काव्ये विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

[[Mohan K.V 2012-11-21, 21:01:27 Source]]

सदास्वाद

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कैलसे नवनीतति, क्षितितले प्राग्जग्धमृल्लोष्टति, क्षीरोदे निपीतदुग्धति

(kailase navanītati, kṣititale prāgjagdhamṛlloṣṭati, kṣīrode nipītadugdhati)

Meaning

Literally, “Just as Mount Kailasa became a lump of butter”, “As the Earth became a mouthful of mud”, “As the Milk Ocean became a gulp of milk”. Actually, these are all in the 7th (locative) case, so they read as “Inthe Kailasa [which was] becoming butter” – this is the famed Sati Saptamī construction, one of the most distinctive idiomatic constructions of Sanskrit, where “In X” is read as “When X had happened” or “Just as X happened”

Context

This phrase is from a verse in the Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛtam, one of the finest examples of intense devotion (bhakti) melding beautifully with brilliant poetry. Little is known about the author of the work, a saint named BilvamangalaSvāmi, who later took on the pen-name of Līlāśuka, and who is conjectured to have lived in the 13th century A.D somewhere in south India. Our opinions on this work, a loving description of LordKṛṣṇa’s childhood antics observed with a eye worthy of the keenest micrographer, a pen worthy of the most moving songwriter, a mind worthy of the sincerest seeker of knowledge and a heart worthy of the most earnest devotee, can best be summarized by a light modification of one of its own verses:
kāmam santu sahasraśaḥ katipayevṛttānta-dhaureyakāḥ
kāmaṃ vāgata-kāla-sūkṣma-sumahad-vyākāra**-baddhavratāḥ|
naivetair-vivadāmahe na ca vayaṃsvāminpriyaṃ brūmahe
yat satyam ramaṇīyatā-pariṇatis-tvayyeva pāraṃgatā ||
“Let there be a thousand keen historians, or legions of scholars devoted to analyzing the minutest details of the past era; we won’t engage with them, Svāmi – all we know for sure is that you’ve surpassed the frontier of Beauty itself” (For those of you who are curious, the original verse, 1.101, is addressed toKṛṣṇa, andvṛttāntais actually ‘sārasya’ (charm) and ‘*gata-kāla-sūkṣma-sumahad-vyākāra’*iskamanīyatā-parimala-svārājya (a congregation of all that is beautiful))

The work lends itself to infinite philosophical reflection – the very idea of an infant-god as the source of salvation is endlessly fascinating. On a lighter note, if Līlāśuka were to update his CV today, he could reasonablyclaim to be the world’s first “Sustainable Market Demographic Focus Expert” – the choice of the subject as an infant’s lovable antics has ensured that as long as there are parents and children and mischief, his poetry will remain fresh as ever :-)
This verse(#62)appears in the 2nd of his 3 cantos, the one most steeped in action and mischief (the 1st and 3rd are more of the ‘pure devotion’ kind). It is a picture-in-words of a well-known event: Mother Yaśodā comes to know that the childKṛṣṇa has eaten a handful of mud, and demands that he open his mouth.Kṛṣṇa throws a tantrum, but eventually she manages to peek inside. What does she see? Entire universes swirling around, mountains and seas and rivers and stars, all going along their ways, seemingly unaware that they’re on the tip of amischievousbaby’s tongue. In a cute recursive twist, she even sees the earth, her village, and even herself checkingKṛṣṇa’s mouth. Here isLīlāśuka’s take on the first moment of this event:
कैलसे नवनीतति क्षितितले प्राग्जग्धमृल्लोष्टति
क्षीरोदेऽपि निपीतदुग्धति लसत्स्मेरप्रफुल्लेमुखे ।
मात्राऽजीर्णभिया दृढंचकितया “नष्टाऽस्मि! दृष्टः कया!
धू धू वत्सक! जीव! जीव चिरम्!” इत्युक्तोऽवतान्नो हरिः ॥
kailase navanītati kṣititale prāg-jagdha-mṛlloṣṭati
kṣīrode’pi nipīta-dugdhati lasat-smera-praphulle-mukhe |
mātrā’jīrṇabhiyā dṛḍhaṃ-cakitayā “naṣṭā’smi! dṛṣṭaḥ kayā!
dhū dhū vatsaka! jīva! jīva ciram!” ityukto’vatān-no hariḥ ||
(śārdūlavikrīḍita, 19 syllables per line)
“As Mount Kailasa became a lump of butter, and the Earth a handful of mud,
As the Milk Ocean became a gulp of milk in the smiling baby’s mouth
The mother, afraid of him getting a stomach upset, shouted out, ‘Oh no! Whose evil eye was this!
Spit it out, quickly, quickly! Oh my dear, my dear!’ – may he who was thus told, protect us”
The conjunction between the two halves of the verse is pure poetic genius. After the first two lines, one might easily have expected the mother to be mystified, wonder-struck or amazed at the sights she saw; one might have expected her to think of Creation, Life, God and Religion; one might have expected curiosity, awe or devotion to be the dominant emotion. Instead, she feltfear. Fear of what? A stomach upset. “Tohellwith the Universe and its metaphysics! My baby’s going to get a stomach upset! Spit it out, now!!”.
Aside from the humor that arises from this, there’s also a subtle hint of the priorities of the mother’s mind. We’ll end with a Hebrew saying: “God could not be everywhere. So he created mothers.”

Thought for today

साक्षरा विपरीताश्चेद्राक्षसा एव केवलम् |
सरसो विपरीतोऽपि सरसत्वं न मुञ्चते ||
sākṣarā viparītāś-ced-rākṣasā eva kevalam |
saraso viparīto’pi sarasatvaṃ na muñcate ||
As in today’s example, there are several instances where there seems to be a gulf between a purely ‘intellectual’ reaction and an ’emotional’ or ‘human’ one. In thestahlhartes Gehäuse(‘Iron Cage’) of today’s ever-more-rational society, some words of pause:
“Learned men (sākṣarā), if they take a perverse turn, easily become villains (rākṣasā). A man of feeling (sarasa), on the other hand, stays the same.“sākṣarā when reversed actually becomesrākṣasā, whilesarasa is invariant :-)