 km from Thrissur in Kerala, South India, where the idol of Lord Krishna arrived from Dwaraka. Legends state that Lord Krishna asked two devas to take the idol from his temple in Dwarka while the city was being destroyed and establish it in Kerala. The idol of Lord Krishna was brought by Vayu deva and brhaspathi and was placed in Guruvayur. The name "guruvayur" is a merge of both their names ("guru" brahaspathi and "vayu" deva).

The divine idol installed here represents the enchanting form of Bhagvan Vishnu endowed with the four lustrous arms carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki and the lotus. Adorned with the divine Tulasi garland the idol represents the majestic form of Maha Vishnu as revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki at the time of Krishna Avatar. 

Let us pray for early relieval of our burdens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCF5qZlePVA

Krishnaashtakam

Krishna Ashtakam is the devotional stotra of Lord Krishna. This popular prayer is believed to be written by Adi Shankaracharya.

1) Vasudeva Sutam Devam,

Kamsa Chanura Mardhanam,

Devaki Paramaanandham,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is the son of Vasudeva,

Who killed Kamsa and Chanura,

And the source of great joy to Devaki

2) Athasee Pushpa Sangasam,

Hara Noopura Shobhitham,

Rathna Kankana Keyuram,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is surrounded by hemp flowers,

Who shines in necklaces and anklets,

And who wears gem studded bangles and armlets

3) Kutilalaka Samyuktham ,

Poorna Chandra Nibhananam,

Vilasad Kundala Dharam,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is with curly locks of hair,

Who resembles the full moon,

And who shines in his ear studs

4) Mandhaara Gandha Samyuktham,

Charu Hasam, Chathur bhujam,

Barhi Pinnchava Choodangam,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is with the smell of Mandhara flowers,

Who has a pretty smile and four hands,

And who wears the feather of peacock

5) Uthphulla Pathra Padamaksham,

Neelaji Mudha Sannibham,

Yadavaanaam Siro Rathnam,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who has eyes like fully opened petals of lotus,

Who resembles the rich blue cloud,

And is the greatest gem among Yadavas

6) Rukmani Keli Samyuktham,

Peetambara Sushobhitham,

Avaptha Thulasi Gandham,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is with the playuful Rukhmani,

And who shines in yellow silks,

And who has the scent of holy basil

7) Gopeekanaam Kucha Dwanda,

Kunkumankitha Vakshasam,

Sri Niketham, Maheshvasam,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who is coated with the saffron powder,

From the two breasts of gopis,

And who is the home of Lakshmi and

In whom the great God lives.

8) Sri Vathsankam Mahoraskam,

Vana Maala Virajitham,

Sankha Chakra Dharam Devam,

Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum

I salute the world teacher Krishna,

Who has Sri Vathsa on his chest,

Who is deorated by forest garland,

And is the God who holds conch and wheel

You can listen to the full slogam in the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2_ntOK_44s

Origin of Sri Narayaneeyam

Narayaneeyam is a 1036 stanza summary of Bhagawath Purana by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri who lived in between 1559-1632. Bhattathiri was born as second son in a Namboodiri family of Kerala. He mastered the Vedas as well as the art of literary composition, as per the custom of those days he married the daughter of Sri Achyutha Pisharodi and later became his devotee as well as student. When his Teacher as well as his father-in-law was suffering due to rheumatism, Narayana Bhattathiri prayed to God and got the disease transferred to him. Due to the severity of the disease, he suffered a lot. 

When he consulted Thunchathu Ezhuthachan who was a great writer and translator of Ramayanam, he advised him to write touching (starting) from the fish. Many did not understand this  and wondered how a brahmin can touch the fish. Bhattathiri understood that this meant that he has to write starting from the fish incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He then went to Guruvayur and started writing a summary of Bhagawatha. Lord Krishna is said to have enjoyed his writings.

Hear this lovely song to visualise the nearness and naughtiness of Krishna 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk24BO8Kgqo

Daily he wrote one chapter consisting of ten verses (his younger brother took it down) and planned to write one hundred chapters. Though he did not mention any thing about his sickness and suffering in the first two chapters, the third chapter is essentially a plea by him to Lord of Guruvayur to cure him. In one verse, he says that he may not be able to continue what he was doing. From then on, in the last verse of every chapter, he made a plea to God to cure him.

The first 36 chapters dealt with various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, and chapters 37-88 deals exclusively with the story of Lord Krishna. Chapters 89-99 dealt with the extolling of Vishnu as a primeval God as well as several philosophical concepts. The last chapter is a mellifluous description of the lord from head to foot. 

It was completed on 27-11-1587 as denoted by the last words of the great work. Narayaneeyam Bhattathiri composed Narayaneeyam at the age of 27 years. With the Lord's grace showering on him, he lived as a respected philosopher, poet and saint to the age of 96 years. People believe that when reciting the last Chapter Melpathur was able to see Lord Guruvayurappa before him and once he completed this chapter he got completely cured of his disease.

Millions of devotees in the past few centauries have benefited by the recital of Narayaneeyam and many of them got cured of their diseases especially those caused by Va

tham (Rheumatism).

There are many web sites devoted only to Narayaneeyam. One of them contains, the entire text, with word by word meaning:

http://www.narayaneeyam-firststep.org/index.html 

To listen to the full recital of Sri Narayaneeyam, please click the following link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vR_vLJVRoY

This composition is unique in the sense it was written as a direct conversation between the Lord and Bhattathri and the Lord is said to have confirmed the correctness of the events mentioned in the composition by nodding his head, every now and then.

Here is a delightful classic from Annamayya, a lovely song depicting Mother Yasoda fondling her loving Krishna, comparing Him with the 9 gems: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKLljq8tHM

Glory of 100 Dasakams

This mini-epic is a masterly abridgement of Sage Veda Vyasa's magnum opus, Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is an ancient Text created by the great Maharishi Veda Vyasa. Srimad Narayaneeyam created by Narayana Bhattathri, a well known educated 27 yrs old youth. Srimad Bhagavatam more or less Vishnu Purana whereas Narayaneeyam about Guruvayur Krishna. Srimad Bhagavatam recited for a great Emperor Parkshat whereas Narayaneeyam for self. Srimad Bhagavatam is a Purana period text whereas Narayaneeyam is 16the century Text.

Narayaneeyam expounds the essence of other systems of Indian philosophy, mainly, Jnyanayoga, Karmayoga and Sankhya, at the appropriate places while laying special emphasis on the over-riding supremacy of Bhaktiyoga, or the path of devotion, over all other means to attain Moksha.

1. Dasakam 15 : This dasakam sets out in ten verses the essence of Kapila's (an incarnation of the Lord Himself) advice to his mother, Devahuti, on the Sankhya, which, in the Bhagavatham, spans ten chapters (Nos. 24 to 33) of the third Skanda (or Canto). 
2. Dasakams 34 and 35 : The whole of the Ramayana epic of Valmiki is covered in twenty verses, as against two chapters of the 9^th Canto in the Bhagavatham, and 24000 lines in Valmiki Ramayanam. 
3. Dasakam 86, verse 6 : This sets out in a single verse, the essence of the Lord's teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, which spans 18 chapters of the Bhagavadgeeta. 
4. Dasakam 93 : This dasakam briefly deals with the 25 teachers or preceptors, all found in nature, and the lessons to be learned from each one of them, for either emulation or avoidance in daily life by a devotee. 
5. Dasakam 95, Verse 8 : In this verse, Bhattathiri gives an graphic, encapsulated head-to-foot description of the Lord, in an easy-flowing cascade of phrases, that are simple and easy to memorise and also recall for constant chanting and meditation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9qMm3Zp2g8

(alai payuthe)

Let us now peruse all the 100 Dasakams, one by one, to understand the holy contents of this epic work:

Dasakam 1: Glory of Lord

Lord Krishna offers salvation to mankind, even during Kaliyuga, appearing in Guruvayur in Suddha Satva form. Lord is the embodiment of six great qualities, namely, Sri (prosperity), Jnana (knowledge), Vairagya (detachment), Aishwarya (lordliness), Veerya (valour) and Yashas (fame). He is the Kalpaka Vriksha, the divine tree, granting all the wishes of His devotees, including supreme bliss.

Dasakam 2: Form of the Lord:

The Lord, wearing all jewels, flowers as well as compassion, is truly adorable. Sri Lakshmi will stay, without leaving,theose devotees, who are steadfast in Bhakthi for Lord Krishna. Bhakthi Yoga or the path of devotion is recommended by great sages to be far superior to Karma Yoga (or path of action ) or Jnana Yoga (or path of spiritual knowledge) in the quest for salvation and it can be attained effortlessly through intense love for His divine form. Bhakthi offers salvation in this Kali Yuga.

Dasakam 3: The perfect devotee:

As devotion becomes more intense, it eliminates all suffering and ultimately it leads the mind to the path of supreme knowledge and bliss. His feet walk joyfully to His temple; his hands serve Him with fervour; his eyes are eager to feast on His divine image; his nostrils will be pervaded with the scent of the holy Tulsi leaves at His feet and his ears drink in His delightful stories and songs. Nothing is impossible for one who has been blessed by the Lord. Innumerable devotees have been liberated from their sorrows and worldly ties by His mercy. Bhattathri asks, "Can I not be one such fortunate devotee of Thine? Can you not grant me with a fit body and mind?" 

Dasakam 4: Attainment of Yogic Powers:

The way to obtain a fit body and mind is thro' performing eight-fold yoga. By practising selfcontrol through celibacy, honesty and nonviolence and by observing the daily rituals of bathing, meditation etc., one shall cleanse  one's body and mind and perform the Padmasana (lotus posture) and other aasanas and worship the Lord. Chanting the Pranava mantra (OM) continuously and thus controlling the sense organs one shall purify oneself and concentrate on the Lord. 

Thus the Yogi who attains Samadhi is able to control his life breath and draw it upward along the Sushumna nerve past the six nerve centres in his quest for salvation. Then leaving this earthly body those who wish for immediate salvation merge with the Lord, while those who wish for the pleasures of the higher worlds go with the sense organs piercing the head to the solar world and then to the world of Dhruva, then to Sathya Loka of Brahma and to Vaikunta Loka of Vishnu.The devotee  thus attains salvation.

The Brahmanda is encased in seven covers viz. the five elements, earth, water, fire, air, ether and then intellect and illusion. The devotee breaks through all these barriers experiencing the pleasures in each of these and finally attains salvation at His lotus feet.One who successfully completes this arduous soul-searching journey does not come down again.

Dasakam 5: Evolution of Universe:

At the end of the previous great deluge, there was no life or death and no day or night. Only the brilliant form of Supreme Bliss existed. At that point in time everything, viz. Kala (time), Karma (action), Guna (mood), the Jivathmas (individual souls ) all lay merged in the supreme form of the Lord. They re-emerged after the deluge.

Then with the desire for creation the Lord activated Maya with a single glance and the evolution of the three worlds began. From Maya came Kaala shakthi, the hidden resultant Karmas of the Jivas and inborn dispositions (swabhavas). From these evolved the Gunas or moods and helped Maya to manifest as the Universe as a reflection of the Lord. 

Out of three gunas, came the Mahat or Buddhi, then Ego, Direction (Disha), Air (Vayu), Sun (Surya), Varuna, Aswini Devas, Fire (Agni), Vishnu, Mitra, Prajapathi, Moon (Chandra), Brahma, Rudra and Kshetrajna. From Ego was created the internal sense which is a combination of Chitta, mind, intellect and egoism. From the Rajasa part came the set of ten senses and from the Tamasa part Maya created Shabda or sound which is the prime essence of the sky. 

From Shabda Maya created the sky. From that came touch (sparsha); from which air or vayu was born; from that came rupa or form; from rupa came agni or fire; from fire came taste; then came water from taste; from water came smell and from smell earth was formed. Thus everything in the entire Universe is interconnected as a Hyranyagarbha, the Golden Womb.

This Brahmanda or Cosmic Egg lay for a thousand years in the primal water created earlier. Then exploding it, the Lord came in the form called Virat Purusha of the fourteen worlds. In that form He shone as the total form of all individual souls with thousands of hands, feet and heads. 

Dasakam 6 : Wonderful Virat form of Lord:

Virata Purusha form encompassing the fourteen worlds has been described thus by sages: 

• The soles of the feet are Patala; the upper part of the feet are Rasatala and the pair of ankles are Mahatala. 
• The shins is described as the world of Talatala, The knees as Suthala and the two thighs as Vithala and Athala. The front portion of the hip is the earth, The navel is the sky and the breast is Heaven where Indra dwells. 
  
• The neck is Maharloka, the face is Janaloka, the forehead is Tapoloka and the head is Satyaloka.
• The Brahmarandhra (skull) is the Vedas; the lovely tresses are the clouds; the pair of radiant brows are the abode of Brahma; the eyelashes are night and day and the eyes are the Sun.
• The glance is the act of creation of the entire Universe. The ears are the directions, the nostrils are the two Aswin devatas. The lower lip is avarice or greed and the upper lip is modesty. The teeth are the groups of stars and the molars represent Lord Yama, the God of Death.
  
• The radiant smile is Maya or illusion. The breath is air and the tongue is water. The speech is the family of birds; the musical notes are the Siddhas etc. The hollow of the mouth is fire; the arms are the Gods and the two breasts are the abode of Dharma Deva. 
  
• The hind part is Adharma or evil; and the mind is the moon. The lotus heart is intangible being balanced by the gunas or moods. The abdomen is the host of oceans; the garments are the two twilights; the private part is God Brahma and the scrotum is the God Mitra.   
• The hip is the animal kingdom, the nails of the feet are the elephants, camels, horses etc. The gait is Time. The lotus-like face, the arms, the two charming thighs and the feet are the source of the Brahmins and other castes.
• The actions are the cycle of births and deaths. The valour is the host of powerful demons or asuras. The bones are the mountains, the nerves are the collection of rivers and the hair are the trees.

Dasakam 7: Birth of Brahma:

The Supreme being, after assuming the Virat form containing all the souls in the three worlds, manifested in the form of Brahma, the creator in Sathya Loka. Fired by an intense desire for creation, Brahma, knew not how. He meditated upon the Lord for several Divine years and then reached Vaikuntam, the wonderful world of Vishnu. The lord blessed Brahma with the knowledge of creation and encouraged him to go ahead with creation. 

Dasakam 8: Birth of Time:

Brahma, thus enabled by Vishnu, started creation for several thousand divine years. Along with him, there started the days and nights. Brahma created beings during his days and rested with the Lord during his nights. During his nights, which lasted for 1000 x 4 yugas, the entire cosmos got submerged into cosmic waters. The day begins for Brahma, when the Lord casts His glorious eyes on the waters. A divine lotus springs up from His navel or nabhi (Padmanabha), comes up above the waters and opens to spread radiance all around, which instantly drives away the darkness. Upon the Lotus, Brahma wakes up again, to be known as "Padmajanma or Kamalodbhava" and starts his creation for 1000 X 4 yugas, which is one day for him. Brahma thus lives for 100 years, known as one Kalpa, after Which a new Brahma takes over.

There is a special significance of this eighth Dasakam, as per H.H. Kanchi Swamigal. According to His holiness, those who recite the 13th sloka of this 8th Dasakam, 108 times daily for a period of 45 days will get cured of any critical life threatening illness. I am giving below this Slokam for those looking for it.

அஸ்மின் பராத்மன் நனு பாத்மகல்பே

த்வமிதமுத்தாபித பத்மயோனிஹி

அனந்த பூமா மம ரோக ராஷிம்

நிருந்தி வாதாலய வாச விஷ்ணோ

Those who want to hear this slokam, please click the following link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OqzfmMmyY8

Dasakam 9: Creation of Universe:

After waking up from the Lotus, Brahma was perplexed about the origin of the lotus, floating on the cosmic waters. He went through the hole in the stem, but could not locate the origin. He then focused upon the Lord and meditated for prolonged period of time, where upon the Lord appeared before him in divine form resplendent with the brilliant crown, adorned with bangles, necklaces and shoulder bracelets, the gem-studded waistbelt, dressed in the elegant yellow silk-cloth, the radiant Kausthubha jewel round the neck and sparkling like the Kalaya flower. The Lord blessed Brahma with the unlimited knowledge on creation. 

Dasakam 10: Varieties of Creation:

God Brahma then created living beings, like the stationary trees, plants, and creepers and the movable ones like the animals and birds as well as hosts of human beings and the various gods. 

Then Brahma created out of his mind, four sages, Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. Although he asked them to carry on the work of creation, they refused to do so as they were fully absorbed in devotion to the Lord Vishnu. Brahma became furious at this disobedience and there arose, from between his eye brows, the fearful Rudra. 

Brahma gave Rudra eleven different forms with eleven names and gave as many wives and an equal number of places and he requested him to indulge in procreation. Rudra created terrifying Rudraganas and scared Brahma, who then directed Rudra to stop creation and do penance instead.

Brahma restarted his work of creation and from various parts of his body he created the ten great sages, viz. Mareechi, Atri, Angiras, Krathu, Pulaha, Pulastya, Bhrigu, Vasishta, Daksha and Narada. Among them Narada was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu or Narayana.

Brahma then created Dharma Deva and Kardama followed by Vani or Saraswathi. Brahma was smitten by love at the sight of Saraswathi, but was smothered by his sons, Sanaka and Daksha.

From his four faces Brahma produced the Vedas, the Puranas and all other sciences, and gave them to his sons. Unable to make any further progress in the work of creation he took refuge at Vishnu's lotus feet. Brahma discovered the strategy for multiplying creation. He split his body into two and adopted the male and female forms of Manu and his wife, thus evolving the means of multiplying the human race.

Dasakam 11: Hiranyaksha & Hiranyakasipu:

Meantime, the sons of Brahma, sages Sanaka and others, reached Vaikunta in search of Lord Vishnu, but were stopped at the gate by the guards Jayan and Vijayan. The sages became enraged and cursed both Jaya and Vijayan to become Asuras or demons. Lord Vishnu appeared before them and pacified the guards by  offering relief that the guards would  return back to Vaikuntam, after spending three lives on Earth as enemies of the Lord.

Accordingly both the guards were born to Sage Kasyap and Diti as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu and terrorised all beings. Getting a clue that Lord Vishnu is his equal, Hiranyaksha abducted Vishnu's wife, the Earth goddess and drowned her in the oceans.

Dasakam 12: The Varaha avatar:

Swayambhuva Manu, who was in the process of creation, suddenly realised that the earth has been drowned, putting his act of creation in jeopardy. Even Brahma could not bring the earth out of the waters. Both of them went to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu came out of the nostril of Brahma as a tiny boar and started to grow in size. Soon the boar assumed a huge size spanning the entire space and then plunged deep into waters and came out carrying the earth on its tusks. Enraged by this act of the Lord, the demon came rushing with his mace to attack the Lord.

Dasakam 13: Slaying of the demon:

The demon was further incited by Narada's intentional provoking words, praising the demon as superior to Vishnu. A stiff fight resulted between Vishnu and the demon. Finally, the Varaha kicked the demon beneath his ears and fell him down. The demon, bleeding profusely, lay dead on the ground. Vishnu then played earth back on its place to the joy of all sages and divinities.

Dasakam 14: Incarnation as Kapila:

Swayambhuva Manu re-started creation, after the above event. At the sometime, Kardama, another son of Brahma, was also in the act of creation. Kardama was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and after 10,000 years of worship, Lord Vishnu appeared before him and blessed him with a son, who will be the incarnation of Vishnu.

As prompted by the Lord, Swayambhuva Manu gave his daughter Devahuti to Kardama. The divine couple gave birth to 9 daughters and one son, Kapila, who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, whose purpose was simply to teach the human race, the philosophy of the Supreme Soul and the means to acquire that wisdom. Kapila's teachings are in the form of advises to his mother Devahuti.

Dasakam 15: Kapila's Teachings

The main feature of Kapila's advise is that Bhakthi Yoga or the path of devotion leads to the liberation of the soul.

He declared that there are twenty-four tattvas governing human existence in this world. They are Prakriti or matter, Mahat or intelligence, Ahamkara or egoism, the five subtle bases, the five elements, the mind and the ten organs of sense and action. 

The twenty-fifth which is Purusha or the Supreme Soul, transcends all others and the one who understands this differentiation will be free from Maya. If the Purusha gets attached to Prakriti, her qualities influence him. By steadfast devotion that attachment to Prakriti will automatically vanish. 

Listening to the Lord's virtuous attributes and stories of His sportive phenomena, chanting His names repeatedly and singing His glories will inspire intense devotion which flows unhindered like the heavenly river Ganges. Such a great devotion is powerful enough to conquer Death.

 

The man who earns his livelihood by unfair means, inflicting hardship on others to maintain his family, who is a slave to physical passion, who is engrossed in his children's mischief and who is attached to his home without any devotion to the Lord will truly and unfortunately go to hell. 

That householder who leads a virtuous life propitiating the gods and his ancestors, goes to the southern path and after the merits earned by him are exhausted, falls back on the earth to begin a new cycle of life. 

But if our action and devotion are dedicated to the Lord without any expectation of its fruit, we will go toward the northern path of salvation. 

Kapila declared that devotion to Lord alone can remove all our fears and grant all our desires.

Dasakam 16: Incarnation as Nara-Narayana:

Brahma's another son, Daksha Prajapathi married Swayambhuva Manu's daughter, Prasuti and gave birth to sixteen daughters, who were married to gods, Dharma, Agni, Shiva etc. Through Dharma, Lord Vishnu incarnated as twins, Nara and Narayana to slay demon Sahasrakavacha. After slaying him, Narayana peacefully spent His time in penance. Much as Indra tried to break His penance, due to jealousy, he could not succeed. Even Manmatha lacked competence in disturbing Narayana. Urvasi was created from the mind of Narayana as an answer to Manmatha's attempts with celestial maidens. Urvasi finally joined the maidens as the most beautiful celestial nymph. Another purpose of incarnation as Narayana was to protect Dksha from Shiva's wrath, when Shiva cut off Daksha's head enraged by insult. Narayana give Daksha fresh lease of life by pacifying Shiva.

Dasakam 17: Boon given to Dhruva:

Dhruva was born as the grandson of Swayambhuva Manu. His father, King Uttanapada had another son by name Uttama through second wife. Druva's father was fond of Uttama and ignored Druva on many occasions. Saddened by this Druva, as advised by his mother, did severe tapas on Lord Vishnu, Who blessed him with all his wishes. Accordingly, after his father, Druva ruled the kingdom and thereafter, along with his mother, reached his own kingdom in heaven. Even today he shines as one of the bright stars in the sky. 

Dasakam 18: Incarnation as Prithu:

Legend goes that Druva's descendant, King Anga, had a son by name Vena, who was very wicked. Broken hearted Anga left the kingdom to perform penance and Vena took over as the ruler. His arrogance and misdeeds affected one and all and the sages advised him to adhere to the path shown by his forefathers, who were noble and virtuous and ever glued to the path of righteousness.

Since he did not heed to their advise and continued with his tirade, the infuriated sages finally decided to take it on their hands the corrective actions to be taken. Out of anger, they burnt Vena to ashes with a view to put his rule to an end. Soon the sages reopened their anger, as the country went without a ruler. The sages assembled again to solve this problem. 

Due to their vision, the sages churned the remains of Vena, that's when there arose from it a divine being, Prithu, an incarnation of Maha Vishnu, who was made the emperor. He soon levelled all the misdeeds of Vena and brought back sanity on Earth. He created Kamadenu, the celestial cow, which fulfilled the wishes of all the gods and others. Prithu performed several horse sacrifices for world peace, which made Indra angry and out of jealousy he tried several times to break the 100th horse sacrifice. Finally, the great sages, with Brahma's intervention, ensured that the 100th sacrifice was completed. Prithu, who was the manifestation of Vishnu, met several sages, including Sanaka and engaged in councelling about Dharma. Prithu then retired into the forest for penance and merged with Vishnu.

Dasakam 19: Prachetas and Rudra Gita:

In the Prithu dynasty, his great grandson, Pracheena Bharhis, begot ten sons, collectively called Prachetas. These ten were very devoted to Lord Vishnu, and they set off to the west coast to do penance. They arrived at a holy lake, where they were received by Lord Shiva, with his attendant deities. Shiva is an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and takes pleasure in greeting the devotees of Vishnu. 

etad rūpam anudhyeyam

ātma-śuddhim abhīpsatām

yad-bhakti-yogo ’bhayadaḥ

sva-dharmam anutiṣṭhatām

"My dear Lord, those who desire to purify their existence must always engage in meditation upon Your lotus feet. Those who are serious about executing their occupational duties and who want freedom from fear must take to this process of bhakti-yoga"- Rudra Gita.

Shiva taught them a set of hymns in praise of Lord Vishnu, called Rudra Geetha. This hymn is a sacred and auspicious prayer to Lord Narayana, and is also known as Yoga Desa. It hails the glories of the Lord who is ever-loving towards His devotees and showers His graces on all unfailingly. Shiva praises Vishnu and also those who worship Him as extremely fortunate since they attain salvation directly. The Prachetas spent ten thousand years in the holy water and engaged in meditation on the Lord for attainment of the bliss of realisation. Then the Lord Vishnu revealed Himself, on His mount Garuda, to them. He assured them of His blessings and promises that those who chant the Rudra Gita with devotion will attain salvation. Due to their Bhakti, the ancestors of Prachetas, including wicked Vena got cleansed of their sins. Thereafter, Prachetas got special guidance from Sage Narada and attained salvation. Daksha was born to Prachetas, who continued the dynasty.

"The Supreme Lord (Viṣṇu) says: “Those who will offer Me the prayers composed by Lord Śiva, both in the morning and in the evening, will be given benedictions by Me. In this way they can both fulfill their desires and attain good intelligence.” (Srimad Bhagavatham- 4.30.10)

Dasakam 20: Rishabha Yogiswara & Bharath:

There once lived a king, Nabhi, of great fame, who performed many sacrifices and a true devotee of the Lord. He got a boon that the Lord would be born as a son. Accordingly Rishabha was born to king Nabhi and took over the kingdom. The ever jealous Indra, tried his tricks by stopping rains in Rishabha's kingdom; however, Rishabha could bring back the rains using his yogic powers. Rishabha married Jayanthi and brought forth 100 sons. The eldest of them was King Bharath, on whose name even today this country is called Bharatavarsha and Bharathakhanta. After imparting true knowledge to the sons, Rishabha became a Paramahamsa and lived a life of a mendicant, though being a Supreme soul. He finally offered himself in flames in Coorg mountains and merged with the Supreme Lord. 

Dasakam 21: Worship of Lord in various forms:

Lord Vishnu is worshipped in various forms all over the regions:

- In the centre of earth, in a place called Ilavrita, there lies a kingdom occupied purely by females, headed by Goddess Parvathi, accompanied by the only male, Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu stays in Shiva's mind, since Shiva is deeply devoted to Lord Vishnu through mantras and prayers.

- To the east of Ilavrita is a place called Bhadraswa, where the sages offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, in the form of Hayagriva, who retrieved Veda from Pralaya at the end of the kappa.

- To the South of Ilavrita, is a region called Harivarsha, where the noble devotee of Lord Vishnu, Prahladh, once lived. Her the Lord is worshipped in the form of Narahari or Narasimha.

- To the west of Ilavrita, is a beautiful region called Ketumala, where Goddess Lakshmi resides along with Prajapathi. Here the Lord is worshipped as Kamadeva, the God of Love.

- To the North of Ilavrita is a region called Ramyaka, where Vaiwaswatha Manu resides, offering prayers to Lord in the form of a glorious Fish.

- In the further Northern regions, called Hiranmaya, Lord is worshipped in the form of a highly capable Tortoise, by Aryama and others. 

- In further Uttara regions in the North, in the Kuru kingdom, Lord is worshipped in the form of a divine Boar, Varaha.

- In the southern regions of Kimpurusha, Lord is worshipped by Lord's devotee, Hanuman, as the charming Rama, along with Sita.

- In all the regions of Bharatakhanda, Lord is worshipped by Narada and other sages as Nara and Narayana, the twin gods.

- People worship the Lord in the form of the sun in the Plaksha region; in the form of the moon in Salmala, as fire in Kusa, in the form of water in Krouncha, as air in Saka and as Brahma in the region called Pushkara.

- Again Lord is worshipped during three twilight periods of dawn, noon and dusk, in the form of Simsumara, the enormous fish, with the hosts of stars like Dhruva and others and all the planets located in the tail portion and other such limbs. 

- In the nether worlds, Lord is worshipped in the form of Adi Sesha, the snake, with his thousand heads radiant with the brilliant single earring, dressed in the blue garment, holding the weapon hala, (the plough) and surrounded by serpent maidens.

Dasakam 22: The power of uttering Hari's name:

There once lived a brahmin, by name, Ajamila, who lived a virtuous life. Once he went to a nearby forest and fell in love with a girl there and married her. He never returned back to his village and spent his life with her. He had a son, named Narayana. Ajamila lived a sinful life and upon reaching his death bed, he saw the attendants of Yama, the god of death, tying him to drag him to Yama. Out of fear he called for his name and shouted "Narayana". At the mere sound of Lord Vishnu's name being called out, Vishnu's men rushed to the spot and prevented him from being take to Yama. They explained to Yama's men, the power of uttering Lord Hari's name at death bed. Only those who are practicing through out their life to call Hari's name would remember to again call out his name while at death bed. Though Yama's men argued that Ajamila was merely calling out for his son and did not make an effort to call out to Lord Hari, Vishnu's men still advised Yama's men that even that would suffice to relieve Ajamila of all his sins committed during his lifetime. Such is the power of Lord's name. Later Yama on hearing this agreed that this is true. Ajamila then finally realised his mistake and again started living virtuously and safely reached Lord's abode.

Dasakam 23: Life of Daksha, Chitraketu and maruts:

This dasakam narrates three events. 

There once lived a  king named Daksha (not the famous son of Brahma) in the dynasty, who was also a devotee of the Lord. Lord blessed him to do the act of creation. Though he created tens of thousands of men, all of them turned ascetic and did not help him in procreation, since all of them were turned into devotees of Lord by sage Narada. Daksha became very angry and cursed Narada that he would always be roaming around all over, without a place of his own to settle down. Hence Narada became a sanchari, a wanderer, going around places, praising Narayana always. Daksha carried out his creation through his daughters. Daksha's grandson, Twashta was very devoted to Lord and he had a son by name, Viswarupa, who composed the famous hymn Narayana Kavacham, which was used by Indra to defeat demons. Such is the power of Narayana kavacham.

The second event relates to King Chitraketu, the ruler of Surasena region. Sage Angiras blessed the king with a son through his eldest wife. However, his son was killed by his other wives due to jealousy. The king was filled with uncontrollable sorrow. Sage Narada appeared with Angiras, and with a view to cure him of his sorrow, showed him the soul of his son, who did not even recognise whims his father. The king thus realised the play of Maya and turned his full attention to the worship of Lord Narayana. Narada taught him the worship of Lord in the form of Adisesha, the thousand hooded snake. The king recited these mantras and within seven nights became the Lord of Vidyadaras, but still continued to meditate on the Lord. Soon, the Lord appeared before him in Adisesha form and blessed him with the eternal knowledge. Chitraketu then lived a contended life for several years without any attachments, though surrounded by all pleasures. The Lord, with a view to release him from any residual attachments, sent him to Kailash where Chitraketu made fun of Lord Shiva for seating Uma on His Lap. Uma became furious and cursed him to become a demon. Accordingly Chitraketu turned into a demon Vritra and won the battle against Indra; but still he had the self-knowledge taught by Lord Narayana and dispelled the ignorance of his enemies through his discourse. He finally reached the abode of Lord.

The third event relates to Diti, the mother of demons, who once prayed to Lord for a son to defeat Indra. She gave birth to Maruts, who ultimately turned out to be Indras well wishers. This event highlights the Lord's mercy for even the demons.

Dasakam 24: Bhakta Prahlad:

After the death of his brother Hiranyaksha at the hands of Varaha, the demon brother Hiranyakasipu vowed to defeat Lord Vishnu and went into deep tapas and got a boon from Lord Brahma that he would not be killed by the gods, men, animals etc. He then went on to defeat Indra and went to Vaikunta in searth of Vishnu. Vishnu being subtle in form, was not visible to Hiranyakasipu and he felt that vishnu  was afraid of him and has ran away. 

Hiranyakasipu was blessed with a son, Prahlad. Even when the boy was in his mother's womb, he was taught bu sage Narada and he turned out to be a true devotee of Lord. Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu was totally upset by this turn of events and he engaged several teachers to change the mind of the child, but in vain. Instead Prahlas started teaching true knowledge about Lord Vishnu to all the demon children. Enraged by this, Hiranyakasipu tried to kill his own son in a fit of anger. He tried several methods to kill Prahlad - using sharp weapons, trying to trample him by elephants, poisoning him, rolling him down from mountains - but none of these had any effect on Prahlad. 

Surprised by this, Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlad to show where Lord Vishnu is hiding, as he himself could not find Him anywhere in Vaikunta. When Prahlad answered that the Lord is everywhere, Hiranyakasipu drew his sword and cut a pillar next to him to see if the Lord is there hiding inside.

Dasakam 25: Narasimha Avatar:

The moment Hiranyakasipu broke the pillar into two, the whole world was filled with a thunderous roar. The demon was taken aback, wondering on the source of the deadly sound.  Then there arose from within the pillars, a gruesome figure, half-man and half-lion, which grew rapidly in size. The very sight caused terror all around. Hiranyakasipu, confused at the happenings, started his fight with this roaring creature. 

The dasakam explains beautifully on the fearful nature of Lord Narasimha and how finally Hiranyakasipu was killed mercilessly, along with all the demons. While all the gods were afraid too, it was Prahlad, who, knowing that Lord Vishnu has come to protect him, took courage to go near the furious creature and prostrated at Lord's feet. At this, the Lord calmed down and blessed him with eternal bliss. The dasakam also mentions about Tapaniya Upanishad, which is dedicated to Lord Narasimha.

Dasakm 26: Gajendra moksham:

This Dasakam relates to two devotees of Lord Narayana, who were cursed on different occasions to become a crocodile and an elephant and how the Lord liberated them both. 

Once a Gandharva, named Huhu was cursed by sage Devala to become a crocodile. At the sometime, King Indradyumna, a staunch devotee of Lord, was cursed by sage Agastya to become an elephant. The elephant continued to offer prayers to Lord, remembering its past, by plucking lotus flowers from the lake and offering it to Lord. 

Pleased by this, the lord decided to offer liberation to both. One day when the elephant was plucking the lotus, as usual, the croc got hold of the elephant. The elephant, due to its past remembrance, shouted loudly for help from Narayana. The Lord, waiting for this opportunity, came rushing on his Golden Garuda and played the croc with his chakra. The croc was instantly liberated from its curse. The Lord then took the elephant along with Him to Vaikunta. Whoever reads the story of Gajendra and prays to Lord would be blessed with all wealth and prosperity.

Dasakam 27: Koorma Avatar:

This incident started with the curse of sage Durvasa, who is the avatar of Lord Shiva. Once Durvasa gave Indra a very valuable garland, the possession of which would bring him all prosperity. Indra was so egoistic that he threw the garland on his elephant. The sage was full of rage and cursed Indra that he would loose his kingdom. Thus the kingdom of gods was lost to the demons and all the gods were helpless. Lord Vishnu directed Indra to enter into a pact with the demons so that the rector could be raised from the Ocean of Milk, which would solve the problem of the gods. Soon both the sides were ready to churn the ocean, hoping the share the nectar when it comes out. 

It was a herculean task to churn the vast ocean. Mount Meru became the churning stick and Serpent Vasuki became the rope. The demons occupied the head-end and the gods the tail-end. The mount started sinking in the ocean and needed a fulcrum. Lord Vishnu turned Himself into a huge Tortoise and plunged into the ocean to hold the Meru. He kept the mountain in place during the vigorous churning for a long time. The serpent could not withstand the strain and it emitted poisonous gas, which started to weaken both the demons and the gods. Lord Vishnu then started churning the ocean on His own. 

Dasakam 28: Precious gifts from the Ocean of Milk:

After prolonged and vigorous stirring of the ocean, the first to emerge was the Kalakuta, a deadly poison, which Lord Shiva annulled by swallowing it. Upon further churning, there came out the celestial cow, Surabhi, which the Lord gifted to the sages. This was followed by the celestial horse, Uchaisravas, then the celestial elephant, Iravat, then the Kalpavriksham, the wish-fulfilling tree followed by damsels, Apsaras, the celestial beauties. The lord presented all these to the gods to adorn Indra's court.

Then there came out from the Milky Ocean, Sri Mahalakshmi, of immaculate beauty and most charming. When all the gods and demons were stunned by Her glorious form, She, holding a garland, walked slowly towards Lord Vishnu and embraced Him. This heavenly swayamvar thus ended with Goddess Lakshmi, the Mother of all, occupying a place in the Lord's Chest permanently. 

Next to emerge was the goddess of Liquor, Varuni, the most intoxicating of all, which the Lord presented to the ignorant demons and the demons were pleased as if it is the best gift.

And finally, the Lord came out of the ocean, in the form of Dhanvantari, the heavenly doctor, carrying the vessel containing the Amrit, the divine nectar.

Lord Dhanvantari

Dasakam 29: Mohini Avatar:

As Dhanvantari started raising from the ocean with the bowl of nectar, the demons snatched the bowl from Him, leaving the gods dumbfounded. The Lord comforted the gods and vanished. As the demons started quarrelling over a big share of the nectar, the Lord reappeared there, but this time as Mohini, a beautiful, tempting and mature woman. The demons, on seeing Her, stopped quarrelling and rushed towards Her in lust. The Lord managed to get hold of the bowl of nectar from the demons, under the guise of equally sharing it among them all. 

The Lord then made the gods to be seated in one row and the demons in another. As Mohini started serving the gods first, the demons sat quietly, fully enchanted by Her seductive movements. Mohini kept the demons at bay through Her glances, assuring them of Her love for the demons. Thus She shared all of the nectar only to the gods. Swarbhanu, a demon, came to know of this plot and sat among the gods and drank the nectar. The Lord assumed His own form and cut off the head of Raghu. The Lord thus punished the demons for snatching the bowl and then vanished.

In the ensuing war between the gods and demons all the demons were defeated and killed by the gods. Some of the powerful demons, namely, Bali, Kalanemi, Mali could not be defeated by the gods and hence the Lord appeared again and killed them all. Sage Narada then mediated between them all the stopped the war.

Lord Shiva, Who swooned by the Kalakuta poison, missed the above scenes and was curious to see Mohini. As per His wish, Lord Vishnu appeared before Him as Mohini. Lord Shiva was infatuated by Her beauty, embraced Her and lost His veeryam. Shiva then shared His experience with Parvati.

Dasakam 30 : Vaamana Avatar:

Though demon Bali was killed in the war, it was Sukracharya, the Guru of demons, who brought back life to Bali. Due to severe penance Bali became quite powerful and defeated the gods and captured the three worlds. The gods went into hiding and their mother Aditi, as instructed by her husband Sage Kashyapa, performed a special pooja called Payovrata for 12 days. The Lord was pleased, appeared before Aditi and promised her that He would incarnate as her son to solve the problem. Accordingly Lord Vishnu was born on Sravana Dwadasi day and instantly grew up to be a dwarf boy Vamana, with all splendour. Sage Kasyapa performed all rights including upanayanam and presented Him with an umbrella, stick, deer skin and Kamandal. Vamana then set out to see King Bali, who was performing the Horse sacrifice on the banks of River Narmada.

The sages who assembled there, including Sukracharya were dumbfounded by the dazzling Vamana and wondered who this enchanting boy could be. King Bali was equally attracted by the Lord and was pleased to wash the feet of Vamana with waters and sprinkled it on himself. Thus Bali, who was the descendent of Prahlad, became doubly blessed by the holy waters, though he was a demon.

Dasakam 31: Liberation of Bali:

Bali was filled with devotion on seeing your radiant form of a Brahmin boy and with folded hands he requested you to spell out your wish, be it food, house or a piece of land, which he would gladly fulfil. The Lord, though pleased with Bali, determined to quell Bali's pride, praised him profusely and asked him to offer three feet of land, measured by Vamana's own paces alone. Bali, filled with extreme pride, ridiculed Vamana for his silly wish of only three feet of land, when Bali, as the lord of the Universe, was willing to offer the entire world. Bali's words were rich with vanity but he was not aware that this is going to bring forth his downfall. Vamana replied that he would be more satisfied with just three feet of land, than if He is gifted with the entire three worlds. 

Sage Sukracharya, the guru of the demons, grew suspicious of the boy seeking just three feet of land, warned Bali to avoid such a gift. But Bali ignored this warning and replied that even if this boy is the Lord Himself, he would fulfil His wishes. Bali then went ahead with preparations for this offering and ended up with curse from Sukra. Bali's wife Vindhyavalya, then washed Vamana's feet and Bali poured water symbolically (dhattham) and gifted all that he possessed to Vamana, without any doubt.

While all the sages and gods were a witness to this event, Vamana grew in size to tremendous proportions, spanning the entire cosmos. He measured the earth and then the Satyaloka, Brahma's abode. Lord Brahma washed Lord's feet with holy waters, to the delight of all celestials. These waters purified all the worlds.

Ulagazhandha Perumal

The demons, excluding Bali, started to fight against the Lord, but were soon defeated by the gods. Bali interfered and stopped the fight, realising that it was Lord Vishnu who had come to him as a boy. The Lord then asked Bali where He should place his third step. Bali was humbled and offered his head where the Lord could place His head.

At that moment Prahlad appeared and commended Bali for his dedication. Vamana then blessed Bali, saying that this action was necessary to ward off his pride and that Bali would be given a special place beyond heaven, gain a status equal to Indra and finally merge with the Lord. The Horse sacrifice, which was interrupted, was them completed by the Brahmins.  

Dasakam 32: Matsya Avatar:

This happened very long ago, during the second deluge at end of sixth Manvantara. A demon named Haygreeva stole the vedas from Brahma and went hiding in the waters. Lord Vishnu took an avatar as a fish to  retrieve the Vedas.

When King Satyavrata was performing pooja to ancestors in the river, the Lord appeared as a small but radiant fish in the cupped hands of the king. He dropped the fish in the river and the fish entered the water bowl of the royal sage, who took it home. In a few days the fish grew bigger to fill the size of the bowl and when the sage dropped it in the well. When it further grew to fill the well, the sage took it to a tank and then to a lake and the fish grew further to fill the lake as well. The sage came to know of the divine origin of the fish and using his yogic powers took it to the ocean, as per divine will. The sage requested the Lord to grant him permission to witness the grand deluge that is to follow. The Lord asked him to wait for seven days and went away.

On the seventh day it started to rain heavily and the earth went submerged in the waters of the deluge. The sage along with king Satyavrata and the Saptharishis took refuge in the Lord. By Lord's command, the earth assumed the form of a boat and the freightened sage and others got into it. Lord then appeared before them in the form of a huge fish of a lakh Yojana in length. The Sages were overjoyed at the sight of the brilliant Lord and as instructed they tied the board to the horn of the fish, which then towed away the boat. 

The Lord showed them around all the places and taught them the knowledge of the self. After the end of the deluge and beginning of new kalpa, the Lord fixed the Saptarishis in respective places and made king Satyavrata as the next Manu of the new Manvantara. 

The Lord then furiously went after demon Hayagriva and tore him to pieces with His horn. The Lord retrieved all the vedas and restored them back to Brahma to his delight.

Dasakam 33: King Ambarisha

Ambarisha, a descendent of Manu. was ruling the entire earth, surrounded by the seven seas. He was a staunch devotee of the Lord. Pleased by this, the Lord voluntarily gave him protection through His powerful and sharp Sudharshan Chakra.

Once Ambarisha lived in a forest called Madhuvana on the banks of Yamuna, along with his wife and observed Ekadasi and Dwadasi fasting for a year by not partaking any food and gifted one crore cows to Brahmins. At the end of the period of fasting, Sage Durvasa came there and was invited by the king to have food at the time of breaking the fast. Durvasa accepted it and went to the near by river for his ablutions. As the sage took time to return and since the fasting time was about to be over soon, the king was unable to wait any longer and went ahead with breaking his fasting by drinking water. 

Durvasa was furious on knowing that the king ignored him and went ahead with breaking his fasting without the presence of the sage. Durvasa abused the king and created a devil called Kritya to destroy the king. The king was unperturbed by this devil and kept his mind entirely on Lord's prayers. As the devil approached the king, the Sudarshan Chakra appeared from no where, burnt the devil to ashes and started chasing Sage Durvasa. 

Terrified by this, the sage went running to all gods for their support and no one including Brahma and Shiva offered him any support, knowing the power of the kaala chakra. The sage finally reached Lord Vishnu's abode and surrendered. The Lord advised him to go and take refuge with King Ambarisha himself. The sage rushed back and prostrated before the king for saving his life. The king prayed to the Chakra to forgive the sage and the Chakra obliged. 

DURVASA PROSTRATING BEFORE AMBARISHA

Sage Durvasa was so pleased at the King's devotion to Lord, blessed him and had sumptuous food to break the fasting. The Lord granted salvation to the king in due course.

Dasakam 34: Rama Avatar:

The next two Dasakams are dedicated to confirmation by Sri Krishna of the events  as mentioned in Ramayan.

It starts with King Dasarata performing putrakameshti vrata at Kosala, conducted by Sage Rishyasringa, seeking children and obtaining the divine payasam (milk preparation), which he partook with his three wives. All three then gave birth to Sri Rama, Lakshmana, Bhrata and Satrugna. Thus  Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Rama to destroy Demon king Ravana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjW4BYrnKJ0

Sage Viswamitra took Rama and Lakshmana with him to guard his sacrificial rites and taught them mantras to remove tiredness and the use of divine missiles. Rama destroyed demoness Tadaka with his bow, Kodanda and allowed the sage to perform his rites in his hermitage, Siddhasrama. Rama further killed few other demons and drove away demon Mareecha. Viswamitra took Rama to Videha kingdom and on the way, Rama liberated Ahalya (who was turned into a stone by Sage Gautama), by gently placing His feet on the rock. 

Rama reached the palace at Videha, (participated in the swayamvar conducted by king Janaka), broke the Siva dhanus (bow) and married Sita, who is the incarnation of Mahalakshmi. His brothers also married Sita's sisters and all of them set out to their kingdom. Parasurama, who was angry at Rama for breaking the Siva Dhanus encountered Rama in a fight, which resulted in the humbling of Parasuram. The brothers then reached Ayodhya, along with their brides.

Once, when Dasarata planned coronation of Rama, his step-mother Kaikeyi stopped it. Bharata and Satrugnan were away at that time. Rama, as per his father's orders set out to the forest, along with Lakshmana and Sita. After persuading the citizens not to follow him to the forest, Rama met Guha, the boatman. After Guha ferried him across Ganges, Rama met Sage Bharatwaja and stayed at Chitrakoota Mountains. 

Through Bharata, who came to meet him, Rama learnt about the demise of his father due to the pangs of separation from Rama, performed his rites for the departed soul, gave his sandals to Bharat requesting him to rule the country till he returns. Rama then met Sage Atri and entered Dandaka, the thick forest area. Rama killed demon Virada and blessed sage Sarabhanga for a peaceful salvation.

Rama met saint Agastya on the way, and obtained the bow of Lord Vishnu,  Brahma's asthram and other missiles. After meeting Jatayu, friend of Dasarata, Rama settled in Panchavati, on the banks of river Godavari.

Lakshman, unable to withstand the harassment met by Rama from Demoness Surpanaga, cut off her nose. Rama further killed Khara, Dhooshana and Trisiras along with a score of demons, who sought vengeance for disfiguring Surpanaga. Her brother Ravan came to know of this incident from her and was filled with anger. He also heard about the beauty of Sita and wanted to abduct her. He sent Mareecha in the form of a golden deer near the hermitage of Rama. 

When Sita desired to posses the deer, Rama went after it and killed it, when he knew that it was the demon Mareecha. As planned, Mareecha gave a loud cry in imitation as if Ram is calling for Lakshman and Sita for help. In anxiety Sita forced Lakshman to go and help Rama, unaware of the lurking danger. Ravan using this opportunity abducted Sita. Rama, though sad at this, was secretly happy that he got a motive to destroy Ravan.

Rama set out in search of his beloved Sita and met dying Jatayu, whose wings were cut-off by Ravan, when Jatayu tried to rescue Sita. Jatayu dies after informing this and Rama did the funeral rites to Jatayu, who was his father's friend. Ram killed demon Khabanda and then met motherly Sabari on the banks of River Pampa and liberated her. He then was happy to meet Hanuman, son of Vayu.

Dasakam 35: Rama Avatar continued...

With the help of Hanuman, Rama entered into a pact with vaanar Sugreeva, who agreed to help Rama find Sita, in return for killing Vaali and making Sugreeva the king of Kishkinta. Rama infused confidence, in the doubting Sugreeva, of Rama's ability by lifting the body of Dundhubi by his toes and throwing it off miles away. Rama also pierced seven Sala trees by a single arrow in one attempt. Rama then killed mighty Vaali, hiding behind a tree, to protect friend Sugreeva. Grief striken Rama, then spent the rainy season in the hermitage of sage Matanga, lamenting on the separation from Sita.

Sugreeva, fully immersed in enjoyment, forgot his promise to Ram to help searching for Sita and came to senses only after Lakshman threatened him with dire consequences. Sugreeva, with army of monkeys, set out in all directions, in search of Sita. Ram gave his ring to Hanuman, along with a message to Sita. The army met bird Sampathi on the way and came to know of Sita's whereabouts. Hanuman leaped across the ocean and located Sita in the garden at Ashokavan in Lanka. Hanuman delivered Ram's message and ring to Sita, destroyed the garden, killed Aksha Kumara, allowed to be dragged with ropes to Ravan's court, confronted him, set fire to Lanka and hastily returned and delivered to Ram, the jewel, Choodamani given by Sita.

 

Ram reached the seashore along with the army of monkeys, headed by Sugreeva, Angadha and others. Hearing this Vibhishana, Ravan's brother surrendered with Ram and gave him secrets about Ravan. When Ram wanted to cross the ocean, Varuna, the sea god, did not oblige but after Ram threatened to attack him with fire arrows, Varuna allowed Ram to build a pathway across the ocean. 

Ram built Sethu bridge across the ocean with rocks and stones brought by the monkeys from all over, crossed the ocean and reached Lanka along with monkeys possessing nails, teeth, stones and uprooted tree trunks as weapons. Ram heroically destroyed the demon army, but was halted temporarily by Indrajit, son of Ravan, who tied both Ram and Lakshman with serpent missile, rendering them unconscious. Garuda, the lord of birds, soon relieved them with the flap of his wings.

Lakshman was rendered unconscious by Ravan's powerful blow, but regained after inhaling the medicinal herbs brought by Hanuman from far off land across the ocean. Indrajit's trickery could not last long and Lakshman killed him soon. Ravan fought with trickery, deluding Ram. Vibhishan helped Ram with tips on Ravan. Ram destroyed the huge demon Kumbakarna, Ravan's brother, who started eating all the monkeys.

Ram used the chariot provided by Indra and missile given by Brahma and fought with Ravan, cut off his ten heads and thus killed him. Ram then accepted Sita,  purified by Fire ordeal. The gods were pleased to bring back to life all the monkeys who lost their lives in the battle. Ram returned back to Ayodhya in the Pushpaka Vamana, the aerial vehicle, with Sita, Vibhishan, the newly crowned king of Lanka and the monkey army.

After incarnation, Ram happily ruled his kingdom for over ten thousand years. Sadly, Ram had to banish pregnant Sita to the forest due to a scandalous rumour. Demon Lavana was killed by Satrugna and Sudra was destroyed by Ram. Sita gave birth to twins at the hermitage of sage Valmiki.

during a sacrificial ceremony, Valmiki sent the twin sons to Ram to sing Ramayan. Ram wanted to take back Sita but she went underneath the earth. Ram was reminded by Kaal (time) that the hour for him to depart is nearing. After purposefully abandoning Lakshman, Ram went under the waters of Sarayu river, along with your attendants and reached Vaikunta, his original abode.

This Rama avatar was meant to teach mankind few lessons. Excessive desire leads to suffering. Excessive attachments to relatives causes pain when separated. Excessive attachment to duties results in sacrifice and sufferings for innocent beings. 

Listen to Bhavayami song now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sRQtVxdrH8

Jai Shree Ram.

Dasakam 36: Incarnation as Datta and Parasuram:

Lord Vishnu was born as Datta to the saintly couple Atri and Anusuya. Blissful Datta, seeking to liberate himself, wandered around with his wife. Datta blessed Karthaveerya with eight-fold wealth (ashta Iswaryam) and also a boon that Karthaveeryarjuna would meet his end at the hands of Lord Vishnu. 

Datta

Lord Vishnu was born as Parasuram to honour His words to Karthaveeryarjuna and also to destroy the entire Kshatriya clan as they became a burden on earth. Parasuram was born in the Brighu lineage, as the youngest son of Sage Jamadagni and Renika. Parasuram, at the age of 14, was a master of all scriptures.

Once when Renuka was attracted by a Gandharva, sage Jamadagni ordered Parasuram to cut off the heads of his mother as well as all his brothers for disobeying him (his brothers did not agree to cut off the head of their mother). Parasuram obliged accordingly and later brought back them to life, with the help of his father and obtained boon from his mother.

Parasuram

Sage Jamadagni brought Celestial cow Kamadenu to his hermitage to please Renuka. As ordered by sage Brighu, Parasuram set out to Himalayas, obtained the holy axe (Parasu) from Lord Shiva, killed a demon as directed by Shiva, obtained several other holy weapons from Shiva. Parasuram became a friend of Sage Akirtavrana and retuned back home. 

Meantime, when king Karthaveeryarjuna went hunting, he came to sage Jamadagni's hermitage, where he was given venous gifts by the sage, which came out of Kamadenu. The king desired to posses the celestial cow but the sage did not oblige. The king sent his minister with his men to take possession of the cow. When the sage protested the minister killed the sage. Kamadenu, upset by this, brought forward a score of warriors, who fought with the minister's army and killed all of the men. But the minister escaped with the calf of Kamadenu.

Sage Jamadagni was brought back to life by Guru Sukracharya. On his return from Himalayas, Parasuram came to know of this and wanted to take revenge and bring back the calf. He prayed to Lord Shiva, obtained a chariot, horses, charioteer, bow, arrows, axe and other weapons and then went to Mahishmati to meet Karthaveeryarjuna. As the king did not agree to return the calf, Parasuram began to battle it out. The king fought with the support of his ten thousand sons, huge  army, many powerful army chiefs and allies. But Parasuram soon destroyed them all. The king continued to fight with the rest of his clan

Karthaveeryarjuna, who had thousand arms, was well known for his power. With his mighty arms, he could once stop Narmada river. He even immersed demon Ravan in the Narmada river. All the missiles of Karthaveeryarjuna could not harm Parasuram in anyway, including the disc of Vishnu sent by the king. Now the king realised that Parasuram was none other than Lord Vishnu Himself. He at once became very happy and started to pray for mercy. As per the boon given by Datta, Parasuram killed Karthaveeryarjuna and liberated him to Vaikunta.

Further, the king's sons killed Parasuram's father to take revenge. Parasuram was filled with rage on seeing his mother crying over the event. He obtained special weapons from Lord Shiva and destroyed all the kshatriya kings with his Axe and missiles, as they were a burden to mother earth. Parasuram brought back his father through his powers and went on destroying all kshatriya race for the next twenty-one generations, performed pooja to his ancestors using the pool of blood and handed over the responsibility to protect earth, to sage Kasyapa and others. When Parasuram was about to kill king Salwa, he was restrained by Sanatkumara, since Krishna was to kill the king later.

Parasuram renouncing all weapons, went to Mahendra Mountain and started penance. The sea started to raise and submerged most of the earth upto Gakarna. All the sages came running to Parasurama for help. Parasuram sent his fire missile and the sea started receding. Using his sacrificial saddle, Parasuram brought up the land of Kerala.

Dasakam 37: Ninth Avatar of Vishnu:

In the battle for Amruth between Devas and Asuras, most of the demons were destroyed and attained salvation; still some of them were left out and were born again as demons on earth. Due to their atrocities, the earth was overburdened and Mother Earth approached Brahma, in the assembly of all gods, to relived her of the misery. Looking at her plight Brahma prayed to Lord Vishnu. As advised by Brahma, the gods under the leadership of Lord Shiva, approached Lord Vishnu, the lord of Lakshmi, in the Milky Ocean.

Following is the link to Brahma's prayers - called Brahma Samhita:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWkgl0NnM18

As they remained meditated upon Lord Vishnu, a message was received from Lord Vishnu in Brahma's heart, which he revealed to all gods. Brahma said that looking at the plight of Mother Earth, Lord Vishnu wished to incarnate in the Yadava race on earth, in his full divine splendour, to destroy the demons and all the gods would also come down to earth in the clan of cow-heards in their semi-divine spirits to support the Lord. All were very happy at this kindness bestowed upon them.

The city of Mathura was ruled by King Surasena, whose son Vasudeva married Devaki, daughter of Devaka. When Kamsa, brother of Devaki, was driving the chariot to drop the newly married couple, by Lord's grace, Kamsa heard a asariri (a non-corporal voice) that the eighth son of this couple would kill Kamsa for his evil deeds. Kamsa, out of fear, drew his sword out and caught hold of her by the locks of her hair, aiming to kill her. Much as Vasudeva pleaded with Kamsa, he released Devaki, only after Vasudeva promised to handover all their children to Kamsa as and when they were born. 

Vasudeva accordingly handed over their first son to Kamsa; but Kamsa, surprisingly did not kill the child out of his affection. Later Kamsa came to know from Sage Narada that Lord Vishnu would be born in Yadava race, who are considered as gods, to kill Kamsa, as he is considered a demon. Hearing this, Kamsa killed all the sons, including the first born and he drove away all the Yadav's as well. Devaki conceived Adisesha, the serpent, as her seventh child, but due to Lord's Maya, the seventh child was kept hidden in the womb and Krishna was conceived as the eight child, to the delight of all gods.

Dasakam 38: Birth of Krishna:

At the appointed hour, there were dark clouds hovering around the place, with only the blue light from the Lord brightening the sky. As the sky opened up with rains, the mother earth cooled down and all other good souls were delighted, when Krishna was born in the midnight. 

The infant Krishna was resplendent with divine splendour, adorned with a  shining crown, bangles and other ornaments, conch, disc, lotus and mace, of dark blue complexion.

Here is a song in Nilambari dedicated to the sleeping Divinity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgLGSX8NT0

With the birth of Krishna, the birth place turned auspicious due to the mere glance of Lakshmi, who resides in Vishnu's chest, dispelling thus all the inauspiciousness which surrounded the house due to evil Kamsa. Krishna was full of radiance all around. Vasudeva was thrilled at the sight of Krishna, overwhelmed with tears of joy. With choked voice, he prayed to Krishna, who was sweet as the nectar. Lord, whose divine form is not visible even to the greatest of sages, revealed Himself to Sauri, (Vasudeva).

Vasudeva, praising Krishna as the Supreme Lord, as the destroyer of root of sorrows, as the one who is neutral to all beings and partial to none, as the one who shines with His Maya, prayed to Him to relieve him from his sorrows. Krishna's mother too was full of joy, filled with tears and prayed to Lord for His mercy by making them His parents, due to their constant Bhakthi in their earlier two births.

As directed by Lord, Vasudeva lifted the boy in his hands, to exchange the boy with the daughter of Nanda. Krishna looked like a young swan on a lotus flower. At that time, due to the powers of Yoga Nidra, the Maya, all the city dwellers went into deep sleep and added to that surprisingly, the inaccessible, firmly locked prison doors opened up on their own. When the blessed Vasudeva, set out on his way out of the prison, it was Adi Sesha, the serpent, who protected Krishna from the rains, with his hoods and also lighted the way with his shining crest jewels.

Dasakam 39: Child Krishna reaching Gokulam:

Vasudeva reached river Kalindi, which was in spate and flood waters rose very high. He is to cross the river to reach the other side. That is when wonder stuck again and the river gave way due to Maya and Vasudeva could cross the ankle-deep waters easily.

Vasudeva thus reached the house of Narada, when all others were in deep sleep, entered the open doors, took the baby girl, Yaga Maya, after leaving Krishna there in the delivery room and returned swiftly back to his prison along with Yaga Maya. As the girl baby started crying, the guards woke up from their deep sleep and informed Kamsa of the birth of the eighth child. Kamsa reached there immediately with his evil looks, but was confused to find a baby girl, instead of a boy.

Kamsa snatched the baby girl from his sisters hands, like a wild elephant would pluck a soft lotus from the pond and smashed the child against a stone. But even before the child could touch the stone, Yoga Maya slipped out of Kamsa's hands and flew upwards in Divine form of Durga, with eight arms and shining weapons. She forewarned Kamsa that he would be destroyed by the boy, who was born elsewhere and left the place to reside in temples on earth as Durga Mata.

Kamsa ordered his chieftains to find and destroy all new born children and accordingly his men engaged in this cruel act. Meantime Krishna, lying on the bed in Nanda's house, started crying to the delight of all women folk, who announced the birth of a baby boy. The entire village of Gokulam was immersed in celebrations. Mother Yasoda was filled with overflowing joy and bliss at the sight of the boy and fondly nursed and fondled him. Indeed she is the most blessed mother on earth.

Here is a ode to Mother Yasoda:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hjanE4edpk

Father Nandagopan was equally delighted and gave away several gifts to brahmins in joy. All the cowherds rejoiced in celebrations all around. 

Dasakam 40: Demoness Puthana's attempt:

Nandagopal, foster father of Krishna, once went to the city to pat his taxes and incidentally met his friend Vasudeva (Natural father of Krishna). Vasudeva while greeting Nanda for the birth of a son, said that he was equally delighted. He  cited  many ill omens and warned him of an impending danger to Krishna's life and asked him to swiftly return back to his home to safeguard the child. 

Meanwhile, in the village, a lovely scented women approached Krishna, sat down, took Him on her lap and started breast feeding. All the Gopika women were enchanted by her attributes and did not stop her. She was the infamous demoness, Puthana, who has put many infants to death. She had smeared poison all around her breasts with a view to kill Krishna. But infant Krishna sucked her so vigorously that she could not breathe. She cried aloud and fell down dead, revealing her true demonic form. 

Hearing her scream, the gopika women rushed there and were terrified by her lying spread eagle as a demoness, they rushed to rescue the infant and took Him away from her. It was strange that the women chanted Lord Vishnu's name while saving the child, not knowing that Krishna is Lord Vishnu Himself. 

Dasakam 41: Krishna's Charm:

Nandagopal, the head of the cowherds rushed back to Gokul, after hearing Vasudeva's warnings. He saw the huge body of Puthana lying on the ground, with uprooted trees all around her, he prayed Lord Vishnu. After hearing from the cowherds on what had happened, all of them were filled with fear and amazement. The body was cut into pieces and removed it to a far off place and burnt. The air was filled with perfumes, due to Krishna's magic touch on the body. It was a lesson to the cowherds that they too can enjoy the fragrance of Krishna touch. All of them were wonder struck on the predictions of Vasudeva and the failure of the demoness to kill the child.

Gokulam turned out to be prosperous and the people grew up to be more virtuous, due to presence of Krishna. The gopis (Women folk) engaged in talking of Krishna's beauty and charm always. Daily, after finishing their day's work, they used to visit krishna to enjoyed his company. They were competing with each other in lifting and fondling Krishna in their arms and were proud that the child looked at them and smiled. They never let Krishna down and passed on him from hand to hand, like the honey bee would jump from flower to flower. All could realise the immense pleasure and joy of Mother Yasoda, while fondling and suckling the child.

Dasakam 42: Killing of demon Sakatasura:

Yasoda had called all her relatives, friends and brahmins, on Krishna's birthday and was busy in the preparations, leaving Krishna out, near a big cart, along with few children to look after him. Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud noise of crashing of wood and shouting by children. All women folk rushed out and saw Krishna lying in the midst of broken wooden pieces. Nanda and others, who rushed in panic, breathed easy and were relieved to see Krishna in Yasoda's hands. 

The children gave an account of what had happened. According to them, child Krishna was crying for breast milk and kicked the cart with his legs, which caused the breakdown of the huge cart. No one was willing to believe this story that little Krishna could break such a huge cart with his tender kicks.

The women folk took turns to caress and fondle Krishna to see if he had incurred any injury. Nanda was equally affected by emotions and held Krishna close to his chest, thanking at the same time, Lord Vishnu for his benevolence. Little did they all knew that little Krishna had destroyed a demon in the form of a cart.  The demon, Sakatasura, had come there in the form of a cart to destroy Krishna, whom Krishna had destroyed without leaving any trace. 

Krishna was then blessed by the brahmins and continued with his childhood pranks.

Dasakam 43: Killing of demon Trinavrata:

One day, when Yasoda was caring for Krishna on her lap, she felt Krishna was weighing heavily. She let him moon the cot and attended to her chores, but all the while, worried about how this happened.

Soon, there was a thunderous noise and a huge cloud of raising dust, lifted up Krishna upwards in the sky - it was the demon Trinavrata, sent by Kamsa to kill all children. No one could see anything since the entire atmosphere was filled with darkness and dust. Yasoda was terrified that she could not find Krishna on the bed and started to cry loudly.

Trinavrata who could not bear the weight of Krishna, who weighed heavily now, stopped going up further and stopped his noise and flow upwards. Now that the noise had subsided, People could hear the cries of Yasoda and all, including Nanda, rushed there and started wailing together.

Trinavrata could not bear Krishna's growing weight and wanted to let go of the child; but Krishna held him tight and the demon came down heavily from the sky and smashed against a rock and was shattered to pieces. Little krishna was found smiling and playing on top of the demon's chest, with no sign of any injury. It was a wonder indeed. The Gopis rushed to the child and took him away, as if they were plucking a blue gem from a mountain. Nanda, Yasoda and all others passed on Krishna, holding him in their bosom and kissing him in joy. Krishna enjoyed this jumping from one to another.

Nanda, Yasoda and all others offered prayers to Lord Vishnu, who is the protector of all beings, to protect their child Krishna at all times. How strange that Krishna has to protect himself ? 

Dasakam 44: Sage Garga's visit:

Prompted by Vasudeva, sage Garga, the preceptor of Yadu kula (Yadavas), visited Nanda and advised him to perform rituals on the first birth anniversary and naming of the child. Nanda was too pleased to accept it with caution, as it is to. be performed secretly, lest Kamsa should know of it and cause more trouble. The sage was also thrilled to perform the naming ceremony for Krishna and his brother. 

The sage chose the name "Krishna", to indicate to the world that the child would turn out to be the remover of sins of the world. His brother was named as "Rama", (later known as Balarama). The sage, well aware of the fact that Krishna was Hari Himself, did not reveal the origin of Krishna's avatar to Nanda but indicated to Nanda that Krishna would liberate those who followed him and would destroy those who hate him and that his qualities and powers would be superhuman.  

The sage foretold that Krishna would destroy many demons, lead his followers to a blissful state and would become world famous. The sage reiterated that Krishna would dispel the miseries of those who are deeply devoted to him. On hearing these words, Nanda and others showered their affection towards Krishna and rejoiced the event.

It was strange that Lord, who is praised by thousands of names, should be named again this way. 

Dasakam 45: Playful Krishna:

Crawling all around the house, both Krishna and Balarama brought cheer to all. Amused at the sound made by their anklets, both of them crawled fast to hear that sound. People around were enchanted by the beauty of their smile, exposing the white teeth, curly hair falling on their faces, rosy soles of their feet exposed while crawling and bangles dropping off to their wrists. 

The two children were followed by many folks, which made the children crawl faster, emitting gurgling noises. Now and then they stopped, turned their faces and smiled at the folks, who were simply enchanted and charmed by them. They would often fall down due to hasty crawling and their Mathers would rush to rescue them and cares them. All these while, the sages would sing in praise of Lord Vishnu.

Yasoda, the blessed mother, becomes ecstatic when nursing Krishna, keeping him on her lap and caressing him with affection, looking at his charming face, budding teeth and bewitching smile.

Krishna, as he grew up a little, started walking on his own, engaged in childhood  mischiefs like chasing all the pets, (parrots, cats and calves) and when stopped by the Gopikas, he would laugh it out. Whenever Krishna went out for playing, accompanied by brother Balarama, all the women folk would go behind him, forgetting altogether their household duties, leaving their children and servants behind, filled with pure bliss and enchantment in looking at enchanting Krishna. 

Very fond of fresh butter, Krishna would induce the Gopis to share with him some fresh butter in return for his charming songs and dances, rich with childish blabbing. He would gladly enjoy the butter and boiled milk given happily by the Gopis. Krishna even resorted to tricking and stealing curd and butter. In the opinion of Narayana Bhattatri, Krishna perhaps did not want to beg with the Gopis, since he underwent similar humiliation in his earlier avatar as Vamana, a charming  brahmin boy, when he had to beg King Bali for three feet of land. The Gopis never showed any hatred or ill will at Krishna for stealing butter, since he had stolen their hearts and immersed them in an ocean of pure bliss.

Once when Krishna saw the moon above the trees, thinking it be a fruit, he wanted his parents to get him the moon. His father commented casually that if he likes it he can himself ask the moon to come down. But, Krishna momentarily made the moon, along with the stars, to come down on his hands, with his Virat Swaroop. On seeing this, Nanda was stunned but due to Maya he thought this to be a dream, since Krishna instantly assumed his form as an innocent child.

Dasakam 46: Showing Virat Swaroop to Yasoda:

Having shown his Virat Swaroop to Nanda, Krishna showed the whole world in his mouth, when once he was suckling and yawning. Not satisfied with this, Krishna  opted to show his Virat Swaroop in another instance. Krishna was plucking fruits along with his friends, who became angry at him as he cheated them and ate all the fruits himself. All of them complained to Yasoda and lied that Krishna had consumed mud. 

Yasoda became angry that Krishna would become sick, as she was not aware that as the Absolute Truth, he had earlier swallowed the entire universe during deluge. Krishna denied having taken mud, when Yasoda questioned him. As she believed the other children's accusations, she asked Krishna to open his mouth, which he did. 

 

Yasoda was surprised that instead of mud, she saw not only the whole of earth, but all the other worlds too. She could see everything including the forests, oceans, sky, space and also the nether regions, humans, demons and gods. She saw Lord Vishnu reclining in the Milky Ocean, saw entire Vaikunta and all your forms. She also saw Krishna standing in front of her with open mouth. 

She could see in his mouth another Krishna with open mouth, revealing the entire universe in it, then another Krishna and then another one. She was wonder struck to see all his infinite forms, which lasted but momentarily. The next instant, she was shielded by Maya as Krishna climbed on her lap, seeking to suckle her. Thus Krishna briefly revealed his truth to Yasoda.

Dasakam 47 : Yasoda tying up Krishna:

 

Once when Yasoda was churning the milk to make some curd, Krishna succeeded in climbing her lap and started suckling her to quench his thirst. Since Yasoda was otherwise busy, she got up to attend to other errands, abandoning Krishna half-fed. Krishna in turn, full of anger, took the churning rod and broke the pot, thus spilling the entire curd, which spread all around like his fame. 

Yasoda came rushing back at the loud noise of the broken pot, and seeing what has happened, looked for Krishna, who had quietly gone away from the place and was found sitting on a wooden mortar, feeding the cat with butter. She caught hold of Krishna, who sported a false expression of fear, and took a rope to tie him up, with all the Gopikas watching her do it. Little did Yasoda realise that she is trying to bond Krishna, who liberates all from the bonds in life. She tried to tie Krishna to the mortar, while all his devotees try to tie themselves up with him.

Much as she tried to tie him up with several strands of rope, she was always short of the rope by few inches, due to mischievous Krishna. When all the ladies started  to laugh at Yasoda, Krishna finally allowed his mother to tie him up in the mortar. Having tied Krishna, Yasoda left the place, leaving Krishna immobile. But little Krishna had kept some butter hidden in the hollow of the mortar, which he started to enjoy eating it secretly. It is amazing how Yasoda could tie him up with a pasa (rope), when in fact, it is Krishna who ties everyone with pasa (Maya) of attachment to worldly matters. 

Dasakam 48: Liberation of Nalakubara and Manigriva:

Krishna was fondly called as Damodhara, the one who has ropes around his stomach. Krishna, at ease with the ropes tied by Yasoda, looked around and found two old kakoobha trees standing nearby. The story of these two trees goes as follows:

Kubera, the god of wealth, had two sons, Nalakubara and Manigriva. Both of them were blessed by Lord Shiva with huge wealth and prosperity. But both of them spent their wealth indulging in sensual pleasures, thus forgetting to offer prayers to the Lord. 

One day when both were bathing in Ganges with some women, sage Narada passed by. Narada, who is an ardent devotee of Hari, found them bathing naked, fully drunk and realised that both of them had no moral values nor Bhakthi towards Lord Hari. Even after the women hurriedly left the place upon seeing the sage, the two brothers, who were fully intoxicated, did not regain their senses. Narada, with a view to liberate them, cursed them to become trees and remain there for a long time, with a rider that they would regain their senses upon seeing Lord Hari. Thus the two brothers turned into two Kakoobha trees, standing next to each other and were waiting for their salvation.

Little Krishna, purposefully started moving toward the trees, dragging the wooden mortar along with him. The roots of two tree had become very weak due to age and when Krishna tried to pull the mortar in between the two trees, the mortar got stuck up, uprooting the trees, which fell down with huge noise. There appeared from the trees, two handsome Yakshas, who praised Krishna for his mercy, seeking a boon that they shall ever remain devoted to Hari and left for their abodes.

Hearing the noise of the trees falling apart, all the men and women rushed there. Nanda quickly caught hold of Krishna and untied him, with a disapproving look at Yasoda for her act. Relieved that the child did not get hurt, Nanda thanked Hari for His grace and took the child back home safely.

Dasakam 49: Shifting to Brindhavan:

The elders of the Gokulam were deeply worried at the continuous occurrence of  such events like falling of trees, considering these to be bad omen, unaware that these events occurred due to divine interventions. As per the advise of a senior Gopa, by name Upananda and as inspired by Krishna in their minds, they all decided to quit Gokulam and shift westwards to a lovely place called Brindavan, a thick forest region.

Soon, Nanda and others packed all their belongings and set out for Brindhavan in their carts, with Krishna sticking with his mother. Everyone lost sense of time and enjoyed the journey on account of Krishna's blabbering as well as due to the rhythmic sounds of the cow's bells and hooves. The forest area was full of jasmine flowers, greeneries,  Kunda trees and grasslands, to the liking of Krishna. The Gopis built their houses in half-moon shape and settled down comfortably. Krishna happily wandered around the area with his friends, enjoying the scenic beauty.

Krishna was filled with joy at the sight of clear waters of the river Kaalinda (Yamuna), flowing in a zig-zag fashion, with swans and lotuses adding to its charm. Krishna was also enchanted by the Govardhana mountain, shining with different colours of gems, filled with the sounds of peacocks and towering heights seeming to touch the heavens above. Krishna, Balarama and other children enjoyed wandering in and out of the forest, along the banks of riven Kaalinda and along the grasslands which were fit for cattle. 

Dasakam 50: Killing of Vatsasura and Bakasura:

It was pleasing to the eyes, when Krishna, Balarama and cowherd boys were roaming around the beautiful Brindavan, with the air filled with plenty of honey bees. Krishna went about carrying his flute, stick and horn, driving the calves around. 

The already rich flora and fauna of the place became much more fertile and flush with greeneries and blooming with flowers, when Krishna's tender feet touched the grounds of Brindavan. What else can we expect, when the feet, which are tendered by Mahalakshmi, makes its debut on the grounds. The entire area became prosperous. Krishna freely roamed around, playing the flute and tendering the calves, around the Yamuna river, on the grass fields and also up on the mountains.

Once Krishna spotted a demon in the form of a calf, who was waiting for an opportunity to attack Krishna, twisting his tail rapidly, with a slightly slant head and a cunning face. Krishna quickly grabbed the demon's feet, lifted him, and spun him over the head over and over again until the demon dropped dead. Krishna threw the  body over the top of a huge tree.

The dead demon, known as Vatsasura, regained his original huge body and came down heavily, crushing the trees and spoiling the area. All the gods showered flowers from the heavens above. The cowherds boys curiously asked Krishna as to where from these flowers, with wonderful fragrance, came down on his head, to which Krishna jocularly replied that when the huge demon fell on the trees, the flowers from the trees must have scattered upwards and were falling down now on his head.

On another hot day, when Krishna and the cowherd boys wet to Yamuna river to quench their thirst, Krishna could identify a demon, named Bakasura, in the form of a huge crane. The bird was flapping its wings and looked like  Mount Kailasa, whose wings, Indra forgot to clip, when once he was clipping the wings of all other mountains.

Bakasura came rushing to Krishna when all the boys were drinking the river water and completely swallowed Krishna but he threw out Krishna immediately, as if he had swallowed fire. Bakasura then attacked Krishna again with his long beak. Krishna caught hold of the two ends of the beak and tore Bakasura into two pieces and packed him off the Yamaloka, only to be welcomed by all the other demons who were killed earlier by Krishna and also to welcome all the demons who would further be destroyed by Krishna. This is by no means a difficult task for Krishna, who is well versed in destroying the wicked and the cruel.

The gods were please and showered flowers from above. Krishna returned back home, playing his flute, on hearing which from a distance, all the Gopis came rushing to Krishna and gathered around him to enjoy his flute. Mother Yasoda and Nanda also showered their admiration and love to Krishna.     

          

I conclude this blog with this lovely song yearning for the good old days when Krishna was roaming around in Brindhavan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_qler9iTCs

Bye for now till we meet again in my next blog on Part 2.

(Reference: The above contents are based on the explanations given in the link: http://achyuthan.com/narayaneeyam.html. 

For full text of the slogam and finer explanations one may refer this website.)