[Advaita-l] Anganyas, Karanyasa and Dhayna Slokam

S.N. Sastri sn.sastri at gmail.com
Mon Mar 3 00:42:50 CST 2008


 Re: [Advaita-l] Anganyas, Karanyasa and Dhayna Slokam of
       "Ganapati Mantra" and "Shakti Panchakshari

While on the topic of the Ganapati Mantram, I have a question that I have
wanted to ask for a long time:

The dhyana shloka says: Vishvotpati, vipatti, sanstiti... Why this odd
sequence? Should it not be Vishvotpati, sanstiti, vipatti...?

Must be some interesting explanation.

Many thanks. Warm regards.

Sethuraman.
Dear Shri Sethuraman,
In composing a Samskrit sloka (unlike in English blank verse) the poet has
to keep in mind not only the meaning but also the metre. Words have to be
arranged in such a manner that the rules of the particular metre adopted are
not infringed. The present sloka is in the metre known as SardUlavikrIDita.
In this metre each line has the following 'gaNas':
ma, sa, ja, sa, ta, ta, ga.
If the words of the line are changed as you have suggested, the gaNas of the
line would become-
ma, ya, ra, sa, ta, ta, ga. This will be a total breach of the rules of this
metre.
Changing the order of creation, sustenance and dissolution to suit the metre
is not something unusual.
S.N.Sastri



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