ശ്രീ ഗിരിരാജധാര്യഷ്ടകമ്

Vallabhacharya's eight verses on the lifting of Govardhana, and the first thing to notice is the sound: every line of all eight ends in the same syllables, so that thirty-two lines run on one rhyme, of which the refrain is each time the fourth instance — my lord is the holder of the king of mountains. Within that constraint the verses move fast and never linger. He follows what his devotees want; he spreads his own fame by stealing milk; his boyhood delights the women of the settlement; he takes the darkness out of the cave with his limbs; the enemy of serpents is gladdened by the flute; while playing he kills the demon who came as a playmate; on Govardhana he receives the offering of roots and fruit; he carries off the fine cloths on the Kalindi's bank; and he walks with the gait of a rutting elephant.