Whose bow was the jewelled mountain, whose home is the peak of the silver mountain; who made the lord of serpents his bowstring and Viṣṇu his arrow; who burnt the three cities in an instant, and is praised by the dwellers of heaven — in him, the Moon-Crested, I take refuge. What can Death do to me?
Tradition gives this hymn to the boy Mārkaṇḍeya, clinging to the liṅga as Death came for him. Its refrain — “what can Yama do to me?” — closes every verse. The first verse is the whole story of Tripura in three lines.
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Original text
रत्नसानुशरासनं रजताद्रिशृङ्गनिकेतनं
शिञ्जिनीकृतपन्नगेश्वरमच्युताननसायकम् ।
क्षिप्रदग्धपुरत्रयं त्रिदिवालयैरभिवन्दितं
चन्द्रशेखरमाश्रये मम किं करिष्यति वै यमः ॥
ratna-sānu-śarāsanaṃ rajatādri-śṛṅga-niketanaṃ
śiñjinī-kṛta-pannageśvaram acyutānana-sāyakam |
kṣipra-dagdha-pura-trayaṃ tridivālayair abhivanditaṃ
candraśekharam āśraye mama kiṃ kariṣyati vai yamaḥ ||
Translation
Whose bow was the jewelled mountain, whose home is the peak of the silver mountain; who made the lord of serpents his bowstring and Viṣṇu his arrow; who burnt the three cities in an instant, and is praised by the dwellers of heaven — in him, the Moon-Crested, I take refuge. What can Death do to me?
Translation by: Om Namah Shivay
This passage is in our collection; editorial review is still pending.
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