Damodarastakam

There has been a proliferation of English versions of Damodarastakam over the past couple of weeks - a veritable plethora of versions have popped out of the woodwork.

I'm personally going with Krishna Dharma prabhu's version at the moment. As I promised earlier, here is a recording of it, made at a recent Sunday Feast.

It's 24 minutes long. If you just listen to the music then it will be boring. If you get into the subject matter it's a different experience.

We didn't try anything dynamic when we played it. Since we were recording it as a reference version I didn't want to take any risks.

At home daily we are singing it straight through, no call-and-response, and this cuts it down to 12 - 15 minutes.

• Download Krishna Dharma's Damodarastakam (English rendition) 11MB, 24 minutes, .mp3

There's Krishna Dharma prabhu to the left (click on him to go to his site), and here are the lyrics to the song:

(1)
namamisvaram sac-cid-ananda-rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya

I bow down to Damodara, the form of full joy,
eternity and wisdom, within Vrindavan.
Whose shining earrings swung as he so swiftly ran
from mother Yashoda who caught that naughty boy.

(2)
rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha-
sthita-graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham

Captured by Yashoda, crying repeatedly,
he rubs his reddish eyes with his trembling hands.
On his conchlike neck his necklace shakes as he pants.
I bow down to Damodara, bound but by bhakti

(3)
itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

Thus bathing Gokula in a great lake of bliss;
he shows love defeats him, devoid of reverence.
Conquered only by those in complete confidence,
I offer him unlimited loving praises.

(4)
varam deva moksam na moksavadhim va
na canyam vrne ‘ham varesad apiha
idam te vapur natha gopala-balam
sada me manasy avirastam kim anyaih

I beg not from you Lord, who can grant any boon,
even liberation or life in your abode.
Let memories of Gopala be ever bestowed,
for what other favour offers such great fortune?

(5)
idam te mukhambhojam atyanta-nilair
vrtam kuntalaih snigdha-raktais ca gopya
muhus cumbitam bimba-raktadharam me
manasy avirastam alam laksa-labhaih

Your dark, crimson hued curls encircle your face,
lovely like a lotus, with lips of ruby red;
kissed by Yashoda; within my mind be seated.
A billion other boons could not grant such grace

(6)
namo deva damodarananta visno
prasida prabho duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam
krpa-drsti-vrstyati-dinam batanu
grhanesa mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah

O Damodara, Ananta, O almighty Vishnu,
I fall down prostrate, pray be pleased upon me.
Blinded and sinking in a sea of misery,
grace me with your glance that I shall ever see you.

(7)
kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat
tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau krtau ca
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayaccha
na mokse graho me ’sti damodareha

Dear Damodara, the sons of Kuvera you saved,
while a baby, by breaking the trees they became.
As you granted them prema, pray grant me the same,
I want not salvation, your love alone I crave.

(8)
namas te ’stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai
namo ‘nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam

I bow down to the bright rope that binds your belly,
within which the cosmos is completely contained.
To your beloved Radha I bow yet again,
and to you the hero who plays wonderfully.

Sita-pati and Prahlad demonstrate how to play cartals for the 3/4 version of Damodarastakam.

The count for 3/4 is "1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3".

The cartals are sounded on beat 1 and 3, so it's: "1-2-3-1-2-3"

The main thing with guitar really is getting the time signature - 3/4 feels different from 4/4, which is the time signature for a lot of popular music.

The simple chord structure is just alternating between:

Dminor Cmajor

For the complex version the chord structure is the following (potential chord substitutions are in brackets - in other words, you can play the bracketed chord in place of the plain vanilla chord):

Dminor (Dm7) Cmajor (Csus9) Gmajor
Dmin Cmaj Gmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj (D#sus9)
Dmin Cmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj

In the key of E, when we change up:

Emin (Em7) Dmaj (Dsus9) Amaj
Emin Dmaj Amaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj
Emin Dmaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj

This is the more complex version of the Damodarastakam, using passing chords to bring out different emotions.

The chord structure is:

Dminor Cmajor Gmajor
Dmin Cmaj Gmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj
Dmin Cmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj

In the key of E, when we change up:

Emin Dmaj Amaj
Emin Dmaj Amaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj
Emin Dmaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj

Here is the simple version of the Damodarastakam in 3/4 time for harmonium. We use only two chords - D minor and C major (E minor and D major when we change up).

D is a good key to use for both male and female voices. When I'm in the street I'll use F, but when we're indoors around D (C# - E) is the best range to use.

Just so you don't end up as a bedroom kirtan acarya (that's one of those guys who sound great until they try to play with other people), here is the mrdanga beat along with the cartals and some singing to help you know when to start and how to fit the mrdanga beat to the song.

Here is the mrdanga beat for Damodarastaka 3/4.

Here is the mantra:

e tete tete ta e ki ki te dha dha e dha dha te dha dha e dha dha te dha dha

It can be broken into these four parts, each of which goes across one "1-2-3" count:

e tete tete ta
e ki ki te dha dha
e dha dha te dha dha
e dha dha te dha dha

Here are the word for word synonyms:

e - space (you say this to mark a beat, but do not play anything)
te - small end, closed sound
ta - small end, open sound
ki - big end, closed sound / small end, open sound
dha - big end, open sound / small end, open sound