Meenakshi Memudham Dehi - Muthuswami Dikshithar Kriti

Raga: gamakakriya / Tala: Adi

Pallavi

mInAkshi mE mudam dEhi
mEchakAngi rAja mAtangi

Anupallavi

mAnamAtR mEyE mAyE
marakata CHAyE shiva jAyE
mIna lOchani pAsha mOchani
mAnini kadamba vana vAsini

Charanam

madhurApuri nilayE maNi valayE
malayadhwaja pANdya rAja tanayE
vidhuvilamabana vadanE vijayE
vINA gAna dasha gamakakriyE

madhu mada mOdita hrdayE sadayE

mahAdEva sundarEsha priyE

madhu muraripu sOdari shAtOdari

vidhi guruguha vashankari shankari

Word by word meaning : 

Pallavi

mInAkshi : O Goddess Meenakshi!
mE : to me
mudam : bliss
dEhi : give
mEchakAngi : one who wears jewels on her limbs
rAja mAtangi : Raja Matangi is one of the forms of Goddess; daughter of Rishi Matangar

Anupallavi

mAna : the concept of knowledge 
mAtR : the one who understands / knows the idea of this knowledge
mEyE : the measurement of knowledge
mAyE : limit of knowledge / delusion
marakata : emerald
CHAyE: complexion
shiva jAyE : wife of shiva
mIna lOchani : who has eyes shaped like a fish
pAsha mOchani : one who releases from bondage

mAnini : the one who is respected 
kadamba vana vAsini : the one who lives in kadamba vana (forest)

Charanam

madhurApuri nilayE : the one who lives in Madurapuri
maNi valayE : the one who wears gem studded bangles
malayadhwaja pANdya rAja tanayE : the daughter of the Pandya king, malayadvaja pandyan
vidhu : moon
vilamabana : which makes a mockery of
vadanE : face
vijayE : always victorious
vINA gAna : who plays the Vina
dasha gamakakriyE : the ten different modulations of

madhu mada mOdita hrdayE : the one who brings delight to the heart
sadayE : this can be referred to as "sada ye" meaning - always and also as the compassionate one
mahAdEva sundarEsha priyE : the wife of Lord Sundareswara
madhu mura :the demons madhu and mura
ripu : enemy 
sOdari  : the sister of the enemy of madhu and mura
shAtOdari : the one who has a slender waist
vidhi : lord brahma
guruguha : lord Muruga / Skanda
vashankari : who captivates
shankari : Goddess Shankari; always ausipicious

Meaning & Stories in the song :

As the legend goes, this is the song the disciples of Dikshithar sung when he shed the mortal coil and became one with Meenakshi - his ishta Devatai. 

Pallavi:

mInAkshi mE mudam dEhi
mEchakAngi rAja mAtangi

Meenakshi is the one who has "Meena akshi" - the one who has eyes like the fish. It is interesting to note that even in tamil, "Meen" means fish! Meenakshi has lovely eyes which are long. Soundaryalahari talks about Ambal's eyes touching her ear! Here, Dikshithar tells the Goddess of Madurai, the Raja Matangi, to give him bliss. Raja Matangi is the Goddess of Knowledge. here, it seems as if Dikshithar alludes to the ultimate knowledge being the ultimate Bliss. 

There are a few Rishi Matangas that we come across in the puranas. One is in Ramayana - Rishi Matanga who is the Guru of Sabari and who tells Sabari that Rama will come and give her Moksha. Saying thus, he sits in the lotus posture and becomes one with the Supreme. Most likely, this is the same Matanga Rishi who cursed Vali from entering Rishyamukha parvata. Interestingly, there is a "Matanga Parvat" in Hampi, Karnataka!

I am not very sure whether the "daughter of Matangi" refers to this Rishi Matanga or to someone else. 

If one looks at the Jain Ramayana (there are supposedly more than 300 versions of Ramayan in this land!!), "Matangs" are those who belong to "Nag-Vansh" - which is an ancient tribe of the country. Matangs were also supposed to be proficient in various advanced technologies. 

Let us look at the Goddess name  "Matangi" first. In Saktham tradition, "Matangi" is supposedly having dark complexion, possing a moon on her forehead. She has three eyes. He luster is like a blue lotus and she is a destroyer of demons. Matangi is often depicted as Green or Blue. She holds a Veena, knife and a skull. 

Anupallavi:


mAnamAtR mEyE mAyE
marakata CHAyE shiva jAyE
mIna lOchani pAsha mOchani
mAnini kadamba vana vAsini

Dikshithar expands on the idea of Raja Matangi - the supreme representation of supreme knowledge further.  Meenakshi is the one who knows the ultimate knowledge - "mana". She is the knowledge itself. Matr. Whatever there is to be known, whatever is worth knowing, is embodied by her. And, she is the measurement - the way to get the knowledge - Meye. She is the trinity of Knower, Knowlege and the act of knowing it. And, one step further, she is also the Maye - the one who creates the delusion which results in lack of knowledge - which prevents one from attaining the true knowledge. Beautiful! She is knowledge. She is the knower. She is the path to knowing. However, she is also the one who creates the obstacles in knowing it!! Only when she removes the maya, can one truly understand the truth!!

She, the emerald hued one, is the one who knows Shiva. The fish eyed Goddess is the one who removes all our bondage - simply because she is the one who created it thru maya in the first place. She is the 'pasa mochani'. She is the one who is venerated, respected by all. After all, the ultimate truth is the one which everyone tries to learn and everyone respects the ultimate truth and Meenakshi is the only ultimate truth!

And, Dishithar, listening to this song, listening to these lines, reached the lotus feet of Ambal - the ultimate truth!

The image here shows the Madurai Meenakshi temple in all its grandeur!

Charanam:

madhurApuri nilayE maNi valayE
malayadhwaja pANdya rAja tanayE
vidhuvilamabana vadanE vijayE
vINA gAna dasha gamakakriyE

madhu mada mOdita hrdayE sadayE

mahAdEva sundarEsha priyE

madhu muraripu sOdari shAtOdari

vidhi guruguha vashankari shankari

She resides in "Madurapuri". Here, "Madura - puri" refers to "Madurai - puri" where Goddess Meenakshi temple is there. "Madura puri" also means the place which is sweet. She is herself sweet. No wonder she dwells in a place which is sweet. 

She was born as "Thataathagai" - the daughter of Malayadhwaja Pandiyan, the Pandiyan king. This is a very interesting story. The pandyan king did penance and wanted the Goddess as her daughter. When she was born, there was one "asariri" - the voice on the sky without a body - which said that she will have three breasts when she grows up and the third breast will disappear when the right groom comes in front of her. When Lord Sundareswarar comes in front of her as the groom, her third breast disappears and they get married. 

There is also a sub story - told in a more humorous vein. When the marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar was happening, the Lord came only with His Bhootha Ganas and who were only a few. The king, the father in law of the Lord worried that the mountain of food prepared for the marriage might go wasted since not many people were there from the Groom's side to eat it. Then, Lord Sundareswara smiled and asked one of His Bhootha gana to do the needful. The Bhootha ate up all the food and asked for more - and more - which the king after a point in time, just could not produce. The bhootha also asked for water. And, Lord, taking pity on the king, asked the Bhootha to put his hand on the floor over there - in tamil!! "Vai - Kai" - which means put your hand there (vai = put; kai = hand) and voila! The river Vaigai started flowing over there!!

The marriage of Meenakshi and Sundareswara happened on the day of "Panguni Uttiram" day. This is a very auspicious day. This is the day when not only Meenakshi - Sundareswara marriage but also other marriages and significant events took place : the marriage of Murugan and Deivanai, and  Aandaal (also known as Kothai) and Rangamannar took place. This is the day when Narayana marries Komalavalli Naachiyar . This is the day when Rama married Sita. Brahmanda Puranam tells us that on Panguni Uthiram every holy water joins Thumburu teertha (also spelt as Tirtha), one of seven sacred tanks in Tirupati Tirumala.

The image of Meenakshi and Sundareswara shown here in this post is the image from our family friend's place at Kottivakkam, Chennai, where they celebrate Her marriage every year. We make a pilgimage to their place at least once a year - at least during the time of Panguni Uttiram - which is celebrated as a wedding in their own family!

Malayadhwaja Pandiyan also gets mentioned in the Karna parvam of Mahabharatha. It mentions his name and says that he fought valiantly in the war - on the side of Pandavas and got killed in the war. 

The Goddess Meenakshi's face outshines the moon. She is the victorious one. She is the one who created the ten gamakas associated with the Vina instrument. She is the one who brings delight to one's heart. She is sweet as honey. She is always there. She is compassionate. She is the priya saki of Lord Sundareswara. She is Vishnu's sister - the Vishnu who was the enemy of and who killed the demons madhu and mura. She has a slender waist. She captivates Brahma and Guruguha. She is the auspicious one. 

Other beautiful points to note in this Sahitya : 

* While this song's raaga is normally known as 'purvi kalyani" as it is sung nowadays, at Dikshithar's time, the raaga was known as raag Gamakakriya. Dikshithar's mudra is also "vINA gAna dasha gamakakriyE" bringing in the name of the raaga deftly there. (there are many opinions on whether raag Gamakakriya and Purvi kalyani are one and the same and if different how different etc - I am not an expert enough to get into any of that..)

* The song is full of "Ye" prasam : mEyE mAyE; marakata CHAyE shiva jAyE; madhurApuri nilayE maNi valayE;  pANdya rAja tanayE; vidhuvilamabana vadanE vijayE; dasha gamakakriyE; mOdita hrdayE sadayE; mahAdEva sundarEsha priyE...beautiful!!

* In other places the song is full of "I" prasam: it starts with the "I" prasam : mInAkshi mE mudam dEhi; mEchakAngi rAja mAtangi; mIna lOchani pAsha mOchani; mAnini kadamba vana vAsini; madhu muraripu sOdari shAtOdari; vidhi guruguha vashankari shankari

* Finishing with "vashankari shankari" - simply beautiful!!

Here are a few links to immortal singing of this song. Bliss!!!



MSS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSLbXnIKykk

TN Seshagopalan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ766WcKaj0

Madurai Mani Iyer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcyE4mDYPGc

Akilandeswari Rakshamam : Dikshithar Kriti

akhilaaNDEshvari  : raagam: dvijaavanti  taaLam: aadi

Composer: Muttuswaamy Dikshitar  Language: Sanskrit

pallavi

akhilANDEshvari rakSamAm Agama sampradAya nipuNE shrI

anupallavi

nikhila lOka nityAtmikE vimalE nirmalE shyAmaLE sakala kalE

charaNam

lambOdara guruguha pUjitE lambAlakOdbhAsitEhasitE
vAgdEvatArAdhitE varadE varashailarAjanutE shAradE
jambhAri sambhAvitE janArddananutE jujAvanti rAganutE jallI
maddaLa jhar jhara vAdya nAdamuditE jHnAnapradE

Word by word meaning of the song : (mostly taken from the site : http://guruguha.org/wiki/akhilandeshvari.html)

kshEtra - tiruvAnaikkOil is the "kshetra" - the place - meant here
akhilAnDa - all the worlds 
ISvari - Goddess 
raksha - protect 
mAm - me 
Agama - The Agama canons 
sampradAya - The path of the ; the tradition
nipuNE - expert 
Sri - O auspicious one 
nikhila - various 
lOka - worlds 
nitya - eternal 
AtmikE - dwelling in 
vimalE - pure 
nirmalE - pure 
SyAmaLE - dark-hued 
sakala kaLe - the complete one / The one that is the essence of all the arts 
lambOdara - The long-bellied (Ganesa) 
guru guha - Subrahmanya 
pUjitE - worshipped by 
lamba - long 
Alaka - tresses 
udbhAsitE - resplendent with 
hasitE - having a pleasing countenance; smiling
vAgdEvatA - The goddess of speech 
ArAdhitE - worshipped by varadE - giver of boons 
vara - revered 
zaila - mountain 
rAja - king 
nutE - worshipped by 
SAradE - The one as bright as the autumnal moon
jambha - the demon jambha 
ari - enemy 
jambhAri - ie Indra 
sambhAvitE - celebrated by 
janArdana - vishnu 
nutE - praised by 
jujAvanti rAga nutE - the one who is praised by raag jujavanthi
jhallI maddaLa jharjhara - names of instruments such as jalli (also called jallaki), maddala and jharjharam
vAdya - instruments 
nAda - music 
muditE - pleased by 
jnAna - knowledge 
pradE - bestower 

The detailed meaning of the song : (mostly taken from the site : http://guruguha.org/wiki/akhilandeshvari.html)

Pallavi:

akhilANDEshvari rakSamAm Agama sampradAya nipuNE shrI

Akhilandeswari! Protect me! O Expert in the tradition of the Agamas.

Anupallavi:

nikhila lOka nityAtmikE vimalE nirmalE shyAmaLE sakala kalE

The one who is the eternal lifeforce of the various worlds. The one who is pure.

The one who is dark as the rain cloud. The one who encompasses all the arts and who is the essence of all the art forms.

charaNaM:

lambOdara guruguha pUjitE lambAlakOdbhAsitEhasitE

vAgdEvatArAdhitE varadE varashailarAjanutE shAradE

jambhAri sambhAvitE janArddananutE jujAvanti rAganutE jallI

maddaLa jhar jhara vAdya nAdamuditE jHnAnapradE

The one worshipped by Ganesha and Shanmukha. The one who has long locks of hair on her forehead.The one with a smiling countenance.

The one worshipped by the vagdhevathas. the bestower of boons. the one worshipped by the king of mountains. The one named Sharada.

The one respected by Indra - who is the enemy of the demon jambhA. The one worshipped by Vishnu. The one praised with the raga jujavanti.

The one pleased by the instruments such as jallI, maddaLa, jarjara. The bestower of knowledge 

The stories in the song: 

The one key story which appears in the song is that of "lambOdara guruguha pUjitE" which talks about Goddess Akilandeswari being worshipped by Ganapathy and Guruguha - who is Subramanya. This pertains to the Goddess being in a state of anger - which was dissipated by Adi Sankara who took all that anger in the form of tadanga (ear rings) and put it on the ears of the Goddess and also put the idols of Ganapathy and Muruga in front of the Goddess so that she sees her sons all the time and hence becomes pacified. 

Key points to note about the song: 

As with most other Dikshithar songs, this is pure poetry!

"nityAtmikE vimalE nirmalE shyAmaLE sakala kalE"  - all with "E" kaarams; and again, 

 "guruguha pUjitE;  lambAlakOdbhAsitEhasitE; vAgdEvatArAdhitE;  varadE ; varashailarAjanutE;  shAradE; sambhAvitE;  janArddananutE ; rAganutE ; nAdamuditE jHnAnapradE ....all "Ekaarams" in the song making the song all the more beautiful to listen to!

Key points about the temple and the Temple Stories (Sthala Purana) : (Taken from wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambukeswarar_Temple,_Thiruvanaikaval)

Thiruvanaikaval (also Thiruvanaikal, Jambekeswaram) is a famous Shiva temple in Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple was built by Kocengannan (Kochenga Chola), one of the Early Cholas, around 1,800 years ago. It is located in the Srirangam island, which has the famous Ranganathaswamy temple.

Thiruvanaikal is one of the five major Shiva Temples of Tamil Nadu (Panchabhoota Sthalams) representing the Mahābhūta or five great elements; this temple represents the element of water, or neer in Tamil.^[1] The sanctum of Jambukeswara has an underground water stream and in spite of pumping water out, it is always filled with water.^[2]

It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where all the four most revered Nayanars (Saivite Saints) have sung glories of the deity in this temple. The temple has inscriptions from the Chola period.

Pancha Bhoota Stalam (Sanskrit: पन्च भूत स्थल) refers to the five Shiva temples,^[9] each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - space, air, fire, water, earth.^[10] Pancha indicates five, Bhoota means elements and Sthala means place. All these temples are located in South India with four of these temples at Tamil Nadu and one at Andhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams^[9] and each of the lingams representing Shiva in the temple have five different names based on the elements they represent. In the temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of water (Appu Lingam). The other four manifestations are Prithivi Lingam (representing land) at Ekambareswarar Temple,^[11] Akasa Lingam (representing sky)^[9] at Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram,^[11] Agni Lingam (representing fire)^[12] at Annamalaiyar Temple^[11] and Vayu Lingam (representing air) at Srikalahasti Temple.^[11][13]

Once Parvati mocked Shiva’s penance for betterment of the world. Shiva wanted to condemn her act and directed her to go to the earth from Kailasam (Shiva's abode) to do penance. Parvathi in the form of Akilandeswari as per Shiva's wish found Jambu forest (Thiruvanaikoil) to conduct her penance. She made a lingam out of water of river Cauvery (also called as river Ponni) under the Venn Naaval tree (the Venn Naaval tree on top of the saint Jambu) and commenced her worship. The lingam is known as Appu Lingam (Water Lingam).^[3] Siva at last gave darshan to Akilandeswari and taught her Siva Gnana. Akilandeswari took Upadesa(lessons) facing East from Shiva, who stood facing west.^[2]

The temples idols are installed opposite to each other - Such temples are known as Upadesa Sthalams. As the Devi was like a student and Jambukeswara like a Guru (teacher) in this temple, there is no Thiru Kalyanam (marriage) conducted in this temple for Shiva and Parvathi, unlike the other Shiva temples. The sannathy of the goddess Akilandeshwari and the sannathy of Prasanna Vinayaka are in the shape of the pranava manthracalled "Om". It is believed that the Amman in the temple was in deep anger hence during one of Adi Sankara's visit he installed the Prasanna Ganapathy idol right opposite to her Sannathy and installed a pair of Sri Chakra thaatankas (ear-rings) to reduce her anger.^[2]

There were two Siva Ganas (Siva’s disciples who live in Kailash): 'Malyavan' and 'Pushpadanta'. Though they are Siva Ganas they always quarrel with each other and fight for one thing or other. In one fight 'Malyavan' cursed 'Pushpadanta' to become an elephant on earth and the latter cursed the former to become a spider on earth. The elephant and the spider came to Jambukeswaram and continued their Siva worship. The elephant collected water from river Cauvery and conducted ablution to the lingam under the Jambu tree (Eugenia jambolana) daily. The spider constructed his web over the lingam to prevent dry leaves from dropping on it and prevent sunlight directly falling on it. When the elephant saw the web and thought it was dust onlingam. The elephant tore them and cleaned the lingam by pouring water and the practice continued daily. The spider became angry one day and crawled into the trunk of the elephant and bit the elephant to death, killing itself. Siva, in the form of Jambukeswara, moved by the deep devotion of the two, relieved them from the curse. As an elephant worshipped Siva here, this place came to be known as Thiru Aanai Kaa (thiru means holy, aanai is elephant, kaa (kaadu) means forest).^[2] Later the name 'Thiruaanaikaa' become 'Thiruvanaikaval' and 'Thiruvanaikoil'.

As an outcome of making sin by killing the elephant, in the next birth, the spider was born as the King Kochengot Chola (kotchengannan cholan meaning red-eyed king) and built 70 temples and this temple is the one among them.^[2] Remembering his enmity with the elephant in his previous birth, he built the Siva Sannathi (sanctorum) such that not even a small elephant can enter. The entrance on the sanctorum of Jambukeswara is only 4 foot high and 2.5 foot wide.^[2]

Tamil sage & poet "Thirunavukkarasar" has sung about this temple (in tamil) - for those who understand tamil : (all from Tamil wiki)

இந்த தல வரலாற்றை திருநாவுக்கரசர் தனது திருக்குறுக்கை சிவஸ்தலம் பதிகத்தில் (4-ம் திருமுறை - "ஆதியில் பிரமனார் தாம்" என்று தொடங்கும் பதிகம் - 4வது பாடல்) தெரிவிக்கிறார்.

"சிலந்தியும் ஆனைக்காவில் திருநிழல் பந்தர் செய்து
உலந்து அவண் இறந்த போதே கோச்செங்கணானும் ஆகக்
கலந்த நீர்க் காவிரீ சூழ் சோணாட்டுச் சோழர் தங்கள்
குலந்தனில் பிறப்பித்திட்டார் குறுக்கைவீ ரட்டனாரே"  

இப்பாடலின் பொழிப்புரை : 

திருவானைக்காவிலுள்ள பெருமானுக்கு அழகிய நிழலைத்தரும் பந்தலை அமைத்த 
சிலந்தி இறந்தபின் மறுபிறப்பில், சுவாமியுடன் கலந்து பயின்ற நீரை உடைய 
காவிரியாற் சூழப்பட்ட சோழ நாட்டில் அந்நாட்டு மன்னர் மரபிலே கோச்செங்கண்ணான்
என்ற பெயருடைய அரசனாகுமாறு பிறப்பித்து விட்டார் குறுக்கை வீரட்டனார்
The other old tamil poems on this temple (again in tamil are as follows)




திருத்தலப் பாடல்கள்[தொகு]

திருவானைக்கா நாயன்மார்கள் மற்றும் தாயுமானவரின் பாடல் பெற்ற ஒரு தலம். திருநாவுக்கரசர் அருளிய ஒரு தேவாரப் பதிகம் கீழே:


துன்பம் இன்றித் துயரின்றி என்றும்நீர்

இன்பம் வேண்டில் இராப்பகல் ஏத்துமின்

எம்பொன் ஈசன் இறைவன் என்று உள்குவார்க்கு

அன்பன் ஆயிடும் ஆனைக்கா அண்ணலே.


காவேரி நதியோடு சென்று விட்ட சோழனின் மணியாரம், திருமஞ்சனக் குடத்தில் சிக்கிக் கொண்டு எம்பிரானுக்கு ஆபரணமாக விளைந்த அற்புதத்தைசுந்தரமூர்த்தி நாயனார் இவ்வாறு வடிக்கிறார்:

தாரமாகிய பொன்னித் தண்டுறையாடி விழுத்து

நீரினின்றடி போற்றி நின்மலாக் கொள்ளென வாங்கே

ஆரங்கொண்ட வெம்மானைக் காவுடையாதியைநாளும்

எனவும் , திருஞானசம்பந்தப்பெருமான்

ஆரம் நீரோ டேந்தினா னானைக்காவு சேர்மினே




சைவ ஆகமமாம் பெரிய புராணத்தில் ஏயர்கோன் கலிக்காமநாயனார் வரலாற்றினில், சேக்கிழார் தலத்தின் பெருமையை இவ்வாறு உரைக்கிறார்:

வளவர் பெருமான் திருவாரஞ் சாத்திக் கொண்டு வரும் பொன்னிக்

கிளருந் திரைநீர் மூழ்குதலும் வழுவிப் போகக் கேதமுற

அளவில் திருமஞ் சனக்குடத்தி லதுபுக்காட்ட வணிந்தருளி

தளரு மவனுக் கருள்புரிந்த தன்மை சிறக்கச் சாற்றினார்




தலப் பெருமையைப் பறைசாற்றும் பழந்தமிழ்ப் பாடலொன்று:


மேதகைய பயன்விழைவோர் ஞானதலத் துறைகுவது மேவாதாயின்

ஓதுக அத்தலப்பெயரை யாங்கதுவு முற்றாதே லுரைப்பக்கேட்க

காதலொடு கேட்டவரு மூவகைய பாதகமுங் கடந்துமேலாம்

போதமுணர்ந் தெமதடியிற் புக்கிருப்ப ரிஃதுண்மை பொலங்கொம்பன்னாய்



Once Goddess Akilandeswari was angry. At that point in time, the temple was not at all a place of worship. All the people were afraid of the Goddess. Adi Shankara learnt about this and came to the temple. He, thru the mantra shastra, collected all the forces of anger from the Goddess and put that into two ear rings. The ear rings were made in the form of "Sri Chakra" - which again is a form of worship in Hindu - Saktha tradition. He put them onto the Goddess who was by now, peace and serenity personified. Adhi Shankara also ensured that he put the idols of Ganesa in front of the Goddess and the idol of Subramanya on the back side of the Goddess so that the first thing the Goddess sees is that of Ganesa and she is surrounded also by Muruga. This also ensured that the Goddess stayed as a Goddess of love and affection. 




The kriti, makes a deft reference to this sthala purana in the line " lambodara gurugua pujithe"



To listen to this song : 




1. by MS : 

















2. by Kavalam Srikumar : this is amazing rendition!!

Kancha dalayadaakshee : Raag : kamala Manohari : Muthuswamy Dikshithar

Kancha dalayadaakshee : Raag : kamala Manohari : Muthuswamy Dikshithar

Pallavi:

Kanjadalayatakshi Kamakshi kamalamanohari tripurasundari

Anupallavi:

kunjaragamane manimandita manjulacharane mamavashiva panjarashuki pankajamukhi guruguha ranjani duritabhanjani niranjani

CharaNam:

raka shashivadane suradane rakshitamadane ratnasadane shriksnchana vasane surasane
shrngarashraya mandahasane ekanekakshari bhuvaneshvari ekanandamrtahari bhashvari ekagramanolayakari shrikari ekamresha grheshvari shankari

Word by word Meaning: 

Pallavi : 

Kanja : Lotus 

dala : leaf (in tamil, typically referred to as 'thalam', as in 'tulasi thalam')

Akshi : one with large eyes

Kamakshi : kamakshi Devi

kamala : goddess lakshmi

manohari : who is dear to

tripurasundari : who is the most beautiful in all the three worlds

Anupallavi : 

kunjara : elephant like

gamane : gait

maNimandita : studded with gems

manjulacharane : beautiful / lovely feet

mamava : Please protect me

shiva panjarashuki : shuki means parrot; panjara means the cage

pankajamukhi : pankaja means lotus; mukhi : face like

guruguha ranjani : ranjani means the who enthralls;  Guruguha is Lord Subramanya

duritabhanjani : durita means all sorts of problems / afflictions; bhanjani : destroyer

niranjani : who is blemishless

Charanam: 

raka : radiant
shashi : white
vadane : face
suradane : beautiful teeth
rakshita madane : the one who protected Manmadhan (cupid)
ratna sadane: gemstudded / diamond studded throne
shrikanchana vasane surasane : the dress is golden and rich
shrngarashraya : full of love
manda hasanE : gentle smile
Ekanekakshari : (eka aneka asksari) :who has the form of one and the many mystic symbols
bhuvaneshvari : goddess of the world
Ekanandamrtahari : eka ananda amrutahari : bliss which is ever flowing
bhashvari : lustrous
Ekagra mano layakari : the one who attaches herself to those who pray to her with concentration and absolute devotion
shrikari : the one who bestows all prosperity and wealth
Ekamresha : lord ekambareswaran
grheshvari : gruha - easwari - takes care of the house; lives in the house; wife of
shankari : she is the wife of shankaran; Goddess Shankari

Detailed discussion on the song:

What a beautiful song! The beauty of the Raaga Kamala Manohari and the pace of the lyrics just take the breath away! And, when one understands the meaning behind the words, the beauty is just indescribable!

Pallavi :

Kanjadalayatakshi Kamakshi kamalamanohari tripurasundari

Dikshithar focuses on the eyes of the Goddess. 

Kamakshi has large beautiful eyes. Eyes like that of the petals of the lotus flowers! And, she is the one who is dear to Lakshmi - the one who lives in the lotus flowers (kamalam means lotus; the one who lives in lotus is Kamala - who is Goddess Lakshmi). 

One can see the shades of "Sri Lalaitha Sahasranamam" getting played out here. Lalitha Sahasranamam says : Sachamara Rama vani Savya dhakshina sevitha which means She who is being fanned by Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and Saraswathi the goddess of knowledge

And, she is the Goddess of all the three worlds. 

In the pallavi itself, the raaga of the kriti is brought in beautifully! 

Anupallavi:

kunjaragamane manimandita manjulacharane mamava shiva panjarashuki pankajamukhi guruguha ranjani duritabhanjani niranjani

Kamakshi walks a majestic walk. She walks like an elephant. Slowly. Majestically. "manda gamane" is how she is typically described - the one who has a gentle walk. Elephant walks slowly - at a gentle pace and that is given as the example for how Goddess Kamakshi walks. 

Dikshithar looks at Kamakshi. Her feet are lovely and studded with gems. He prays to them " let they feet which are adorned with gems protect me". Then he describes her. 

She is a parrot in a cage called Shiva. She is the one who gives life to that cage. Without that life force, the cage has nothing to offer.  Her face is like lotus. She is the one who is loved by Lord Guruguha - Muruga. She is the one who destroys all problems quickly. She is the one who is blemishless. 

CharaNam

raka shashivadane suradane rakshitamadane ratnasadane shrikanchana vasane surasane

shrngarashraya mandahasane ekanekakshari bhuvaneshvari ekanandamrtahari bhashvari ekagramanolayakari shrikari ekamresha grheshvari shankari

How is Kamakshi's face? It is radiant. it is radiant with white lovely light without heat like that of the full moon. She has beautiful teeth. She is the one who saved Manmadhan from death. She made him raise from the ashes.

Then Dikshithar looks at her fully. Where is she sitting? What is she wearing?

She is sitting on a throne studded with diamonds and gems. She is wearing a rich golden dress. Her heart is full of love. She is sporting a gentle smile.

She is the form of one akshara to many aksharas - the mystic symbols. Here, Dishithar merely paraphrases Lalitha Sahasranamam which says "Srimadh vaakbhava kudaika swarupa muka pankaja" - which means that the Goddess Lalitha is the rupam of collection of all the mystic symbols and aksharas. (Here it is good to recall that Adi Sankaracharya, in His Subramanya Bhujangam, says " mahavakya kudam" about Lord Muruga)

Dikshithar thinks about who she really is.

She is the the one who is lording over all the universe. She is full of bliss - overflowing stream of bliss! She is radiant and lustrous. She comes and gives herself to those devotees who think of her, pray to her with single minded concentration. She is the one who blesses all her devotees with prosperity and wealth.

She is the wife of Ekamreshwara - who is the deity in Kanchi. She is the wife of Shankara. She is Shankari. She is sam-kari - which is the one who always does good deeds.

The stories in this song:

There are a few stories embedded in this song.

1) Rakshitha madane: 

This is a story where the cupid - Manmadha gets it all wrong and yet gets it all back! Manmadhan gets chosen to disturb a meditating Shiva so that Shiva and Parvati can unite and Skandha can be born. Unless that happens, the Surapadman, the great Asura, cannot be stopped. Surapadman had obtained a boon which says that Surapadman can be killed only by a force born of Shiva. However, Shiva was in deep meditation and Devas were going thru countless problems because of Surapadman. Devas request Cupid - Manmadhan - to help them out. 

Manmadhan goes out and tries his bow and arrows on Shiva. Shiva opens His third eye and looks at Manmadha who combusts immediately into ashes. However, on the asking of Ratidevi, wife of Manmadhan, Parvati takes pity on Manmadhan and brings him back to life - with one condition - that he would not be visible to anyone but his wife Rati. 

2) Ekamresha Gruheshwari :

Here, the story is that of how Kamakshi did penance and became the consort of lord Ekambreshwara. The Goddess Kamakshi is in padmasanam - a yogic pose and not the usual standing pose here in this temple. Also, there are no other Parvati temples in this city which boasts of more than two hundred temples!

Here is where the Goddess offered penance to a Lingam made of sand under a mango tree so that she can marry Shiva. Since the lingam was situated under a mango tree, the lingam was also called "eka amra Eashwaran" - Ekamreshwaran" meaning, the lord of the single mango tree.  

Appreciation of the song: 

The lyrics are sheer poetry! 

"Gunjaragamane - manjulacharane"

" panjarashukhi - pankajamukhi"

"guruguha ranjani - duridhabanjani - niranjani"

"shashivadane - suradane - rakshitha madane - rathna sadane"

"vasane -  surasane -  mandahasane"

"ekanekakshari -  bhuvaneshvari  - ekanandamrtahari  - bhashvari  - ekagramanolayakari shrikari -  grheshvari  - shankari"

Dishithar at his lyrical best in this song!!

Here are some links to the song in the youtube: 

1. Bombay Jayashree

2. TM Krishna