The Dancing Shiva

Raghupati Raghava

Raghupati-raghava Raja Ram

Patita-pavana Sita Ram

Sita Ram (jaya), Sita Ram

Sita Ram Jaya Radhe Shyam

Spiritual translation Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram

We worship the Divine, the great Lord of the universe. Oh God, you are the comfort of all the fallen. You manifest yourself as Sita and Rama, as Radha and Shyama (Krishna). Please give us all insight, oh God. Ishwara and Allah are your names - Let us love all people.

“Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram” is a particularly popular kirtan. It also comes in different melodies. There are two main melodies in use in Yoga Vidya. There is the melody that Swami Vishnudevananda liked to sing and also Swami Sivananda and as you also find it in the film with Mahatma Gandhi, that is a song that Mahatma Gandhi liked to sing. And then there is another version that Krishna Das made popular and that many at Yoga Vidya also sing.

Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram has different parts. The first part is the classic one, which is a mixture of Sanskrit and Hindi, it's more Sanskrit, but sometimes "Rama" is shortened to "Ram", which would be such a slightly Hindiized version. But Ram is also the Bija Mantra, which goes to the heart and develops Rama, as joy.

The second part is, you could say, the cross-religious part, where it is said that all religions are ultimately one. First of all, the first part. “Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram.” Ram is the king of the Raghavas, that is, he is the king of an entire tribe. He is Raghupati, he is the lord of the Raghus. He is Sita Ram, he is always connected to Sita. He is Patita Pavana, the one who purifies all the fallen. This means that when we don't know what to do and feel desperate somewhere, Rama helps us, Rama supports us.

The next verse: “Jaya Sita Ram Jaya Sita Ram Sita Ram Jaya Radhe Shyam”, this is a particularly dynamic part that means: “May Sita and Rama triumph.” Jaya means triumph or victory. And then Radhe Shyam is invoked, because Radha and Shyama (Krishna) are also important in Rama, are practically the descendants or are later generation, incarnations of Rama and Sita. Rama and Sita are incarnations of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Vishnu and Lakshmi incarnated later than Krishna and Radha