Meaning of shlokam and song in Kanjadalaya Dhakshi

[saawariya]

Can anyone help with the translation of the song and shlokam by Muthuswamy Dikshitar called 'Kanjadalayadhakshi'
The lyrics are as follows:
kanja daLAyatAkshi - rAgaM manOhari - tALaM Adi

Shlokam
Kaanchinoopura ratna kankala lasatkeyura alojwala
Kaashmeeraaruna kanchukaanchita kucha
kastoorika charchita kalhaaraanchita hastayudmalasitaam
karunya kallorini kaamakshi kalayami kalpalatika
kanchipuri devata

Kaamaaradhi manapriya kamala bhoosevyaa
Ramaaraadhitaa
Kandharpaadiga darpanaasavilasat soundarya deepankuraa
Keeraanaapa vinodini bhagavati kaamya pradhaanaprata
kaamakshi kalaymi kalpalatika
kanchipuri devata


pallavi
kanja daLAyatAkshi kAmAkshi
kamalA manOhari tripura sundari

anupallavi
(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
kunjara gamanE maNi maNDita manjuLa caraNE
mAmava Siva panjara Suki pankaja mukhi
guru guha ranjani durita bhanjani niranjani

caraNam
rAkA SaSi vadanE su-radanE
rakshita madanE ratna sadanE
SrI kAncana vasanE su-rasanE
SRngArASraya manda hasanE
(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
EkAnEkAkshari bhuvanESvari
EkAnandAmRta jhari bhAsvari
EkAgra manO-layakari SrIkari
EkAmrESa gRhESvari Sankari

Appreciate your help!

[mohan]

Please refer to http://guruguha.wikispaces.com/kanjadala

[Rajani]

Saawariya, the 2 shlokas you have given are part of the "Kamakshi stotram" whose composer is "shree-mada-prauDha-kavi" ( Source- Devi stotras published by Ramakrisha Math Chennai)

Here is the meaning with some corrections in the words
kaanceenoopura ratna kankaNa lasatkEyura haarojwalaa- She who is shining with the golden belt, anklets, gem-studded bangles, shoulder plates and necklaces
kaashmeeraaruNa kancukaancita kucaa - whose bosom is covered with a garment red as the "kumkuma" flower
kastoorikaa carcitaa - who is smeared with musk
kalhaaraanchita hastayudmalasitaam - who has 2 hands shining with red lilies
kaaruNya kallolineem- who is the ocean of mercy
kaamaksheem kalayaami - I meditate on Kamakshi,
kalpalatikaam kaanceepuree dEvataam - the wish-fulfilling creeper(like slender one) , the goddess of Kanchi

kaamaaraati manahpriyaam - the beloved of Shiva(enemy of Manmatha)
kamala bhoosevyaa - whois worrshipped by the lotus-born Brahma
ramaaraadhitaam - who is adored by Lakshmi
kadarpaadhika darpa daana vilasat soundarya deepankuraam- who is the spark of great beauty that gives great pride to Manmatha (because now he is capable of defeating Shiva with Kamakshi's help)
keeraalaapa vinOdineem - who enjoys the talk of the parrot(on her hand)
bhagavateem - the great goddess
kaamya pradaana vrataam- who is pledged to grant (devotees their) desires

Hope this helps. Corrections welcome.

[saawariya]

thanks for the help Rajani!

In fact, someone else gave me another translation which is slightly different as it is word by word and some words incomplete as follows:
Kaanchinoopura- beautiful bells(ghungroo/salangai)
ratna- gems
kankala - skeleton
lasat- resound
keyura -armlet
alojwala - shine
Kaashmeeraaruna -Sun
kanchukaanchita kucha- full breasted
kastoorika charchita - smeared with kastoori
kalhaaraanchitahastayudmalasitaam-holds weapons in her hands???
karunya kallorini - filled with Mercy
kaamakshi - the loveable One
kalayami kalpalatika-Her Who is the wish-granting tree/creeper;
kanchipuri devata- the Goddess of Kanchipura

Kaamaaradhi manapriya - the one who appeals to loved ones
kamala -Lakshmi
bhoo-Brahma
sevyaa - Pray to you
Ramaaraadhitaa(no idea)
Kandharpaadiga darpanaa
savilasat - erotic(!)
soundarya -beautiful
deepankuraa-(no idea again)
Keeraanaapa -radiant
vinodini - the amusing/ wonderous being
bhagavati -fortunate
kaamya - agreeable/beautiful
pradhaanaprata/Most important majesty

Rasikas, please help solve this dillema.
Much appreciate your help!

[rshankar]

saawariya,

My 2 cents: Overall, Rajani's translation and the other are essentially the same (Rajani's explanations are more detailed) - they differ because in your friend's version, some of the original words are wrong - e.g. it is kaNkaNa lasat kEyUra hArOjwalA, with no place for a skeleton! Similarly, it is kirAlApa (not kIrANApa) = kIra + AlApa = parrot + conversation of (pArvatI is usually described holding a parrot - SukapANi; sometimes, she is described as having the speech of a parrot - kIravANI - because the parrot's speech is considered 'true').

And Rajani's translation of kAmAri manahpriyAm is spot on. kAmAri as she has explained is kAma+ari = manmatha+enemy of - refers to Siva and his destruction of manmatha in the pArvati pariNayam episode of kumArasambhavam.
kamalabhU sEvya = worshipped by (sEvya) by one who appeared/was created/came into being (bhU) in a lotus (kamala) - kamalabhU = brahmA, not just bhU.
ramArAdhitA = ramA (lakshmI) + ArAdhitA - one who is praised/prayed to by lakshmI (pArvatI is usually described as 'vANI ramA sEvitA' - one who is attended to by lakshmI and sarasvatI)
kIrAlApa vinOdinIm = one who delights in (vinOdinIm) the speech of her parrot (again, Rajani's translation is correct).
kAmya pradAna (not pradhAna) vrtAm - one who has taken a vow (vritAm) to grant (pradAna) the desires (kAmya) of her devotees.

Hope this helps!

[rshankar]

savilasat - erotic(!)

vilasat is not erotic - it means luminous/shining etc...In this context, it describes the dEvi as the One with the luminous (vilasat) beauty (soundarya) that shines like the flame of a lamp (dIpAnkurAm)

[saawariya]

Thank you rshankar!
I understand the lines with much more clarity...
however.....the line 'kadarpaadhika darpa daana' = does it mean gives great pride to Manmadha?

Please guide once again!

[rshankar]

RAJANI - Please correct me if I am shooting my mouth off here:

Again, going back to Rajani's translation, 'kandarpAdhika darpa dAna' = kandarpa+adhika darpa dAna - meaning, 'she (kAmAkSI) gifted (dAna) manmatha (kandarpa) more (adhika) pride (darpa)' - This refers to the fact that when Siva destroyed manmatha and spurned her love, a distraught pArvati performs austere penance, and, won over by her single-mindedness, Siva accepts her hand in marriage - after the wedding, he begins to delight in pArvati and bask in her love, and finally surrenders himself to her and to love (and pArvatI who is the object of Siva's love/kAma thus becomes kAmAkSI, or SivakAmasundarI). Immersed in love, Siva brings the god of love, manmatha back to life, albiet in a formless manner - that is why manmatha is also known as the being without limbs - ananga (and, by extension, his wife, ratI is called anangE). So, it was pArvati who empowered 'love' to enslave SivA, and thus the phrase 'kandarpa adhika darpa dAna'. So manmatha succeds in his undertaking to the gods (who had sent manmatha in the first place, to hasten the union of Siva and pArvati) by making Siva fall in love with pArvati - but not exactly in the way he had envisioned! - NOW, this would make for a beautiful sancArI!
Like manmatha, kAmAkSI is also depicted with a bow made of sugarcane, but I am not sure if she also weilds the five flowery arrows of manmatha as well.

[vgvindan]

rs,
panca tanmAtra sAyaka - lalitA sahasranAma (11)
(kAmAkshi also carries five arrows).

Five Flower Arrows – paJca bANa – Name of five fragrant flowers varies in books -
(1)Lotus, Jonesia azOka, mango blossom, Arabian jasmine and blue lotus .
(2) kamalam, kairavam, red kalhAra, red indIvara, sahakAra
(1) The Effects Mohana, Stambhana, Unmadana, Soshana and Tapana—fascination, stupefaction, intoxication, emaciation and burning.
(2) harshaNam, rOcanam, mOhanam, zOshaNam, mAraNam

Svami Sivananda's exposition on brahmacarya may be viewed here -
http://www.dlshq.org/download/brahmacha ... c441556941

PS : I somehow feel that 'kandarpAdhika darpa dAna vilasat saundarya dIpAnkurAm' would mean 'one who has that kind of flame of beauty which induces (bestows) more passion than that of cupid' ('darpa' here might not mean 'pride' but 'passion'.) - Here the word 'dIpAnkura' meaning 'flame' might point to 'passion inducing nature of the beauty' - This is so because umA (aka Siva kAmESvari) succeeded where cupid failed.

[rshankar]

VGV,

Thanks for the link and clarification. And your interprettation for 'kandarpAdhika.....' could also be correct : a very beautiful one too! I was just trying to interpret Rajani's translation for saawaria. In either case, the background for the statement looks to be the explanation I attempted in post #8.

[Rajani]

ravi, thanks for your patient clarification. Yes I complelely agree with the way you have interpreted the story behind "kandarpaadhika.." I was thinking of the shloka pf Saundaryalahari, where, seeing Shiva so enslaved by Devi's love, Manmatha is said to have finally uprooted from his heart his long-term hurt ( that he was burnt), and jingles the bells of his bow in victorious pride.
Vgv sir's translation is correct too. I was not aware of the other meaning of "darpa".

[s_hari]

Is any recording of this sloka & song together available? I am very eager to listen... I have listened upteen times rendition of MSS & DKP, mainly the keerthana... MSS amma has sung different sloka though...

=hari

[rshankar]

Smt. MSS prefaces her rendering of this masterpiece with a verse from the saundaryalahari - SivE SringArArdhra...that describes the myriad rasas the devi exhibits.

[saawariya]

Thank you rasikas for your input!

Truly, the manmadha episode would create a beautiful sanchari...

THe pallavi and charanam of the song are described in the site which mohan had provided earlier on.
But the which word refers to which meaning is a bit difficult. I am only partly sanskrit literate.
However the manmadha episode sanchari can be shown in the charanam 'raka shashivadane...."
I take the storyline as depicted below:
For anihilating Tarakasura, the Devas felt the pressing need for Lord Subramnya's incarnation as the son of Lord Siva. To distract Prameswara from his penance and divert his attention towards Goddess Gowri, the Devas deployed Cupid for the job. When Lord Siva was sturck by his flower arrows, his penance was disturbed. Getting angry, he burnt Cupid to ashes by the fire of the third eye on his forehead. Having lost his physical frame, Cupid not only wanted to regain it but also register a victory over Lord Siva. With these objectives, he prayed to Goddess Kamakshi and regained his lovely form. He expressed to her, his desire to score a victory over Lord Siva. Assuring him of her full support, Sri Kamakshi directed Cupid to go to Kailash again and shower his flower arrows on Lord Siva. He did so; but this time, the fire of Lord Siva's third eye, could do no harm to Cupid. Not only was it unable to reduce him to ashes, but it began to shine like a gem on his head as an ornament.
Then Lord Siva, infatuated with love, went into the harem to meet Goddess Gowri but she was not found there. This was because Goddess Kamakshi had imbibed the powers of all manifestations of Sakthi in all the holy places throughout and remained as a single store-house of power in Kanchi to save Cupid. Greatly disappointed Lord Siva visited all places and sacred shrines for his consort Gowri but to no purpose. Finally he came to Kanchi where he saw Goddess Kamakshi, the very personification of grace and expressed his love for her mistaking her to be the Gowri. But Goddess Kamakshi told him that she was not his consort, Gowri to appease his love and asked himto seek the assistance of cupid for the extinction of the fire of love from him.
Lord Siva took it as a prestige issue, rejected her suggestion and was about to seize her hand forcibly. But Goddess Kamakshi foiled his attempt by generating, just by her looks a crore of cupids for attacking him. Lord Siva in turn generatd a crore of Rudras to fight with the cupids, but they were all defeated. Cupid, who emerged as a victor with the grace of the Goddess, made Lord Siva surrender unto her. Goddess Kamakshi then transformed these cupids into stars just above the Kamakoti Peetam and then, to facilitate the various manifestations of parasakthi so as to allow them to get back to their respective shrines as the consorts of Lord Siva in those forms.

Does guruguha refer to Muthuswamy DIkshitar himself?

[saawariya]

ANother description of Kamakshi is depicted below:

The legend goes that Siva and Parvati fell out in a game of dice. Siva cursed Gowri to become ugly. With the help of Vishnu Parvati propitiated Siva by performing penance under a single Mango tree at Kancheepurarn on the banks of the Kampa River, and regained her beauty with dazzling eyes, from which the name of Kamatchi has been derived for the tutelary goddess of the temple. As Parvati regained Siva under the mango tree, the name of Ekamranatha (Ekaone, amra - mango, and natha-Lord) was given to Lord Siva and it later became Ekambareswara.

According to Devi Bhagavata, the lord of the ganas, Citrakarma creates the image of a man out of the burnt ashes of Love; the Love god Manmatha who tried to distract Shiva from meditation and got burnt by the power of agni (fire) from the third eye of Shiva. Shiva names the new image, Bhanda or Panda, teaches him a powerful mantra and gives him the boon of being one and a half times as strong as his enemy, and empowering him as ruler for sixty thousand years. By the power of this mantra, one could gain half the might of one's adversary. Unfortunately, because he was generated from the ashes of Shiva's wrath he is transformed into a fierce demon. Intoxicated with his new found power he proceeded to rampage the kingdom of the gods. Apprehending defeat and humiliation, there is nothing that any of the gods can do during the sixty thousand years when Siva is protecting Bhanda, but once this time has gone by, the gods try to find a way to destroy him and protect all the Celestials from the atrocities of a demon.

The Devas in disguise of a parrot image together with the holy Trinity, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, summon the Divine Mother Adi Parashakti, Sri Lalita Ambika, in the form of Kamatchi. Legend has it that Kamatchi appeared in her ethereal form in a pit or cave (Bilakasa Swarupa) to save the Devas from Asuras agrees to stop Bhanda's efforts to overtake the city of the gods and destroy him.

The battle starts and gods rejoice in Kamatchi's growing success and worship her. Nonetheless, Bhanda is still alive and empowered. Sri Kamatchi Devi agrees to bless all of those worshiping her with progeny, fame, and virtue, among other things. As the city is being attacked by Bhanda, Kamatchi in the form of Parvati marries Lord Shiva, forming a strong allied army. At the same time, Kamatchi proclaims her independence while honoring her independence. Years go by and Kamatchi leaves her Consort to lead the army against Bhanda.

Bhanda does not regard an army of women as a serious threat, and laughs that Kamatchi is as soft and delicate as the flower. To Bhanda's dismay and the gods' delight, Kamatchi's army is very powerful. She is supported by strong women who work together to create unique weapons, particularly the noose and goad (which Lalita's icon often hold) in order to be successful. One after another, Bhanda's generals are defeated. Kamatchi creates new gods to fight as the battle rages on, including Lord Ganesa, and he destroys many armies and Bhanda's brother. As a reward, Kamatchi grants him the right to be worshipped before all other gods. The battle rages on, all of Bhanda's family is killed, and finally he tries to save himself by creating powerful missiles to destroy Kamatchi. She is too powerful for him and sends Durga after him. Finally, it is a showdown between Bhanda and Kamatchi. She kills him using the kamesvara missile, which has an incredibly bright splendor. The deity's praise Kamatchi for her courage and success. She agrees to bring back the god of Love, Manmatha and reunites him with his grateful wife Rathi Devi.

[s_hari]

wow!! I will read in detail later...

Guruguha refer to Muruga / subrahmanya

-hari

[saawariya]

thanks hari.
However, the pallavi and charanam word to word description is still unclear as the site gives an entire meaning and not line by line or word to word....anyone expert in sanskrit can help?

[avnipriya]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU6PYGKHjAQ

In this video, I hear " kashmiraruna kanchukAnchita kucha " as " kashmiraruna kanchukAnchana kucha ".

Is it correct ?

[keerthi]

I hear " kashmiraruna kanchukAnchita kucha " as " kashmiraruna kanchukAnchana kucha ".

Is it correct ?

KAshmIra-aruNa-kancuka-ancita-kucA =

One whose bosom [kuca] is ensheathed [anchita(1)] by a bodice[kancuka] that is ruddy[aruNa] like saffron [kAshmIra(2)]


kancukAncita is correct. It an be argued that kancukAcana is legitimate, but the former is more apt.

(1) ancita is derived from the same verb anc that gives us the word ancala (sheath/veil ) which morphs into Ancal in hindi.

(2) kashmIr was known by the same name even a thousand years. And its most notable produce was saffron.
There is a famous reference to Kashmiri saffron in kalidasa's Raghuvamsa poem, where the dust that that arose from the tumultuous march of raghu's elephants as they conquered Kashmir, competed with the fine pollen and filaments of the crocus (saffron) that kashmir was renown for.

[avnipriya]

Thank Keerthi for your explanation, I really want to understand it clear.

[avnipriya]

Could someone please give the extact meaning of these lines :

kalhaara-anchita-hasta-yugma-lasitaam
and
kaamya-pradaana-vRtaam

because I don't know the meaning of these words : anchita, lasitaa and vRtaa.

[keerthi]

Could someone please give the exact meaning of these lines :

kalhaara-anchita-hasta-yugma-lasitaam
and
kaamya-pradaana-vRtaam

these words : anchita, lasitaa and vRtaa.

kalhaara-anchita-hasta-yugma-lasitaam : one whose hands are splendorous with lotuses


kalhAra - lotus,

anchita - bearing,

hasta - hand,

yugma - pair,

lasitAM - resplendent (with)


kAmya-pradAna-vratAM : one who is bent upon fulfilling wishes

kAmya - desires/ wishes,

pradana - bestowal,

vratAM - one who has undertaken (as if it were a religious duty - vrata)


It appears as if all this is clear from rajani's excellent translation.

However, i hope it helps.

[avnipriya]

Thank Keerthi for explaination, I'm sorry for my ignorance.

[kumarmaly]

Hi

Can some one pls post the entire text of this Stotram - Or guide me where I can get it

Thanks in advance
Kumar