Dasavatara Stotra
(Prayer about ten incarnations)
Composed by
Vedanta Desika
Translated by
P.R.Ramachander
(Vedanta Desika is possibly one of the greatest poets of Srivaishnavism and lived between 1269 and 1370. He was born in Thoopul, near Kanchipuram. He was named as Venkata Natha and was trained in the philosophy of Saint Ramanuja. This great prayer extols the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu)
Devona shubhamathanothu dasadha nirvarthyan bhoomikam,
Range dhaamani labda nirbhara rasaii adhyakshitho bhavukai,
Yad bhaveshu prauthak videshva anugunaan bhavaan swayam bibrathee,
Yad dharmair iha dharmini viharathey nana krithir nayika. 1.
Let the God , who has acted in ten different roles,
In the great Stage of this world* and made happiness reach his devotees,
And the Goddess who acted in appropriate roles along with him,
Playing the proper Dharma suitable to his Dharma, Grant us all that is good.
* Some commentators prefer “In the great Sri Rangam”
Nirmagna sruthi jala margana dasa datha kshanair veekshanai,
Anthasthanvadhivaravinda gahananyouthanwathi namapam,
Nish prathyooha ranga ringana midha prathyooda pada schata,
Dolaroha sadohalam bhagavatho, maathsyam padu na. 2
Let us be protected by the fish form of our God , which appeared for,
Searching for the Vedas, with tense examining looks
And Created a mirage of the lotus forest in the great waters of the sea,
And appeared to climb on the swing created by the dashing of waves with waves.
Avayasur bhuvana thrayee manibrutham kanduyanai rathrina,
Nidranasya parasya Koorma vapusho nishvasavathormaya,
Yad vikshepana samskrudho dadhi paya prengola paryangika,
Nithyarohana nirvrutho viharathe deva sahaiva sriya. 3
Let all the three worlds be protected by the Lord who took the form of tortoise,
Who when, the great mountain was churned on his back, felt as if it soothed his itching,
And by whose wave like motion the salt waters of the sea rose up and shook
The cot of the Lord, who was ever wakeful and made him play with Goddess Lakshmi
Gopayedanisam jaganthi kuhanapothri pavithri krutha,
Brahmanda pralayormi gosha gurubhirgonaravavair gurgurai,
Yad damshtrangura koti ghada ghatana nishkamba nithya sthithi,
Brahma sthambhamasodasou bhagavathi mustheva viswambhara. 4
Let the world be always protected by the lord who took the form of a boar,
Who cleaned all the universe by the sound of “Kur”, Kur” made by his nose,
Who resembled the giant waves at the time of the final deluge,
And by holding tightly to his protruding teeth , the great earth goddess,
Could stand stable like a giant tuber and created everything from Brahma to the grass.
Prathyadishta purathana praharana grama kshanam panijai,
AAvyath threeni jaganthya kunta mahima vaikunta kanteerava,
Yad pradur bhuvana davanthya jatarayadruchikkath vedasam,
Ya kachith sahasa maha sura grahsdhoonapithamayabotth. 5
Let all the three worlds be protected by the great lord of Vaikunta,
Who had great collection of natural weapons like the claw,
Who had strength which never went waste and whose accidental.
Incarnation made one pillar of the home of the big Asura,
Became the paternal grandma to Brahma and other devas.
Vreeda vidha vadanya dhanava yaso naseera ghatee bhata,
Triyaksham makutam punannavathu nasthrai vikramo vikrama,
Yad prasthava samuchritha dwaja patee vruthantha sidhanthibhee,
Sthrothomi sura sindhurashtrasu disa soudeshu dodhooyathe. 6
May we, be protected by the giant feet of the Lord who was Trivikrama,
Which made the great Asura feel shy and ashamed and made his fame,
Flutter like the flag which is hoisted above his palace
And which was offered purifying bath by Brahma ,
Which fell on the matted hair of Lord Shiva,
And from there spread from the very beginning in eight directions.
Krodhagnim jamadagni peedanabhavam santharpayishyan kramath,
Aakshthramiha santhi thaksha ya imam tri saptha kruthwa kshitheem,
Dathwa karmaani dakshinaam kkachana thamaskandhya sindhum vasan,
Aabrahmnaya mapakarothu Bhagawan brahmakeetam muni. 7
Let that God , who to douse the flame of anger due to slaying of his father Jamadagni,
Uprooted the world of the royal clans, by directly cutting them off, twenty one times
And who gave this earth as Dakshina during a fire sacrifice,
And made the land recovered from sea his own and started living there,
Remove all ills among all beings from a lowly worm to Lord Brahma.
Paravara payo visoshana kala paareena kalaanala,
Jwala jala vihara hari vishika vyapara ghora karma,
Sarvastha sakruth prapanna janatha samrakshanaika vrathee,
Dharmo vigrahavaan aadharma viratheem dhanvee cha thanveetha na. 8
Let that personification of Dharma , who is the great archer,
Who had control over arrows which burnt like the fire at deluge,
And was an expert in the art drying up the waters of the sea,
And Whose main resolution was to protect any one who surrenders to him,
Help us drive away the sinful acts from our mind.
Pakkath kourava pattana prabruthaya prastha pralambhadaya,
Thaalangasya thada vidha vihruthya yasthanvanthu bhadrani na,
Ksheeram sakaryeva yabhirabrudak bhootha prabhoothair gunai,
Aakoumaraka maswadantha jagathe krushnasya thaa kelaya. 9
Let the various playful actions of Lord Balarama, who upturned ,
The kingdom of Kauravas, who killed Asuras like Pralamba,
And whose playful actions mixed with the playful actions of Krishna,
Like the sugar getting mixed up with milk and made them more tasty,
Bless us with results that are always good.
Nadhamaiva nama padam bhavathu naaschithrai scharitha kramai,
Bhooyobhirbhuvananyamooni kuhana gopaaya gopaayathe,
Kalindee rasikaya kaliya phanisphara sphatavatika,
Rango th sanga visanga sangrama duraa parayaya charyo yathe. 10
Let our phrase “I salute” belong only to that Lord,
Who protects this world by his surprising actions,
Who found the waters of Yamuna tasty,
And who fearlessly danced in the centre of the wide hood of the snake Kaliya,
As if it is a stage and who is but a cowherd boy doing these great actions.
Bhaavinya dasaya bhavanniha bhava dwamsaya na kalpathaam,
Kalki vishnuyasa sutha kali kadha kalooshyakolankasha,
Nissesha kshatha kantake kshithi thale dharaa jalou ghair druvam,
Dharma kaarthu yugam prarohayathi yannisthramsa dharadhara. 11
Let that God Kalki , who is going to be born to Vishnu Yasa,
Who is going to fully cure all the problems caused by Kali age,
Who is going to be in this world adjusting to the future,
And whose cloud like sword will cut off all the thorns of the earth,
And definitely going to help Dharma germinate in the Krutha yuga,
Help us to cut off our bondage to the problems of daily life.
Iccha meena vihara kachapa maha pothreen yadrucha hare,
Raksha vamana rosha rama karuna kakustha hela haleen,
Kreeda vallava kalka vahana dasakalkeen ithi prathyaham,
Jalpantha purusha punanthi bhuvanam punyougapanyapana. 12
Those men who are like the shop that only sells holy acts,
And who with pure mind meditate on the Lord calling him,
“He who was born as a fish due to his own wish,
Who was born as a tortoise just to play,
Who assumed the form of a big boar,
Who without thought came as Narasimha,
Who was Vamana who was born to protect,
Who was the very angry Parasurama,
Who was the merciful Rama,
Who was Balarama who played with his plough,
Who was the playful cowherd Krishna,
And who is going to be the Kalki riding on a white horse,”
Would surely make this world greatly pure.
Vidhye dhanvathi venkateswara kavou jatham jagan Mangalam,
Devesasya dasavathara vishayam stotram vivakshetha ya,
Vakthre thasya Saraswathi bahu mukhi bhakthi paraa maanase,
Shudhi kaa aapi thanou dhisaasu dasasu khyathi shubha jrumbhave. 13
In the mouth of him , who wishes to chant this prayer,
Which was composed Poet Venkatesa ,who is the ocean of knowledge,
Which is intended to do good to the world,
Which is about the ten incarnations of the Lord of Sri Rangam,
The goddess Saraswathi would stay in different forms,
And in his mind great devotion would grow
His Body will become greatly pure,
And his fame would spread in all ten directions.