Radha Kavacham
Translated by P.R.Ramachander
Radha is one of cowherd maidens who lived in Vrindavan. She is the daughter of Vrisha Bhanu and Kamalavathi. She is the most important of the 18,000 gopies due to her unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna[1][2]. Radha is the expansion of the energy of Sri Krishna and is thus considered to be the supreme Goddess (akin to Shakti in the Shaivite tradition).
This armour can be found in the "Narada Pancha Rathra" in the chapter entitled “Jnanamrutha Sara”[3]. This armour is taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvathi at her request.
Parvati uvacha[edit]
Kailasa Vasin, Bhagwan, Bhaktha anugraha karaka, Radhika kavacham punyam kadhyaswa mama prabho., 1
Yadyasthi Karuna Nadha, thrahi maam dukhatho Bhayath, Thwameva saranam Nadha, Soola pane, Pinaka Druk., 2
Oh god who lives in Kailasa, Oh God who blesses his devotees,
Oh Lord, Be pleased to tell me the holy armour of Radha.
If you have pity on me, please save me from sorrow,
As you are my only saviour, Oh holder of spear, Oh Holder of Pinaka
Shiva uvacha[edit]
Srunushwa Girija, thubhyam kavacham poorva soochitham, Sarva rakshakaram punyam sarva hathyaharam param., 3
Please hear daughter of the mountain, the armour indicated by me,
Which is holy, protects everything and wipes away all sins.
Hari Bhakthi pradham sakshad, bhukthi mukthi prasadanam, Tri lokya akarshanam devi hari sannidhya karakam., 4
It gives you devotion to Vishnu, pleasures in life and salvation,
It attracts all the three worlds to you, Oh Goddess,
And makes possible the real presence of Lord Hari.
Sarvathra jayadham devisarva shathu bhayapaham, Sarveshanam chaiva bhoothaanaam mano vruthi haram param., 5
It always leads to victory, Oh Goddess,
It makes all your enemies afraid of you,
And it steals the mind of all beings.
Chathurdha mukthi janakam sadananda karam param, Raja soya aswa medhanam yagnanaam phala dhayakam., 6
It gives four types of salvation,
It provides you happiness for all the time,
And it gives you the same effect,
As performing Raja Sooya and Aswa medha*.
Idham kavacham ajnathwa radha manthranchayo japeth, Sa napnothi phalam thasya vignasthasya pade pade., 7
Without reading this armour, if one tries to say the chant of Radha,
He would not get desired result and obstructions would come again and again.
Rishirasya maha devo ranushtup chandascha keerthitham, Radhasya devatha proktha ram bheejam keelakam smrutham, Dharma Artha Kama moksheshu viniyoga prakeerthitha., 8
The saint for this is Lord Shiva, Meter is “Anushtup”
God is “Radha, seed and nail is “Ram”
And it is read for getting Dharma, wealth, love and salvation.
Radha Kavacham[edit]
Sri Radha may sira pathu, lalatam radhika thadha., 9
Srimathi nethra yugalam, karnou gopendra nandhini. Hari Priya nasikam cha broo yugmam sasi shobhanam., 10
Let Radha protect my head,
Let my forehead be protected by Radhika,
Let my twin eyes be protected by Srimati[4],
Let my ears be protected by daughter of chief of the gopas.
Let the darling of Hari protect my nose,
Let she who shines like moon protect my two eye brows,
Oshtam pathu krupa devi, Adhram gopika thadha. Vrusha bhanu sutha danthaam schibhukam Gopa nandini., 11
Let the goddess of mercy protect my upper lip,
Let my lower lip be protected by Gopika.
Let the daughter of Vrisha Bhanu protect my teeth,
Let my chin be protected by the cowherd damsel
Chandrawali pathu gandham, jihwam Krishna Priya thadha, Kandam pathu hari Priya, hrudayam vijaya thadha., 12
Let she who is like a moon like creeper protect my cheeks,
Let the darling of Krishna protect my toungue,
Let my neck be protected by darling of Hari,
Let my chest be protected by Vijaya.
Bahu dhwou chandra vadana, udaram subala swasa, Kodi yoganwitha pathu padhou sobhadrika thadha., 13
Let the lady with moon like face protect my arms,
Let my stomach be protected by sister of Subhala,
Let soubhadrika protect my feet with billions of Yoga.
Jange chandra mukhi pathu gulphou gopala vallabha, Nakhan vidhu mukhi devi, gopi pada talam thadha., 14
Let my calves by protected by moon faced one,
Let my ankles be protected by the wife of the cowherd,
Let my nails be protected by the moon faced lady.
Let the gopa maiden protect my feet.
Shubha pradha pathu prushtam, kukshou sri kantha vallabha, Janu desam jaya pathu, harini pathu sarvatha., 15
Let the doer of good protect my back side,
Let my joints be protected by consort of Krishna,
Let my knees be protected by Jaya,
And let all my parts of the body be protected,
By the lady with deer like eyes.
Vakhyam vani sada pathu, dhanagaram dhaneswari, Poorvaam disaam krushnaratha, krushna prana cha paschimam., 16
Let Goddess Saraswathi protect my sentences,
Let my wealth chest be protected by goddess of wealth.
Let my eat side ne protected by she who pleases Krishna,
Let my west side be protected by the soul of Lord Krishna.
Utharam haritha pathu, dakshinam vrushabhanuja, Chandra vali naisameva, dhiva kshweditha mekhala., 17
Let the lady in green protect my northern side,
Let the sister of Vrushabha protect the southern side,
Let the moon like lady[5] protect me at night,
Let she whose anklets make Sound protect me at day time.
Soubhagyadha Madhya dhine, sayahna Kama roopini, Roudhri pratha pathu maam hi gopinee rajani kshaye., 18
Let she who grants luck protect me during middle of the day,
Let she who is personification of love protect me in the evening,
Let the angry one protect me at just before morning,
Let the lady of the gopas protect me at dawn.
Hethudha sangava pathu, Kethu mala abhi vardhake, Sesha prahnaa samaye, samitha sarva sandhishu., 19
Let she who is reason for everything protect me for the next three hours,
Let she who holds the flag protect me for the next three hours,
Let she who always remains protect me from that time to evening,
Let she who satisfies protect me at all dusks
Yogini bhoga samaya, rathou rathi pradha sadha, Kamesi kouthuke nithyam, yoge rathnavali mama., 20
Let the Yogini protect me when we are making love,
Let the lover of love protect me when I am in love,
Let the goddess of love protect me when I am curious,
Let the gem studded one protect me when I am doing Yoga.
Sarvadha sarva karyeshu, Radhika krisha manasa, Ithyethath kaditham devi, kavacham parama adbutham., 21
Let Radha who is in the mind of Lord Krishna,
Always protect me in every action of mine,
Oh Devi, this is the wonderful armour of Radha.
Sarva raksha karam nama maha raksha karam param, Prathar madyahna samaye sayahne prapadyathi., 22
Sarvarthi sidhi sthasya syadhyadhyan manasi varthathe, Raja dware sabhayam cha sam grame shathru sankate., 23
Pranartha nasa samaye ya padeth prayatho nara, Thasya sidhir bhaveth devi, na bhayam kwachid., 24
This which protects everything and is the greatest protective armour,
If read at morning, noon and evening daily,
Would lead to receipt of all types of wealth and,
Realisation of all the desires of our mind,
Would provide protection at the gate of the king,
At any assembly,in the middle of war,
And in case of all problems created by enemies.
A man who is pure, if he reads it,
At the time of death and loss of property,
The goddess would remove all the fears from his mind.
Aaradhitha Radhika cha yena sathyam na samsaya, Ganga snana dhare nama sravanadhyal phalam labeth., 25
Thath phalam thasya bhavathi ya padeth prayatha suchi, Haridhra rochanaa chandra manditham hari chandanam., 26
Kruthwa likhithwa bhorjje cha dharayen masthake bhuje, Kande va deva devesi sa harirnathra samsaya., 27
There is no doubt at all, that if along with worship of Radha,
If he hears this Armour,He will get the effect of bathing in Ganga
He who reads it after purifying himself and get it written,
Using the mixture of turmeric, musk and Sandal paste,
On a talisman and wears it on his head or arms,
Or neck would be without doubt equal to Vishnu.
Kavachasya prasadena Brahma srushtim sthithim hari, Samharanchaham niyatham karomi kuruthe yadha., 28
It is using the power of this Kavacha That Brahma creates,
Vishnu looks after and I do my job of destruction.
Vaishnavaya vishudhaya viraga guna shaline, Dadhyath kavacha vyagram anyadha nasa mapnuyath., 29
This Kavacha should only be given to a devotee of Vishnu,
Who is pure and thoughts of renunciation,
Otherwise the man who receives it will face great losses.
Sri Narada Pancha rather, jnanamrutha sare, radha kavacham samaptham
Thus ends “The armour of Radha” which occurs in the chapter “The essence of nectar like wisdom”. Occurring in the book “Narada Pancha Rathra.”