Srimannarayaneeyam is the story of Lord Sriman Narayana. It is a devotional hymn consisting of 1036 slokas or verses, divided into 100 dasakams or chapters, each dasakam consisting of about 10 slokas. Composed by Melpathur Narayana Bhattatiri (popularly known as "Melpathur" or "Bhc1ttatiri”), in adoration of the presiding Deity of the shrine of Guruvayoor, "Sri Guruvc1yoorappon", it is a condensed version (Bhagavata-artha-sangraha), or the quintessence of Srimad Bhagavata Mahapuranam which consists of 18,000 slokas authored by the great sage, Veda Vyasa.
Srimad Narayaneeyam of Bhattatiri captures in poetic Sanskrit all that is profound and elevating in our Vedic literature. The students of Chandas (prosody), Vyakaranam (grammar) of the classical Sanskrit language will find in this work of Bhattatiri a goldmine for fine examples. The lovers of Sanskrit sahitya (literature) will find themselves wondering whether they were reading a book of prestine devotion and philosophy or a profound work of Kalidasa and his like. For the informed devotees, every verse of Narayaneeyam is a means to let themselves overwhelmed by their altar of devotion. For a Vedantin, there is nothing more delightful than this book.
Rendering this work in any language calls for some extraordinary requisites like facility of pen, knowledge of the subject matter, grasp of the original author's vision, his language, and so on. To bring out an English version of this profound work is indeed an arduous task, the language being alien to the culture of the author of the original work.
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