Request for meaning of "Sri Subrahmanya Ashtottara"

History, religion and culture
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cmlover
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

The request for commenting on Kumara sambhava reminds me of the introduction for the same by Mallinatha the famous commentator. He titles his commentary as 'sanjivini' (i.e., resuscitator). He states:
.... bhAratI kALidAsasya durvyAkhyAviShamUrcchitA|
EShA sa~njIvinI vyAkhyA tAmadyOjjIvayiShyati ||

(Goddess sarasvati has been stupefied by the abstruse scholarly descriptions of Kalidasa and who will now be revived and enlivened by this commentary)
It is indeed difficult to follow the flights of fancy of kalidasa without the expert commentary of Mallinatha. How can we forget his commentary on Raghuvamsha where he establishes even in the first verse that Kalidasa is equally a viShNu worshipper by splitting pArvatiparamEshvara as pArvatipa+ramEshvara (husband of parvati as well as the lord of Lakshmi)- a masterly transformation of ardhanArIshvara tatvam into shankaranArAyaNa tatvam !.
Karthik has expounded Subramanya ashtottara in such a masterly fashion that it is now easy to follow the prayer meaningfully as we worship Lord SubramaNya. He should do more such commentaries (starting with AnjanEya....) for the edification and enjoyment of our Rasikas. Those too will be sanjivinI for our readership!

vs_manjunath
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Joined: 29 Sep 2006, 19:37

Post by vs_manjunath »

cmlover-Thanks for this excellent Mallinathas's introduction of Kalidasa. We lookforward to educating us abt the greatness of Kalidasa as visualized by his contemporary poets & Kings before we dwell into the famous "Kumara Sambhavam".

PUNARVASU
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Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 05:42

Post by PUNARVASU »

I suppose a new thread will be started so that it is easy to follow.Thanks.

karthik76
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Joined: 23 Mar 2007, 10:02

Post by karthik76 »

cml,

Thanks for the introduction. I read an interesting anecdote on kALidAsa -

When Kalidasa returned home a wise man, from his quest for knowledge, his wife asked him - 'asti kashchit vAgvishESha: ?' meaning - 'Have you attained considerable knowledge ?'. kALidAsa took this to his heart, and as if in reply, over the new few years, expressed his vAk vishEsha by using these words to begin three of his best kAvyas -

kumArasamBhavam beginning with asti
mEGhadUtam beginning with kashchit
raGhuvamsham beginning with vAk
cmlover wrote:Karthik has expounded Subramanya ashtottara in such a masterly fashion that it is now easy to follow the prayer meaningfully as we worship Lord SubramaNya. He should do more such commentaries (starting with AnjanEya....) for the edification and enjoyment of our Rasikas. Those too will be sanjivinI for our readership!
Thank you for the appreciation and encouragement. Without your contributions, this post would have turned into a dictionary limiting its vocabulary to the 'subraHmaNya aShtOttaraM'. So, thank you for making this a great learning experience.

It is an undeniable fact that most members of this forum are wiser and more capable than me, at what I have attempted, by great measures. Yet, the mind wanders. I shall start a new post with the AnjanEya aShtOttara soon.
Last edited by karthik76 on 19 Sep 2008, 21:15, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

I will be happy to oblige if there is adequate interest, time (I mean my :) permitting. Will start a new thread1
Just wanted to respond along the lines of the mahakavi himself (Raghuvamsa 1.2)
kva pracaNDa kaviprabhavO rAjA kva ca alpa viShayA matiH |
titIrShuH dustaram mOhAt udupEna asmi sAgaraM ||

Where is the illustrious King of the kavi parampara and where am I little minded nonentity, is it not like the effort of one craving ignorantly to span the mighty ocean on a home-made raft ?

karthik76
Posts: 191
Joined: 23 Mar 2007, 10:02

Post by karthik76 »

I am definitely interested in sailing !!!

cmlover
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

karthik:
nice comment on Kalidasa! Aren't we sad that he didn't live long enough to compose one more mahakAvya starting with 'vishESha' :)
On second thoughts perhaps there was nothing special (vishESha) beyond those three gems in that there was nothing left behnd (shESha) and he that has said the last word!

Good Luck and get going!

PUNARVASU
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Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 05:42

Post by PUNARVASU »

There is an incident when Kalidasa sang the charama slokam on king Bhoja thinking that the king was dead.The king who was alive and in disguise and sitting in front of Kalidasa dropped dead as soon as the slokam was uttered because Kalidas was blessed by the Goddess that whatever he uttered will come true. On realising that he sang the charama slokam when the king was alive, the poet is supposed to have prayed to the goddess by singing the sloka with a different meaning, to bring the king back to life and Goddess granted his desire and brought the king back to life,though for a very short time.
Here is the slokam


" ATHYA TARA NIRATARA NIRALAMBA SARASWATHI;
PANDITHAHA KANDITHA SARVE BHOJRAJA DIVAM GATHE "
( meaning :- The Kingdom of Tara is now deserted due to the demise of Bhoj Raj. The learned poets would get punished anywhere now as Goddess Saraswathi has lost the grip and interest.)
Kalidasa prayed to Kali Devi to spare his friend by singing the same sloka to give the opposite meaning:-
Kalidasa embraced the King and told about the short life at his disposal. King Bhoj urged Kalidasa to compose an epic and Bhoj also joined him to make it.The kavya is well known as" Bhoj Sambu " .
The epic work describes Vishnu as ' Kala Megham '.

PUNARVASU
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Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 05:42

Post by PUNARVASU »

There is another incident- something like a riddle was posed by the king Bhoja to find out about the whereabouts of his friend Kalidasa. It goes some thing like
'kamalE kamlotpatti'- I dont remember the rest of it. A woman who was with kalidasa made him complete the riddle and went to the king to get the reward for solving it. Because she uttered the words as uttered by kalidasa, she was found out.If any one knows the remaining part of the riddle, kindly post it.
If there is going to be a separate thread on kalidasa, this and my earlier posting may be moved to that thread.
Last edited by PUNARVASU on 20 Sep 2008, 02:05, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
Posts: 191
Joined: 23 Mar 2007, 10:02

Post by karthik76 »

kamalE kamalOtpattiH shrUyatE na tu dRshyatE |
bAle tava mukhAmbhojE kathamindIvaradvayaM ||

The birth of one lotus from another has neither been heard of, nor seen; child (girl), how is it that in your lotus face, there are two lotuses (eyes) ?

Wonderful lines - as kAnchI paramAcharya often quotes - 'upamA kALidAsasya'
Last edited by karthik76 on 20 Sep 2008, 02:20, edited 1 time in total.

PUNARVASU
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Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 05:42

Post by PUNARVASU »

Karthik 76, thanks for the prompt response. I had read this; but forgotten.

cmlover
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

The first carama slOka was
adya (today) dhArA (bhumaadevi) nirAdhArA (without support) nirAlaMbA (friendless/lonely) saravsatI
paNDitAH (scholars) khANditA sarvE (all are torn to pieces/frustrated) bhOjarAjE divam (heaven) gatE (gone).
When he realized that the king had fallen dead he made a simple modification:
adya(today) dhArA (bhUmaadev) sadA dhArA (always with support) sadAlaMbA (eternally friendly) sarasvatI
paNDitAH (scholars) maNDitA sarvE ( all are well decorated) bhOjarAjE bhuvam gatE ( come back to the earth)
whence the King revived....

PUNARVASU
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Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 05:42

Post by PUNARVASU »

CML, thanks for the slokas; I stand corrected (in spellings)
Last edited by PUNARVASU on 20 Sep 2008, 04:30, edited 1 time in total.

Bhuvana07
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Joined: 17 Mar 2021, 22:48

Re: Request for meaning of

Post by Bhuvana07 »

Hi. Can I keep my baby boy name as "divivarna" and please tell me the meaning of it.

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