| Philosophy and Religion / Arthur Avalon: Hymns to the Goddess |
Arthur Avalon
Hymns to the Goddess
Yamuna1 (Yamunāṣṭakam)
1
MAY the daughter of Kalinda2 ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
She whose waters, beauteous as the black body of the enemy3 of Mura,4
Cleanse the overgrowth of plants5 and shrubs which line its pleasant banks.
Indra's heaven compared with Thy waters is but a thing of straw.
Destructress of the sorrow of the three worlds--
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.6
2
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
She whose stream is highly adorned with over-flowing water
Destructress of sin, dark as night, like unto nectar,
Greatly powerful for the destruction of all great sins,
Beneficent One who is black of colour,
Through company with the body of the good son of Nanda7
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
3
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
The touch of whose shining waves washes away the sins of multitudes of beings.
Devoted to Thee is the Cātaka bird,8 receptacle
that Thou art of freshness and sweetness.9
Giver of desire,
On the borders of whose banks swans ever dwell,
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
4
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity.
The gentle breeze on Her banks dispels the lassitude
Of those who have rambled and played10 thereon.
The beauty of Her waters is beyond the power of words;
It is, indeed, the consortment with Her current,
Which purifies all rivers, male and female,11 on the earth.
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā,
5
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
Destroyed by (the whiteness of) Her sandy banks laved by Her waters;
She who is ever white,12
Adorned with blossoms beauteous as the rays of the autumn moon.13
May She then purify me by Her waters,
Most excellent that they are for the worship of Bhava,14
(By her white splendour),15 Destructress of the darkness of night16
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
6
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity.
The paste and unguents of the beauteous Rādhikā17
Colours Her waters in which Rādhikā plays.
Possessor is She of the body of the husband18 of Rādhikā,
Which by none other may be possessed.
Skilled is She in making Her way through the seven sleeping oceans,
And in filling them with waters19--
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
7
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity!
Her stream is beauteous with the women of the cowherds,20
Made passionate21 by the scent of the paste and unguent,
Dropped therein from off the body of Acyuta,22
Garlanded is She with clusters of Champak flowers,
Set in the flowing23 hair of Rādhikā.
Of all such as come to bathe in Her waters
Neither is one the servant nor the other master.24
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
8
May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity!
Pleasant always is She with groves,
Where Nandanandi25 ever played.26
Bright is She with the ripened blossom
Of the kadamba27 and mallika28 flowers upon Her banks.
It is She who safely carries across the ocean of the world29
All such men as bathe in Her stream.
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.
Footnotes
1. The river sacred in particular for its memories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who on its banks sported with the cowherd women (Gopīs).
2. Yamunā.
3. Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
4. A Daitya slain by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
5. Kunjapunja.
6. The refrain is translated in the first line.
7. The cowherd who brought up Śrīkṛṣṇa, when his life was threatened by Kamsa.
8. As to which see p. 184, note 7.
9. Literally, "who are slaves to Her by reason of their inhabitancy of Her banks"
10. After the rāsalīlā Śrīkṛṣṇa and the Gopīs are tired by their dance and play, and are refreshed by repose upon Her banks where gentle breezes blow.
11. Rivers are either male (nada) or female (nadī). Of the former class are the Sone, Sindu, etc., and of the latter Gangā, Narmadā, Gandakī, etc.
12. Her sandy banks are so.
13. Of a soft and silvery white.
14. For use in the ritual worship of Śiva.
15. Malam (manomalam). Impurity is a thing which is dark. The river by the white splendour of its white banks and blossoms is therewith contrasted.
16. For luminously white is She like the moon.
17. The beloved of Śrīkṛṣṇa.
18. Śrīkṛṣṇa; for He too bathes in her stream, which possesses also His dark colour.
19. Alluding to the destruction of the Asuras, called Kālakeya. These excluded the Devas from svarga. On their chiefs bring slain by Indra, they betook themselves to the depths of the ocean, whence they issued at night to destroy the Ṛṣis. The latter asked the aid of Viṣṇu, who told them to go to Agastya. He at one sip swallowed all the oceans, which thus disappeared (therefore "sleeping oceans" of text) until the River Ganges was brought down by Bhagīratha when they were again filled with Her waters. This incident is attributed to the Yamunā, both rivers being manifestations of the same Devī.
20. Literally, Ali, which, according to the Amarakośa = Sakhi; female friend, referring to the Gopīs who loved Krishna.
21. Lampata; Whose senses were roused by the scent of the pastes which had fallen from the scented body of Kṛṣṇa.
22. Kṛṣṇa ("imperishable one").
23. Vilola. Her hair is dishevelled and moving in the movements of breeze and play.
24. Literally, "In the case of those who come down to bathe in Her waters She ever destroys all righteousness of master and servant"--that is, all are equal in Her waters which purify all without distinction.
25. The text has Nandinandana, but this has no meaning. Nandanandi is He who pleases Nanda or Kṛṣṇa, whose foster-father Nanda the cowherd was.
26. With the Gopī women.
27. A beautiful flowering tree with yellow blooms under, and on which (as when he stole the garments of the bathing Gopīs) Kṛṣṇa played (See p. 169, note 2).
28. A kind of Jasmine.
29. See p. 16, note 1.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
