We saw in the introductory blog, a broad perspective about Visvarupa of Brahman. For liberation and eternal Bliss, we need to understand formless Brahman. If we have to have a smooth process of switching over from a Brahman with a form to the formless Brahman, it is essential that we need to expand our vision and horizon and identify ourselves with everything that exists as the Ultimate Reality.
இதனையே பாரதியார் எளிய தமிழில்
காக்கை குருவி எங்கள் ஜாதி-நீள் கடலும் மலையும் எங்கள் கூட்டம்; நோக்குந் திசையெலாம் நாமன்றி வேறில்லை; நோக்க நோக்கக் களியாட்டம்.
என உரைத்தார்.
In this Sloka, Adi Sankaracharya picks up 8 representative samples from the 36 tattvas (principles) of Brahman and presents an integrated form of Lord Siva.
He picks up 7 principles from the “jagat” which are conditioned experience of us from the total cosmic existence and our consciousness (jiva), the conditioner as the eight representative samples given below schematically.
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, Sun, Moon and Jiva, are verily His (i.e., Ātman’s) eight manifestations shining within the moving and the non-moving forms. Apart from Him (i.e., Ātman) there cannot Exist anything; The Yogis who reflect (i.e., Meditate) within discover Him as the essence from which everything originates; discover Him as existing beyond everything as the Eternal Essence. Salutations to Him, the personification of our Inner Guru who awakens this knowledge through His profound silence. Salutation to Sri Dakṣiṇāmurty.
Understanding the Sloka
Now look at the verse. The aṣṭamūrtis are enumerated in the first line as under:
first. bhūambāsi; भूः bhūḥ plus ambāmsi, bhūḥ means earth, ambāmsi means water; अनलः analaḥ means fire; अशनलः anilaḥ means air; अम्भरं ambharaṃ means space. Up to this is five elements; bhutani.
Then अहनायतः aharnātaḥ means the Lord of the day; अहहः ahahaḥ means day, नातः nātaḥ means the Lord; who is the Lord of the day: who is responsible for the day to be the day. Sun rise alone brings the day, the Sun set takes away the day, therefore sun alone presides over the day, therefore it is अहनायतः aharnātaḥ; therefore aharnātaḥ means suryaha;
Then himānśu; himā means cool; aṃśuhuḥ, means rays; beams of light, aṃśuhuḥ; himasu means cool rayed one; And what is that which has got cool rays? Moon; and therefore, himāṃśuhuḥ means chandra; and suryaha and chandraha stands for the entire boudika prapancha; आभाति (Aabhaati) = Shining, Blazing; so with this seven acetanā factors are over.
Now comes 8th chetanā factor. What is that? पुमान् pumān. pumān represents all the जीवः jīvaḥrasis from the minutest micro oganisms to the biggest brahmaji, all of them, by पुमान् जीवः, चेतन जीवः इशत pumān jīvaḥ, cetana jīvaḥ iti;
In this way, चराचरात्मकशमदं मूत्र्ष्टय कम् carācarātmakamidaṃ mūrtyaṣṭakam, these 8-fold factors, mūrtyaṣṭakam or the 8-fold facet consists of carācarātmakamidaṃ; includes both the चर प्रपन्ज cara prapanja; cara means the moving chetana as well as achara prapancha; the non-moving achetanām. mūrtyaṣṭakam; chetanaachetanātmakam mūrtyaṣṭakam; this whole cosmos; which is the śarīram, the very body of dakṣiṇāmūrti ; it is not one body sitting under a banyan tree; that dakṣiṇāmūrti is for worshipping or is an avatāraḥ; but the real dakṣiṇāmūrti has the whole carācarātmakamidaṃ prapancha, as the very mūrti, mūrti means very body. And that is why we name viśvarupaḥ. viśvarupaḥ in that expression; the word rupaḥ means śarīram; iśvarupaḥ means how to understand: viśvam śarīram yasya yasya saha, the Lord whose body is the whole universe. Since the whole universe is the body of the Lord, wherever I am turning, I am seeing the Lord alone; you will find the description of the viśvarupaḥ is the same for all deities; Ekaroopa description will vary from deity to deity. viśvarupaḥ description will not have any variation; and therefore, mūrtiaṣṭakam yasya; yasya means viśvarupaḥ dakṣiṇāmūrti; this is the eight-fold form of viśvarupaḥ dakṣiṇāmūrti .
And not only that; parasmat vibhoho, anyathat chinchana naasthi; There is nothing else in the creation; other than, or away from this viśvarupaḥ dakṣiṇāmūrti; परस्माहिभो parasmādvibho means viśvarupaḥ dakṣiṇāmūrti. So parām means absolutely, vibhuhu means all pervading; parasmādvibho means other than or different from the absolutely all-pervading dakṣiṇāmūrti, kiñcana na asti; there is nothing;
You take your own body; body part will become the achetana part of the dakṣiṇāmūrti. Therefore you do not exist, away from the dakṣiṇāmūrti and therefore you cannot say, God and world; that is a delusion; so therefore there is no question of God and world; mistaken-God is world; rightly taken world is none other than God; or what is world for the deluded person is the Lord for the wise person; What is world for the deluded person is the Lord for this wise person And therefore he says vimṛśatāṃ; vimṛśatāṃ means for the thinking people, for the refined people, for the scripturally educated people; For the wise people. For the wise people; there is no world other than dakṣiṇāmūrti ;
Tasmai Sri gurumoorthaye, dakṣiṇāmūrthaye; to that dakṣiṇāmūrti, who happens to be my guru also; I offer my namaskarams.
விஸ்வநாதனாகவும் விஸ்வாதீதனாகவும் இருப்பதுடன் உலகுயிர்கள் இயங்குதற்பொருட்டுச் சிவன் விஸ்வாந்தர்யாமியாகவும் உள்ளான். அந்நிலையைச் சித்தாந்த நூல்கள் அட்ட மூர்த்தம் என்று குறிப்பிடுகின்றன. ஐம்பெரும் பூதங்களான நிலம் நீர் நெருப்பு வளி ஆகாயம் என்பனவும் ஞாயிறு திங்கள் எனும் சுடர் இரண்டும் ஆன்மாவும் எனும் எட்டுமட்ட மூர்த்தமாம். இவற்றுள் முதலேழும் அசேதனம் (அறிவற்ற பொருள்); ஆன்மா ஒன்று சேதனம் (அறிவுடைப்பொருள்) இந்த எட்டினையும் இறைவன் தனது திருமேனியாகக் கொண்டு இயங்குகின்றான். இதனை,
“இருநிலனாய்த் தீயாகி நீருமாகி,
இயமனனாய் எறியுங் காற்று மாகி,
அருநிலைய திங்களாய் ஞாயி றாகி
ஆகாச மாயட்ட மூர்த்தியாகி ….
நிமிர்புன்சடையடிகள் நின்றவாறே”
அப்பர்
என்னும் அப்பர் பெருமானின் நின்றதிருத்தாண்டகமும்,
நிலம்நீர் நெருப்புயிர்
நீள்விசும்பு நிலாப்பகலோன்
புலனாய மைந்தனோ
டெண்வகையாய்ப் புணர்ந்து நின்றான்
உலகே ழெனத்திசை
பத்தெனத்தான் ஒருவனுமே
பலவாகி நின்றவா
தோணோக்கம் ஆடாமோ
திருவாசகம்
இறைவன் ஒருவனே, நிலமும், நீரும் தீயும், வாயுவும், பெரிய ஆகாயமும், சந்திரனும் சூரியனும், அறிவுருவாய ஆன்மாவும் என்னும் எட்டு வகைப் பொருள்களாய் அவற்றோடு கலந்து இருப்பவனாய் ஏழுலகங்களும் திக்குகள் பத்தும் ஆகப் பல பொருள்களாக நின்ற வகையைப் பாடி நாம் தோணோக்கம் ஆடுவோம் எனத் திருவாசகம் திருத்தோணோக்கம் (5) கூறின. சிவன் கலப்பினால் அவ்வப் பொருளாக இருத்தலை ஸ்ரீருத்திரமும் கூறிற்று. பொருள்களுடன் கலந்து ஒன்றி நின்று உயிர்களுக்கு உபகரித்தலை விவேக அறிவுடையவர் எவரும் அறிந்துய்யச் சிவம் இவ்வாறு அட்ட மூர்த்தமாக விளங்குகின்றது.
I found some interesting pictorials for this (courtesy: bhagvadgitausa.com).
Adi Sankara thus brings out clearly that our journey is to realise that all pervasive non-dual pure consciousness called Isvara.
Lord Krishna’s beauty is beyond the imagination, infact all beauty arises from him only. As his name Krishna means ‘all attractive’ – means his beauty enchants everyone. In front of the beauty of Krishna everything fades and pales . Even the beauty we find in the world is only a spark of the transcendental captivating beauty of Lord Krishna , then how beautiful He, the source of all beauty will be . No wonder, the devotees who visit Guruvayur and see Him are in a state of Bliss and experience horripilation, says Bhattathri in this Sloka.
O Lord! Thy captivating form which continuously showers pure nectar, which is itself the Supreme Bliss-Consciousness holds the minds of those who hear Thy glories. Their minds are immediately stimulated and filled with joy. They experience horripilation all over their body and are bathed in the cool tears produced from ecstasy of joy.
For all of us, Life is nothing but the time spent between the maternity ward and crematorium on the “surface of a tiny rock-ball, rotating around a spherical fire in a tiny galaxy in an ever expanding galaxies ” loosely called as Earth, world, visvam, jagat etc. Tamil poet Kannadasan called the life as the time between between the drop of a water (semen) and the spark of fire lit. ஒரு துளி நீரில் ஜனனம் ஒரு துளி நெருப்பில் மரணம். இதனிடையில் தான் நம் வாழ்க்கையெனும் பயணம்.
In this “real” (or unreal?) world, all of us (none excluded) have one single goal – mitigating our pains and enhancing our pleasures. துன்பத்தைப் போக்கி இன்பத்தை அடைவதே நம் வாழ்வின் குறிக்கோள். Towards this we all carry out nonstop transactions within ourselves, with the world and of course with the “God” – the Unknown.
From a Vedantic perspective, life can be also stated as the journey. When we say “journey” we are not talking about a point to point or time to time journey. We are talking about a journey which is beyond the domain of time and space; beyond our sense and action organs. We are talking about a journey from avidya to vidya; from ignorance to enlightenment; a journey to understand the intricate relationships between the puzzling trio of Ishvara, Jiva and Jagat. Understanding this relationship called Isvara Jnana by the Seeker is the ultimate goal.
The first eight Slokas of Dakshinamurthy Stothram (some call it as Dakshinamurthy Ashtakam) provided us with the essence of this Vedantic perspective. It presented to us, the Vidya viz., knowledge of Atman, which is Pure Awareness, Changeless and unborn Ultimate Reality. We tried to understand that Vidya, the “atma jnanam” (Know Thyself) is an individual’s experiential learning about “atma isvara aikyam” under the able guidance of a Guru. All wisdom is born of spirit of self-enquiry. It dispels the non-understanding and the undivided intelligence shines in its own light. The wisdom has to arrive directly on the individual, no transmitted knowledge can be sufficient for the real enlightenment. Self is self-luminous. When consciousness becomes aware of itself, there manifests the Intelligence itself. That awareness is Vidya. Adi Sankara with the help of examples highlighted the purpose of our life.
The concept of Viswa Rupa:
Our culture is deep rooted in the spiritual ethos of each individual working towards his own ultimate liberation as a fundamental goal of life. This is the unique gift of Vedic philosophy to the world of spirituality. Ordinary mortals like us find it impossible to acquire this Vidya in our cycles of life (birth and death).
Our Vedic Rishis realised our plight and the fact that Brahman as creator or Supreme Consciousness is too abstract to follow and understand. Since everything in nature is God’s creation, so they simply connected the people with Brahman through an icon of personal choice of Ishta Deva as long as it remains only a symbolic representation of the Ultimate Reality; making it possible for all diversities to represent that single transcendental Reality.
This connection/attachment to the Ishta Deva turned into devotion and worship. A farmer may worship the plough, a fisherman his boat, people whatever god and goddesses they propitiate for their aspect of life related to them. God is there and so the happiness of life can be attained by His grace. The medium is not important, our spirit of surrender to Him and dedicated work for a noble cause is the way out to realise Him in the blissful heart.
Next, from the single idol of God (eka rupa), the rishis had to find ways to migrate us to the state of understanding Brahman, i.e., from an Idol to a formless, omnipresent eternal Ultimate Reality. This means that the focus of our actions should shift from “Eka Rupa” to “arupa”; from “saguna” to “nirguna”. For this purpose, the Rishis introduced an intermediate level, an “aneka rupa” called “Visva Rupa” as we progressed towards our goal. Based on the spiritual progress made, the Seeker is introduced to a form which encapsulates all that is perceivable in this universe and beyond.
The challenge next is how do you list out all that is perceivable. Vedic Philosophy found an answer for this question by identifying the principles (“tattva”) by which one could perceive. Different philosophies within our culture identified different number of “tattva”. For example, the Saivites identified 36 “tattvas”. (https://www.saivism.net/articles/tattvas.asp). இதனையே திருமூலரின் திருமந்திரத்திலும் காணலாம்.
முப்பதும் ஆறும் படிமுத்தி ஏணியாய் ஒப்பிலா ஆனந்தத்து உள்ளொளி புக்கு செப்ப அரிய சிவம்கண்டு, தான் தெளிந்து அப்பரிசாக அமர்ந்திருந்தாரே.
திருமந்திரம்
முப்பத்தாறு தத்துவங்களையே முக்தியை அடைவிக்கும் சிறந்த ஏணியின் பல படிகளாக அமைத்துக் கொண்டு, ஒப்பில்லாத சிவானந்தத்தைத் தரும் ஒளியில் புகுந்து, சொல்வதற்கு அரிய சிவபெருமானைத் தரிசித்தவர்கள் அந்த சிவத் தன்மையை அடைந்து சிவமாகத் திகழ்வார்கள்.
The Rishis then presented the Visva Rupa of Brahman as a seamless integration of principles or tattvas on the “eka rupa” bringing out the “aneka rupa” of Brahman. If one studies the description of the Visva Rupa of Vishnu, Siva and Devi, one can understand that essentially they all are descriptions of the same tattvas, thus reinforcing the Advaita nature of the Brahman.
Adi Sankaracarya in Sloka 9 picks up representative samples from these tattvas and integrates it with Lord Siva, the Dakshinamurthy and presents to us for our understanding.
Bhattathri continues his pun on Goddess Lakshmi by citing another reason for the “unstable” nature of Her when it comes to Her short stay at Her devotees’ place.
Oh Consort of Goddess Lakshmi, I will tell another reason to say,
That Goddess Lakshmi does not stay long with others,
That is because of her attractiveness to your pretty form,
For in the case of devotees of yours who are busy in meditating,
And singing about you, she is interested in hearing about,
The news of her darling and never leaves but stays with them. 2.5
Meaning of the Sanskrit Words
लक्ष्मीः – Oh Goddess Lakshmi
तावकरामणीयकहृता एव इयम् – तावक-रामणीयक हृता एव = your, beauty, fascinated/captivated, only, she = being thus captivated by Thy beauty only,
इयं परेषु अस्थिरा इति – she, is (committed to be in that position), unstable, in this manner/thus = परेषु अस्थिरा इति = she is unstable with others
अस्मिन् – in this respect
अन्यत् अपि प्रमाणम् – another proof also
अधुना – now/at present
वक्ष्यामि – I will state
लक्ष्मीपते – Oh consort of Goddess Lakshmi
ये त्वद्ध्यानगुणानुकीर्तनरसासक्ताः – ये त्वत्-ध्यान-गुण-अनुकीर्तन-रस-आस्क्ताः – those, your , meditate, virtue, singing, essence, devoted/strongly attached/engrossed = those who meditate and are always engrossed in singing Thy glory
हि भक्ताः जनाः – हि भक्ताः जनाः – = certainly (with) such devotees
तेषु एषा वसति स्थिरा एव – त= in those, she, stays, permanently/stable, always = with them she stays always
दयितप्रस्तावदत्तादरा – दयित–प्रस्ताव-दत्त-आदरा = beloved, (being), a song or hymn in praise, presented, respect/reverence/honour/praise = listening attentively to the praises of her beloved Lord
We saw in the introductory blog earlier that this “jivatma” which was “relation less” and who is otherwise a witness “Saakshi” becomes related due to the influence of Maya, becomes an actor and the misery starts with transactions and continues till we know our true self through “atma gnanam”. Adi Sankara outlines a few relationships in this Sloka.
The differentiations that we see in the world as Cause and Effect, as possessor-possession, relations as the disciple & teacher, and also as father & son etc., are all differentiations within the one Ātman. In Dream or Waking state, He, the One Puruṣaḥ is always present, and (as if) Maya wanders over Him and gives rise to all these Differentiations. Salutations to Him, the Personification of Our Inner Guru Who Awakens This Knowledge through His Profound Silence; Salutation to Sri Dakṣiṇāmurty.
Understanding the Sloka
The Role of Maya
Let us look at the third line first: य एष पुरुषो मायापरिभ्रामितः eṣa: puruṣaḥ māyāparibhrāmitaḥ;
1. It means – This ordinary person in the world; even though he may be worldly-educated; who is spiritually and scripturally-illiterate; he is māyā paribhrāmitaḥ; { माया māyā means avidya परिभ्रम Paribhrama = Moving To and Fro, Wander/drift}. மாயையவள் வசப்பட்டு உழலும்
2. This means that he is confused because of avidya and therefore instead of taking original sākṣi svarūpam as himself; he mistakes the incidental-ahaṃkāra as himself drifts into the attached-self called ahaṃkāra I; I am going to certainly become a relative individual, related to the external world; asaṃga sākṣi (the unattached witness), becomes ससंगजीवः sasaṃga jīvaḥ (attached soul); relationless pure sākṣi-I, have now drifted and fallen down to a relative samsāri-I;
3. This means that every relation is causing one form of samsāra or the other. There is no relationship which is free from problems; In fact, if there is a relationship free from problems then the end of the relationship will cause problems; If there is a relationship so beautiful and wonderful and enjoyable, even that wonderful relationship becomes a problem when the relationship has to end because of time/kala, because of prarabdhaḥ, because of any reason. Therefore, a problem free relationship is an oxymoron; it does not exist. And therefore, the sākṣi-I, who is ever free, now has fallen down to ahaṃkāra-I, with varieties of problems.
Relationship
A few empirical relationships are enumerated in the sloka i.e., कार्यकारण संबन्धः kāryakāraṇa saṃbandhaḥ; cause and effect relationship. I-as-jīvātma, the ahaṃkāra-I, am a product of my own past karma; my prarabdhaḥ karma has given me this personality; this physical, this emotional, this social personality. Therefore, I am never a free person; I am tossed up and down; by my own karma; thus I am a कार्मय kāryam; my karma becomes the kāranam for my situation.
Let us see a few of the cause & effect relationships.
1. स्वस्वामिसम्बन्धतः svasvāmisambandhataḥ; स्वस्वामि (Svasvaami = Possessor and Possession & सम्बन्ध (Sambandha = Relation). That means as ahaṃkāra, I am related to several possession, as owner-owned sambandhataḥ; and ownership means, there is a yogakṣema samsāra. yogakṣema samsāra means acquisition-maintenance samsāra is there like. உடையவன் – உடமை உறவுகள்.
शिष्याचार्यतया śiṣyacāryatayā; means guru-śiṣya sambandhataḥ. ஆசான் – சீடன் உறவுகள்.
पितृपुत्राद्यात्मना pitṛ putrādyātmanā; means father son adhi etc. தந்தை – மகன் உறவுகள் (சொந்தம் எப்போதும் தொடர் கதைதான், முடிவே இல்லாதது)
So, the māyā paribhrāmitaḥ puruṣaḥ drifted and fallen down from a relationless pure sākṣi-I, to relative samsāri-I in either of the स्वप्ने जाग्रति वा Svapne Jaagrati Vaa avastha, whether it is waking state or dream state, gets into the inevitable saṃsāraḥ.
Of course we get some interval and relief in सुषुशि अवस्त suṣupti avasta, wherein we do not worry about the family members and society and other problems, and unfortunately we cannot sleep for long. The sleep is only for a few hours and older we grow, lesser the sleep also. Therefore even sleep is not a permanent solution; even death is not a permanent solution, because punarjanma brings in punaha sambandhataḥ and samsāra; And therefore this jeevathama, puruṣaḥ ha; who is really a sākṣi; that purushā, māyā paribhrāmitaḥ; as is confused because of māya.
Relationships & The Birds on a Tree – A Vedic Perspective
Talking about the relationships of the unattached witness and the attached soul, the famous two birds in one tree Sloka from the Upanishads provides the classic conceptual framework for this Sloka in Dakshinamurthy Stothram.
The Shruti, says: By Mâyâ, Siva became two birds always associated together; the One, clinging to the one unborn (Prakriti), became many as it were (vide Mundaka- Up. 3-1; Yâjniki-Upanishad 12–5).
Meaning of the Sanskrit Words – “Suparnau – two of good motion or two birds; (the “word Suparna” being used to denote birds generally); Sayujau – inseparable, constant, companions; Sakhayau – bearing the same name or having the same cause of manifestation. Being thus, they are perched on the same tree (‘same,’ because the place where they could be perceived is identical). ‘Tree’ here means ‘body;’ because of the similitude in their liability to be cut or destroyed. Parishasvajate – embraced; just as birds go to the same tree for tasting the fruits.
Two birds bound to each other in close friendship are perched on a tree. While one of the birds is busy consuming the fruits of the tree with great relish, the other seems to be in a state of detached equanimity just looking at its compatriot. The tree in this example represents the body. The bird busying itself with the material pleasures accorded by the tree is the ‘Jivātma’ (individual soul), that has an inextricable identification with the body and mind. Such an identification makes the Jivātma both the ‘karta’ (doer) and the ‘Bhokta’ (enjoyer). The observing bird on the other hand, represents the ‘Paramātma’ (the Supreme Self). The Supreme Self remains uninfluenced and untainted by any material pleasures and possessions and remains a still tranquil witness.
Adi Śankarācārya in his commentary to this sloka says – This tree as is well known has its root high up (i.e., in Brahman) and its branches (prana, etc..) downwards; it is transitory and has its source in Avyakta (maya). It is named Kshetra and in it hang the fruits of the karma of all living things. It is here that the Ātman, conditioned in the subtle body to which ignorance, desire, karma and their unmanifested tendencies cling, and Isvara are perched like birds. Of these two so perched, one, i.e., kshetrajna occupying the subtle body eats, i.e., tastes from ignorance the fruits of karma marked as happiness and misery, palatable in many and diversified modes; the other, i.e., tbe lord, eternal, pure, intelligent and free in his nature, omniscient and conditioned by maya does not eat; for, He is the director of both the eater and the thing eaten, by the fact of His mere existence as the eternal witness (of all); not tasting, he merely looks on; for, his mere witnessing is direction, as in the case of a king.”
The Way Forward
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi in his lecture says that in all but one relationship listed by Adi Sankara , the “bedha”- the difference between the Atma and the Maya influenced Jeeva continues to exist eternally irrespective of the transactions. The guru-shishya relationship even though is a cause and effect relationship is the only one which ensures that the influence of Maya is nullified and the true nature of Jeeva is revealed through the guru’s teachings. In that state, even the guru-shishya relationship withers away and so too the other relationships.
And that is perhaps why Adi Śankarācārya says, even this confused jeeva is really none other than that dakṣiṇāmūrti only and therefore he says Tasmai Shri Gurumoorthaye; To that Gurumoorthy, dakṣiṇāmūrti , my namaskaraha.
அன்பு சிவமிரண் டென்ப ரறிவிலார்
அன்பே சிவமாவ தாரு மறிகிலார்
அன்பே சிவமாவ தாரு மறிந்தபின்
அன்பே சிவமா யமர்ந்திருந் தாரே
என்ற திருமந்திரப் பண் இக்கருத்தினைப் பிரதிபலிக்கிறது.
This, in essence is the eighth Sloka.
Long distance shoot using iPhone from the balcony of my house.
We attribute success, wealth and prosperity to the presence of Goddess Lakshmi in our homes. She represents riches that every individual wishes to attain in his/her materialistic life. She is the epitome of opulence and her existence helps us achieve glorious heights. However, it isn’t easy to retain her. It is often said that Goddess Lakshmi does not stay in a family beyond three generations (max). Bhattathri quotes this characteristics of Goddess Lakshmi as a pun in this and the next Sloka to drive home the point that as a consort Goddess Lakshmi is more focussed on Lord Vishnu whose avatar is Lord Krishna of Guruvayur.
After getting and reaching your wonderful and greatly joyous form, that goddess who controls wealth, has become more attached to you. And because of this even after reaching the homes of her great devotees, She does not prefer to stay there. Oh Lord, Oh changeless one, due to the deep, strong and stable love towards your very pretty form, She has got a very bad name as the unstable one. Is it not uncharitable? 2.4
Meaning of the Sanskrit Words
तत्तादृङ्मधुरात्मकम् – तत्-तादृक्-मधुर-आत्मकम् = (of) that such incomparable beauty तव वपुः – Your form /figure सम्प्राप्य – having arrived (married) सम्पन्मयी – endowed with (prosperity and auspiciousness) सा देवी – that Devi (Lakshmi) परमोत्सुका – परम-उत्सुका = (who) became very much attached (to Thee) चिरतरम् – for a very long time न आस्ते – doesn’t dwell/stay स्वभक्तेषु अपि – स्व भक्तेषु अपि – her own, devotees, even (even with her own devotees) तेन अस्याः – so/because, बत कष्टम् – alas, difficult अच्युत – imperishable विभो – Lord त्वद्रूपमानोज्ञकप्रेमस्थैर्यमयात् = त्वत्-रूप-मानोज्ञक-प्रेम-स्थैर्यमयात् = Your, form, beauty, love, unwavering/ stable = because of the unwavering love for the enchanting beauty of Your form अचापलबलात् = अचापल-बलात् = firm/unwavering, power because of the power of (her) firm (love for Thee) चापल्यवार्ता = चापल्य-वार्ता = as fickle (goddess), News/the reputation उदभूत् – has risen
Today is November 1, 2021. Sixty six years ago on this day, dreams of Sri. Aluru Venkata Rao and others came true with the formation of Mysore State based on the majority language spoken in the region, Kannada. Seventeen years later, the state was renamed as Karnataka.
What could be a more befitting occasion for me on this wonderful day, than to take up one of the monumental works of Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa affectionately known as DVG, the Doyen of Kannada Language for my detailed study. If I could try to understand that epic and express that in my mother tongue Tamil, that would be the icing on the cake for my efforts to understand the classical languages of India.
Yes! I have taken up the Epic by DVG – Manku Thimmanna Kagga for my study. My current knowledge of this wonderful language is limited to only “understanding and speaking to a fair degree of comfort” and I start my journey here like I do in other fields as a toddler.
So the “condicio sine qua non” for the readers is exactly the same as that of my other adventures viz., “pardon me for my ignorance and consider my deficiencies and faults as the learning process of a toddler”.
My sincere thanks to VedaBrahmaShri BR Prabhakar ji for presenting me the translation in the form of a book and a friend in the social media @GunduHuDuGa for helping this toddler to gain confidence and proceed further.My sincere Pranaam🙏and thanks to them.
The Prayer
Like all the Epics in our culture, DVG starts the Kagga with a three verses section where he wants us to understand and surrender to that Unknowable Ultimate Reality and Principle called Vishnu, the Creator.
We will begin our study with the Prayer.
Here is the Prayer in the form of a video. The video has both Kannada and Tamil Verses.
Prabhu's Ponder 