Gītarāmāyaṇam (2011), literally The Rāmāyaṇa in songs, is a Sanskrit epic poem

Epic poetry

An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...

 (Mahākāvya

Mahakavya

Mahākāvya , also known as sargabandha, is a genre of Indian epic poetry in classical Sanskrit literature. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, everything that tests a poet's skill at description...

) of the Gītakāvya (lyrical poetry) genre, composed by Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya

Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya

Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya, born 14 January 1950 as Giridhar Mishra, is a Hindu religious leader, educationist, Sanskrit scholar, polyglot, poet, author, commentator, philosopher, composer, singer, playwright and Katha artist based in Chitrakoot, India. He is one of four...

 (1950–) in the years 2009 and 2010. It consists of 1008 songs in Sanskrit which are divided into seven Kāṇḍas (books), every Kāṇḍa being sub-divided into one or more Sargas (cantos). There are 28 cantos in all, and each canto consists of 36 songs. The songs of the epic are based on rhythms and tunes or Rāga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

s found in the folk music

Indian folk music

Indian folk music is diverse because of India's vast cultural diversity. It has many forms including bhangra, lavani, dandiya and Rajasthani. The arrival of movies and pop music weakened folk music's popularity, but cheaply recordable music has made it easier to find and helped revive the traditions...

 and classical music

Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...

 of India. In the epic, each song in sung by one or more characters of the Rāmāyaṇa

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

 or by the poet. The songs progressively narrate the Rāmāyaṇa via monologues, dialogues and multilogues. There are occasional Sanskrit verses between the songs, which take the narrative forward.

A copy of the epic with a Hindi commentary by the poet was been published by the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakuta

Chitrakuta

Chitrakuta is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India....

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

. The book was released by the Sanskrit poet Abhirāja Rājendra Miśra

Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra

Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra is a Sanskrit author, poet, lyricist, playwright and the a former Vice-Chancellor of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi. He has served as the head of department of Sanskrit in Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla...

 at Chitarkuta on the Makara Saṅkrānti day of January 14, 2011.

Structure

The work begins with four verses in the Maṅgalācaraṇa. The poet invokes the blessings of Rāma

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

 in the first two verses, and Hanumān

Hanuman

Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...

 in the third verse. In the final verse, the work Gītarāmāyaṇam is introduced.

Bālakāṇḍam

Canto I. Stutasītārāmacandraḥ (Sanskrit: स्तुतसीतारामचन्द्रः), literally the canto with Sītā and Rāma eulogized.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1–3,8,9–27,28,29	Rāmabhadrācārya	Praise of Sītā SITA SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...  and Rāma
4	Rāmabhadrācārya	Daśāvatārastutiḥ, praise of the ten Avatāra Avatar In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation".... s of Rāma, similar to the Daśāvatārakīrtidhavalam in Gītagovindam Gita Govinda The Gita Govinda is a work composed by the 12th-century poet, Jayadeva, who was born in Kenduli Sasan near Puri in Orissa. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha...
5–7	Rāmabhadrācārya	Prayers to Rāma
30–36	Rāmabhadrācārya	Praise of Bharata Bharata (Ramayana) In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Bharata was the second brother of the main protagonist Rama, and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha was the Emperor of Ayodhya and belonged to the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty... , Lakṣmaṇa Lakshmana Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana... , Hanumān, Vālmīki Valmiki Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e... , Tulasīdāsa Tulsidas Tulsidas , was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion for the god Rama... , Ayodhyā and Citrakūṭa Chitrakuta Chitrakuta is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India....  respectively

Canto II. Gītarāghavāvirbhāvaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतराघवाविर्भावः), literally the canto with the songs of Rāma's manifestation.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1,4	Rāmabhadrācārya	Praise of Rāmāyaṇa and birth of Hanumān.
2–3	Devatās, Rāma	Devatās request Rāma for an Avatāra, Rāma assures them about his Avatāra in the dynasty of Raghu Raghu The Great Emperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. According to the Raghuvamsha, he was born to king Dilipa and his queen Sudakshina. His name in Sanskrit means the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities. So celebrated were the exploits of Raghu, that his...
5	Agni Agni Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...	Presentation of the Pāyasa by Agni to Daśaratha.
6,10–17,19	Rāmabhadrācārya	The manifestation of Rāma, description of the infant and the festivities in Ayodhyā on the Rāmanavamī day
7–9	Kausalyā Kausalya Kausalya in the Indian Rāmāyaṇa epic was the eldest of King Daśaratha's three wives and a queen of Ayodhyā, she was the daughter of the King of the Kosala Kingdom. She was the mother of Rama, the king of Ayodhya, upon whom the story of the Ramayana is based....	Address to and praise of the infant Rāma.
18	Nāpitī (barber's woman)	The Nāpitī's demands Kasualyās bracelet as remuneration for cutting the nails of the infant Rāma
20	Vadhu	A housewife of Ayodhyā tells her mother-in-law about the auspiciousness of Rāmanavamī
21–23,26–30,35–36	Rāmabhadrācārya	The Rāmanavamī day, the Vardhāpana ceremony (the cutting of the umbilical cord) of Rāma, desciption of the infant
24–25	Sarasvatī	Sarasvatī, disguised as a midwife, performs the Vardhāpana of Rāma and demands Kausalyā's Sari Sari A sari or sareeThe name of the garment in various regional languages include: , , , , , , , , , , , , , is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal,...  as a reward
32–34	Sākhī (a maiden)	The Jātakarman Saṃskāra, Ṣaṣṭhī (sixth day) and Dvādaśī (twelfth day) of the brothers

Canto III. Gītarāghavaśiśukeliḥ (Sanskrit: गीतराघवशिशुकेलिः), literally the canto with the songs of infant Rāma's pastimes.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1,3–8,11	Rāmabhadrācārya	The Nāmakaraṇa Saṃskāra (naming) of the four brothers by Vasiṣṭha, and description of Rāma with Kausalyā
2	Vasiṣṭha	Prayer to Rāma.
9–10,16	Kausalyā, Sumitrā	The mothers wish Rāma to grow up soon.
12–13,23	Sakhī	The Bahirniṣkramaṇa saṃskāra of the four brothers, Rāma in the lap of Daśaratha
14–15, 30	Daśaratha	Monologue by Daśaratha about his great fortune
17–18	Kinnara Kinnara In Buddhist mythology and Hindu mythology, a kinnara is a paradigmatic lover, a celestial musician, half-human and half-horse or half-bird... s, Rāmabhadrācārya	Kajjalī Kajari Kajari , derived from the Hindi word Kajra, or Kohl, is a genre of semi-classical singing, popular in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar . It is often used to describe the longing of a maiden for her lover as the black monsoon cloud come hanging in the summer skies, and the style is notably sung during the...  describing Rāma on a swing
19–20	Kausalyā	Request to her companions to move the swing slowly
21–22,24–26,31	Rāmabhadrācārya	Rāma on the swing, in the courtyard of Daśaratha and in the care of Kausalyā
27–29,32	Kausalyā	Urges Daśaratha to take a look at Rāma sitting in the courtyard, describes Rāma playing in the mud
33–35	Kausalyā	Kausalyā sees Rāma simultaneously at two places during his Annaprāśana Saṃskāra, surrenders to Rāma
36	Rāma	Rāma reveals his form to Kausalyā and asks her not to fear – rather meditate on his form

Canto IV. Gītarāghavabālalīlaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतराघवबाललीलः), literally the canto with the songs of child Rāma's play.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1,3–4	Rāmabhadrācārya	Rāma begins to walk, description of Rāma being given a bath and ornaments by the three mothers
2	Kaikeyī Kaikeyi Kaikeyi , in the Hindu epic Rāmāyaṇa, was the second of King Daśaratha's three wives and a queen of Ayodhyā. She was the mother of Bharata...	Description of the four brothers playing
5	Nārada Narada Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...	Fortune of Daśaratha and the three queens
6–7	Kausalyā, Rāma	Rāma is amused on seeing the moon and asks for it
8–13	Kausalyā, Kaikeyī, Sumitrā Sumitra Sumitra in the Indian Ramayana epic, was the third of King Dasaratha's three wives and a queen of Ayodhyā. She was the mother of twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. She came from the ancient kingdom of Kashi. She was supposed to be the wisest of the wives of Dasaratha. She was the one to first...	The mothers sing lullabies to make Rāma sleep. Kausalyā sings to wake up Rāma in the morning.
14,16–17,20	Rāmabhadrācārya	Arundhatī marks a Tilaka on Rāma's forehead, description of Rāma playing and having a meal.
15,22	Sakhī	Rāma going out to play with his brothers
18	Lakṣmaṇa	Invites Rāma out to play
19,21	Kaikeyī	Requests Rāma not to go far, description of the brothers' play
23,25	Vasiṣṭha	Karṇavedha and Cūḍākaraṇa Saṃskāras of the four brothers
24,28	Rāmabhadrācārya	Description of Rāma after his Karṇavedha, Sarasvatī teaches Rāma the Śiva Sūtras Shiva Sutra The Shiva Sutras or Māheshvara Sutras are fourteen verses that organize the phonemes of the Sanskrit language as referred to in the of , the foundational text of Sanskrit grammar...
26–27	Kausalyā	Runs after Rāma to catch hold of him
29	Rāma	Requests parents for the Yajñopavīta Upanayana Upanayana is the initiation ritual by which initiates are invested with a sacred thread, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge .- Significance of the sacred thread :...
30	Kausalyā	Pleads Daśaratha for the Yajñopavīta of Rāma
31–32	Sarasvatī	The Upanayana Saṃskāra of the four brothers
33	Vasiṣṭha's disciples	Welcome Rāma to the Āśrama of Vasiṣṭha
34–35	Rāmabhadrācārya	Rāma and the brothers learn from Vasiṣṭha, being cared for by Arundhatī
36	Vasiṣṭha	Requests Rāma to return home after completion of his learning

Canto V. Gītasītāvirbhāvaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीताविर्भावः), literally the canto with the songs of Sītā's manifestation.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1–4, 9–11	Rāmabhadrācārya	Praise of Mithilā Mithila Mithila was a city in Ancient India, the capital of the Videha Kingdom. The name Mithila is also commonly used to refer to the Videha Kingdom itself, as well as to the modern-day territories that fall within the ancient boundaries of Videha... , manifestation of Sītā on Sītānavami day, celebrations in Mithilā
5–8	Nārada	Praises Sītā and requests her to assume an infant's form, praise of Janaka Janaka Janaka or Raja Janaka were the kings of Videha Kingdom. Their capital was Mithila, which is believed to be present day Janakpur, Nepal...  and Mithilā
12	Sakhī	Sītā playing in Mithilā
13	Sunayanā	Description of the happiness in Mithilā since Sītā's manifestation
14	Maitreyī Maitreyi Maitreyi was a Vedic philosopher from ancient India. She was the second wife of famous sage and philosopher, Yajnavalkya, the first being Katyaayanee....	Praise of Sunayana's fortune and Sītā
15–16	Rāmabhadrācārya	Sītā's beauty and her care by Sunayanā
17	Sunayanā	Wishes Sītā to grow up soon
18–20	Rāmabhadrācārya	Sītā playing in Mithilā
21–28	Yājñavalkya Yajnavalkya Yajnavalkya of Mithila was a legendary sage of Vedic India, credited with the authorship of the Shatapatha Brahmana , besides Yogayajnavalkya Samhita and the Yājñavalkya Smṛti...	Fortune of Janaka, Nāmakaraṇa of Sītāa, description of her virtues, and revelation that she is the Ādi Śakti Shakti Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
29–30	Sītā	Sītā teaches two pet birds - a myna and a parrot
31	Sītā	Description of a vision of Rāma in her dream to Sunayanā
32	Rāmabhadrācārya	Sītā paints Rāma as she saw in her dream
33–34	Sunayanā	Wishes Rāma to be Sītā's groom, asks Sītā to worship Pārvatī Parvati Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
35	Rāmabhadrācārya	Sītā's beauty
36	Sītā	Prayer to Rāma

Canto VI. Gītayugalakaiśorakaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतयुगलकैशोरकः), literally the canto with the songs of the youthful duo.

Song(s)	Singer	Subject
1–5	Rāmabhadrācārya	Sītā longs to see Rāma in person
6	Sītā	Describes the qualities of her desired groom to Nārada
7	Nārada	Description of Rama’s virtues
8–10	Sītā	Asks Nārada how she can meet Rama, and the concept of Avatāra of the Brahman Brahman In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
11–17	Nārada	Explains the notion of Avatāra of Brahman, Saguṇa Saguna brahman Saguna Brahman came from the Sanskrit "with qualities" and Brahman "The Absolute".-Advaita:...  and Nirguṇa Nirguna Brahman Nirguna Brahman, signifies in Hindu philosophy the Brahman that pervades the Universe, considered without form , as in the Advaita school or else as without material form, as in Dvaita schools of philosophy.-Advaita:According to Adi Shankara, the famous reviver of Advaita...  aspects, and Sītā being Rama’s Bhakti Bhakti In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either... . Prophesizes Rāma’s arrival in Mithilā to break the bow of Śiva Shiva Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
18–19	Sītā	Tells a companion about her desire to see Rāma
20	Sītā	Asks an astrologer, who is Śiva in disguise, about her future
21–28	Sītā	Sītā’s letter to Rama, delivered by Śukadeva Suka The Suka was a unique fiddle that was played vertically, on the knee or hanging from a strap, and the strings were stopped at the side with the fingernails; similar to the Gadulka. The body of the instrument was very similar to the modern violin, but the neck was very wide, and the pegbox was crude...  in the form of a parrot, requesting Rāma to come to Mithilā
29–36	Rāma	Rāma’s reply to Sītā, assuring him of his arrival in Mithilā

Canto VII. Gītasītāsvayaṃvaropakramaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीतास्वयंवरोपक्रमः), literally the canto with the songs of the commencement of Sītā's Svayaṃvara.

Canto VIII. Gītasītānīketakaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीतानिकेतकः), literally the canto with the songs of Sītā's consort.

Canto IX. Gītasītāsvayaṃvaraḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीतास्वयंवरः), literally the canto with the songs of Sītā's Svayaṃvara.

Canto X. Gītasītārāmapariṇayaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीतारामपरिणयः), literally the canto with the songs of the Sītā's marriage with Rāma.

Canto XI. Gītasītārāmapratyudgamotsavaḥ (Sanskrit: गीतसीतारामप्रत्युद्गमोत्सवः), literally the canto with the songs of the festivities at the return of Sītā and Rāma.

Ayodhyākāṇḍam

Canto XII. Śrīsītārāmavanavihāraḥ

Canto XIII. Śrīsītārāmaholīvihāraḥ

Canto XIV. Śrīsītārāmadolotsavaḥ

Canto XV. Gītaṣaḍṛtuvarṇanaḥ

Canto XVI. Gītarāṣṭradaivataḥ

Canto XVII. Gītarāghavavanavāsaḥ

Canto XVIII. Gītapathikābhīṣṭhaḥ

Canto XIX. Gītāyodhyakavirahālambanaḥ

Canto XX. Gītacitrakūṭamaṇḍanaḥ

Sundarakāṇḍam

Canto XXIII. Gītahanumatparākramaḥ

Canto XXIV. Gītaśaraṇāgatavatsalaḥ

Example song

In the following song (1.4.6), the child Rāma asks Kausalyā why the moon appears dark.

Devanāgarī

Devanagari

Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

शशाङ्के कुतः श्यामता जाता ।

पृच्छति जननीमतिकुतूहलाद्बालस्त्रिभुवनत्राता ॥

कृष्णमृगस्तव शरभयाद्विधुं यातो नैतन्मातः ।

कपटमृगं प्रणिहन्मि नापरं तस्य विमोहख्यातः ॥

दशमुखभयाद्भुवो याता या विधुं श्यामता दृष्टा ।

कथं राहुभीतोऽसौ पायान्मही मूढतास्पृष्टा ॥

त्वमथ वीक्ष्य चन्द्रमसं निजदयिताननरूपसमानम् ।

शशिनि गतो श्यामः किल दृष्टः कर्तुं तदधरपानम् ॥

नहि मातः पीये तव स्तनं श्रुत्वा मनुजेन्द्राणी ।

सस्मितमुखी विस्मिता जाता चकिता गिरिधरवाणी ॥




IAST

śaśāṅke kutaḥ śyāmatā jātā ।

pṛcchati jananīmatikutūhalādbālastribhuvanatrātā ॥

kṛṣṇamṛgastava śarabhayādvidhuṃ yāto naitanmātaḥ ।

kapaṭamṛgaṃ praṇihanmi nāparaṃ tasya vimohakhyātaḥ ॥

daśamukhabhayādbhuvo yātā yā vidhuṃ śyāmatā dṛṣṭā ।

kathaṃ rāhubhītoऽsau pāyānmahī mūḍhatāspṛṣṭā ॥

tvamatha vīkṣya candramasaṃ nijadayitānanarūpasamānam ।

śaśini gato śyāmaḥ kila dṛṣṭaḥ kartuṃ tadadharapānam ॥

nahi mātaḥ pīye tava stanaṃ śrutvā manujendrāṇī ।

sasmitamukhī vismitā jātā cakitā giridharavāṇī ॥