[Advaita-l] abirami andhadi and Saundarya Lahiri - Part III OF III

[sriram]

AA Verse 76 : kurittEn manattil nin kOlam ellAm nin kuripparindu

MarittEn marali varugindra nErvazhi vanDu kinDi

VerittEn avizh kondrai vENippirAn oru kUttraimeyyi

ParittE kudipugudum panchapANa bairaviyE||

I thought of your Divine form, isn't this form that gives me the courage and strength to face Yama! You who seem to have filled the entire form of the Lord wearing beautiful Kondrai flowers, on which bees are happily sucking nectar, on his head, though you have official claim for only half!! O Bhairavi!! You have the five arrows in your hands!

SL Verse 23 : TvayA hruthva vamAm vapuraparitruptEna mansA

SharirArdham shambhOraparamapi shankE hrutamabhUt

YadEtat tvadrapam sakalamaruNAbham trinayanam

KuchAbhyAmAnamram kutilashashi chUDAlamakuTam||

I fancy that the other half as well of Siva's frame has been absorbed by Thee with Thy mind, not satisfied with having absorbed that left one; for this thy form is entirely of a red colour, has three eyes is slightly bent with the weight of the breasts and wears over its crown the crescent moon. Devi seems to occupy the entire right half of Shiva also depicting Devi becoming more than one half of her Lord!

This stanza depicts complete union of Shiva with Shakti. Here the Devi's frame is fancied to occupy Shiva's frame more than its due share of Half!!

AA Verse 78 : seppum kanaga kalasamum pOlum tirumulaimEl

Appum kaLaba abiramavalli aNitaraLa

Koppum vayirakuzhaiyum vizhiyin kozhungaDaiyum

Tuppum nilavum ezhudivaitEn en tunai vizhikkE ||

O Divine Mother, your breasts are like golden diadem, beautiful pearl strung necklaces adorn your neck, diamond studded earrings adorn your ears, the fragrance of the sandal paste applied on you fills the air, and I behold your grace through the corner of your eyes ever in my eyes like the glory of the full moon!!

SL Verse 73 : amUtE vakshOjAvamrutarasamANikyakutupou

Na sandEhaSpandO nagapati ptAkE manasi naha

Pibantou tou yasmAdaviditavadhUsangamarasou

KumArAvadhyApi dviradavadanakrOnchadalanou||

O emblem of the Lord of the Mountains!! These two breasts of Thine are verily containers of ruby filled with nectar. There is not even the slightest doubt about this in our minds. As dviradavadana ( Ganesha) and krounchadalana ( skanda - destroyer of Krouncha) who drank from Thy breasts are innocent of copulative pleasures, they are even today, children.

AA Verse 84 : udaiyALai olgu sempattu udaiyAnai oLirmadi sem

SadaiyALai vanjagar nenjadaiyALai tayangu naNNUl

IdaiyALai engaL pemmAnidaiyALai ingu ennai inippa

PadaiyALai ungaLaiyum padaiyAvaNNam pArtirumE ||

One endowed with everything, wearing red silk around your slim waist, wearing the moon on your head, one who is not to be found in envy filled minds of people, one who has granted me liberation, O Abirami, All those who bow to your lotus feet are ever free from the bonds of birth and death.

SL Verse 79 : nisarga kshINasya stanataTbharENa klamajushO

NamanmUrtEnAbhou valishu cha shanaistruTayat iva

Chiram te madhyasya truTitataTinItIrataruNA

SamAvasthasthEmnO bhavatu kushalam shailatanayE ||

O Daughter of the mountain, may safety be vouchsafed to Thy waist which is by nature slim, which is in form as if about to give way at anytime as it is fragile and slender supporting the weighty breasts whereas Her navel and the folds are weak to hold the waist!



AA Verse 85 : pArkkum disaidorum pAsAngusamum panichirai vanDu

Arkkum pudumalar aindum karumbum en allal ellAm

TIrkkum tiripuraiyAL tirumEniyum sitriDaiyum 

VArkkunkuma mulaiyum mulaimEl muthu mAlaiyumE ||

O Devi, your benevolent grace is omnipresent, I see you with goad, noose, fiveflower arrows, sugarcane bow, held by your hands, Your delicate hips, threefolded waist, your saffron hued breasts and the beautiful pearl necklace worn over them.

SL Verse 80 : kuchou sadhya svidhattaTaghaTita kUrpAsabhidurou

Kashantou dOrmUlE kanaka kalashabhou kalayata

Tava trAtum bhangAdalamiti valagnam tanubhuvA

TridhA naddham dEvi trivali lavalii vallibhiriva||

O Goddess!! Thy threefolded waist, has been bound as it were by tanubhu ( manmatha) three times over with the lavali creeper with a view to save it from breaking, he having caused Thy breasts, which resemble pots of gold, to burst the garment covering their sides perspiring at that moment and to rub against the armpits.

AA Verse 86 : mAlayan tEDa maraitEDa vAnavar tEDa ninra

KalayumsUDaga kaiyaiyum konDu kaditta kappu

VElai vengAlan enmEl viDumpOdu veLinilkanDAi

PAlaiyum tEnaiyum pAgaiyum pOlum paNimozhiyE ||

Vishnu, the Devas, the Vedas, Brahma are all in search of your lotus feet. When Yama comes to claim me with His many pointed weapon, please grant me the vision of your crown jewels and Thy lotus feet. Your words are sweeter than milk, honey and sugar syrup.

SL Verse 66 : vipanchyA gAyantI vividhamapadAnam puraripO

TvayArabdhE vaktum chalitashirasA sAdhuvachanE

TadIyai mAdhuryai apalapitatantrI kalaravAm

NijAm vINAm vANI nichulayati cholEna nibhrutam ||

The Goddess Saraswati, while playing on her veena, describes the Lords heroics and qualities through beautiful music. You enjoy the recital and your words of appreciation are so sweet to listen to that, Saraswati, stops her recital and encases her veena in the cover. Such is the sweetness of Devi's words!!

Bhattar compares the sweetness of Devi`s words to easily accessible sweet things like milk etc.Adi Sankara delineates that Devi's words are more melodious than Saraswathy`s veena recital.

AA Verse 87 : mozhikkum ninaivukkum eTTAda nin tirumUrtti endran

Vizhikkum vinaikkum veLinindradAl vizhiyAl madanai

Azhikkum talaivar azhiyA viradattai anDamellAm 

PazhikkumpaDi orupAgam konDaLum parAparaiyE ||

Your Divine Form is beyond imagination and description. The Lord, who burnt manmatha to ashes just by opening his third eye, lost to you and offered one half of his body to you. Such is your divine glory !!

SL Verse 86 : mrushA krutvA gOtraskhalanamatha vailakshyanamitam

LalATE bhartAram charanakamalE tADayati tE

ChirADantah shalyam dahanakrutamunmUlitavatA

TulAkOTikvANaih kilikilitamIshAnashipuNA||

Lord Shiva by a slip of tongue called Devi by a wrong name. Devi seized that occasion to pick up a quarrel with the Lord that He had a secret affair with some other woman and punishes Him amorously by kicking Him on His forehead. At that time, Devi's anklets jingle. This jingle is nothing but manmatha's laughter depicting his vengeance for having been burnt to ashes by Lord Shiva! ( Manmatha was nursing his grievance as it were and showed his triumph at this amorous time)

Both seem to enjoy the surrender of Lord Shiva to Devis beauty.He is called Kameshwara yet He feels inseparable from Devi and as a proof has given half of His body to Her.

AA Verse 88 : param endru unnai aDaindEn thamiyEnum un pattarukkuL

Taram andru ivan endru taLLattakAdu tariyalar tam

Puram andru eriya poruppuvil vAngiya pOdil ayan

Siram ondru setragaiyAn iDapAkam sirandavaLE ||

O better half of the Lord, who smote one head of Brahma, who took a mountain to be his bow to destroy Tripuras, I surrender to Thine Lotus feet. without rejecting me as one without the necessary qualities, please accept me as one among your devotees.

SL Verse 70 : mruNAlii mrudvInAm tava bhujalatAnAm chatasruNAm

Chaturbhih soundaryam sarasijabhavah stoutivadanaih

NakhEbhyah santrasyan prathamamathanAdandhakaripO

SchaturNAm shIrshANAm samamabhayahastApiNAdhiyA||

Lotus born Brahma praises the beauty of Thy four creeper like arms with all his four faces, being afraid of the nails of the enemy of andhaka (Yama), Lord Shiva, one of their fellows ( fifth head) having been plucked off, in the belief that the Devi's arms would vouch safety to his four (remaining) heads at the same time.

Brahma also had five heads like Shiva. As he was vain glorious equating himself with Shiva, Shiva punished him by taking away one of his five heads.

AA Verse 97 : Adittan ambuli angi kubEran amarartamkOn

POdirbraman purArimurAri podiyamuni

KAdiporupaDai kandan gaNapadi kAman mudal

SAditta puNNiyar eNNilar pOtravuntaiyalaiyE ||

The sun, moon, agni, kubera, indra, lotus seated brahma, the destroyer of tiripura, shiva, Vishnu, who killed the demon mura, agastya, ganapati, murugan, manmatha and uncountable others worship you, O Abirami!!

SL Verse 32 : shivah shaktih kAmah kshitirathah ravih shItakiraNah

SmashE hamsah shkrastadanu cha parAmArharayah

Amii hrullEkhAbhih tisrubhikhasAnEshu ghaTitA

BhajantE varNAstE tava janani nAmAvabhavatAm ||

O Mother, Siva, Sakthi, Manmatha, kshithi ( earth), Ravi ( Surya), the moon, smarA, brahma, indra, parA ( other deities), Mara ( Yama), Vishnu, these three sets of syllables when conjoined severally at their ends with the three HrllekhAs become the components of Thy name. 

AA Verse 99 : kuyilAi irukkum kaDampADaviyiDai kOla kuyil

MayilAi irukkum imayAsalattiDai vantuditta

VeyilAi irukkum visumbil kamalattin mIdu annamAm

KayilAyarukku andru imavAn aLitta kankuzhaiyE ||

O Meenakshi, the nightingale of kdambavana ( Madurai), The beautiful peacock of the Himalayas, one whose beauty is like that of the rising sun, like the annam bird on a lotus, Himavan gave you in marriage to the Lord of Kailash, O Abirami!!

SL Verse 81 : gurutvam vistAram kshitidharapatih pArvati nijAn

NitambAdAcchidhya tvayi haraNa rUpENa nidadhE

AtastE vistIrNO gururayamashEshAm vasumatIm

Nitamba pragbhArah sthagayati laghutvam nayati cha||

O Parvati !! the King of the mountains, bestowed on Thee, by way of dowry heaviness and vastness taken out of his flanks. Hence thy prodigious hips being both broad and heavy hide from view the entire terrestrial world and make it light as well .



Epilogue : Abhirami Bhattar and Adi Shankara have both brought forth the Andadi and Saundarya lahari so that we devotees of the Devi can experience the bliss, they experienced on seeing the beauty and grace of the Devi. Both have wished to be blessed with the Devi's vision as Supreme. Through glorifying the heroic deeds of Shiva, like drinking the dreaded Halahala poison, burning of manmatha, destroying of tiripura, destroying kala, becoming ardanari, they sought to glorify the Devi. 

Adi shankara has not explicitly prayed the Devi to remove the fear of death. Abirama bhattar has sung 9 verses in which he seeks the grace of the Devi to remove his fear of death, thus we can conclude that darshan of the Divine Mother in our inner self will remove our fear of death right from its root. 

Both have given beautiful descriptions of the all encompassing and all surpassing beauty of Devi's Divine form as visualised through human effort, Her smile, Her attire, Her jewels and Her speech. This is akin to description of their mothers by children. Such is their rendering that it gives one who reads them everlasting bliss and joy. This is dedicated at the Lotus feet of these two great masters.

| Om tat sat |