Sudhalahari (Sudhālaharī)

The *Wave of Nectar* composed by the illustrious Paṇḍitarāja Jagannātha.

Delight to the drunk bees in clusters of blooming lotuses, deliverance to female cakravāka birds whose hearts are distraught in the forest fire of grief, / a portentous calamity to creatures of darkness, an ally to eyes whose luster was impaired—some indescribable mass of radiance has appeared from the edge of the Dawn Mountain.

Quickly dissolving the pride of lunar beams that whitened the quarters and were eager to torment lotuses, blazing with an intense burst of crimson, / dedicated from afar to illuminating the earth's surface blinded by darkness, skilled in destroying misery—may those overflowing morning rays of the sun grant joy!

Protecting hundreds of thousands of afflicted people, constantly maintaining the defense of countless gods, wishing-trees to devotees, resembling the luster of gold placed in blazing fire, / committed to the world's welfare, bestowing auspicious red lacquer upon gatherings of lotuses, capable of destroying wicked conduct—may the sun's rays be enemies to my sins!

Fierce to frosts, devouring the net of darkness covering the earth's circle, protecting the guardians of heaven, putting young coral to shame with their expanding redness, / massed with webs of fame arising from dispelling the fever of separated cakravāka mates, expansive in filling the sky—may the Sun's garlands of rays bestow auspiciousness upon you!

When they reach the earth having pierced the extremely dense center of trees, people position their feet thinking them to be very long golden staffs; / and when a moving drop of dew on the tip of a petal is struck by them, young parrots move their beaks restlessly mistaking it for a pomegranate seed—may those rays of the Sun protect you!

Quickly opening at dawn the doors of the glittering mansions of lotus flowers, suited for day-time sport, and then sealing the vacated abodes of night-lotuses, / and sprinkling the entire surface of the earth with pounded saffron water—may the hands of the friend of the lotus, clever in performing the worship of Lakṣmī, protect us!

Like coatings of vermilion on the white crowns of kings' palaces, playfully displaying the charm of fresh, unfolding sprouts at the tips of trees, / appearing like a burden of khadira coals piled up over a thick heap of frost—may the rays of the day-maker approaching from the ocean nearby grant us auspiciousness!

This entire expanse of the universe is sprinkled with streams of saffron water, and intoxicated bees have been freed from the prisons inside blooming lotuses; / a thousand rays are released, and a great clamor of birds and priests is heard; by the merits of the gods, the quarter of Indra gives birth to a jewel of a son.

Which daily at dawn brings forth the play of consciousness in all living beings, and retreating at evening quickly consumes its dwelling within the ocean's depths, / greatly enhancing the abundant splendor of the collection of jewels on Mount Meru—may that light of the Sun never depart far from the path of our eyes!

Seeing from afar the destruction of night-lotuses by snow, of eyes by dense heaps of darkness, and of Vedic and traditional rites by the night, / having arrived with great speed from the ocean to Indra's quarter—may the radiance of the fierce-rayed Sun utterly tear away all our snares of desire!

Spreading sorrow in the cold, extremely diminished splendor in the moon, swift destruction in the night, disdain in the masses of darkness, and the rise of wretchedness in night-lotuses, / while daily imparting skill in white lotuses and greater beauty in all directions—the Sun, adored by the universe, traverses the sky at dawn out of compassion.

Instantly removing sleep from the sleepy, sickness from the sick, darkness from the three worlds, and sin from those tainted by sin, he has arrived in the quarter of Indra; / busy in sporting with the lotus pond angered by his daily journey, having the duty of protecting the world's distress—may this jewel of the sky continuously protect your well-being!

Reflected all around at rising within the water of rivers, they make the earth appear studded with clusters of gems arising from the mountain of the gods; / turning the drops of water tossed up into the sky by brahmins in their twilight offerings into a mass of rubies—may the Sun's rays uproot my dullness!

When he assumes the play of a parasol of jewels above the crest of the setting mountain, young brides, bold women, and women whose beloved lords are away / cast their eyes with fear, with joy, and with ripened longing—may that Lord, lover of the lotus pond, bring steadfastness to your loved ones!

Quickly scattering the immense darknesses gathered between heaven and earth during the night, he makes the morning conquer with red as if with their blood; / he to whom brahmins offer their hand-hollows of twilight water at evening and dawn—let this obeisance of mine be to that extraordinary deity, the supreme sun.

The protection of the dwellers in heaven, the crossing for those whose bodies are faint in the flood of waters, incomprehensible to the end of rivers, the fourth beyond the three because it comprises the three qualities— / destroying the dense heap of youthful darkness, skillful in turning the three worlds coppery red, may such splendor of the sharp-rayed Sun protect you!

Praised by leaders of gods in the vault of heaven with words of udgītha song, and sung by gandharvas with thousands of verses exuding a fragrance of virtues, / repeatedly entering the homes of the helpless sick and wiping out the pain of illness—may the play of rays of the master of light, weighty in planetary brilliance, swallow your multitude of languors!

The elixir of life for pains born of an excess of coldness, resembling molten gold, swift among runners, expanding over the world from the belly of the sea, / imparting life to living beings, source of light for Jupiter, the moon, and other bodies—may the intensely blazing radiance of the benefactor of lotuses lead to your victory!

Going out in the morning with the cows, wandering about by day in the realm of grazing, and at evening hurrying to return to their abode along with them; / whose divine power is the sole wildfire burning the forest of sins of the three worlds—may those rays of the Lord of Day, of auspicious form, grant you welfare!

Bowed down to at night's end by hosts of gods, demons, and rakṣasas,
by the foremost of gandharvas, eminent serpents, kiṃnaras, and men;
bestowing pleasing wisdom without cease upon his devotees, illuminating the sky with splendors:
may this orb of the rising Sun emerging from the dawn mountain consume primordial ignorance.

Whose playful sport the ancients skilled in the Purāṇas and scriptures proclaimed
to be the wheel of time, comprised of moments, seconds, and hours, extending up to the lifespan of the lotus-seated Brahmā;
and who ceaselessly engenders through his motions the six states of being:
that fierce-rayed Sun gleams at dawn in Indra's realm of the eastern quarter.

Perceiving at dawn the limbs of the brāhmaṇas brittle from the clinging weight of frost,
swiftly swooping down upon Indra's quarter as if reddened with fury toward a foe;
consuming the whole brood of those intent on destroying dharma, beautifying the earth:
may the rays of the fierce-rayed Sun, shatterers of sin, swiftly take away my consumption.

Desiring to bring rest to brāhmaṇas, intense pleasure to lovers, lasting sport
and awakening to lotuses, and compassionately inclined toward the clusters of night-lotuses,
he enters the depths of the ocean, having placed all the burdens of men upon the fire:
may that lord of days swiftly grant you abundant auspiciousness.

Having quickly destroyed at dawn the moonlight belonging to the snow-covered night, out of curiosity,
with surging and profound compassion, they indeed bring them back to life at dusk;
acting as teachers in redness to the tender sprouts and rows of velvet mites:
may those rays of the Sun, deeply revered, eradicate the exhaustion of your mind.

Instantly spreading everywhere throughout the three worlds the non-duality of saffron glows,
overcoming the sluggish stamp of the torments of the night on the wives of the cakravākas,
and lifting with very outstretched fingertips those blinded by the ocean of torpid darkness:
may the orb of the Sun, kissing the summit of the dawn mountain, dispel the inner darkness.

Pure Brahman is its basin; diversified by nature is its root; his rays are
its long branches of gold; the blossoming redness is the play of tender sprouts;
the blue sky is the swarm of bees; the four goals of life—dharma, pleasure, wealth, and liberation—are its harvest of luscious fruit:
may that splendid wish-fulfilling tree of the Sun continually grant you your desired object.

Those which at dawn continuously banish mist from the rivers,
sleep from all eyes and from the water-lilies, and flocks of birds from their nests,
and at evening, out of compassion, grant them dwelling once again within those very places:
may those rays of intense warmth, girded for action, destroy your weariness.

Having swiftly dispelled the masses of outward darkness, then, desiring to remove the inner [darkness],
those rays that enter daily without fear into the interior of homes through the lattice openings;
delighting the senses of all embodied beings, having beneficial aims, destroying the grandeur of cold,
charming as gold—may those rays of the Sun destroy our heartache.

Adorning the universe, encircling in the sky with flocks of birds,
punishing the heretics among the brood of demons, adorning the quarter of Indra,
possessing extraordinary skill to split apart the lotus buds:
may those gentle rays of the fierce-rayed Sun swiftly destroy paleness here.

Whose supreme name, 'He who stands above the multitude of sins,' the Vedas proclaimed,
while some indeed brought the lotus into companionship with his eyes for an abode;
whose lips are the Ṛg and the Sāma, and whose beard, hair, and entire body resemble melted gold:
may that lord of days, the inner Self of all, bestow upon you supreme auspiciousness.

Thus ends the Sudhālaharī composed by the illustrious Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja.