Navaratri is the auspicious time for Hindus to worship the Mother. Not only are the northern and eastern parts buzzing with Durga Puja and Chandi Homa, the south is equally busy with beautiful temple rituals for Devi. Many great Carnatic songs celebrate the Devi, and Swati Tirunal and Dikshitar are famous. The Vibhakti (correction: Kamalamba Navavarana) kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar are extremely popular during Navaratri festivities.
Meditating on these aspects, I was struck by some thoughts. The western civilization since the Greeks has extolled the pursuit of beauty, goodness and truth as the goals of human existence. We Hindus on the other hand speak of Purusha and Prakriti, as the Father Creator and Mother Creation, by whose grace man pursues the four goals of life: right living (Dharma), economic prosperity (Artha), emotional well being (Kama) and finally Liberation (Moksha or Nirvana). Creator and Creation, the male and female principles, somewhat combine into the Mother Worship idiom, where the Mother is everything.
Let's even concede that the Mother principle is just a spiritual idiom, for an aspirant intent on a path of devotion and aesthetic appreciation of all creation's bountifulness and beauty. Almost immediately we also think of the fearsome aspect of Durga, vanquishing evil. So Mother has a corrective power too. So how is this relevant in a basic sense, devoid of ritual and legend?
I think man is essentially waking up to the connectedness of the universe, and how there is a harmony woven by Mother Nature such that man will prosper through harmony rather than conquest. By elevating Nature to Motherhood, we seek to approach life with love and grace. We also accept its fury, be it a tsunami or an earthquake or a flood, as an Omnipotent will that corrects man's course in ways that cannot be understood. Such an attitude removes tension and allows us to enjoy and partake of life's plenty without rancour. And then we can also become inventive and creative, to make this world even more beautiful and comfortable, fully aware that what we accomplish is much less important than just the attitude of creativity. So all this becomes an art, like music and dance, which cannot be measured in terms of money but more in terms of its inner joy. By cooperating with Nature, we also accomplish better utilisation of its generosity, rather than a plunder that lays low everything in ravage and ruin.
Don't you agree that this seems to be the core of our Mother worship? Come, let us enjoy the famous Dikshitar Dhyana kriti in Todi, with wonderful thoughts and even better music. Over to Smt. Seetha Rajan. Kamalambike
rAga: toDi (8) tALa: rUpaka
muttusvAmi dIkshita viracitam (source Carnatica.net)
pallavi
kamalAmbike Ashritakalpalatike caNDike kamanIyAruNAMshuke karavidh.rtashuke mAmava
anupallavi
kamalAsanAdipUjitakamalapade bahuvarade kamalAlayatIrthavaibhave shive karuNArNave
caraNam
sakalalokanAyike saN^gItarasike sukavitvapradAyike sundari gatamAyike
vikaLebaramuktidAnanipuNe aghaharaNe viyadAdibhUtakiraNe vinodacaraNe aruNe
sakale guruguhakaraNe sadAshivAntaHkaraNe akacaTatapAdivarNe akhaNDaikarasapUrNe
Word by word meaning:
Oh Goddess kamaAlmbika (the Lotus mother) who is like a Kalpaka tree (that grants all boons) to those who seek refuge in you; fierce one, one of the ten aspects of shakti, attractive wearing the red robe, holding a parrot in the hand, protect me!
Worshipped by Brahma and other gods, possessing lotus feet, showering plenty of boons (to devotees), imparting greatness to the tank KamalAlaya, auspicious one, ocean of mercy, ruler of all the worlds, delighting in music, granting the boon of poetic genius, beautiful one, who has transcended the illusion, adept in granting salvation, one who dispels all sins, who emanates the five elements, space, air, fire, water and earth, with enchanting feet, reddish full, complete, mother of Guruguha, inhabiting bespoke godliness of Lord Shiva, the embodiment of all letters, a, ka, ca, Ta, ta, pa etc, one filled with matchless bliss!
