GĪTĀ DHYĀNAM

May 2015
You are listening to “GĪTĀ DHYĀNAM”
from Shubhraji’s CD “Chants for Healing”.

 

śaṅkaraṁ śaṅkarācāryaṁ keśavaṁ bādarāyaṇaṁ
sūtra-bhāṣya-kṛtau vande bhagavantau punaḥ punaḥ
śruti-smṛti-purāṇānām ālayaṁ karuṇālayaṁ
namāmi bhagavat-pādaṁ śaṅkaraṁ loka-śaṅkaram

Ācarya Śaṅkara is Lord Śaṅkara incarnate. Likewise, Bādarāyaṇa Vyāsa is Lord Viṣṇu incarnate. I prostrate before these two divine ones, who composed sūtra-s and commentary, again and again.

Verily Śaṅkara, the abode of compassion, is the home of all knowledge contained in śruti, smṛti and the purāṇa-s. I bow to Lord Śaṅkara, whose feet are divine, who creates peace in the world.

In this invocation, the esteemed commentator Śaṅkara is compared to Śiva, who has the epithet Śaṅkara. Bādarāyaṇa Vyāsa, who wrote the Brahmasūtras (the aphorisms explaining the nature of the Brahman, the ultimate Reality,) is compared to Viṣṇu, who has the epithet Keśava.

TRACK 21 GĪTĀ DHYĀNAM

om pārthāya pratibodhitāṁ bhagavatā nārāyaṇena svayam
vyāsena grathitāṁ purāṇamuninā madhye-mahābhāratam |
advaitāmṛta-varṣiṇīṁ bhagavatīṁ aṣṭādaśādhyāyinīṁ
amba tvām anusandadhāmi bhagavad-gīte bhava-dveṣiṇīm ‖ (1)

Om, O Bhagavad Gītā! What caused Pārtha (Arjuna) to be enlightened by Lord Nārāyaṇa himself,
Composed by the ancient sage Vyāsa in the midst of the Mahābhārata,
Showering the nectar of Advaita, glorious, of eighteen chapters.
O Mother, I continuously ponder you, the enemy of mundane existence.

namo’stu te vyāsa viśāla-buddhe phullāravindāyata-patra-netra |
yena tvayā bhārata-taila-purṇaḥ prajvālito jānamayaḥ pradipaḥ ‖ (2)

O Vyāsa, salutations unto you, may you be of mighty intellect, with eyes like petals of a full-blown lotus, spread wide,
By you is lighted the lamp of knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahābhārata.

prapanna-pārijātāya totravetraikapāṇaye |
jñāna-mudrāya kṛṣṇāya gītāmṛta-duhe namaḥ ‖ (3)

Salutations unto Kṛṣṇa, who is the Pārijāta tree for those who seek refuge, who holds his staff in one hand,
Whose (other) hand is in the pose of wisdom: He milks the nectar of the Gītā.

sarvopaniṣado gāvo doghdā gopāla-nandanaḥ |
pārtho vatsaḥ sudhīr bhoktā dughdaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat ‖ (4)

All the upaniṣad-s are the cows; the milkman is Kṛṣṇa, the Delight of the cowherds;
Pārtha (Arjuna) is the calf; the wise one is the enjoyer; the milk is the supreme nectar of the Gītā.

vasudeva-sutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsa-cāṇūra-mardanam |
devakī-paramānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadgurum ‖ (5)

I salute Kṛṣṇa, the teacher of the world, the supreme bliss of Devakī (mother of Kṛṣṇa),
The divine son of Vasudeva (father of Kṛṣṇa), the destroyer of Kaṁsa and Cāṇūra.

bhīṣma-droṇa-taṭā jayadratha-jalā gāndhāra-nīlotpalā
śalya-grāhavatī kṛpeṇa vahanī karṇena velākulā |
aśvatthāma-vikarṇa-ghora-makarā duryodhanāvartinī
sottīrṇā khalu pāṇḍavai raṇa-nadī kaivartakaḥ keśavaḥ ‖ (6)

Whose shores are Bhīṣma and Droṇa, whose water is Jayadratha, whose blue waterlily is Gāndhāra,
Whose shark is Śalya; whose current is caused by Kṛpa and rapids by Karṇa,
Whose terrible crocodiles are Aśvatthāma and Vikarṇa, whose whirlpool is Duryodhana,
The river of battle is indeed crossed by the Pāṇḍava-s; Keśavaḥ is the ferryman.

pārāśarya-vacaḥ sarojam-amalaṁ gītārtha-gandhotkataṁ
nānākhyānakakesaraṁ hari-kathā-sambodhanābodhitam |
loke sajjana-saṭpadairaharahaḥ pepīyamānaṁ mudā
bhūyād bhārata-paṅkajaṁ kalimalapradhvansinaḥ śreyase ‖ (7)

The speech of Pārāśarya (Vyāsa), growing on the waters, pure, rich with the fragrance of the meaning of the Gītā,
Having various tales for flower-filaments, making known the instruction of the stories of Hari,
Drunk day after day by good people of the world like the six-footed (honey bees), with joy –
The mud-born lotus of the Mahābhārata – May it be for the good of those who destroy the imperfections of the mundane world.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim |
yatkṛpā tam ahaṁ vande paramānandamādhavam ‖ (8)

I salute that supreme bliss Madhava, whose compassionate grace renders the mute eloquent, and makes the cripple leap over mountains.

yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavaiḥ
vedaiḥ sāṅgapada-kramopaniṣadair-gāyanti yaṁ sāmagāḥ |
dhyānāvasthita tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino
yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsuragaṇā devāya tasmai namaḥ ‖ (9)

Salutations to that God, whom Brahma the creator, Varuṇa, Rudra and the Marut-s praise with their divine hymns,
Of whom the chanters of the Sāmaveda sing with their sacred knowledge, methodically recited, Whom the yogi-s realize with their minds absorbed in that steady meditation,
Whose limit the troops of gods and demons do not know.