Soundarya Lahari Ep. 29 - Chanting Mode in 100 Raagams - With Lyrics - Meanings - Shlokams 57-58 !

Aadi Shankara's Soundarya Lahari consists of 100 Shlokams in Sanskrit praising the Divine Beauty and Infinite Grace of Hindu Goddess Shakti.
The recital of these shlokams and worshipping Mother Goddess Shakti invokes the benevolence of the Mother to the whole Universe.

I am humbly presenting the 100 shlokams in tunes set in 100 popular Carnatic Music Raagams, 2 Shlokams in each episode. These tunes and the pronunciations of complex phrases in Sanskrit were inherited and learnt initially from my first Guru, my beloved periamma ( aunt ), Late Smt. Vijayalakshmi Sitharaman from Chennai, India and later on revised and updated through audio recordings of my mother who had learnt the entire Soundarya Lahari from my aunt and over time , passed them onto me through her own audio recordings.

I will be singing the entire Soundaraya Lahari in 50 episodes, with 2 shlokams in each episode. Each video episode will display the lyrics appropriately transliterated into English.

I am looking forward to you all to accompany me in this spiritual journey and learn, recite, worship and invoke the Divine Blessings of Mother Goddess Shakti!

In Episode 26, I am presenting 2 Soundarya Lahari Shlokams 51 and 52.

The following episodes will each have 2 shlokams until we complete 100 shlokams in 50 episodes !

Meanings :

57.

dr̥śā drāghīyasyā daradalita-nīlotpala-rucā
davīyāṁsaṁ dīnaṁ snapaya kṛpayā mām api śive |
anenāyaṁ dhanyo bhavati na ca te hānir iyatā
vane vā harmye vā samakara-nipāto himakaraḥ ||

Word-by-Word Meaning

dr̥śā: with (your) glance (look, sight, eyes)

drāghīyasyā: far-reaching, long

daradalita-nīlotpala-rucā: with the radiance (color/lustre) of a just opening blue lotus (nīlotpala = blue lotus, daradalita = slightly bloomed, rucā = with lustre)

davīyāṁsaṁ: one who is far (from you)

dīnaṁ: miserable, lowly, distressed

snapaya: bathe (bestow, shower)

kṛpayā: with compassion, graciously

mām api: me too

śive: O auspicious one! (O Goddess Parvati)

anenā: by this (act)

ayaṁ: this (humble one, devotee)

dhanyo: blessed, fortunate

bhavati: becomes

na ca: and not

te: to you

hāniḥ iyatā: any loss, such loss

vane vā: whether in forest

harmye vā: or in palace (mansion)

samakara-nipāto: falling equally, impartial shower (sama = equal, kara = rays, nipātaḥ = falling)

himakaraḥ: the moon (maker of cold/coolness)

English Translation

O Auspicious One (O Shiva's beloved!), with your long-reaching glance, whose radiance resembles the slightly opened blue lotus, please graciously shower your compassion on me too, though I am far from you and miserable. By this act, I (your humble devotee) become blessed, and for you, there is no loss – just as the rays of the moon fall equally on both the wilderness and the palace.

Summary:
The devotee prays for the Goddess's compassionate glance, emphasizing that her grace blesses all without lessening her own glory, much like the moon's rays touch both forests and palaces impartially.​

58.

arālaṁ te pālī-yugalam agarāja-nya-tanaye
na keṣām ādhatthe kusuma-śara-kodaṇḍa-kutukam |
tiraścīno yatra śravaṇa-patham ullanghya vilasan
apāṅga-vyāsaṅgo diśati śara-sandhāna-dhiṣaṇām ||

Word-by-Word Meanings

arālam: curved, arched

te: your

pālī-yugalam: the pair of lines/extremities/arching spaces (referring to the curved edges of the eyebrows or between eyebrow and ear)

agarāja-nya-tanaye: O daughter of the King of the mountains (Himalaya)

na keṣām ādhatthe: to whom does it not evoke/produce

kusuma-śara-kodaṇḍa-kutukam: the wonder/curiosity of the bow of Manmatha (cupid, who has flowery arrows)

tiraścīnah yatra: where, being slanted/across

śravaṇa-patham: the region/path of the ears

ullanghya: crossing, surpassing

vilasan: shining, playing, gleaming

apāṅga-vyāsaṅgaḥ: the glance from the corner of the eye (side-glance)

diśati: gives, evokes, confers

śara-sandhāna-dhiṣaṇām: the impression of fixing (an arrow) to a bow (i.e., preparing to shoot)

English Translation

O Daughter of the King of Mountains! To whom do Your beautifully curved eyebrows (or the arch between your eyes and ears) not evoke the fancy of the bow of Manmatha, the god of love? For, when Your long, slanted side-glance (apāṅga) shines, extending beyond the path of the ears, it creates the wondrous impression that it is like the act of stringing an arrow onto a bow, ready to be shot.

Summary:
The poet marvellously compares Devi's charming, curved eyebrows and enchanting side-glance to the bow and arrows of Kamadeva (the god of love). Just as Kamadeva readies his bow to stir desire in all beings, the Devi's side-glance fills onlookers with curiosity and wonder—it is so captivating that it seems as though she is aiming arrows of love.