shri rAma chAritra manjari – shlOka I

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shri rAma chAritra manjari – shlOka 1

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Source: shri gururAja saMputa – Volume 1 – published by mantralaya matha

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shrImAn pUrvaM prajAtO dasharathanrupatE rAmanAmAtha neetO

vishvAmitrEna maNtrAhrudanuja sahitaH tATakAM ghAtakOstraM |

brahmAdyaM prApya hatvA nishicharanikaraM yajnapAlO vimOchyA-

halyAshApaM cha bhaMktvA shivadhanurupayan jAnakeeM naH praseedEt || 1 ||

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Words in the first shloka

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shrImAn, pUrvaM, prajAtaH, dasharatha, nrupatEH, rAmanAmA, atha, neetaH, vishvAmitrENa, maNtrAhrut, anuja sahitaH, tATakAM, ghAtakaH, astraM, brahmAdyaM, prApya, hatvA, nishichara, nikaraM, yajnapAlaH, vimOchyA, ahalyA, shApaM, cha, bhaMktvA, shivadhanuH, upayaN, janakeeM, naH, praseedEt

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Word meanings

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shrImAn – shri lakshminarayana, the one with jnAna and sampat

pUrvaM – in the beginning, earlier

yaH – one who

prajAtaH – took avatara

dasharathanrupatEH – from the king known as dasharatha

rAmanAmA – by the name of rAma

atha – and then

neetaH – was taken by

vishvAmitrENa – by rushi vishvAmitra

maNtrAhrut – accepted the mantras (to in fact bless the rushi)

anujasahitaH – along with his brother

tATakAM – a rakshasi by name tATaki

ghAtakO – having killed

astraM – astras

brahmAdyaM – the one propagated by brahma and others

prApya – having obtained

hatvA – having killed

Nishichara – the nocturnals (rakshasAs)

nikaraM – the group

yajnapAlaH – having protected the yajna

vimOchya – having cured

ahalyAshApaM cha – the curse of ahalya

bhaMktvA – broken

shivadhanuH – the bow of shiva

upayan – got married

jAnakeeM – janakee, the daughter of janaka

naH – us

praseedEt – may he become pleased

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Meaning

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shrImAN lakshminarayana, in the beginning, having taken avatara as the son of king dasharatha, by the name of rAma, was taken by rushi vishvAmitra along with HIS brother lakshmaNa.

In order to bless the rushi, HE accepted various mantras from him. Having killed the rAkshasi by name tAtaki, he also received brahmAstra and various other astras (from the rushi).

HE then protected the yajna (of the rushi) by killing the group of rAkshasas (subAhu and others). HE also relieved ahalya from the curse she was suffering.

Having then broken the bow of shiva, HE married jAnakee (mahAlakshmee dEvi), the daughter of janaka.

Let such a LORD be pleased with us!

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Notes (my self-attempt)

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• rAyaru begins the work by the use of the word “shri”. Shri stands for lakshmi who is mangala. So the usage of shri is a sort of mangalAcharane for the work.
• prajAta: Using the prajAta instead of jAta, rAyaru signifies that the LORD appearing is not an ordinary birth like any of us but one that is prakrusHta i.e. special i.e it is an appearance or avatara
• The word yajna also stands for worship, bhakti, prayer. So rAyaru indicates that rAma is the one who protects, nurtures our bhakti. IOW, that is also a grant by HIM
• The usage of the word naH indicates that rAyaru has composed this for the benefit of all. He prays on all our behalf in this stOtra

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shri krishnArpaNamastu