Nārī Gīta
The Nārī Gīta (“the song of women”) is a hymn of twelve ślokas (verses). Sixteen thousand maidens made it and sang it to Bhagavān Rāma after he freed them. It is found in Chapter 12 of the Rājya Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa. It praises Rāma as the great liberator, the master of all worlds, the husband of Mahālakshmī-Sītā, and the eternal refuge of every jīva (living being) in bondage.
The setting
Chapter 12 of the Rājya Khaṇḍa tells how Bhagavān Rāma set free sixteen thousand kanyās (maidens) from a long bondage of a supernatural kind. They were released through the grace of Rāma’s darśana (sight) and his power.
Full of joy and thanks, the women made the Nārī Gīta together as their offering of devotion to Bhagavān Rāma. They sang it before Rāma himself, with Sītā present. It was received with joy.
The hymn
The Nārī Gīta has twelve ślokas addressed to Rāma. Its themes are these.
Liberation, the highest act
The hymn begins with the women’s life in bondage and the moment of Rāma’s freeing grace. He lifted those who were suffering and asked nothing in return. In the same way he is the eternal refuge of all jīvas caught in the bondage of saṃsāra (the round of birth and death).
Rāma as Parameśvara
The hymn declares that Rāma is Bhagavān Vishṇu in human form. He is the same Bhagavān Vishṇu who made the universe and holds it up, and who now appears in the world to set it free.
Praise of Sītā
The hymn praises Sītā as Mahālakshmī. It says that Rāma’s grace flows through Sītā’s asking. The women praise the divine pair together.
The joy of freedom
The chief feeling of the hymn is joy, the joy of women freed from a long bondage who now see the light of the divine presence. Several ślokas tell of the change from darkness to light and from confinement to freedom.
A prayer to stay devoted
The last ślokas are a prayer. The women ask that the grace which freed them may stay with them for ever. They ask that the bond with Rāma that began with this freeing may last through all their future births.
The phalaśruti
Those who recite the Nārī Gīta with devotion are freed from every kind of bondage, both worldly and spiritual. They receive the direct grace of Bhagavān Rāma and Sītā.
Sources
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Rājya Khaṇḍa, Chapter 12