Doha 19
बंदउँ नाम राम रघुबर को। हेतु कृसानु भानु हिमकर को॥ बिधि हरि हरमय बेद प्रान सो। अगुन अनूपम गुन निधान सो॥१॥
महामंत्र जोइ जपत महेसू। कासीं मुकुति हेतु उपदेसू॥ महिमा जासु जान गनराऊ। प्रथम पूजिअत नाम प्रभाऊ॥२॥
जान आदिकबि नाम प्रतापू। भयउ सुद्ध करि उलटा जापू॥ सहस नाम सम सुनि सिव बानी। जपि जेईं पिय संग भवानी॥ ३॥
हरषे हेतु हेरि हर ही को। किय भूषन तिय भूषन ती को॥ नाम प्रभाउ जान सिव नीको। कालकूट फलु दीन्ह अमी को॥४॥
Meaning
I greet the name ‘Rāma’ of Śrī Raghunātha,* which is composed of seed-letters† representing the fire-god, the sun-god and the moon-god (viz., Ra, A and Ma respectively). It is the same as Brahmā (the creative aspect of God), Viṣṇu (His preservative aspect) and Śiva (His disintegrating aspect), and the vital breath of the Vedas; It is beyond the Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas), peerless and a mine of virtues. (1) * This distinguishes the Name from the two other names bearing the same sound but denoting two other personalities, viz., Paraśurāma and Balarāma (the elder brother of Śrī Kṛṣṇa). † Each letter-sound of the Saṁskṛta Alphabet represents one or more gods of the Hindu pantheon and the Tantras claim that these letters (which are technically known by the name of Bīja-Mantras or seed-letters), if joined with other spells sacred to that particular deity and repeated with due ceremony a fixed number of times possess the efficacy of revealing the deity in person before the worshipper and propitiating him or her. It is the great spell which Lord Maheśvara mutters and which, when imparted by Him at Kāśī (the modern Vārāṇasī) leads to salvation.* Its significance is known to Lord Gaṇeśa, who is worshipped before all others due to the glory of the Name ‘Rāma’.† (2) * The scriptures maintain that Lord Śiva, the deity presiding over the holy city of Kāśī, whispers into the right ear of every creature, dying within its boundaries, the name ‘Rāma’ and thereby brings emancipation to the dying soul. † We read in the Purāṇas how there was a scramble for precedence among the gods, each of whom claimed the first position for himself. They approached Brahmā for a ruling. He told them that they should race round the world and that whoever finished the round quickest of all would be accounted the highest. Gaṇeśa, who rode on no better animal than a rat, naturally lagged behind. He met on the way the celestial sage Nārada, who advised him to scratch the word ‘Rāma’ on the ground and pace round It, as the word comprised in Itself the entire creation. Gaṇeśa did accordingly and was naturally the first to finish the round of the universe. Brahmā appreciated this act of Gaṇeśa and conceded his title to precedence over all the other gods. Since then Gaṇeśa has uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being worshipped first of all. The primeval poet Vālmīki is acquainted with the glory of the Name, inasmuch as he attained purity by repeating It in the reverse order‡. Hearing the verdict of Lord Śiva that the name ‘Rāma’ is as good as a thousand other names of God, Goddess Pārvatī repeats the Name# continually alongwith Her consort. (3) ‡ Vālmīki was a highway robber in his earlier life and was known by the name of Ratnākara. Seven seers, who once fell a victim to his depredation, awakened him to the reprehensible nature of his conduct and instructed him in the holy name of Rāma. Completely immersed in sin, he was, however, unable to utter the word. The seers, therefore, asked him to repeat the name in the reverse order. In this way he was eventually able to utter the name correctly and in course of time became so fond of repeating It that he ultimately turned out to be a pious sage and seer and related the story of Śrī Rāma in fine verse even before His advent. # We are told in the Padmapurāṇa how Bhagavān Śaṅkara once invited His consort to join Him at His dinner. Goddess Pārvatī, however, declined on the ground that She had not yet recited the Viṣṇu-Sahasranāma, which She must before Her breakfast. Bhagavān Śaṅkara asked Her to repeat the name of Rāma instead, as a single utterance of the Name was as good as reciting a thousand other names of the Lord. Pārvatī did accordingly and forthwith joined Her lord at the dinner. Noticing such devotion of Her heart for the Name, Lord Śiva made Pārvatī, who was the ornament of feminity, the ornament of His own person (i.e., made Her a part of His own being by assigning to Her the left half of His body). Śiva knows full well the power of the Name, due to which deadly poison became as nectar to Him. (4)
बरषा रितु रघुपति भगति तुलसी सालि सुदास। राम नाम बर बरन जुग सावन भादव मास॥१९॥
Meaning
Devotion to Śrī Raghunātha is, as it were, the rainy season and the noble devotees, says Tulasīdāsa, represent the paddy crop; while the two charming syllables of the name ‘Rāma’ stand for the two months of Śrāvaṇa and Bhādrapada (corresponding roughly to July and August). (19)
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