Desikasthothramala- Sristhuthi

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2.aavirbhaavaH

kalaSajalaDhou ahvare va api yasyaaH

sThaanam yasyaaH sarasijavanam vishNu

vakshasThalam vaa

bhoomaa yasyaaH bhuvanamakhilam dhevi

dhivyam padham

vaa

sthokaprajnaiH anavaDhiguNaa sthooyase saa

kaTham thvam

 

Oh

Devi, how can you be extolled by those of limited intellect, because your

qualities are limitless, your origination was described to be from the ocean

and from the yagasala, your abode is either the forest of lotuses or the chest

of the Lord and your glories pervade the whole world as well as in Vaikunta.

 

aavirbhaavaH – origination

 

yasyaH- of whom

 

kalaSajalaDhou- is from the milky ocean

 

aDhvare vaa api- or also in the yagasala (of Janaka when Lakshmi

incarnated as Seetha when Janaka

ploughed the yagasala)

 

sThaanam- the residence

 

yasyaaH- of whom

 

sarasijavane- is the forest or pond of lotuses

vaa-or

 

vishNuvakshasThalam- the chest of Lord Vishnu

 

bhoomaa- the glory

 

yasyaaH – of whom

 

bhuvanam akhilam- the whole universe

 

dhivyam padham vaa-or the Supreme abode , Vaikunta

 

thvam saa – You who is such

 

anavahika guNaa- whose merits are immeasurable , maanaatheethapraThithvabhavaa

as mentioned in the previous sloka

 

kaTham – how can

 

sthooyase- you be praised or extolled

 

sthokaprajnaiH- by those with limited intellect?

 

 

Desika

refers to himself as those with limited intellect to show that the glory of

Sridevi is so great that it is beyond description. It is usual for great poets

to show their humility when writng about lofty ideals, such as kalidas who says

in his epic poem raghuvamsa, kva soorya vamsa prabhavaH kva cha alpavishyaa

mathiH, meaning, "where is the race sprung from the Sun and wghere is my

small intellect." Desika, being a devotee cum poet, expresses his humilty when

writing on the Lord and His consort, the divine mother.He has said in his

yadhvabhyudhya `yadhaikaikagunapraanthe SraanthaaH nigamavandhinaH

yaThaavath varaNane thasya kimuthaanye

mithampachaaH,' meaning, in describing even one quality of the Lord the

vedas, his bards, which started to describe Him as such,become tired and what

more can be said of those with limited intellect, meaning himself.

 

The

divine mother originated from the milky ocean ans also form the yagsala, where

Janka was ploughing the ground and Lakshmi devi was found under the ground in

her incarnation as Seetha.The glory of Mahalakshmi when she came out of the

milky ocean is described in Srimadbhagavatham and that of Seetha was known from

the epic Ramayana which Valmiki refers to as seethayaaH charitham mahath.

Both places of origination are mentioned here to show that she never was born from the womb but simply

manifested. The word kalaSajalaDhi or kalSaabDhi (vide.

Thyagaraja krthi, kamalaapthakulakalaSaabDhichandhra )are found to mean the

ocean in general though here it means the milky ocean. The word is derived as kena

(jalena) lasathi ithi, kalaSaH. That which shines with water.

 

The

reference to Seetha is appropriate with the general trend of the work because

as Seetha the divine mother was daya incarnate. While reading the abduction of

Seetha in Ramayana one cannot help being moved to tears thinking of the trouble

she underwent in order to save the world, while she could have burnt Ravana

herself by her looks as she herself says in Sundarakanda.

 

Her

residence are the sarasijavanam, meaning lotus forest literally but it could

mean a pond or lake abounding in lotuses, and vishNuavakshasThalam, the chest

of the Lord. The former stands for all that is beautiful and her residence in

the chest of the Lord makes His heart full of sympathy for the devotees as the

divine mother is an embodiment of dhaya. The meaning of sarasijavanam as the

forest of lotuses may also be right as she resides in the chest of the Lord who

can be compared to a forest of lotuses,'kai paadham kaN kamalam' as Azvar puts it and as Kamban descibes Him

as `thaamaraikkaadupootthu.'

 

Her

glory pervades the whole world as well as the Vaikunta, which is referred to as

dhivyam padham, divine abode.The word bhoomaa means wealth which

includes all the wealth , not only money, but the soubhaagya in every respect

and hence Sree devi is the source of all wealth in this world.