शिवताण्डवस्तोत्रम्

The Hymn of the Cosmic Dancer

-Kushagra Aniket

(English verse translation of the Śivatāṇḍavastotra in the iambic octameter)

I.

Celestial waters trickling down the jungle of his matted locks-
They drench his neck, bedecked by lofty garlands of the serpent flock;
Da-dum, da-dum, he dances to reverberating drums of his,
The vigorous dance of Tandava, may he ordain our greatest bliss.

II.

The swirling mighty waves of Ganges in his well of tangled hair,
Resplendent, they emerge in playful consecration in the air;
He, who on his forehead immense, ignited brilliant flames with zest,
My heart rejoices in him, who adorns the crescent lunar crest.

III.

Beholding the directions four, be-dazzled by the ornament,
Which had adorned the daughter of the mountain-lord in merriment,
Removing unsurpassable adversities through caring glance,
In him alone, who wears the skies, my mind delights in wondrous trance.

IV.

Atop the serpent’s hood is fastened in his tufts, the ruby gem,
Projecting colors on the four directions of the azure realm;
Of an intoxicated tusker’s skin becomes his velvet shawl
My mind rejoices in him thus who is the highest lord of all.

V.

His feet are served by dust of flowers, which grace the wreaths of humbled gods-
The thousand-eyed accompanied by legions of the bowing lords;
The serpent king becomes a band to tie his flowing tresses down,
For our eternal opulence, beseech the one with moon-lit crown.

VI.

Saluted by the chiefs divine, a tablet is his forehead broad,
With sparks of raging fires that consumed the errant Cupid god;
His twisted coil of hair is canopied by lunar rays intense,
May we be prosperous by him, the bearer of a skull immense.

VII.

In him is my delight, who had dhagad-dhagad the fires lit,
He sacrificed the god of love, five-arrowed, in his forehead pit;
The three-eyed artist singular in tracing lines with rarest skill,
Upon the canvas of the bosom of the daughter of the hills.

VIII.

The bearer of the Ganges and the crown of lunar beams aglow,
In tusker’s skin, enrobed, he bears the axis of the worlds below;
His neck en-wrapped in darkness thick of clouds, which gathered on a night-
Devoid of moon, at mid-point hour, may he bestow his riches bright.

IX.

Him I adore, whose slender neck is shrouded in a radiant hue-
Its splendor dark reminding of a fully-blossomed lotus blue;
Destroyer of the god of love and castles of the evil-kind,
Of birth and death, and sacrifice, the tusker and the demon blind.

X.

Him I adore, who is a bee to taste the honeyed nectar free
Of buds of the Kadamba tree, resembling gracious Pārvatī;
The cause of death of death, of Cupid, evil’s forts and mundane ties-
The tusker’s and the demon’s death, and death of Dakṣa’s sacrifice.

XI.

His forehead flame is fanned by heated breath of serpents on his head-
Which swing from side-to-side with motions of his feet in whirling tread-
Dhimid-Dhimid, he dances, as the rapid beats of drums resound,
May thus abound the glories of the cosmic dancer all-around.

XII.

O when shall I with evenness behold a stone and restful bed,
A serpent and a string of pearls, a precious gem and piece of lead;
A friend and foe, a blade of grass and maiden lotus-eyed as one,
The subjects and their emperor, and worship Him in every-one.

XIII.

Residing in an arbor near the Ganges in a cavern high,
My mind released of evil thoughts, and often flickering dewy eyes;
With hands in worship joined above, thus contemplating on his shrine;
O when shall I discover joy, repeating Shiva’s names divine?

XIV.

His presence graced by pollen falling from the jasmines in the hair,
Which are adorned by wreaths by clusters of immortal damsels fair;
O may his form, the highest point of universal radiance bright,
Surpassing all, bestow on us incessantly our hearts’ delight.

XV.

As brilliant as the fires raging on the beds of oceans vast,
Bestower of the powers eight, the song of Shiva’s union past;
Repeated by the damsel folk, melodious symphony of yore,
O may the chant of Shiva’s name ascend the world with thunderous roar.

XVI.

So is declared this noble hymn, unceasingly most glorified,
Whoever reads, remembers or repeats it thus is purified;
And strays not thence, attaining soon devotion in the deity great,
Whose contemplation is the antidote to men’s deluded state.

XVII.

Upon conclusion of his prayer, thus sang the wise ten-headed king,
Hence, after worshipping Shiva, reciting in the evening;
This hymn, one’s blessed unfailingly, with fortune fair and permanent,
Extended by Shiva, along with chariot, horse, and elephant.