Thursday, December 4, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! -12




करचरणकृतं वाक्कायजं कर्मजं वा 
श्रवणनयनजं वा मानसं वापराधम् ।
विहितमविहितं वा सर्वमेतत् क्षमस्व
जय जय करुणाब्धे श्रीमहादेव शम्भो ॥   

karacaraṇakṛtaṃ vākkāyajaṃ karmajaṃ vā
śravaṇanayanajaṃ vā mānasaṃ vāparādham ।
vihitamavihitaṃ vā sarvametat kṣamasva
jaya jaya karuṇābdhe śrīmahādeva śambho ॥


Oh, the Auspicious Great God Shiva, the Ocean of Mercy, Glory, glory to you! Kindly forgive my wrongs, committed with hands and feet, through words and actions, my misdeeds, transgressions committed by my ears and eyes, even my wrong thoughts, those done deliberately or even inadvertently, all my misdeeds, oh Lord!

karacaraṇakṛtaṃ committed with hands and feet
vāk-kāyajaṃ through words and actions
karmajaṃ vā or misdeeds, transgressions
śravaṇanayanajaṃ committed by my ears and eyes
vā mānasaṃ or my wrong thoughts
vā or
aparādham misdeed
vihitam done deliberately
avihitaṃ inadvertently
vā or
sarvametat all my misdeeds
kṣamasva Kindly forgive
jaya jaya Glory, glory to you!
karuṇābdhe the Ocean of Mercy!
śrīmahādeva śambho Oh, the Auspicious Great God Shiva!


This prayer to Shiva comes in a famous stotra Shiva Manasa Puja composed by Jagadguru Adi Shankara.
 
When something is done, e.g. भुक्तम् bhuktam meaning "eaten", in Sanskrit, we use a form called क्त कृदन्तप्रत्यय kta kṛdantapratyaya. Some examples are used here - कृतम् , विहितम्, kṛtam and vihitam. 

Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! -11




मृत्युञ्जयाय रुद्राय नीलकण्ठाय शम्भवे ।
अमृतेशाय शर्वाय महादेवाय ते नमः ॥ 

mṛtyuñjayāya rudrāya nīlakaṇṭhāya śambhave ।
amṛteśāya śarvāya mahādevāya te namaḥ ॥



Oh Lord Shiva, the Great God, the Destroyer, the Lord of the Immortals, the Auspicious One, the Blue-throated One, the Fierce One, and the one who helps conquer death itself, obeisances to you!

mṛtyuñjayāya The one who helps conquer death itself
rudrāya The Fierce One
nīlakaṇṭhāya The Blue-throated One
śambhave The Auspicious One
amṛteśāya The Lord of the Immortals
śarvāya The Destroyer
mahādevāya The Great God
te to you,
namaḥ Obeisances!

This prayer to Shiva is ancient and lists all the attributes of the God who dwells in 12 sacred places across India in the form of the Jyotirliṅga or the Luminous Lingam.

The word namaḥ has already occurred in many shlokas. It means Obeisances, Prayers, and so on. Interestingly, the Vibhakti used for the person being worshipped is the Fourth Vibhakti, or the Dative Case. All the attributes of Shiva here are in the Dative case. All except śambhave have the form similar to Rāmāya, Ganeśāya, Kṛṣṇāya. That is because the root noun ends in a. śambhu, guru and such words end in u. So we say śambhave, gurave, ... in the Fourth Vibhakti.


Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! -10



आपदां अपहर्तारं दातारं सर्वसम्पदाम् । 
लोकाभिरामं श्रीरामं भूयो भूयो नमाम्यहम् ॥

āpadāṃ apahartāraṃ dātāraṃ sarvasampadām । 
lokābhirāmaṃ śrīrāmaṃ bhūyo bhūyo namāmyaham ॥

I bow down repeatedly to Lord Sri Rama, who is the remover of all difficulties ans dangers, the giver of all riches, and the supreme delighter of all creation! 

āpadāṃ of difficulties and dangers
apahartāraṃ the remover 
dātāraṃ the giver
sarvasampadām of all riches
lokābhirāmaṃ the supreme delighter of all creation
śrīrāmaṃ to Lord Sri Rama
bhūyaḥ bhūyaḥ again and again
namāmi aham I bow down.

This verse is recited during every Ekadashi in several prayer meetings. It is a sincere prayer of a devotee who has absolute faith in the godly glory of Sri Rama - omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and supreme in compassion!

The Sanskrit is quite simple, and has Samasa-s to create compound words and compact the verse.



Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Monday, December 1, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 9



यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः ।
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥

yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanurdharaḥ ।
tatra śrīrvijayo bhūtirdhruvā nītirmatirmama ॥


This is the final shloka in the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā, often referred to as 'The Gita". The Gita is the greatest scripture for all mankind, and is a direct dialogue between God and man, who is sincere about getting ahead. Today is the holy day when the Gita was taught by Bhagavān Śrīkṛṣṇa to Arjuna. It is celebrated as Gita Jayanti all over the world.

Here, the narrator, Sanjaya, states:
"Wherever there is the great Master of Yoga, Krishna, and also the famed and righteous archer Arjuna, there will be prosperity, victory, great powers and gifts, as well as enduring righteousness - that is my firm conviction."

This shloka conveys the essence of Sanatan Dharma, that God always works as a collaborator in and through a righteous man for his betterment.

yatra wherever
yogeśvaraḥ the great Master of Yoga
kṛṣṇo Krishna (is)
yatra and wherever (i.e. also)
pārtho Arjuna
dhanurdharaḥ the famed and righteous archer (is)
tatra there
śrīḥ prosperity
vijayaḥ victory
bhūtiḥ powers and gifts
dhruvā enduring
nītiḥ righteousness (rule of goodness) (are)
matiḥ conviction
mama my (this is)


Many of the attributes and qualities listed here are in the feminine gender.
All nouns in Sanskrit have gender. The gender of any word is not based merely on a biological attribute, but on deep insights beyond logic. Qualities listed here in the feminine are
śrīḥ prosperity, bhūtiḥ powers and gifts, nītiḥ righteousness (rule of goodness), and matiḥ conviction.

Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 8






रामो राजमणिः सदा विजयते रामं रमेशं भजे 
रामेणाभिहता निशाचरचमू रामाय तस्मै नमः ।
रामान्नास्ति परायणं परतरं रामस्य दासोऽस्म्यहं
रामे चित्तलयः सदा भवतु मे भो राम मामुद्धर ॥ 

rāmo rājamaṇiḥ sadā vijayate rāmaṃ rameśaṃ bhaje
rāmeṇābhihatā niśācaracamū rāmāya tasmai namaḥ ।
rāmānnāsti parāyaṇaṃ parataraṃ rāmasya dāso'smyahaṃ
rāme cittalayaḥ sadā bhavatu me bho rāma māmuddhara  ॥

Rāma, the jewel among kings, is always righteously victorious! I worship Rāma, who is Viṣṇu himself! Hordes of demons were annihilated by Rāma. My obeisance to Rāma!
There is no Supreme Being greater than Rāma. I am the servant of Rāma! May my mind be always immersed in Rāma. Oh Rāma, please uplift me!
Labels:

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 7



कृष्णो रक्षतु नो जगत्रयगुरुः कृष्णं नमस्याम्यहं
कृष्णेनामरशत्रवो विनिहताः कृष्णाय तस्मै नमः ।
कृष्णादेव समुत्थितं जगदिदं कृष्णस्य दासोऽस्म्यहं 
कृष्णे तिष्ठति सर्वमेतदखिलं हे कृष्ण रक्षस्व माम् ॥३३॥

kṛṣṇo rakṣatu no jagatrayaguruḥ kṛṣṇaṃ namasyāmyahaṃ
kṛṣṇenāmaraśatravo vinihatāḥ kṛṣṇāya tasmai namaḥ ।
kṛṣṇādeva samutthitaṃ jagadidaṃ kṛṣṇasya dāso'smyahaṃ
kṛṣṇe tiṣṭhati sarvametadakhilaṃ he kṛṣṇa rakṣasva mām ॥

May Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Preceptor of the three worlds, protect us; I bow down to Śrī Kṛṣṇa; By Śrī Kṛṣṇa were the eternal enemies destroyed; to that Śrī Kṛṣṇa may our obeisance be; by Śrī Kṛṣṇa alone was this universe lifted from its morass; I am a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; In Śrī Kṛṣṇa rests all this manifestation; oh Śrī Kṛṣṇa! Please protect me!

Interestingly, this shloka uses all the Vibhakti-s! It is from the Mukundamala, composed by the great saint Kulaśekhara Ālvār. 

kṛṣṇo rakṣatu no jagatrayaguruḥ - May Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Preceptor of the three worlds, protect us; (the form kṛṣṇaḥ when used in a sentence gets modified by Sandhi. We shall learn about Sandhi-s soon!)
kṛṣṇaṃ namasyāmyahaṃ -I bow down to Śrī Kṛṣṇa;
kṛṣṇena amaraśatravo vinihatāḥ -By Śrī Kṛṣṇa were the eternal enemies destroyed;
kṛṣṇāya tasmai namaḥ -to that Śrī Kṛṣṇa may our obeisance be;
kṛṣṇāt eva samutthitaṃ jagadidaṃ- by Śrī Kṛṣṇa alone was this universe lifted from its morass; 
kṛṣṇasya dāso'smyahaṃ - I am a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; 
kṛṣṇe tiṣṭhati sarvametadakhilaṃ - In Śrī Kṛṣṇa rests all this manifestation; 
he kṛṣṇa rakṣasva mām - Oh, Śrī Kṛṣṇa! Please protect me!

The prayer is a powerful testament to the devotion of anyone who has surrendered to the Lord. It is also a way of expressing that Bhakti can be in any Vibhakti!

Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Friday, November 28, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 6





Narayana is the name of Vishnu or Hari. He is the eternal protector and sustainer. The God appearing in both Ramayana and Mahabharata is Narayana or Vishnu in the Avatara of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna. 
This prayer to him by Swami Ramanuja in his Gadyatraya is most famous:

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव 
त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव 
त्वमेव सर्वं मम देव देव ॥

tvameva mātā ca pitā tvameva
tvameva bandhuśca sakhā tvameva ।
tvameva vidyā draviṇaṃ tvameva
tvameva sarvaṃ mama deva deva  ॥

Oh, Lord who are the God of all gods, you alone are my mother, you alone are my father; 
You alone are my relative, and you alone are my friend. Indeed, you alone are my learning! You alone are my wealth! You alone are indeed my all in all!
tvam eva you alone (are)
mātā my mother
ca and
pitā my father
tvam you
eva alone
tvam eva you alone (are)
bandhuḥ relative
ca and 
sakhā friend 
tvam you
eva alone
tvam eva you alone (are)
vidyā learning
draviṇaṃ wealth
tvam you
eva alone
tvam eva you alone (are)
sarvaṃ everything, all in all
mama my
deva deva  Oh, Lord, the God of gods!

Here we see the word mātā. 
We are all familiar with these words:

mātṛ noun-root for mother. We see this in mātṛdevo bhava. But in sentences, we come across its many forms occuring as separate words!
  1. mātā  mother (Nominative case)
  2. mātaram to mother (Accusative case)
  3. mātrā by mother (Instrumental case)
  4. mātre for mother (Dative case)
  5. mātuḥ from mother (Ablative case).
  6. mātuḥ belonging to mother ( Possessive case)
  7. mātari in mother (Locative case)
  8. mātaḥ  oh! mother! (Vocative case)

These different forms of the same root giving different meanings are called Vibhakti-s. In fact, in every shloka, we encounter different Vibhakti-s, playing a vital role in conveying the meaning, establishing the relationship between different words, and compacting the sentence.

See below! Can we recognise the Vibhakti?

I bow down to mother (here, motherland, Bharat)! I bow down to Sanskrit!



Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Thursday, November 27, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 5





Hanuman is the original superhero. In the Valmiki Ramayana, Sri Rama himself says Hanuman is the greatest hero he has come across! Hanuman combines strength, intellect, creativity and devotion in equal measure. No wonder we pray to Hanuman whenever we are in any difficulty - even Sri Rama did so!

असाध्यसाधक स्वामिन् असाध्यं तव किं वद। 
रामदूत कृपासिन्धो मत्कार्यं साधय प्रभो ॥

asādhyasādhaka svāmin asādhyaṃ tava kiṃ vada ।
rāmadūta kṛpāsindho matkāryaṃ sādhaya prabho ॥

Oh, Lord, you are known to accomplish the impossible! Tell me, what is therefore impossible for you?
Oh, the messenger of Sri Rama! Oh, ocean of compassion! Please accomplish my mission, Lord!

asādhyasādhaka Oh, the one known to accomplish the impossible!
svāmin Oh, Lord!
asādhyaṃ impossible
tava for you
kiṃ what is
vada  tell me!
rāmadūta Oh, the messenger of Sri Rama!
kṛpāsindho Oh, ocean of compassion!
matkāryaṃ my mission
sādhaya Please accomplish
prabho Lord!

Prayers and orders in Sanskrit use a special form of the verb known as लोट् Loṭ .

We are all familiar with these words:

वद           vada   - Tell me! Say!

भज         bhaja   - Pray! Praise!

रक्ष          rakṣa   - Protect!

अव         ava       - Take care of !

भवतु      bhavatu - May it happen!

कुरु        kuru      - Do!

साधय    sādhaya  - Accomplish!

पाहि     pāhi          - Protect! Take care of!

These words are used as requests to higher-ups or deities, or as instructions to equals and subordinates. So Bhaja govindam means "Pray to Govinda!" - an instruction. sādhaya means "Please accomplish" in this prayer.

Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !


Labels:

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 4



The Goddess worshipped throughout the year in India is Ma Durga. She is called by various names. Devi is worshipped as the Universal Mother and combines the Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvati.

 सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके देवि नारायणि नमोस्तुते ॥

sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye śive sarvārtha-sādhike ।
śaraṇye tryambake devi nārāyaṇi namostute ॥

Oh, Supreme Goddess, who are the auspiciousness in all things auspicious! Oh, Consort of Shiva/One who confers good! Oh, Goddess who fulfils all my goals/wishes!
Oh, Mother, who are my refuge! Oh, the Three-eyed One! Oh, the Maya power of Lord Narayana!
I bow down to you!

sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye Oh, the auspiciousness in all things auspicious!
śive Oh, Consort of Shiva/One who confers good!
sarvārtha-sādhike who accomplishes for me all my goals/wishes!
śaraṇye Oh, My refuge!
tryambake Oh, the Three-eyed One!
devi Supreme Goddess!
nārāyaṇi Oh, the Maya power of Lord Narayana!
namostute I bow down to you! ( actually it is three words Namaḥ astu te)

Most of our prayers invoke our chosen Deity with various attributes and descriptions. The idea is that when we behold the image or idol and invoke these words, our minds and hearts connect with the Supreme Being, far beyond simple matter. Then the prayer acquires a new meaning.

They say that we begin by chanting these prayers as mere words, then we develop understanding and feeling, and finally dissolve ourselves in prayer.

In the nineteenth century, Sir Monier Williams, with the help of great Indian scholars, produced the comprehensive Sanskrit-English dictionary, listing over 300,000 Sanskrit words! Even before this, Indians had created both dictionaries and thesauruses called Śabdakoṣa-s. Indeed, etymology or derivation of words is a separate science called Nirukta and so on. The famous Amarakośa is around 1500 to 1800 years old.

Here is a sample from the Amarakośa listing of the words connected with the word, "horse":



Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Monday, November 24, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 3




Today, let us pray to Goddess Saraswati!:

सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरुपिणि ।
विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिरभवतु मे सदा॥

sarasvati namastubhyaṃ varade kāmarupiṇi ।
vidyārambhaṃ kariṣyāmi siddhirabhavatu me sadā ॥


This is a direct address to the Goddess of Learning. It means

Oh Goddess Sarasvati ! I bow down to you. You are the gracious boon-giver! You are beautiful in form! I will embark on my study, and may success come to me always!

The words used to addess the Goddess are sarasvati, varade, and kāmarupiṇi . 

sarasvati  Oh, Goddess Sarasvati ! 
varade Oh, boon-giver!
kāmarupiṇi Oh, One beautiful in form!
namaḥ  I bow down 
tubhyaṃ to you!
kariṣyāmi I will embark on
vidyārambhaṃ study
me to me
siddhiḥ success
bhavatu may it come
 sadā always!



In Sanskrit, when we address someone, we use a special form of the noun called sambodhana which, in English, they call the Vocative case. So, I can just say, Hare! Rāma! Kṛṣṇa! Sarasvati! Varade!  to say, "Oh, Hari! Oh, Rama! Oh, Krishna! Oh, Saraswati! Oh, Boon-giver goddess! This makes the message unambiguous, and I do not need to add Oh every time!

 Also, we have seen many verbs so far.

karoti makes
laṅghayate makes climb 
vande bow down to
upāsmahe  we worship
namaḥ  My obeisances (a special type of verb)
kariṣyāmi I will embark
bhavatu May it be


In Sanskrit, the verbs are in myriad forms to indicate the present, past and future tenses, as well as moods, requests and wishes and conjectures! And all these verb forms are derived from a core set of over 2,000 verb roots which were listed by Maharshi Panini (Mahaṛṣi Pāṇini) in the 3rd century BCE.

Both nouns and verbs can all be traced back 95% percent of the time to these 2000 root verbs. And the Sanskrit vocabulary is already available in millions of words. One can even coin new words to suit one's purpose readily, as long as one follows the Panini Grammar rules. Panini has been hailed as perhaps the greatest mind ever, as he was able to create a system of grammar to define this perfect language. Indeed, computer scientists and AI researchers are now studying the methods of Panini to create new forms of logic. 

Did you know Mendeleev used the Panini ideas to create the Periodic Table!?


Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !

Labels:

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 2







Second day! Here is a shloka most of us know:

अगजाननपद्मार्कं गजाननमहर्निशम्  । 
अनेकदन्तं भक्तानामेकदन्तमुपास्महे ॥

agajānanapadmārkaṃ gajānanamaharniśam ।

anekadantaṃ bhaktānāmekadantamupāsmahe  ॥ 



This shloka says as follows:

We worship day and night him, the Elephant-headed God, who has one tusk, who is like the sun to the lotus of his mother born of the Mountain, and who gives so many boons to devotees!

This very popular shloka on Ganesha has so many beautiful aspects. First of all, we should know that over 90% of all Sanskrit literature is in the form of poetry! That is because all literature- from the Vedas to Kavyas and Itihasas like Ramayana and Mahabharata were transmitted by word of mouth and stored in memory, not in written form, till about 2500 years ago. The Sanskrit literature available to us today itself extends to millions of palm leaf manuscripts. And a lot of it has also been lost. So you can imagine the memory power of ancient Rishis. Anyway, that is a different topic!

Coming to poetry, there are rules about metre, and also the beautification of words by alliteration and such aspects. Easily, Sanskrit has the most elaborate system of Alaṅkāra-s or beautifying elements in a verse. Sanskrit poets are not matter-of-fact. They give a lot of similes, metaphors, hyperbole and so on. They tell a story every moment. Additionally, all shlokas can be sung!

Word-by-word meaning:

agajā daughter of the mountain
-ānana face
-padma lotus
-arkaṃ the sun
gajānanam the Elephant-faced God
aharniśam day and night

anekadam giver of many boons

taṃ him

bhaktānām to the devotees

ekadantam one-tusked

upāsmahe  we worship.


Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !
Labels:

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Learn Sanskrit through Shlokas! - 1




I want to try something new here. Can one learn Sanskrit by understanding some shlokas? Here is my first attempt!

मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिम् ।
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्दमाधवम् ॥

mūkaṃ karoti vācālaṃ paṅguṃ laṅghayate girim ।
yatkṛpā tamahaṃ vande paramānandamādhavam ॥



What does this shloka mean exactly?

I bow down to that Lord of Lakshmi, who is the embodiment of Supreme Bliss; whose compassion makes a dumb person talkative, and makes a lame person climb a mountain!

Ten words in Sanskrit take here thirty words of explanation in English! Wow. 

In Sanskrit, we compact the message by using compound words called Samāsa-s. In fact, this language is Samskṛtam,  a compound word which means "Well constructed". These compound words are easy to understand once we get the hang of it. For example, the compound word for a student is Vidyārthī,  which means one who seeks knowledge! In English, too, we have such derived words with compounded meaning, e.g. democracy. demo-cracy meaning rule of the people. In Sanskrit, it would be Loka-tantram.

 By the way, I am typing all the original Sanskrit words in italics here. Also, they are shown with diacritical marks that make the pronunciation unambiguous. You can read up and understand this here:




So, now, shall we jump into understanding this shloka?

mūkaṃ a dumb person
 karoti makes
 vācālaṃ a talkative man
 paṅguṃ a lame person
 laṅghayate makes climb 
girim a mountain
yatkṛpā  whose compassion
tam Him
ahaṃ I
vande bow down to
parama+ānanda Supreme Bliss (embodiment of)
-mā-dhavam  Lord of Lakshmi

Reordering the words,

ahaṃ I
vande bow down to
tam Him
parama+ānanda Supreme Bliss (embodiment of)
-mā-dhavam  Lord of Lakshmi
yatkṛpā  whose compassion
 karoti makes
mūkaṃ a dumb person
vācālaṃ a talkative man
laṅghayate makes  paṅguṃ a lame person climb 
girim a mountain.

In English, we use conjunctions and prepositions to connect the words. In Sanskrit, these are built into the words themselves! This makes for compactness as well as unambiguity. This also does away with the need for the correct sequence of words, since wherever we place the word in a sentence, it means the same. 

For example, 
Rāmaḥ rāvaṇaṃ hanti  means Rama kills Ravana. 
Rāvaṇaṃ rāmaḥ hanti  also means Rama kills Ravana.  This won't work in English, because we dare not write Ravana kills Rama😀 

Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !


Labels:

Friday, November 7, 2025

Vande Mataram



Celebrating 150 years of the famous song of India, composed on 7 November 1875!

An interesting article:
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/150-years-of-vande-matarams-musical-odyssey-the-melody-and-memory-of-a-nation




वन्दे मातरम् 
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम् सस्यश्यामलां मातरम्

वन्दे मातरम् ।

शुभ्रज्योत्स्नापुलकितयामिनीं
 फुल्लकुसुमितद्रुमदलशोभिनीं
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीं
 सुखदां वरदां मातरम्  ॥ १ ॥

वन्दे मातरम् ।

कोटि-कोटि-कण्ठ-कल-कल-निनाद-कराले
 कोटि-कोटि-भुजैर्धृत-खरकरवाले,
 अबला केन मा एत बले ।
बहुबलधारिणीं नमामि तारिणीं
 रिपुदलवारिणीं मातरम् ॥ २ ॥

वन्दे मातरम् ।

तुमि विद्या, तुमि धर्म तुमि हृदि,
तुमि मर्म त्वं हि प्राणा: शरीरे बाहुते
 तुमि मा शक्ति, हृदये तुमि मा भक्ति,
 तोमारई प्रतिमा गडि मन्दिरे-मन्दिरे मातरम् ॥ ३ ॥

वन्दे मातरम् ।

त्वं हि दुर्गा दशप्रहरणधारिणी
 कमला कमलदलविहारिणी
 वाणी विद्यादायिनी, नमामि त्वाम्न
मामि कमलां अमलां अतुलां सुजलां सुफलां मातरम् ॥ ४ ॥

वन्दे मातरम् ।

श्यामलां सरलां सुस्मितां भूषितां
 धरणीं भरणीं मातरम् ॥ ५ ॥

वन्दे मातरम् ॥



Wikipedia:

Vande Mataram (1909)
by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, translated by Aurobindo Ghose

Bengali-Sanskrit poem from the novel Anandamath (1882) written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The first 2 stanzas of the original full version have the official status as the "National Song" of the Republic of India. 
Here is the literal translation of all the stanzas of Vande Mataram by Aurobindo Ghose as appeared in Karmayogin, 20 November, 1909.

I bow to thee, Mother,
richly-watered, richly-fruited,
cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests,
The Mother!

Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss!

Terrible with the clamorous shouts of seventy million throats,
and the sharpness of swords raised in twice seventy million hands,
Who sayeth to thee, Mother, that thou art weak?
Holder of multitudinous strength,
I bow to her who saves,
to her who drives from her the armies of her foes,
The Mother!

Thou art knowledge, thou art conduct,
Thou art heart, thou art soul,
For thou art the life in our body.
In the arm, thou art might, O Mother,
In the heart, O Mother, thou art love and faith,
It is thy image we raise in every temple.

For thou art Durga holding her ten weapons of war,
Kamala at play in the lotuses
And speech, the goddess, giver of all lore,
To thee I bow!
I bow to thee, goddess of wealth
pure and peerless,
richly-watered, richly-fruited,
The Mother!

I bow to thee, Mother,
Dark-hued, candid,
sweetly smiling, jewelled and adorned,
the holder of wealth, the lady of plenty,
The Mother!



Translation in VERSE form by Shri Aurobindo
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)