Soundarya Lahari Ep. 36 - Chanting Mode in 100 Raagams - With Lyrics - Meanings - Shlokams 71-72 !

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 36, I am presenting 2 Soundarya Lahari Shlokams 71 and 72.

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

Meanings :

71.

nakhānāmudyotairnava-nalina-rāgam vihasatāṁ
karāṇāṁ te kāntiṁ kathaya kathayāmaḥ kathamume |
kayācit vā sāmyaṁ bhajatu kalayā hanta kamalaṁ
yadi krīḍallakṣmī-caraṇa-tala-lākṣā-rasa-caṇam ||

Word-by-Word Meanings

nakhānām udyotaiḥ: by the brilliance/radiance of the nails

nava nalina rāgam: the hue (color) of just blossomed lotuses

vihasatām: mock (make fun of, laugh at)

karāṇām te: your hands

kāntim: splendor, radiance

kathaya kathayāmaḥ: how can (we) describe, let us narrate

katham umā: how (O Uma)

kayā cit vā: even by any means, perhaps somehow

sāmyaṁ bhajatu: attain equality, become equal

kalayā hanta: perhaps by somehow (by any sort of artifice)

kamalaṁ: the lotus

yadi krīḍallakṣmī-caraṇa-tala-lākṣā-rasa-caṇam: if it is (stained) with the lac-dye from the feet of goddess Lakshmi who plays (resides) on it

Full English Translation

O Uma! How can we describe the radiant beauty of Your hands, which, lit up by the brilliance of Your nails, mocks the glowing hue of freshly blossomed lotus flowers? If the lotus ever wishes to be compared to the splendor of Your hands, perhaps it could approach such comparison only if it were stained with the crimson lac-dye from the feet of playful goddess Lakshmi who dwells upon it.

Summary:
This means that the radiance of Goddess Uma's hands, enhanced by the glow of her nails, far surpasses even the beauty of new lotuses. Only if a lotus could acquire some of the reddish beauty from the lac-dye on goddess Lakshmi’s feet could it even begin to compare, and even then, the description is inadequate. The verse thus highlights the inexpressible, divine beauty of the Goddess's hands.

72.

samaṃ devi skandadvipavadanapītaṃ stanayugaṃ
tavedaṃ naḥ khedaṃ haratu satataṃ prasnutamukham .
yadālokyāśaṅkākulitahṛdayo hāsajanakaḥ
svakumbhau herambaḥ parimṛśati hastena jhaḍiti .. 72..

O Mother! May your pair of breasts, from which milk always flows and which are simultaneously suckled by Skanda and Ganesha, relieve us eternally of our sorrows. Watching this, Ganesha (Heramba), suddenly feels his own elephant-face cheeks with his hand, worried (with a heart full of doubt) whether his own frontal globes have disappeared, which brings great amusement.

Word-by-Word Breakdown
tava: your

idaṃ: this

naḥ: our

khedaṃ: sorrow, fatigue

haratu: may (it) remove

satatam: always

prasnutamukham: flowing (with milk from) mouth

yadā: when

ālokya: having seen

āśaṅkā-kulita-hṛdayaḥ: heart filled with doubt/wonder/concern (āśaṅkā = doubt, kulita = disturbed, hṛdayaḥ = heart)

hāsa-janakaḥ: causes laughter/entertainment

svakumbhau: his own cheeks/globes (kumbha = jar, here: round cheeks)

herambaḥ: Heramba (another name for Ganesha)

parimṛśati: touches/examines/feels

hastena: with his hand

jhaḍiti: suddenly, at once

How the Words Connect
The shloka is essentially a prayer: "May your (tava) breasts (idaṃ) relieve (haratu) our (naḥ) sorrow (khedaṃ), always (satatam) flowing with milk (prasnutamukham)." The second part tells of Ganesha, who, upon seeing the breasts, wonders if his own cheeks have disappeared (creating amusement), and feels them with his hand to check.