Soundarya Lahari Ep. 42 - Chanting Mode in 100 Raagams - With Lyrics - Meanings - Shlokams 83-84 !

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 42, I am presenting 2 Soundarya Lahari Shlokams 83 and 84.

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

Meanings :

83.

Parājeytuṃ Rudraṃ Dviguṇa-śara-garbhau Giri-sute
Niśaṅgau jaṅge te viṣama-viśikho bāḍham akṛtaḥ
Yad agre dṛśyante daśa-śara-phalāḥ pādayugalī
Nakhādgṛcchādmānāḥ sura-makuṭa-śoṇāika-niśitāḥ.

Word-by-Word Meanings

parājeytuṃ — to defeat, to conquer

rudraṃ — Lord Rudra (Shiva)

dviguṇa-śara-garbhau — containing twice the number of arrows (double-quivered)

giri-sute — O daughter of the mountain (Parvati)

niśaṅgau — quivers (armouries for arrows)

jaṅge te — your two shanks (calves/legs)

viṣama-viśikhaḥ — the wielder of crooked arrows (Kama Deva, the god of love)

bāḍham akṛtaḥ — truly has made, has converted

yat agre — for at the end (of your feet)

dṛśyante — are seen, appear

daśa-śara-phalāḥ — ten arrow-heads (five arrows doubled)

pāda-yugalī — at the pair of your feet

nakhāt-gṛt-chādmānāḥ — covered or concealed by the nails

sura-makuṭa-śoṇa-eka-niśitāḥ — sharpened upon the single whetstone of the crowns of the prostrating gods

Full English Translation

O Daughter of the Mountain! In his desire to conquer Rudra (Lord Shiva), the five-arrowed Kama Deva seems to have made Your two shanks into quivers holding twice the number of arrows he originally possessed. For, at the ends of Your feet are seen, concealed under the guise of Your toenails, ten crescent-shaped arrowheads that gleam sharply as if polished on the crowns of the prostrating gods.

Explanation

This verse poetically glorifies the beauty of the Goddess’s legs and feet. The symmetry of her shanks (legs) are imagined as quivers filled with an abundance of arrows — symbols of love and charm. The shining crescent-like toenails resemble arrowheads, appearing to have been sharpened by divine reverence itself, as the crowns of the gods touch her feet in devotion. Through this imagery, Adi Shankaracharya conveys that the Goddess’s beauty itself is a powerful weapon of love, capable even of subduing Rudra, the great ascetic Shiva.

84.

Shrutīnām mūrdhāno dadhati tava yau śekharatayā
Mamāpyetau mātaḥ śirasi dayayā dhehi charanau |
Yayoh pādyaṃ pāthaḥ paśupati-jaṭā-jūṭa-taṭinī
Yayor lāksā-lakṣmīr aruna-hari-chūḍā-maṇi-ruchih || 84 ||

Word-by-Word Meanings

śrutīnām — of the Vedas or Upaniṣads

mūrdhānaḥ — the heads, the crowns

dadhati — wear, bear

tava yau — your two

śekharatayā — as a crown, as an ornament on the head

mamāpi etau — for me also, these two feet

mātaḥ — O Mother

śirasi — on my head

dayayā — out of compassion

dhehi — place, bestow

charanau — the feet

yayoh — of which two

pādyaṃ — washing water

pāthaḥ — the stream

paśupati-jaṭā-jūṭa-taṭinī — the river Ganga flowing from the matted locks of Paśupati (Lord Shiva)

yayoh — of which two

lāksā-lakṣmīḥ — the red lac dye adorning them

aruna-hari-chūḍā-maṇi-ruchih — reflects the redness on the crest jewels of Lord Vishnu

Full English Translation

O Divine Mother! The sacred Upanishads rest Thy pair of feet upon their crowns, considering them as their supreme jeweled ornament. Out of Thy boundless compassion, please place those same feet upon my head as well. The holy river Ganga, which flows from the matted locks of Lord Shiva, performs the ritual washing of those feet; their red hue, tinged with lac dye, lends a crimson glow to the crest jewels adorning the diadem of Lord Vishnu.

Explanation

This verse beautifully portrays the supreme sanctity of the Goddess’s lotus feet, which are exalted even by the sacred scriptures (Upaniṣads). Her feet are so holy that the Ganga born from the hair of Shiva is said to wash them, and the red from their lac-dye reflects upon the jeweled ornaments of Vishnu. The devotee humbly prays that the same auspicious feet — venerated by the greatest gods — may grace his head out of the Mother’s compassion, symbolizing liberation through devotion.