Soundarya Lahari Sloka -22

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -22
Stotra mahimaa
[Sarva-siddhi]

Bhavani twam daase mayi vitara drishtim sa karunaam
Iti stotum vaanchan kathayati bhavani twamiti yaha
Tadaiva twam tasmai disasi nija saayujya-padaveem
Mukunda-brahmendra-sputa makuta-neeraajitapadaam

Bhavani – The spouse of paramasiva who is called by the name “Bhavani”
twam - you
daase mayi - to me who is a slave
vitara - will bestow on me
drishtim - your divine vision
sa karunaam - with full of kindness
stotum - to pray
vaanchan - desiring
iti - thus
kathayati - if told
bhavani twamiti – the two words “bhavani you”
yaha - whomsoever
Tadaiva - then [immediately]
twam - you
tasmai - to him
disasi - give
nija saayujya-padaveem - your abode of bliss [moksha or satchitaananda]
Mukunda-brahmendra-sputa makuta-neeraajitapadaam – Having the divine feet which is being worshipped with neeraajanam by the great gods, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra etc by the brilliant rays flowing from their kireetaas.

Oh! Bhavani! Who is partner of “Bhava”,

You will bestow on me, who is a slave [of your divine power], your divine vision with full of kindness. Thus, whomsoever desirous of praying you, chants the two words- “Bhavani you!”, then immediately, you, [who has the divine lotus feet , being worshipped with neeraajanam by the great Gods, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra etc by the brilliant rays flowing from their divine crown] will bestow him your abode of moksha or saayuja padavi.

There is a song in Malayalam of amma which goes as below:-

Sree paada maahaatmyam aarkkariyaam Gurupaadattin vaibhavam aarkkariyaam
Amriteswari amme aanandasaarame kaivalyadhaamame jnaan namikkaam

[who knows the greatness of sreepaada!
Who knows the greatness of gurupaada vaibhava!]
Sreepaada poojakku melilla poojakal Illa yogaadikal saadhanakal
Sadguru paadattil premavum bhaktiyum janma janmaantara punyamallo

[there is no pooja higher than sreepaada pooja; the yoga, saadhana are all not at all equal to the sreepaada pooja; if one has the sravan, manana, nidhidhyaasana on the sreepaada with prema and bhakti, it is the greatness due to the janma janmaantara punya!]

Trippadabhakti sadaakalpavrikshamaam premabhaktipradam jnaanamoolam
Bhakti muktipradam sarva siddhipradam sreepaada teerthame teerthasaaram

[trippada bhakti is always equal to kalpavriksha which will bestow whatever one wants; it will bestow prema, bhakti, jnaana for one thereby making him eligible for the saadhana catushtaya which is a compulsory requisite for the self knowledge, which will remove all his sorrows and unhappiness instantaneously; it bestows, bhakti, mukti, sarva siddhi; sree paada teertha is the saara of all the teerthaas (like ganges, yamuna, kaveri, saraswati, godavari, nile etc) of the three worlds]

Saakshaal anantanum moortitrayangalum vaakku kittate alanjidunnu
Pinnaru varnikkum sad guru paadatte veendum namikkam namiccidaam jnaan

[I bow to the Guru’s(Goddess) sreepaada or lotus feet, again and again, which is found to be undescribable to the Gods like ananta, and the trimoortis, (which is beyond words), as given by the Upanishad like this –
“yato vaaco nivartante apraapya manasaa saha”; Lalita Sahasra Nama refers as –
“Manovaacaamagocaraayai a”;
Also refer purusha sookta which refers as –
“sahasraseershaa purushah, sahasraakshassahasrapaad,
Sa bhoomim viswato vritwaa, atyatishtaddasaangulam,
……………….
Tripaadasyaamritam divi”]

Stotra mahimaa
[Sarva-siddhi]

“Bhavani twam” is equated by the great pandits with the Upanishad words –
“Brahmaivaahamasmi”
One who does chant this sloka with ekaagrata, becomes one with Brahman or Goddess Supreme. This is referred as saayujya padavi.
This sloka refers that there are many methods of praying Goddess, like, pooja, japa, homa etc; but ahead of all these, it is the highest devotion and is sufficient for one to pray with ekaagrata.

Devi Bhagavata refers as -

“aspashtamapi yannaama prasankenaapi bhaashitam
dadhaati vaancitaa-narthaan durllabhaanapi sarvadaa ”

even if goddess’s name is chanted or uttered along with other words or even unclearly, [even if it is extremely difficult to get the material, money or power], goddess will give him whatever he wants.
Bhavani twam also can be equated to tat twam asi.
Even if one utters this unknowingly, he gets the benefit by the blessings of Goddess. Even if one touches agni, knowingly, or unknowingly, it will burn. It is referred in Sanskrit as –
“Anicchayaapi samsprishto dahatyeva paavakaha”

You can recall the story of Sudarshana, [in Bhaagavata], who was a young boy, and was a fool in his childhood; his father was a king who was defeated by the enemies by treachery and he and his mother had to flee to forest; later, in a school in the forest he was admitted along with other children who were younger in age than him; he could not even pronounce words correctly and hence other children used to mock at him; one day the children were taken on a tour to another country and there this child sudarshana got stranded in a forest; other children were calling the name of a girl among them called “kleeba”; when this boy who was not even able to tell the name kleeba correctly, but when stranded in the forest, he had to call; he called klee klee only [which was being mocked at by others earlier]; but to his surprise, the goddess “Kaali”, who heard his call as “kleem” which is a beeja mantra of kaali appeared and confronted him and took him to his mother and he got back his kingdom, without fighting [goddess was fighting for him]. At last, he was blessed with the position of ciranjeevi with his presence in the finger of Lord Krishna always, and using him whenever required – for example, for killing evil minded sisupaala, jayadratha etc. God bestowed him this saayuja padavi.

The inner details of this sloka is available also in the stotras – “varivasyarahasyam”and “swacchandasangraham”.

This sloka also refers to the kshipraprasaaditwa of the Goddess.

Refer Lalita Sahasra naama which says –

“Kshipraprasaadini”.