Soundarya Lahari Ep. 28 - Chanting Mode in 100 Raagams - With Lyrics - Meanings - Shlokams 55-56 !

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 :

55.

निमेषोन्मेषाभ्यां प्रलयमुदयं याति जगती
तवेत्याहुः सन्तो धरणिधरराजन्यतनये।
त्वदुन्मेषाज्जातं जगदिदमशेषं प्रलयतः
परित्रातुं शङ्के परिहृतनिमेषास्तव दृशः॥

Meaning:
O daughter of the King of mountains (Parvati), the wise say that the universe is annihilated and created again by the blinking of Your eyes. But I believe that this entire world is protected by You by not blinking (keeping Your eyes open). When You wink (close Your eyes), the universe perishes or is dissolved, and when You open them, the universe is born again. Thus, Your eyes are the cause of both destruction and creation, but Your continuous watchfulness sustains the world.

Word-by-word meaning:

निमेषोन्मेषाभ्यां (nimeṣonmeṣābhyām) – by blinking (closing and opening) of the eyes

प्रलयमुदयं (pralayamudayaṁ) – dissolution and creation

याति (yāti) – happens, goes on

जगती (jagatī) – of the world/universe

त्वे (tve) – by You

इत्याहुः (ityāhuḥ) – thus say

सन्तः (santaḥ) – wise men

धरणिधर (dharaṇidhara) – holder of earth (Lord Shiva)

राजन्यतनये (rājanyatanaye) – daughter of the king

त्वत् (tvat) – Your

उन्मेषात् (unmeṣāt) – opening (of eyes)

जातं (jātaṁ) – born

जगदिदम् (jagadidam) – this world

अशेषं (aśeṣaṁ) – entire, complete

प्रलयतः (pralayataḥ) – from dissolution

परित्रातुं (paritrātuṁ) – to protect

शङ्के (śaṅke) – I doubt, I think

परिहृत (parihṛta) – removed

निमेषाः (nimeṣāḥ) – blinking (of eyes)

तव (tava) – Your

दृशः (dṛśaḥ) – eyes

This shloka conveys the cosmic power of the Goddess's eyes, responsible for creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe, with emphasis on the protective gaze that sustains the world when the eyes remain open continuously.

56.

तवापर्णे कर्णेजपनयनपैशुन्यचकिता
निलीयन्ते तोये नियतमनिमेषाः शफरिकाः ।
इयं च श्रीर्बद्धच्छदपुटकवाटं कुवलयम्
जहाति प्रत्यूषे निशि च विघटय्य प्रविशति ॥ ५६॥

O Aparṇā! The Śapharikas (female fish) hide themselves in water in fear, afraid of the tell-tale activities of Thy eyes against them, their rivals; and Śri the Goddess of Beauty, abandons the closed petals of blue lily during the day (in order to reside in Thy lotus-like eyes), and returns again at night to the blooming blue lily (when Thy eyes are dosed in sleep).

The verse contains two central ideas that convey the extraordinary beauty of the Goddess's eyes.
1. The fishes hiding in fear
The poetic idea: The long, beautiful, and unblinking eyes of the Divine Mother stretch towards her ears. The tiny female fish (śapharikāḥ) in the water, who are also known for their beautiful, unblinking eyes, become fearful of this rivalry.
The deeper meaning: The fish are afraid that the Goddess's eyes will "gossip" or tell tales to her ears about their envious nature. As a result, the fish hide in the water with their eyes wide open, never blinking. This demonstrates the unparalleled beauty of the Divine Mother, which makes even the most celebrated symbols of beauty in nature feel inferior and threatened.
2. Lakshmi's devotion
The poetic idea: At dawn, Goddess Lakshmi—who resides in the daytime lotus—abandons its closed petals.
The deeper meaning: Lakshmi's "abandonment" of the lotus is a way of showing her preference. She leaves the lotus to reside in the Goddess's lotus-like eyes during the day, where true beauty resides. She then returns at night to make the blue water-lilies blossom for the Goddess's eyes to open into. The underlying message is that all sources of beauty and fortune (symbolized by Lakshmi) find their true home and origin in the Divine Mother. This also emphasizes that one who worships the Supreme Mother need not worship any of her assistants, including Lakshmi, separately.