sri ramaraksha stotram-1

ॐ
गणेशाय नमस्तुभ्यम् हेरम्बायैकदन्तिने |
स्वानन्दवासिने नित्यं ब्रह्मणस्पतये नमः ||

नमस्ते शारदे देवी काश्मीरपुर वासिनी |
त्वामहं प्रार्थये नित्यं विद्यादानन्च देहिमे ||

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः |
गुरुस्साक्षात्परब्रह्म तस्मैश्रीगुरवे नमः ||

नमो नमः |

From now on, as the time permits, as part of my own samskrta sva-shiksha, I shall start posting one shloka from srI rAmarakshA at a time. The learned can correct me as I can, and mostly will, go wrong at times.

References:
1) Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit
2) Ramaraksha Stotra with meanings

||जय श्री राम ||

अस्य श्री रामरक्षा-स्तोत्र-मंत्रस्य | --of this mantra called "SrI rAma rakshA stOtra",
बुधकौशिक ऋषिः | --budhakaushika is the Rshi (seer)
श्री सीतारामाचंद्रः-देवता | --SrI sItArAmachandra is the dEvatA (deity)
अनुष्ठुप् छन्दः | --anuShThup is the chhanda (meter)
सीता शक्तिः | --sItA is the shakti (power)
श्रीमद्हनुमान कीलकम् | --SrImad hanumAn is the kIlakam (the key)
श्री रामचंद्र प्रीत्यर्थे जपे विनियोगः | --For [obtaining] (arthe) the love(prIti) of SrI rAmachandra, japa (recitation) is the viniyOga (application or usage).

|| अथ ध्यानम् ||
ध्यायेदाजानुबाहुं धृतशरधनुषं बद्धापद्मासनस्थम् |
पीतंवासोवसानं नवकमलदळस्पर्धिनेत्रं प्रसन्नम् |
वामान्कारूढसीतामुखकमलमिलल्लोचनं नीरदाभम् |
नानालङ्कारदीप्तं दधतमुरुजटामण्डनं रामचन्द्रम् ||
|| इति ध्यानम् ||

The the first step in understanding any shlOka is identifying the kriyA shabda (the verb). Here, there is only one kriya shabda-- " ध्यायेत्" (dhyaayet=let us meditate on).

So the question now is:
कम् ध्यायेत् ? --Who is it that we should meditate on?

The answer is found in the very last word of the verse-- रामचन्द्रम् . That is,
रामचन्द्रम् ध्यायेत् |
i.e., Let us meditate on rAmachandra.

Now, the next step is to ask the question:
कीदृशम् रामचन्द्रम् ध्यायेत् ? -- What sort of rAmachandra is he, that we should meditate on?

The answer is found in the rest of the shloka. So we proceed to write the anvaya-vaakya, then write prati-pada-artha (word-to-word meaning) and then write the tAtparya.

अन्वयः --
आजानुबाहुम्, धृतशरधनुषम्, बद्धापद्मासनस्थम्, पीतंवासोवसानम्, नवकमलदळस्पर्धिनेत्रम्, प्रसन्नम्, वामान्कारूढसीतामुखकमलमिलल्लोचनम्, नीरदाभम्, नानालङ्कारदीप्तम् , उरुजटा दधतम्, मण्डनम् रामचन्द्रम् ध्यायेत् |

प्रतिपदार्थः --
ध्यायेत् -- one should meditate
आजानुबाहुम् --on one who has arms (baahu) downto his knees (jaanu),
धृतशरधनुषम्--on one who is seen holding (dhruta) arrow (Sara) and bow (dhanusha),
बद्धापद्मासनस्थम्--on one who is present (stha) in bound-lotus (baddha-padmAsana) yogic porture,
पीतंवासोवसानम्--on one who has worn (vasAnam) yellow-coloured (pItam) dress (vAsah),
नवकमलदळस्पर्धिनेत्रम्--on one whose eyes (netra) competes (spardhi) with newly blossomed (nava) lotus (kamala) petal (daLa),
प्रसन्नम्--on one who always has a pleasant disposition,
वामान्कारूढसीतामुखकमलमिलल्लोचनम्--on one whose eyes(lochanau) are seen meeting (milah) the lotus that is the face of sItA (contrast this with saying 'kamalamukha' which means face that is like a lotus. In this verse, vishEshaNa-uttarapada karmadhAraya is used)who is seen perched (ArUDha) on [his] left (vAma) lap (anka),
नीरदाभम्--on one who is like a rain-bearing (nIra-da-- that which gives water) cloud (abha), i.e., of dark-complexion,
नानालङ्कारदीप्तम् --on who is resplendant (dIptam) due to various (nAnA) adornments (alankAra),
उरुजटा दधतम्--on who has (dadhAtam) hair (jaTA) till his thighs (uru),
मण्डनम्--on who is [elaborately] adorned,
रामचन्द्रम्--on rAmachandra.

तात्परयम् --
one should meditate on rAmachandra who has arms down to his knees, who is seen holding arrow and bow, who is present in bound-lotus yogic porture, who has worn yellow-coloured dress, whose eyes competes with newly blossomed lotus petal, who always has a pleasant disposition, whose eyes are seen meeting the lotus that is the face of sItA who is seen perched on his left lap, who is of dark-complexion, who is resplendant due to various adornments, who has hair till his thighs, who is elaborately adorned.