Translation of Maata Annapoorna shloka

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at BRAINCELLS.COM> wrote:

>varaabhayakaree
>
>Oh giver of the gift of fearlessness!
>
>(?) I'm not sure I've got that right.  Those who know Her are never
>afraid.

kara = hand.

In the iconography of 4 armed deities, generally, one hand is held with the
palm pointing downwards, which is the varada mudraa, and another hand is
held with the palm facing up, which is the abhaya mudraa. One can see this
in images of Vishnu, Ganapati, Skanda, Devi etc. So, varaabhayakarii means
one who grants boons and assures fearlessness to devotees.

Vidyasankar