Guest guest Posted February 3, 2000 Report Share Posted February 3, 2000 || bhavAnyai namaH || One of my Kula-devatAs is the BhavAnI of Tuljapur, Maharashtra. I will be posting verses from the AnandalaharI as my humble offering to Her feet. The Anandalaharii is a hymn in praise of the Goddess, ascribed to Adi Shankara. There was some confusion regarding the relation of this hymn to the Saundaryalaharii. I have looked at both and it appears that the Anandalaharii is an independent work. bhavaani stotuM tvaaM prabhavati chaturbhirna vadanaiH prajaanaamiishaanas-tripuramathanaH paJNchabhirapi | na shhaDbhiH senaaniir-dashashatamukhairapyahipati- stadanyeshhaaM keshhaaM kathaya kathamasminnavasaraH || bhavaani - O Bhavani (durgaa, Paarvatii) stotuM - to praise tvaaM - You prabhavati - is perfect chaturbhirna - not even with four vadanaiH - faces (mouths) prajaanaamiishaanaH - Brahmaa the Creator tripuramathanaH - Lord Shiva, the destroyer of tripura paJNchabhirapi - even with five na shhaDbhiH - not with six senaaniiH - Kaartikeya dashashatamukhairapi - even with a thousand mouths ahipati - Adi Sheshha tadanyeshhaaM - therefore for others keshhaaM - whose kathaya - pray tell me kathamasmin.h - How can there be here avasaraH - scope, opportunity O Bhavaani, Spouse of Shiva! Brahmaa the Creator cannot perfectly describe You with his four mouths! Nor can Lord Shiva do so even with five mouths! Lord Kaartikeya cannot possibly describe Your glories with his six mouths. Let this be as it may, but even Adi Sheshha (who bears Lord Vishnu) cannot describe You with his thousand mouths. Therefore, tell me O Bhavaani, how is there any scope for others (like me) to praise You perfectly? Shankara is worshipping Brahman in the form of the Goddess here. The point being made is that Brahman or the Goddess is beyond the reach of words or the mind. In order to describe something we have to have the imagination and the vocabulary to construct the description. But Brahman is beyond the grasp of the mind and words. As the taiitiriiya upanishad proclaims, "yato vaacho nivartante apraapya manasaa saha ...", words and the mind fail to reach Brahman, and also the Katha upanishhad, "naiva vaachaa na manasaa praaptuM shakyo...", (Brahman) cannot be attained by words or by the mind. This being the case, it is little wonder then that even gods cannot describe the Supreme Reality. So Shankara asks Goddess BhavaanI, "How can I praise You perfectly?" The same sentiment is echoed slightly differently by Pushhpadanta in the famous hymn to Shiva called the Shiva-mahimna stotra. If it be said that the description of those who do not know the greatness of Shiva (Brahman) is inappropriate, then even the words of Brahmaa and the other gods are inappropriate to praise Shiva. But if it be said that the description according to one's mental capacity is blemishless, then any description that we offer to the best of our mental ability is blemishless too. Anand MailCity. Secure Email Anywhere, Anytime! http://www.mailcity.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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