Shivanandalahiri-2 (75-100)

 Oh enemy of the cupid, 

Oh leader of the universe, 
Oh God who travels on a bull, 
Please mount and travel, 
My mind which is a horse, 
Which is auspicious, 
Which has varied charming gaits, 
Which moves with speed, 
Which is skilled in knowing gestures of others, 
Which does not have blemishes, 
And which has auspicious looks. 
 
     76 
 
The devotion to the great lord, 
Lives in the sky of  the Lord’s feet, 
And like clusters of clouds gives out the sweet rain, 
And those whose lake of the mind, 
Gets filled up by this rain, 
The crop of his whole life, 
Becomes greatly profitable. 
How else could it be? 
 
         77 
 
My mind to get fixed on the lotus feet of the Lord, 
Resembles the sweetheart separated from her lover, 
And always remembers, has sweet dreams, 
Recollects of early meetings and sings about it, 
And in similar fashion chants the names of Lord Shiva, 
In a trance and gets worried. 
 
             78 
 
Teach me the etiquette of serving the great, 
With devotion, with clean mind and with attachment to the good, 
And exalt my intellect, Oh, my Lord, 
Like the noble groom leads his new bride. 
 
     79 
 
Daily used to move in soft lotus petalled mind of Yogis, 
Oh Lord who is bestower of happiness, 
How did it wound, the hard doors of the chest of God of death, 
My mind is worried about your pair of feet that are tender and soft, 
Oh God who is everywhere, 
Make them visible to my eye, 
And I will gently massage it with my hands. 
 
    80 
 
This one will be born, his mind is hard, 
And I have to dance on it. 
So thinking my lord , 
To save me ,you walked with your tender soft feet, 
On hard surfaced mountains, 
During yore and practiced and learnt. 
If it is not so instead of walking, 
In divine homes, beds of flowers, 
And well laid out paths., 
You danced on rocky surfaces. 
Is it the meaning of that, Oh Shambhu? 
 
     81 
 
Hey , Lord who is with his consort Uma, 
He who can spend some time 
For  worshipping your lotus feet, 
For doing meditation and mixing with you, 
For  saluting you, 
For  hearing your holy stories, 
For  being in your prescence, 
For  singing your fame, 
And being happy with his mind offered to you, 
Attains salvation even when he is alive. 
 
   82 
 
Oh Lord of Arya (11), 
The lord Vishnu became your arrow  (12) and bull (13), 
Occupied half your body, 
Became transformed to be your wife, 
Occupying half your body 
Became a boar to search for you, 
Became your lady friend to serve the nectar, 
Became the player of drum while you danced, 
And offered his eye in worship at your feet, 
He also  took half the share of your body as Harihara, 
And so he becomes eminently suitable for worship, 
For who else  is there greater than him. 
 
       83 
 
There is no doubt that worship of mortal gods  
Subject to birth and death will ever give even little happiness, 
Worship of birthless Lord with Amba, who has deathless body, 
Leads to supreme pleasure and those who do are blessed. 
 
       84 
 
Oh , Lord Shiva who rules all the world, 
And who is the friend of all the world, 
Oh Lord who is ocean of bliss, 
Oh store house of mercy, 
To serve you  besides your consort Gowri, 
I am presenting you the maid of my intellect, 
Who has all good qualities, 
With a request to you. 
To live in the house of my mind. 
 
      85 
 
Ignorant I am , as to how to churn the ocean, 
Incapable I am  of digging and going to Patala (14) , 
Nor am I a skilled hunter  of wild animals, 
So how will I ever arrange your worship,Lord who wears the moon, 
With food (15) , ornament (16) and cloths (17) that you like. 
         86 
 
Oh Consort of Uma, 
Oh Lord who is everywhere, 
Heaps of material for thine worship is ready, 
But how will I ever worship thee? 
Neither I can become a swan  nor a boar, 
And how will I ever find your crown and your tender feet, 
When even Brahma and Vishnu who took those forms , 
Could not ever know about them. 
 
     87 
 
Oh Lord Shambhu, Your food is poison (18), 
Your ornaments are the snakes, 
Your clothes are thick hides, 
And your vehicle is the big , majestic bull. 
What are you ever going to offer me, 
That I need out of these? 
What else have you got? 
Please give me only devotion, 
To your lotus like feet. 
 
      88 
 
How will I ever worship thee lord. 
For I have not built the bridge across the sea (19), 
I have not subdued the king of the mountain (20), 
By palm of my hands, 
And I am nor born out of lotus from the belly of Lord Vishnu (21), 
If I ever  do or attain these, 
Then I would become capable, 
Of offering flowers, singing your praise and meditating on you. 
 
       89 
 
Hey, Lord, who rules over the universe, 
You seem to become more pleased, 
With bow or with pestle or with stones. (22) 
Than with prostrations or singing of your praise  or worship, 
Or meditation  or Samadhi (23) 
Please tell me  which you like most, 
And I will do the same. 

    90 
 
By words I would sing your story, Oh, Lord Shambhu. 
Because I am unsuited for the hard methods of Yoga, 
And I would worship thee with my mind, oh , Easwara, 
And also I would bow before you with my head, Oh Sadashiva.. 
 

He who shines with the moon in his crown, 
The primeval ignorance that used to live in my heart , 
From the beginning of time has disappeared by your grace. 
And that knowledge which solves problems  is living there. 
And so I meditate on your lotus feet, 
Which gives only good and grants salvation. 
 
       92 
 
Bad events, bad fate, bad luck, sorrow, 
Bad egotism and bad words, 
Have been driven away from me. 
And uplift me ,who has been constantly drinking, 
The tasty stories of yours, 
Oh Lord of Uma with your looks of blessing. 

        93 
 
Oh Lord  who wears the crescent of the moon, 
Oh Lord, who has a neck with the colour of black cloud, 
Oh Lord , who is the brightest light, 
Oh Lord, who owns every thing, 
Oh Lord, who is the consort of Girija, 
Let my heart  be delighted  without break. 
 
  94 
 
That which speaks of Lord Shiva , is the tongue, 
That which see Him, are the eyes, 
That which worship Him , are the hands, 
And he who always remembers him, is the fulfilled man. 
 
   95 
 
Leave off such doubts Oh Lord of Bhavani, like, 
“My feet are tender and your mind is hard” 
For if that were so, how did you enter and live  in the mountains hard ? 
 
      96 
 
Oh Lord who destroyed the three cities, 
Control the rutting elephant of my mind, 
With the goad of courage, 
Pull it strongly with the chain of devotion, 
And tie it  with the fetter of intellect , 
To the post of your holy feet. 
 
         97 
 
This big rutted  elephant of my mind, 
Wanders uncontrollably  everywhere, 
Oh Lord tie it with tact with the rope of devotion, 
Hold it well and lead it  to the ultimate stable state 
 
 98 
 
THIS SLOKA HAS TWO MEANINGS AND COULD BE TAKEN  
TO MEAN QUALITIES OF A GIRL  
ATTRIBUTED TO THE POEM OR QUALITIES OF A POEM  
ATTRIBUTED TO THE GIRL. 
 
                           Qualities of a girl 
 
Oh Lord, darling of Goddess Gowri, 
Please accept and marry my poem, which is like a girl, 
Who is well made up and ornamented, 
Who  has a pretty lovable gait, 
Who is of very good  character, 
Who is or pretty attractive colour, 
Who is being praised by all good people, 
Who has sweet pleasant behavior, 
Who is model among girls, 
Who possess all ideals, 
Who wears glittering ornaments, 
Who behaves with decorum, 
Who has the line of wealth in her palms, 
And who is store house of all that is good. 
     
                                Qualities of a poem                         
 
Oh Lord, darling of Goddess Gowri, 
Please accept and marry my poem maid, 
Which has good figures of speech, 
Which is made up of simple lovable words, 
Which has musical meter, 
Which shines in well chosen letters, 
Which is being praised by intellectuals, 
Which has all good qualities, 
Which aims at propagating devotion, 
Which is a model poem, 
Which has attractive phrases, 
Which sounds soft and sweet, 
Which has glittering and attractive import, 
And which grants good to all 
 
     99  
 
Is it proper for you my Lord who is the ocean of mercy? 
That while Lord Vishnu and Brahma took the forms of boar and bird, 
With intention of seeing your head and feet, 
Searched in vain the earth and sky,  
Toiled and got tired but did not succeed. 
You appeared and made yourself known before me easily, 
Oh granter of all that is good, Oh my Lord. 
 
  100 
 
Oh Shambhu, all this praise I feel is enough, 
Though I never wrote anything that is false. 
When Lord Brahma and other Gods,  
List all the great Gods, 
They always put you as first. 
And when your devotees search for the greatest God, 
The other gods are moved away like the chaff from the grain, 
And you are reckoned as the best among best of all grains. 
 

Shankaracharya