Advaita Vedanta

Saundarya Lahari Variants

 

SAUNDARYA LAHARI

VARIANT VERSE TRANSLATIONS

This file is intended to reproduce as closely as possible the
finalized text of the translation of the verses of the Saundarya
Lahari (SL) of Shankara by Nataraja Guru.

 

A NOTE ON "FINALIZED" VERSIONS

 The Guru's work on the Saundarya Lahari was interrupted in
1972 by his hospitalisation and subsequent death.
At that time he had written the film treatment, reproduced in the
SL NOTES series of files, and was about to leave for the USA with
a putative director and a group of student assistants to begin work
on the actual film.
After his death, the project collapsed, although study of the
Saundarya Lahari was continued by his students.
There are several tentative and incomplete versions of the
translation of the verses in the SL series of files.

In 1972,the Guru dictated a final version, contained in files SLP6
(up to verse 51, inclusive), SLP7 (up to verse 71, inclusive) and
SLP8 (verse 71 to 100), all from notes by ED. There is a further
source R, which is a mimeographed text probably originating from
Curran de Bruler's notes, which are believed to be lost. We are
attempting to ascertain its exact date and source,but it diverges
only slightly from the other two, and has to be considered as an
authentic variant of the finalized version.
It is probable that the Guru intended yet a further polishing and
finalisation, but the divergences in these "finalized" texts are
minimal,and we can be fairly certain that he intended something
very close to the text we present here.
The translation is from SLP7 and SLP8, which also contain various
comments, short titles etc., not reproduced here, with variants
indicated with "R" for the mimeographed text, "P6" for SLP6.
Obvious errors and omissions on the part of the copyist have been
corrected by Ed: the interested student can refer to the SL files
to verify the accuracy of this correction.


VERSE 1

*Shiva, united with Shakti, becomes able to manifest,
R(IF)
If otherwise, this god *knows not even how to pulsate,
* R(does not know)
How then could one of ungained merit be able to bow to, or even praise,

One, such as You, adored even by Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.

 

VERSE 2

The fine dust arising *from Your lotus feet,
*R(out of)
Brahma *gathers up * the world* creates,
*R(gathering up)*P6(and) * P5(worlds)
Vishnu incessantly bears them up somehow with *his thousand heads,
*R(omitted)
And Shiva, having shaken it up, accomplishes with it his ash-wearing rite.

VERSE 3

To the uninstructed You are the light-city,inner darkness banishing , mid-ocean placed

To inert ones the *ooze of sweetness *within blossoms
*R(mind-expanding ooze)*R(from within
celestial,*having mind-expanding effect;
* R(omits the end of this line)
While for *indigent spirits you become a brood of philosophers' stones
*R(the)
And for those submerged in *the ocean of birth and death, the very tusk of Vishnu's boar
*R(birth-cycle ocean)

VERSE 4

Other arms *than Yours can confer protection or boon;
*R(of classes of divinities)
You alone *do not act overtly , by gesture, the *promises of refuge or boon
*R(are unique in not acting) *R(promise)
What is more,Your feet,o sole refuge of the *world of beings,
*R(worlds)
Are alone expert indeed in yielding *boons more than asked for.
*R(more than asked for boon)

 

VERSE 5
Once Vishnu, having adored You, the *bestower of blessings on
*R(the mother that bestows)
*Your worshippers,
*R(those who worship you)
Taking womanly form,*caused agitation even unto the City-Burner.
*R(even to the City-Burner (Shiva) caused agitation)
Eros, too, *worshipping You with body licked into reality by the glances of Rati
*R(on worshipping)
Even to the minds of great recluses, confusion of values *brings.
*R(he is indeed able to bring)

 

VERSE 6

O Daughter of the Snowy Peak, just deriving from Your glance askance
Whatsoever grace he could; with *flowery bow,*bumble-bee bowstring,
*R(flower) *P6(and)
And five-flowered dart and springtide for minister; all these as one withal:
Mounting the chariot of the mountain breeze , he victoriously reigns, that god of
love.


VERSE 7

*O let Her appear before us, that proud counterpart of the City-Burner
*R(this line goes to end of verse)
Resounding with waist-belt of jingle bells, recumbent by breasts

Like frontal bulges of a calf elephant, slim of waist, with autumnal full-moon mature face,

*Holding aloft bow *and arrow, noose and goad!
*R(by hands) *R(with arrow)

 

VERSE 8

Seated on a couch of Shiva-form and having the Supreme Shiva for cushion;

Placed within a mansion wafted round by the perfume of blossoms of Kadamba trees,

Located within a celestial grove on a pearly-gem island in the midst of a nectar ocean,

Some fortunate ones contemplate You as the upsurging billow of mental joy.

 

VERSE 9

The earth placed in the Muladhara, water in the Manipura,

Fire in the Swadhisthana, air in the heart, with space above;

And amid eyebrows placing the mind, and breaking through the whole Kula path,

You do sport with your lord secretly in the thousand-petaled lotus.

 

VERSE 10

With streaks of ambrosial essence streaming from between Your twin feet,

Sprinkling blessings over the worlds and again from that point of high intelligible values,

Turning Yourself into a snake form of three coils and a half,

You sleep in the hollow of he Kulakunda, Your proper ground attaining.

 

VERSE 11

With the four of Shiva and of Shiva-maids five,

And severally *the nine of prime nature, with eight and sixteen petals
*R(distinct from those of Shiva, those nine too of prime nature)

Three circles and three lines, *are thus complete,
*R(thus are)
The forty-three elements *that make up Your *angular refuge.
*P6(making up) *R(finalized)

VERSE 12

O Daughter of the High Peak, to estimate the equal of Your beauty,

The best among poets, exercising their fancy, somehow created Brahma and others.

Eager Your beauty to see, heavenly damsels mentally attain to

What is hard even for ascetics to *attain; the state of union with Shiva
*R and P6 (gain)

VERSE 13

A man overaged, uninteresting to the view, inert in sport;

Falling within the range of Your side-glance, they follow, running in hundreds -

Young women, with hair dishevelled, their *rounded shapely breasts by blown-off clothes revealed
*R(pot-shaped)
*Their waistbands bursting and *silk garments in disarray.
*R(By their) *R(with their silk shawls in disarray)

 

VERSE 14

Fifty-six for earth; for water fifty-two;

Sixty two for fire; for air fifty-four;

Seventy-two for ether; for mind sixty-four;

Are the rays, even beyond these are Your twin feet.

 

VERSE 15

Clear as autumnal moonbeams, with matted hair-made diadem,

Attached with crescent and with hands bearing refuge or boon-giving

*gesture, Rosary made of crystal-clear beads and book:
*R(geste)
How could anyone, worshipping You but once,

Not gain in flow of words somehow, the pleasing sweetness of honey, milk and grapes?

 

VERSE 16

That beauty residing within the minds of superior poets,

Resembling that of a forest of lotuses, when touched by the tender light of dawn:

He who can thus adore You, who are so dear to Brahma as magenta itself;

He, by profound words of most tender *erotic content, shall please the same select ones
*R(yet erotic)

 

VERSE 17

He who can contemplate those word-bearing elements of broken moonstone lustre,*
*R(lustre, with you)
Joined with vasinis, having an elusively fluid gleam;

He becomes, o Mother, the author of great poetic works,

Adding sweet charm to the lotus face of the Goddess of the Word.

 

VERSE 18

With shades of Your bodily form enriched by the tenderly sunlit *dawn,
*R(sky of a dappled dawn)
*And the whole earth submerged within magenta glory;
*R(submerging the whole earth within its sheer magenta glory)

*That man, able to contemplate You thus, wins You over with Urvasi
*R(Able to contemplate thus, he wins over maids with startled, gentle, wild deer eyes)

*and how many,how many other
* R(together with Urvasi and how many,how many other such celestial damsels)
Heavenly nymphs having gentle, startled, wild deer eyes.



VERSE 19

O Shiva Consort, making Your face the locus with twin breasts below,

And below still,as the better half of Shiva; meditating on Your erotic aspect,

Without delay he can stir the *sentiments of women; this is but slight
*R(hearts)
And at once agitates even Her of the three worlds,when sun and moon form Her twin breasts.

VERSE 20

He who can bring You,as emanating nectar out of Your limbs all around,

Into his heart like a moonstone- made statue,

He can quell the pride of serpents like the King of Birds

And a fever patient cure by his very look of ambrosial streak.

 

VERSE 21

As lightning-streak-bodied,made of sun,moon and fire,

And as placed even above the six lotuses in a great lotus grove;

Those great ones,as seers of such,Your aspect *free from dross and ignorance
*R(having mind free)
They experience the upsurging billow of ultimate delight.

 

VERSE 22

O Goddess,You,on this Your servant bestow a kind look:

Thus intending to adore,no sooner one begins saying:

"O Goddess, You.."; You grant him that state of identity with You

The same as what Vishnu,Brahma and Indra accomplished by the waving of *lights on their diadems.
*R(the bright lights)

VERSE 23

Absorbing the left half of the body of Shiva and unsatisfied in mind still,

The other,I surmise,became absorbed also; therefore,

This Your form,having three eyes and bent by twin breasts,

Wearing *crescent bedecked crown,became of magenta glory.
*R(a curved crescent)


VERSE 24

Brahma creates the world,Vishnu protects,Shiva destroys:

Negating all this and his own body,the lord fades out.

Thus what results: Shiva who has eternity for prefix (Sadashiva)

He blesses*,obeying the *orders derived from Your instantly vibrating eyebrow-twigs
*R(too,obeying)*R(order)

 

VERSE 25

Of the three gods,who are originated from Your three nature modalities,

Their worship of You,o consort of Shiva,would alone be worship

Offered to Your twin feet; it is indeed *thus when they do so,
*R(so, despite this, when)
Standing eternally beside Your gem-decked footstsool,joining bud-like their hands well above

*like crowns.
*R(their crowns)

 

VERSE 26

Brahma regains his pure quintuple nature; Vishnu becomes passionless;

The God of Death destruction meets; the God of Wealth becomes bankrupt;

the great Indra becomes functionless,with half-shut eyes;

In this great doom,he sports,o constant spouse,Your lord alone.

VERSE 27

Incantations,mutterings,ritual acts,hand gestures,gait,

Circumambulations, food offerings,inclination,*adoration by lying down*
*PS(inclination, prostration)
*P6(omits" adoration by lying down")
All such enjoyments, as coming within the scope of self-surrender,

And thus synonymous *with worship of You, let such be what from me might shine forth
*R(synonymous for)

VERSE 28

Even *on partaking of nectar,so potent against fear old age and death;
*P6 (as)
They reach their doom,all such gods as Brahma or Indra;

On even swallowing that terrible super-poison,for Shiva,time's *becoming is not operative:
*R and P6(function)
The source here being the power of Your marital string.

VERSE 29

" Remove Brahma's crown from before,and of him called Vishnu;

You are going to hurt his hard headgear: bypass Indra's crown"

As inclining in front of You,they remain,at that very moment for him *at his homecoming,
*R(on his)
You are about to rise.Such words of Your retinue , they do *reign supreme.
*R(ring)

VERSE 30

Out of the rays arising from Your proper body,representing psychic powers such as atomicity *(anima),
*R(omits)
Attendant on You, o eternal one, one who contemplates these in terms of oneself:

What wonder for him that all benefits from the three-eyed one should only be worth rejection,

And that the fire of doom should perform for him in turn the light-waving rite.

 

VERSE 31

By sixty-four know-how factors,each capable of generating its own psychic power;

Transcending the whole world while remaining immobile,

The Lord of Beasts,again,by Your insistence by that free expertness of Yours,

Caused to be brought down this firm earth for the unified fulfilment of all life purposes.

 

VERSE 32

Shiva, Parvati, Eros and earth; sun,moon,

God of Love, swan and Indra; Para, Mara and Hari;

With these three sets,with their heart monomarks suffixed,

They adore Your letters,o Mother,by way of naming Your component limbs.

VERSE 33

Eros,source,wealth; this triplet placing *first within Your charm
*P6 (omits "first")
O lone and eternal one, innumerable seekers of great enjoyment

Adore You,telling beads of philosopher's stone,ever *sacrificing into the fire of Shiva
*R(sacrifices)
By hundreds of streaks of clarified butter oblations from the celestial cow.

 

VERSE 34

You *are the body of Shiva,having sun and moon for twin breasts
*R and P6(you who are)
Yourself,I surmise,o Goddess,as a new sinless self.

Therefore,by mutual complementarity,this relation remains one of common reciprocity

Between You two,participating on equal terms of transcendant bliss.

 

VERSE 35

The mind You are,the sky,the wind too, also the charioteer of the winds

You are the water,as well as the earth; apart from Your manifest form there is nought else indeed!

You,in order to manifest *Your own self, *by taking a universal form
*R(by Your) *R(omits"by")
Of mental bliss substantial,do assume the role of Shiva-bride,and thus triumphant rule.

 

VERSE 36

I adore that Shiva ultimate,as placed in Your willing centre*,shining with the brilliance
*R(centre,(Ajna))
Of millions of suns and moons,whose flanks are illumined by the light of the intelligibles beyond;

Whom,worshipping with devotion,lifted beyond the reach of sun,moon *and fire,
*(or)
In that *domain above all need,one lives indeed in that bright world of light
*R(shining domain)

 

VERSE 37
In Your Vishudhi Chakra,crystal-clear and sky-generating,

I adore Shiva and the Goddess also,with *parity of status *with Shiva
*R(a parity) *P6(omits "with Shiva")
By whose combined,streaming,moonbeam-like fluorescence,

With banished inner dross,like a female partridge,the world hereunder shines.

VERSE 38

I adore those twin swans,intent on enjoying the nectar

Of the lotus blooming within the consciousness of certain great ones,

Moving within whose minds as a result of their elaboration,the maturation

Of the eighteen arts takes place freed from dross,their goodness extracted as milk from water.

VERSE 39

O Mother,I praise,placing in Your Svadhisthana the fire of sacrifice

Ever looking upon it as the great fire of doom,and placing there her also called Samaya,

So that when the worlds are burning due to his anger,

Her mercy-moist regard renders to it the cooling touch of early spring.

VERSE 40

As found in certain contemplatives who take full refuge in Your Manipura,

I adore that dark cloud of Yours,as traversed by forceful lightning,

Banishing darkness and shining,bursting into sparks with the varied gem-decked *brightness of Indra's bow,
*R and P6(gem-decked maturity)
While over the three worlds,agonized by the heat of Shiva-sun,it sheds its showering waters.

 

VERSE 41

I meditate on Your new self,as placed at Your Muladhara,together with Samaya,

Given to her light-step dance,as also that great bold-step dancer;

Giving expression thereby to all nine aesthetic interests,thus by their joint lordship,

By mercy *ordaining the rebirth of the world,they confer on it the
*R(intending)
renewed status of having both father and mother.

VERSE 42

These sky orbs twelve attained to rubyhood and placed close together

He who can praise thus Your golden crown,o Daughter of the Snowy peak

Would he not have then in his mind the impression of the bow of Indra

When, by reflected glory, a slender crescent is produced by *gems imbedded therein.
*P6(the gems)

VERSE 43

Let the blooming blue-lotus forest growth of Your thick,glossy and lustrous *locks
*R(cluster of locks)
O Shiva-consort,banish the darkness within us

To gain whose natural fragrance those other flowers of the garden of Indra,

As I can guess,take their place within Your tresses.

VERSE 44

May it bless us,the upsurging billow of the beauty of your face

Outflowing *into a stream,to resemble Your parted hairline,
*R(like unto a stream)

With vermilion dust bedecked,keeping apart the strong growth of tresses

As if in bondage held by *anti-darkness gangs,to reveal the tender rays of dawn
*R(an anti-darkness gang)

VERSE 45

Your face,exuding perfume,as it gently smiles,

Having Your bright teeth for filament,when surrounded by Your natural curls

Like so many reveling,honey-licking bees; each the eye

Of the Eros-burner,puts to shame the beauty of the lotus.


VERSE 46

I fain would treat Your forehead, shining with *radiant beauty,
*R(a pure beauty)
A second crescent to that other frail one fixed to Your crown,

So that reversed in position,both as knit one-to-one,

Results the form of a fully-matured moon,emanating soft ambrosial essence.

VERSE 47

O Uma,ever pained in concern for banishing the fear of all creatures

And thus with eyebrows somewhat arched,with eyes of bee-like beauty below

I do surmise them as making up the bowstring for this bow

Of the *lord of love,held by his other hand,his arm and fist hiding the middle part
*P6(god)

VERSE 48

That eye of Yours,in essence the same as the sun and other than the left,

It generates daytime; the left one,presiding over night,creates its three vigils;

While the third eye,*like a half-open golden lotus bud,
*R(sweet like)
Ushers in the twilight time,moving between day and night.

VERSE 49

Vishala the expansive, Kalyani the auspicious; Sphutaruchi the clear of taste

Ayodhya the invincible,by blue lotus bound; Kripadharadhara, on mercy's fountain founded;

A certain Madhura, the sweet; Avanti, of saving power; Bhogavatika, enjoyment affording;

All such names of various cities of lasting fame, *within Your total regard they do reign triumphant
*R(fame, each fit to be called by its own name)

 

VERSE 50

Seeing Your baby bumble-bee-like pair of eyes which, while seeming to cast *glances
*R(side- glances)
Do not give up the bases of Your ears, mellowed by the play of the nine aesthetic interests,

Remaining like aptness with poets, wholly absorbed in drinking the honey within

a spray of *blooms;
*R(blossoms)

Your mid - forehead lotus-bud eye, by jealousy touched, seems magenta tinged

VERSE 51

Moved by sentimental love for Shiva, resentful to any other person;

With anger of jealousy towards Ganges, and with transports of wonder at Shiva's story;

With fearful surprise for the snakes of Hara, and for friends a jestful smile;

As such a source of lotus-red grace, Your regard, o Mother, for me will remain one of kindliness.

VERSE 52

Drawn fully to the ear-limits, like gleaming Eros arrows, with lashes looking like

Arrow-base feathers; these Your eyes, having the effect

Of *disturbing the complacent detachment of the City-Burner,
*R(disrupting)
Make for Your glory as the highest clan of the Mountain King.


VERSE 53

The tricolour distinctness of Your eyes, o beloved of Ishana (Lord)

Presented in clear threefold relief by the use of collyrium,

Would seem to create afresh the gods *Shiva,Vishnu and Indra,
*R(Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva)
Bereft of passion and having the qualities of *Rajas, Sattva and Tamas
*R(rajas (active) , sattva (pure) and tamas (dark)

VERSE 54

O one of kindly, sympathetic regard, Your heart being

Given over to the Lord of Beasts: of rivers such as Shona, Ganga and Yamuna,

Coloured red, white and black:

Their sacred waters You do blend indeed into sinless confluence for our purification.

VERSE 55

With eyes open or shut, You can effect, as saints say,

The being or non-being of the world, o Daughter of the Earth- Supporting Lord;

What thus came to be as you opened them, this entire world, without anything left,

To save*, I now surmise, You remain now with eyes unwinkingly withdrawn
*R(from dissolution)

 

VERSE 56

O *Aparna, afraid of the gossip carried to Your ear bases by Your lengthened eyes
*R(O Aparna(Parvati))

Surely they lie merged unwinking *in water like the female Sapherika fish
*R(within)
This Lakshmi too, leaves behind at dawn the closed petal doors of *water lilies,
*R(blue water lilies)
And at dusk, forcing them open, She re-enters therein.

VERSE 57

With Your long-extended regard having the beauty of water-lilies just opening,

O Shiva-consort, do bathe with mercy *even me steeped in misery far off
*R(me too)
Thus shall I be blessed with no loss *to You;
*R(either for You)
The moonbeams do fall on forest and mansion with equality.

VERSE 58

The two sets of curved limiting lines of Yours, o Daughter of the King of Mountains,

Who is it that will not fancy them as the bow of the flower- arrowed one;

Where, placed obliquely, and reaching beyond the path of hearing,

As it shines, adhering to Your side-glances, it gives the impression of the fixing of the arrow.

 

VERSE 59

This, Your face, I consider Kama's chariot with four wheels,

As seen when Your ear ornaments are reflected on Your shining cheeks;

Surmounting which that great hero Kama assails the Lord of Hosts,

Who, with sun and moon for *foothold, mounting the globe for chariot, is fully ready to give him battle
*R(wheels)

 

VERSE 60

The good sayings of Saraswati, exuding nectar sweetness,

Ever absorbing as with slow interest, *You bend Your ears to them, o blessed one
*R(by Your ears, o)
Each bright wit therein *approving with nods,
*R(while approving)
*While Your series of earrings seem to applaud them with their high pitch jinglings
*R(omits "while")

 

VERSE 61

O banner of the dynasty of the Himalayas, Your nose ridge, here as Your clan's flagstaff,

Let it ripen for us, standing so near *below You, deserving fruit;
*R(omits "below")
Inwardly wearing pearls as they do, and dropped by cool moonbeam respiration,

It bears, even outside, pearls due to the plenitude of the same.

 

VERSE 62

O one of goodly teeth, of Your parted lips naturally red I shall declare the similitude;

Let the coral reef bear fruit *by reflection *from its original model
*R(fruit, not the fruit but by)
*R(reddened from)
With which desiring to climb to *the point of mid-parity,
*R(a state of)
However could *it avoid being abashed at least by a *degree?
*R(could they, the teeth, avoid) *R(a shade)


VERSE 63

Your smile, like a moonbeam cluster out of Your moon-bright face,

Partridges, on drinking, by surfeit of sweetness

Numbness of tongue they got; thus presently do they imbibe eagerly

The nectar thereof, treating it as sour brew, night by night.

VERSE 64

By incessant repetition of a muttered charm glorifying Your Lord;

As offering the flower-red shade of Your tongue triumphs;

The pure ,clear crystal outline image of Saraswati,

While seated at Your tongue-tip, o Mother, in turn attains to rubyhood in its bodily form.

VERSE 65

O Mother, they merge, those mouthfuls of betel-juice of Your face,

As Skhanda, Vishnu and Upendra, *vanquishing demons in battle,
*R(returning from vanquishing the)
Taking off their headgear and *armour, they *return discountenancing
*R(still in their) *R(they discountenance that Shiva's)
That Shiva's portion of offering meant for Chanda which are moon-bright bits of camphor.

 

VERSE 66

Starting as You do to sing with Your vina*, with head movements,
*R(vina and with)
Of the varied exploits of the Lord of Beasts, You, as the Goddess of the Word

The one of lovely speech, You promptly cover up to silence

Your instrument as mocking the sweetness thereof by sounds of strings.

 

VERSE 67

Affectionately touched by the tip of the hand of the Mountain king,

And lifted *again and again by that Shiva out of desire
*R(lifted up again)
To drink of the lips thereof, that which makes the handle

For Your face-mirror, how could we ever speak of it, Your peerless chin.

VERSE 68

Incessantly embraced by the arms of the City-Burner,

And thrilled to *thorny bristling of the hair of Your neck,
*R(to a thorny)
It shows *the lotus-stalk grace ,smudged by excess of dark cosmetic paste
*R(a)
By itself *it retains beneath the *creeper-tendril suppleness of * the pearly necklace lotus core
*R(retaining) *R(lotus creeper) *R(of a pearly necklace)

 

VERSE 69

Those three lines on Your neck, o One fully expert in time, syncope and melody;

They are the counter-grounds of Your marital thread of strands and substrands,

As they do shine as the ground wherein is born many a melody;

Giving position, regulation and limitation for the three groups of musical keys.

VERSE 70

Of the lotus-core tender beauty of You fourfold *hands,
*R(creeper-like arms)
He sings the praise, the lotus-born god, trembling the while because of Shiva's nails

That once of yore nipped off his extra head, he (Brahma) intending now to pray for

Your refuge-granting hand- gesture for each of his remaining heads

VERSE 71

Shining by the *play of Your fingernails that mock *in colour
*R(brilliance) *R(the colour of)
Just-opening lotus buds, how could we speak of the beauty of Your hand?

Granted be, o Uma, that the lotus could have one shade less of parity with it

If at all, and that , alas, only when touched by the magenta paste of the sole of Lakshmi as she plays thereon.

VERSE 72

Let it banish our misery, o Goddess, your twin breasts,

Ever being sucked equally by Skanda and Ganesha;

Of which, seeing their milk-spouting fronts, Ganesha causes laughter

As he feels his own front with misgivings in his *mind.
*R(heart)


VERSE 73

O banner of the King of Peaks, Your breasts, shoulder-borne

Are nectar-bearing ruby pots indeed, without any trace of doubt:

These two, Skanda and Ganesha, both innocent of *the pleasures of marital contact
*R(conjugal joy)
*Drinking from them they remain thus child-like to the present day
*R(By reason of drinking)

VERSE 74

Your mid-bust region, wearing a* slender garland of pearly beads,
*R(pure and slender streak of a garland)

Derived and worked out *by some elephant-demon vanquished by Shiva
*R(out of the frontal knobs of some)
The semblance bears of his *reputation with added redness of lips
*R(very reputation, mixed with his exploits with added)
And an inner brightness presenting a *picturesque charm.
*R(a variegated picturesque)

 

VERSE 75

Your breast milk, I consider, o maiden born to the Earth- Supporting Lord,

As if it were word-wisdom's ocean of nectar, flooding *from out of Your heart
*R(out from)
Offered by one who is kind, which, on tasting,

This dravidian child, amidst superior poets, is born a composer of charming verse.

VERSE 76

That mind-born god,once,on his body being engulfed

In the *fire of Shiva's ire,into the deep lake of Your navel,
*R(encircling flames of)
O Mountain Daughter,he dived, and on re-emerging,

The *smoke thus raised,the people look upon as Your rows of hair.
*R(creeper-like streaks of smoke)

 

VERSE 77

O auspicious Mother,that something revealed at Your slender waist

Looking like *ripples on the surface of the river Kalindi,
*R(superfine ripples)
Looms in the mind of contemplatives as space reduced to ethereal particles

Entering into the cavity of Your navel, and produced by the friction of Your pot-like breasts.

 

VERSE 78

O* mountain-born, your navel reigns supreme
*R(O Daughter of the peak)

As a stilled gangetic whirlpool, as the fecund flowerbed of Your breast-bud-bearing creeper

As the sacrificial fire-pit for *Kama, and for Rati *her pleasure- bower
*R(for receiving Kama's glory)*R(as her)
While to the eyes of the Mountain Lord the cavern mouth for *his austerities
*R(the fruition of his austerities)

VERSE 79

For Your waist*, naturally slim, fatigued by weight of *bust form,
*R(o best of women) *R(Your)

*Bending by form and on the point of breaking,
*R(With a figure bent down and)

*Equal in state to a tree on a collapsing brook bank;
*R(Having the equality of the state of a tree)

O mountain-born one let there be security forever.

VERSE 80

O Goddess, having made Your twin breasts gain the beauty of gold pots,

Rubbing at the upper arms, bursting the bodice and presently perspiring,

*The God of Love, now wanting to save your threefold waist from breaking, saying : "enough"
*R(The maker thereof, the God)

With *three strands of a wild creeper, he presently binds.
*R(with threefold strands of a wild creeper, he has now bound)

VERSE 81

Ponderability and extensiveness *Shiva once bestowed on You as dowry
*R(o Parvati, the earth-supporting lord)
Cutting them off from his own hips; thus *it is this
*R(omits "it is")
Yours here, both weighty and expansive, cancels out the whole world

And by prior substantiality confers lightness on it too.

VERSE 82

Beating both the best of elephant trunks, and groups of golden banana stems,

By *thighs and by knees having goodly *callosities, due to daily devotions
*R(two) *R(rounded callosities)
To Your lord, even the twin *knobs of the heavenly elephant
*R(frontal knobs)
You out-do, *o Mountain Daughter triumphant.
*R(fully aware of right obligations, o)

VERSE 83

His quiver duplicating as Your twin legs, looking like pillars

Made *by the God of Love, for giving battle to Shiva,
*R(surely by)
They show at their *knees ten arrowheads, simulating nails,
*R(bases)
Sharpened *only on the whetstones which are the crowns of gods.
*R(solely on)

VERSE 84

Mother, Your twin feet, marking as they do the crest point of *wisdom,
*R(scriptural wisdom)
*Wearable as head ornament by You as by me ,kindly place both upon my head
*R(worn)

Water *from their ablution comes *from the stream in Shiva's matted hair
*R(for) *R(is the brook in)
*And the red paste on their sole comes from the magenta glory of Vishnu's crown
*R( and the auspicious beauty of their red paste is the magenta)


VERSE 85

Spoken words of worship do we offer to these Your lotus feet,

Beauteous as they are to view, smeared over with paste of *magenta glory
*R(brilliant magenta)
Extremely jealous is he, the Lord of Beasts, of that Ashoka tree

In Your pleasure grove, for desiring to be kicked by them.

VERSE 86

On having inadvertently defaulted in respect of Your family name,

While stooping in shame, Your husband's forehead as You kicked with Your lotus feet,

That enemy of Shiva, wholly giving up his *rancour ,his victory
*R(long-standing rancour, caused by the heat(of Shiva)
*celebrates with clamour of many jingle bells.
*R(celebrated)

VERSE 87

Capable of being killed by snow, and fully at home on *snow peak;
*R(the)
Sleeping at night, and in bloom both at *dusk and after;
*R(dawn)
Making Lakshmi's bowl overgenerous to Your vedic worshippers,

Such the twin lotus of Your foot, it triumphs* : what wonder herein?
*R(o Mother)

VERSE 88

Your foot is the *seat for good repute, o Goddess;
*R(supreme)
How then from danger to safety did it come? The wise treat it as of tortoise-shell hardness;

How then was it that Shiva,

At his wedding, could lift it with a tender mind to place it on the ritual stone?

VERSE 89

*With fingernails like moons, putting to shame
*R(With fingernails of the lotus hands of celestial damsels, putting to shame the moon)
The lotus hands of celestial damsels, and feet that seem to mock celestial trees,

O tragic one, Chandi, Your twin feet offer fruit to heaven dwellers

With leaf-tender finger-tips, and bring secure riches to the poor instantly and incessantly.

VERSE 90

Giving riches *to the needy as required, and of *its store of honey
*R(incessantly) *R(the)
*Distributing plentifully sweetness around; into such a beauty
*R(Of the celestial blossoms of beauty distributing plentifully all around; into such a beauty)

Of the celestial *blossom of Your feet, immersed altogether,
*R(blooms of Your feet, let my life go immersed with legs and)
Let my life go merged with legs and inner organs into six-footed beehood.

VERSE 91

Your young domesticated cygnets ,intent on learning from You the sportive pose of steps,

Practising still with faults, o one of graceful gait, on their not giving up,

With the sound of *gem-filled anklets imitating,
*R(gem-set)
It would seem now that You are *teaching them.
*R(instructing)


VERSE 92

Gone as they are to Your couch-hood, Brahma, Vishnu, Ishvara, Rudra and others

Shiva wearing a deceptive canopy derived from his crystal light;

By Your radiance projected on to it and turned to a magenta shade,

As the very embodiment of erotic bliss, he charms the view.

 

VERSE 93

Curly in hair *and naturally simple in smile, with a magenta-flower-supple mind
*R(and with a smile of natural simplicity)
Bust firm like a kitchen mashing stone, extremely slender at waist,

With solid shoulders and hips, thus Shiva's world to save,

She reigns supreme, a certain kindliness called magenta.

 

VERSE 94

The dark zone of the moon *it is musk; the *moon's orb is water*;
*R(omits "it") *R(orb of the moon) *R(watery)
The moon's phases they are camphor bits filling a box of ebony,

Which, hen emptied daily by Your joys,

For Your sake, Brahma fills it *again and again.
*R(it up again and again)

VERSE 95

You being the consort of Shiva, it is difficult indeed

For unsettled minds to attain the equivalent of the way of Your worship;

Whatever limitless gains they, the divinities such as Indra and others might have had,

Those psychic powers such as Anima, from just outside Your door they got them.

VERSE 96

The wife of Brahma,* how many poets does she not woo?
*R(how many ,how many poets do they not woo)
*How many are there not, who, by having some wealth, can claim Lakshmi's hand?
*R(Or by having some wealth, whoever is it that cannot claim to be husband to Lakshmi)

*O constancy's ultimate meaning, outside Shiva
*R(O constant wife, of the term constancy the ultimate meaning)
The contact with Your breasts is hard even to *a favourite garden tree
*R(ordinary garden)

VERSE 97

As *the Goddess of the Word, Veda-knowers speak of You as Brahma's wife
*R(As Goddess)
Lakshmi is Vishnu's wedded one, and the Mountain Daughter is Shiva's consort;

Certain others as the unattainable and boundless fourth state refer to You;

While you remain as the great Maya, making the universe go round, as queen of the Ultimate Absolute.

VERSE 98

When, o Mother, tell me ,shall this thy *supplicant drink
*R(wisdom-seeker)
Of the ablution water of Your magenta sap-smeared feet?

As causing even one dumb born to be a poet,

When *will he enjoy within the flavour of the betel juice in the lotus mouth of the Word-Goddess
*R(shall I enjoy)

VERSE 99

Sporting with Saraswati and with Lakshmi as *co-consort with Brahma and Vishnu
*R(co-consorts)
While disrupting with his charming body the constancy of Rati to her lord,

With banished animality and bondage, living long,

He enjoys *what is known as ultimate bliss, your supplicant.
*R(the taste of what)

VERSE 100

To carry out the ritual propitiation of the sun by waving of *flames,
*R(lighted flames)
To offer oblations to the moon, the source of nectar, by particles of moonstone water,

To appease the deep with offerings of water its own,

Such ,o Mother is this wordy praise with words Your own.