Today's Beautiful Gem: An aSTapadi from Jayadeva's gItagovinda,
translated by me. (Part II)

"janakasutAkRtabhUSaNa jitadUSaNa e
samaras'amitadas'akaNTha jaya jayadeva hare

"O Krishna, you are the sculptor of Sita's ornaments;
You are the victor over cruel demons including Dushana and Ravana.
Victory and salutations to you!

"abhinavajaladharasundara dhRtamandara e
s'rImukhacandracakora jaya jayadeva hare

"O Krishna, you are indeed handsome like the dark rain-clouds;
You, churner of the mount Mandhara, are the moon
for the eager cakora-face of Lakshmi;
Victory and salutations to you!

"tavacaraNe praNatA vayamiti bhAvaya e
kurukus'alaM praNateSu jaya jayadeva hare

"O Krishna, we prostrate at your feet;
Please grant us prosperity and well-being.
Victory and salutations to you!

"s'rIjayadevakaveridaM kurute mudam e
mangalamujjvalagItaM jaya jayadeva hare"

"O Krishna, may this auspicious song
of the poet Jayadeva please you and bring happiness!
Victory and salutations to you!"

Note: The above aSTapadi is the second aSTapadi in the
gItagovinda. The first one is the das'AvatAra that I posted
a few months ago. It is customary to sing this in temples
and processions of gods. The metre is called mangalachandas.
This is one of my favourites and I hope you like this. Note
how cleverly the poet uses his own name for Krishna in the refrain.

Om s'aantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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