kAmAkshI - II

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KaamaakshI - II

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charaNam

gauriihindoladutihiira manimayaabharaNe

shaurivirinchivinuta shivashaktimayanavaavaraNe |

naariimaNyaadyarchita navanaadaanthahkaraNe

suurijanasamsevita sundara guruguhakaraNe ||

(niirajakshi kaamakshi niirada chikure tripure)

 

 

gauriihindoladutihiira manimayaabharaNe

 

gauri - O ! KamAkshI, you are self-illumining. You wave away darkness or

agGYAnA.

 

hindola duti hiira manimaya AbharaNe - you shine with resplendent

gem-studded AbaraNas.

 

Devi herself is shining with her resplendent prakaashaa, then where comes

the brightness of a diamond or a golden ornament?

 

' udyad.hbhaanu sahasrakoTi sadR^ishaaM keyuurahaarojjvalaaM'

 

When she emerges like sahasrakoTi suryas then how does keyuura & haara

shine?

 

AbaraNas do not equal her shine nor add to her beauty, but they enable one

to identify her divya Angas, i.e. without AbaraNas she would be a total flow

of unmatched soundaryam inconceivable. Or in other worlds, it is because

that devi wears these divya AbaraNas we are able to identify her rUpA .

 

shaurivirinchivinuta shivashaktimayanavaavaraNe

 

shiva shakti maya navaavaraNe - O! kAmAkshi !, You dwell in the Sri

Chakra comprising of nine AvaraNa's united with shivA.

 

Sri chakra is perhaps the most important and widely used yantra in the

shakti cult. yantra is the geometric form of divinity in the tantric

tradition. It comprises of dots, triangles, squares, circles and lotus petal

structures representing several devatAs. One or more of these structures

enclose the sanctum represented by a dot termed as the bindu.

The main devatA to whom the yantra is dedicated to, dwell in this bindu.

Structures enclosing bindu are termed as AvaraNas & DevatAs residing in them

are termed as AvaraNa devatAs.

 

Sri chakra comprises of nine AvaraNAs. Devi united with shivA reside in the

ninth AvaraNa or the sarvAnandamaya chakra. The nine AvaraNAs are created

when bindu gradually swells due to the polarization of paternal & maternal

principles or shivaH shaktyaa. First a triangle is formed due to this,

which is shtchidAnanda swarOpA. This process goes on and on until it results

in the entire Srichakra which is a representation of the supreme

consciousness in its various levels of evolution. In other words, it

represents the absolute in all its aspects names and forms. The pivotal

principle of Sri Vidya is the unison of shiva & shakti and hence all

AvaraNAs are shiva shakti mayA.

 

The celestial hymn Soundaryalahari commences saluting this shivaH shaktyaa

swaroopaa .

 

shivaH shaktyaa yukto yadi bhavati shaktaH prabhavitu.n

na cedeva.n devo na khalu kushalaH spanditumapi. |

atastvaamaaraadhyaaM hariharaviri~ncaadibhirapi

praNantuM stotuM vaa kathamakR^itapuNyaH prabhavati || (SL 1)

 

Diikshitar's phrase 'shaurivirinchivinuta shivashaktimayanavaavaraNe' is

just an echo of the above shloka. shaurivirinchivinuta - mahA vishNu

(shauri) and brahma (virinchi) salute this shiva shakti swarOpA.

 

naariimaNyaadyarchita navanaadaanthahkaraNe(You sever as the nine nAdAs in

the nine AdArAs worshipped by peerless females)

 

naariimaNi in this context refers to lOpAmudrA. lOpAmudrA is the consort of

agAstyA. The great treasure of lalitopakyAnam was revealed to agAstyA by

hayagrEva muni only by the grace of kAmAkshi. AgastyA after visiting many

holy shrines finally came to kanchi and took refuge at the feet of kAmAkshi

and was blessed to get the darshan of hayagEvA. AgastyA served kAmAkshi with

his consort lOpAmudrA and learnt the nuances of yoga.

lOpAmudrA has a special place in Sri Vidya sampradAya. She is the only

female in the list of 12 main upAsakAs. Indeed an elegant female to be

termed as nArImaNI.

 

In the nine AdArAs, nAdA emerges when shakti blossoms like a lotus emerging

as kundalini. The most subtle of all nAdA is AUM kArA. The entire essence

of all the four vedas lies in gAyatrI mantrA. GAyatri dissolves in AUM kArA

and AUM kArA diffuses in eternal silence. At this point a yogi is able to

hear the sound of innermost organs (anthahkaraNA) that results in nine types

of nAdAs. devi in the form of such nAdA enchants yogiNIs like lOpAmudrA.

 

suurijanasamsevita sundara guruguhakaraNe

(Mother of my guru, guha, celebrated by devas)

 

shiva is ‘sat’ and devi is ‘chid’. When ‘sat' & 'chid’ combine, it results

in ‘AnandA’. SubrahmaNya is ‘AnandA’. soomaskanda muurthi with shiva shakthi

and guha is the icon of ‘satchidAnandA’ swarOpA. The aboard of subrahmaNya

in kanchi known as ‘kumara kOtAm’ is between ekAmreshwarar and kAmAkshi

temples, representing soomaskanda tatvA.

 

‘sundara’ and ‘suurijanasamsevita’ are two adjectives revealing the

characteristic of guha. He is devasenApati and hence all suras do serve him.

He is the most handsome of all devas and hence sundara. In tamil subrahmaNya

has a special name revealing his handsome nature as ‘murugan’. The root

word ‘murugu’ denotes beauty. KAmAkshi is guha janma bhUH or guhaambA.

 

niirajakshi kaamakshi niirada chikure tripure (taarayamam)

 

(O ! devi with hair like dark clouds(nIla chikurA), empress of the three

universe, lotus eyed kAmAkshi, please uplift me from samsArasAgarA).

 

It's traditional to compare the eyes of devi with the lotus flower. Her eyes

as kAmAkshI blossoms like a lotus at the sight of her child longing for

liberation. Diikshitar starts his prayer by looking at her compassionate

eyes and addresses her as ‘niirajakshi’. The anupallavi also commences

addressing her eyes as ‘shaaradaa ramaa nayane’. Diikshitar repeatedly

compares her eyes to a lotus with different expressions in different

krithis. (‘niirajakshi’ in hindola krithi, ‘kanjadaLAyadAkshi’ in manohari

krithi and 'sarasiiruhakshi’ in sarasvatimanohari krithi.)

 

tripura is the first chakreshwarI in sri chakra. KAmAkshi is

tripurasundari, the empress of the entire three universes.

 

Pallavi

niirajakshi kaamakshi |

niirada chikure tripure ||

Anupallavi

shaaradaa ramaa nayane saarasachandraanane |

vaarijapaade varade taarayamaam tatvapade. ||

CharaNa

gauriihindoladutihiira manimayaabharaNe

shaurivirinchivinuta shivashaktimayanavaavaraNe |

naariimaNyaadyarchita navanaadaanthahkaraNe

suurijanasamsevita sundara guruguhakaraNe ||

 

It's rare to find a lovkEka prartanA in dIkshitar krithIs. He was a perfect

smArta advaitin and was little interested in worldly pursuits.

A sanyAsI who was the only one to write a commentary for all the 108

upanishads named upanishad brahmam lived in kanchi in 17-18 century. He

invited dIkshitar to come and stay with him for some time to discuss

shastrarta. dIkshitar accepting his invitation, went to kanchi and stayed

with the spiritual giant for some time.

dIkshitar is also said to have set to music the rAmAsahtapatI of

upanishatbrahmam. Unfortunately we do not have those tunes today. Quite an

amass wealth have been lost in our tradition due to poor preservation and

lack of proper adikArIs to bear them. Sri Thyagaraaja swamigaL also visited

upanishtbrahmam at a later date when the sanyAsI was about to be 100. The

mutt established by upanishadbrahman named as the ‘upanishadbrahma madam’ is

still there in kanchi. It's worth to visit the mutt when making a pilgrimage

to kanchi.

 

(I will conclude kanchi in the next post highlighting two more important

kirthis of dIkshitar dedicated to Sri kAmAkshi )

 

 

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