Soundarya Lahari Sloka -4

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -4
[The divine powers of the Lotus Feet of Goddess]
[Sakala bhaya nivritti, sakala roga nivritti]

Tvad anyah paanibhyam abhaya-varado daivataganah
Tvam eka n'aivasi prakatita-var'abhityabhinaya;
Bhayat tratum datum phalam api cha vancha samadhikam
Saranye lokanam tava hi charanaveva nipunav..

Oh! Goddess!
Lokaanaam Saranye who is the shelter for the world

[Saranye – one who has Sree Cakram as the abode of seat]
Daivataganah devaganaas
twad anya: other than you
abhayavarada: show mudraas bestowing abhaya and varada

Abhayamudra – removes the fear of samsara; this mudra is seen on the right hand of deities which is shown lifted above for blessing the devotees.

Vara mudra - bestows worldly pleasures is shown by the left hand of the deities which is shown held down near the feet.

But, since, Tripura Sundari holds, paasa, ankusa, pushpabaana and sugarcane dhanus in her hands, abhaya-varada mudraas are not shown by the hands of Goddess, devotee meditates with the feeling that they are included in the feet of the Goddess. All other deities who show abhaya varada blessing devotees, worship the divine Lotus Feet of the Goddess – Tripura Sundari.

This shows the Sree-Paada Maahaatmya of the Goddess.
Here is a song of amma – which helps us to reming of this grace of goddess –

Sreepaadamaahaatmyam aarkariyaam Gurupaadattin vaibhavamaarkkariyaam
Amriteswari amme aanandasaarame Kaivalyadhaamame jnaan namikkaam

Who knows the mahaatmya of the divine lotus feet of Goddess!
Who knows the vaibhava the invaluable infinitesimal omniscient, omnipotent, power of the divine lotus feet of Guru! Oh! Mother! Amriteswari! You are the aananda saara, the permanent happiness, and kaivalya dhaama; I bow to you

Sreepaadapoojakku melilla poojakal Illayogaadikal saadhanakal
Sadgurupaadattil premavum sraddhayum janmajanmaantara punyamallo

There is no pooja, yoga, or saadhana more valuable than that of the sree-paada-pooja. It is the janmajanmaantara punya that one gets prema and sraddha towards the sreepaada.

Trippaadabhakti sadaakalpavrikshamaam premabhatipradam jnaanamoolam
Bhaktimuktipradam sarvasiddhipradam sripaadateertame teerthasaaram

Trippadabhakti is always kalpavriksha, which give premabhakti and thereby jnaana or self-knowledge thereby removing all our sorrows. The sreepaada teertha is the saara of all the teerthaas like ganges etc which bestows bhakti, mukti, sarva siddhi.

Saakshaal anantanum moortitrayangalum vaakku kittate alanjidunnu
Pinnaru varnikkum sad guru paadatte veendum namikkaam namichidaam jnaan

Ananta, the great avatar of Vishnu, and all the trimurtis – Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra are not able to praise Goddess, because they become dumbfounded by the Divine power of the Goddess, then who else can describe the Goddess? Such a sree paada – I bow and I bow again.

One who has got the kataaksha of the Goddess, reaches such a state that for him, there is nothing which is wanted and which is not wanted; we may recall that - the great saint, Sadasiva Brahmendra was in this state only. Yet another example is that of the great king Ambareesha the story from Sreemad Bhaagavatam, which we will refer at the end of this lesson.

The poem Mooka-pancasati refers like this –

Siva siva pasyanti samam Sri Kamaksi kataakshitaa: purushaa:
Vipinam bhavanam amritam mitram loshtanca yuvati-bimboshtam


paanibhyaam by hands
twam eka only you alone
Na yeva asi are never like that
Prakatita Vara abheeti abhinayaa
acting showing vara and abhaya mudra
Hi because
Traatum to protect
Bhayaat from fear
Dhaatum api ca and even for giving
Phalam fruits
Vaancaa sanadhikam more than what is required
Tava your
Caranau yeva Lotus feet itself
Nipunau hi capable, for sure!

Oh! Goddess! who is the shelter for the world! all devaganaas other than you, show mudraas bestowing abhaya and varada by hands only;

Oh! Goddess! you alone are never acting, like that, showing vara and abhaya mudra, because to protect from fear, and even for giving more fruits than what is required, your Divine Lotus Feet itself is capable, for sure!

Let us recall the sloka –

Aapadi kim karaneeyam,
Smaraneeyam caranayugalam ambaayaa:
Tat smaranam kim kurute
Brahmaadeenapi ca kim karee kurute

When we land in any trouble, it is just sufficient to remember for a moment the sreepaada of the Goddess; to such a devotee or upaasaka, brahmaadi become kinkara; that is, all other gods come to our rescue.

The story of the great king Ambareesha [Srimad Bhaagavata]

Recall a glimpse of the punyakatha of the great king Ambareesha in Srimad Bhagavata, who was a perfect brahmanishta; Ambareesha was performing a yajna – one of the important requirement of the yajna is that one should take food only after performing it, but the yajna should compulsorily be completed before the prescribed time, before sunset;

In the evening, when the yajna was going on, the great powerful sage Durvasa, who was known for his anger, arrived; he was welcomed by the king with due respect; but the sage told that he will take bath and come back, and till then the yajna should not be finished;

But, to the surprise of all, the sage was not seen to come and sun was about to set; hence as per the advice of the guru and as per the code of conduct Aambareesha has to finsish yajna by taking food; but Ambareesha was not prepared to take food, as he wanted to give value to the words of the great sage. Somehow, the king had to finish the yajna, hence he consulted the guru Brihaspati and finished the yajna by taking a handful of water.

But then, arrived the sage to the stage, and problem started; the sage was not happy; he started abusing the king for not having protected his vow. He took a hair from his head and from that created a krittika, a beast like creature, which started to pounce upon the king. But the king was not taken aback or was not afraid; he was calm and quiet.

Due the nishkama – ananya - bhakti of Ambareesha, the Vishnu cakra appeared (Ambareesha was unaware of this) and powdered the krittika and put it to fire thereby destroying it, and then the cakra went towards the sage Durvasa to kill him. The sage ran here and there, but could not escape. Even, he went inside the sea to hide; but the cakra appeared there also.

At last he approached Brahma, who told that he and all his people are puppets in the hands of Lord Vishnu and so he asked him to go.

Then the sage reached Kailasa and approached Siva, when approached, told the sage that he and his people are all aajnaapaalakaas of Lord Vishnu, but Siva told him that if he wants to escape, he has to go to Lord Vishnu only.

Accordingly, the sage approached Lord Vishnu for protection, but Vishnu told him that he is not in Vaikunta, but is in the heart of the bhakta always and hence could not save him, and that only way to escape is to approach the bhakta and ask his pardon.

At last, the sage ran to Ambareesha and fell on his feet and asked pardon. But the king was smiling as ever before, and prayed to the cakra to protect the sage; then the cakra disappeared and the king asked the sage to proceed with the yajna to be completed.

Such is the greatness of a bhakta who has the goddess or Lord in his heart of hearts; he will ever be protected, wherever he is , or whatever he is.