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Sri Ramacandra Kripalu


॥ श्री रामचन्द्र कृपालु ॥

श्रीरामचन्द्र कृपालु भजु मन हरण भवभय दारुणम्
नवकञ्ज लोचन, कञ्जमुख कर कञ्जपद कञ्जारुणम्

कंदर्प अगणित अमित छबि नव नील नीरज सुन्दरम्
पटपीत मानहुं तड़ित रूचि-शुची नौमि जनक सुतावरम्

भजु दीन बन्धु दिनेश दानव दैत्यवंशनिकन्दनम्
रघुनन्द आनंदकंद कोशल चन्द दशरथ नन्दनम्

सिर मुकुट कुण्डल तिलक चारु उदारु अङ्ग विभूषणम्
आजानुभुज शर चापधर सङ्ग्राम-जित-खर दूषणम्

इति वदति तुलसीदास शङ्कर शेष मुनि मनरञ्जनम्
मम हृदयकञ्ज निवास कुरु कामादि खलदलगञ्जनम्

मनु जाहीं राचेउ मिलिहि सो बरु सहज सुन्दर साँवरो
करुना निधान सुजान सीलु सनेहु जानत रावरो

एही भांति गोरी असीस सुनी सिय सहित हिय हरषीं अली
तुलसी भावानिह पूजी पुनि-पुनि मुदित मन मंदिर चली

गोस्वामी तुलसीदास


Fortunate I am, to be born in this land! Fortunate I am, to immerse myself in Bhakti, and in the thought of Īśvara. And how can Bhakti be expressed and experienced without the songs of the Lord, through lilting, soulful Bhajans. 

Some Bhajans are so emotionally powerful, they just bind me, and I always repeat them in my mind over a long period of time. Here is one such Bhajan, composed by Gosvāmī Tulasīdās, and rendered in the scintillating voice of Jagjit Singh. 





The lyrics and translation are from Wikipedia. The transliteration from Devanagari to IAST scheme of Romanized alphabet with diacritical marks was done with this wonderful tool from an Ashtanga Yoga site.


Transliteration

॥ Śrī Rāmacandra Kṛpālu ॥

Śrīrāmacandra kṛpālu bhaju mana haraṇa bhavabhaya dāruṇam
Navakañja locana, kañjamukha kara kañjapada kañjāruṇam ॥1॥

Kaṃdarpa agaṇita amita chabi nava nīla nīraja sundaram ।
Paṭapīta mānahuṃ taṛita rūci-śucī naumi janaka sutāvaram ॥2॥

Bhaju dīna bandhu dineśa dānava daityavaṃśanikandanam ।
Raghunanda ānaṃdakaṃda kośala canda daśaratha nandanam ॥3॥

Sira mukuṭa kuṇḍala tilaka cāru udāru aṅga vibhūṣaṇam ।
Ājānubhuja śara cāpadhara saṅgrāma-jita-khara dūṣaṇam ॥4॥

Iti vadati tulasīdāsa śaṅkara śeṣa muni manarañjanam ।
Mama hṛdayakañja nivāsa kuru kāmādi khaladalagañjanam ॥5॥

The song ends here. However, it appears that there are two more verses without translations.

Manu jāhīṃ rāceu milihi so baru sahaja sundara sā~varo ।
Karunā nidhāna sujāna sīlu sanehu jānata rāvaro ॥6॥

Ehī bhāṃti gorī asīsa sunī siya sahita hiya haraṣīṃ alī ।
Tulasī bhāvāniha pūjī puni-puni mudita mana maṃdira calī

Gosvāmī Tulasīdāsa


Translation

O mind! Revere the benign Shree Ramachandra,
Who removes 'Bhav' – sorrow or pain, 'Bhaya' – fear, 
and 'Darun' – scarcity or poverty.
Who has fresh lotus eyes, lotus face and lotus hands, 
feet like lotus and like the rising sun || 1 ||

His image exceeds myriad Cupids, like a fresh, 
blue-hued cloud — magnificent |
His amber-robes appear like lightning, pure, captivating. 
Revere this groom of Janaka’s daughter || 2 ||

Sing hymns of the brother of destitute, Lord of the daylight, 
the destroyer of the clan of Danu-Diti demons |
The progeny of Raghu, limitless 'joy', the moon to Kosala, 
sing hymns of Dasharatha’s son || 3 ||

His head bears the crown, ear pendants, tilak on forehead, 
his adorned, shapely limbs are resplendent
Arms extend to the knees, studded with bows-arrows, 
who won battles against Khara and Dooshana || 4 ||

Thus says Tulsidas, O joy of Shankara, and other Sages |
Reside in the lotus of my heart, O slayer of the vices-troops of Kaama and the like || 5 ||

Goswami Tulsidas

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