śrī rāghavāṣṭakam

Eight verses ending on the same phrase, which calls Rama an elephant among the Raghavas. The epithets are drawn from the story rather than from doctrine: a sun to the lotus of Janaki's face, one who wished the good of Vali's son, dear to Hanuman, a terror to the night-walkers, the protector of Ravana's younger brother, the increaser of the solar line, and — in one fine turn — the flawless dark pearl that ornaments Maithili. The closing verse abandons the pattern for something plainer and older, a chain of salutations in which the same words return with only the name changed: Rama, Ramabhadra, Ramachandra, Raghava, Devadeva, Devaraja, Vasudeva, Viraraja.