DEVIRANAGITA | A Vedic War Hymn for the 1860s Union | Goddess Columbia Poster

A Transcendentalist Fever Dream: The Battle Hymn in Sanskrit.

Step into an alternate 19th century where American civil religion meets the eternal Dharma. This poster, titled Deviranagita (War Hymn of the Goddess), reimagines the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" through the lens of Vedic tradition.

At the center stands an eight-armed Goddess Columbia, restored and modified from an original Kurz & Allison chromolithograph. She is reimagined as a Durga-like protector of Liberty, wielding ayudhas (sacred implements) that define the American struggle: a broken chain, a sheaf of arrows, the torch of reason, and the Constitution. She stands before a luminous Durga Yantra and a cosmic nebula, framed within a traditional vermillion jharokha.

Beneath this celestial vision, the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn" are meticulously translated into Sanskrit using the traditional anushtubh meter of the Puranas. The typography uses Rozha One to mimic the high-contrast Bodoni fonts of the 1860s, creating a seamless blend of East and West, past and future. Signed in Hindi by the legendary (if anachronistic) presses of Baker & Godwin.

TEXT (with transliteration):

मम चक्षूंषि पश्यन्ति देव्याः आयातिवैभवम्
सा पूर्णान् पापकुम्भान् वै बिभेद चण्डविक्रमा
तस्याः उग्रकृपाणस्य प्रलयोन्मादि विद्युतः
मुक्ताः सत्यं तु तस्या वै पुरःसरति निश्चितम्

(Mama cakṣūṃṣi paśyanti devyāḥ āyātivaibhavam
Sā pūrṇān pāpakumbhān vai bibheda caṇḍavikramā
Tasyāḥ ugrakṛpāṇasya pralayonmādi vidyutaḥ
Muktāḥ satyaṃ tu tasyā vai puraḥsarati niścitam)

शतस्कन्धावाराणां दीप्तवह्निषु वीक्षिता
निर्मिता वेदिका तस्याः सायं तुषारधूसरे
पठामि दण्डसन्देशं दीपच्छायासु कम्पसु
धर्मः सत्यं च तस्या वै पुरःसरति निश्चितम्

(Śataskandhāvārāṇāṃ dīptavahniṣu vīkṣitā
Nirmitā vedikā tasyāḥ sāyaṃ tuṣāradhūsare
Paṭhāmi daṇḍasandeśaṃ dīpacchāyāsu kampasu
Dharmaḥ satyaṃ ca tasyā vai puraḥsarati niścitam)

मम दृष्टं वह्निधर्मं दीप्तशस्त्रपङ्क्तिषु
यथा क्रियां तथा भोगं विधिरेवं प्रवर्तते
मृद्नातु सा महादेवी नागराजस्य मूर्धनि
धर्मः सत्यं च तस्या वै पुरःसरति निश्चितम्

(Mama dṛṣṭaṃ vahnidharmaṃ dīptaśastrapaṅkti
Yathā kriyāṃ tathā bhogaṃ vidhirevaṃ pravartate
Mṛdnātu sā mahādevī nāgarājasya mūrdhani
Dharmaḥ satyaṃ ca tasyā vai puraḥsarati niścitam)

प्रपूरितो महाशङ्खो निवर्तनविवर्जितः
विवेचयति हृत्साराञ् धर्मासनगता हि सा
शीघ्रं प्रत्युत्तर स्वात्मन् पादौ नृत्यत हर्षितौ
धर्मः सत्यं च तस्या वै पुरःसरति निश्चितम्

(Prapūrito mahāśaṅkho nivartanavivarjitaḥ
Vivecayati hṛtsārāñ dharmāsanagatā hi sā
Śīghraṃ pratyuttara svātman pādau nṛtyata harṣitau
Dharmaḥ satyaṃ ca tasyā vai puraḥsarati niścitam)

TRANSLATION:

My eyes see the glory of the Goddess's arrival;
She has shattered the brimming Pots of Sin with fierce valor;
The doomsday lightning of Her terrible sword
Is unleashed; Her Truth indeed marches forward.

She is seen in the blazing fires of a hundred military camps;
An altar is built for Her in the evening grey-mist;
I read the Message of the Rod (Judgment) in the trembling lamp-shadows;
Dharma and Her Truth indeed march forward.

I have seen the Fiery-Law in the rows of shining weapons;
"As the deed, so the fruit"—thus the Law rolls on;
Let the Great Goddess crush the Serpent-King upon the head;
Dharma and Her Truth indeed march forward.

Filled is the Great Conch, devoid of retreat;
She sifts the essence of hearts, for She sits on the Throne of Dharma;
Answer swiftly, O Soul! Dance, O feet, full of joy!
Dharma and Her Truth indeed march forward.

EU representative: HONSON VENTURES LIMITED, gpsr [!at] honsonventures.com, 3, Gnaftis House flat 102, Limassol, Mesa Geitonia, 4003, CY
Product information: Generic brand, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC
Warnings, Hazard: For adults, Blank product sourced from USA (JONDO) and Japan (Printify Choice)
Care instructions: If the print does gather any dust, you may wipe it off gently with a clean, dry cloth.