Navarasa

Navarasa Parvathi (viruttham)

AlahAla vishatthaiyum 

ஆலஹால விஷத்தையும்

ஆலஹால விஷத்தையும் அமுதாக்கிய அன்னையே 

AlahAla vishatthaiyum amudhAkkiya annaiyE

மூல ஓல நீலகண்டனின் இடமுறை நாயகியே

mUla Ola nIlakantanin idamuRai nayakiyE

சுந்தர ஈசனைக் கூடலில் கண்டு நாணிய சிருங்காரமும்

sundhara Isanaik kUdalil kaNdu nANiya sringAramum

தந்திர மாயே உனையறியா தேவியர் நினைவினில் குமிழ் சிரிப்பும் 

thandhira mAyE unaiyaRiyA dhEviyar ninaivinil kumizh sirippum

அல்லல் உருவான அசுரனை அழித்திட அணிகலம் பூண்ட வீரத் திரு உருவும் ஒரு சேர

allal uruvAna asuranai azhitthida aNikalam pUNda vIrath thiru uruvum oru sEra

தில்லையில் அதன் எல்லையில் அனலாய் நின்ற காளியே

thillaiyil adhan ellaiyil analAy nindRa kALiyE

தந்தையின் அழிவெண்ணி அஞ்சிய வஞ்சியே

thandhaiyin azhiveNNi anjiya vanjiyE

சிந்தை மயங்கி உரு மாறிய குபேரனை வெறுத்தனையே 

sindhai mayangi uru mARiya kubEranai veRutthanaiyE

மந்திர மூலனும் கால் மாறி ஆடிட இணையென அற்புத நடனமாடினை

mandhira mUlanum kAl mARi Adida iNaiyena aRpudha nadanamAdinai

முந்தை வினை தொடர மாறுயிரும் மலர்க்கணையும் மாரனுக்கீந்த காருண்ய வடிவே

mundhai vinai thodara mARuyirum malarkkaNaiyum mAranukkIndha kAruNya vadivE

சங்கரனை சார்ந்திட  சாந்தமாய் தவங்கிடந்த சாம்பவியே

sangkaranai sArndhida sAnthamAy thavangkidandha sAmbhaviyE

நவரசம் மிளிர்ந்திட நடமிடும் லாஸ்யப்ரியே

navarasam miLirndhida nadamidum lAsyapriyE

திரிபுவன சம்ரக்ஷணி திரிபுர சுந்தரி

thribhuvana samrakshini thripura sundhari

அழுங்குழவி எந்தனுக்கருள்  பாலி அபிராமி

azhungkuzhavi endhanukkaruL pAli abhirAmi

Translation

Lines 1-2

Oh Mother, you converted the poison, that emanated during the churning of the milky ocean, into an immortality-yielding sweet nectar just by the touch of your hand. You reside on the left side of Lord Nilakanta, the originator of the primordial sound Aum.

Line 3

Your shy posture embodied love and romance after seeing the handsome Lord Sundaresa in Madurai.

Line 4

Not realizing what a trickster you are, the other goddesses challenged you in a test of strength and power. You had uncontrollable laughter at their ignorance as you listened to their words.

Line 5

You had the look of a brave warrior after arming yourself with weapons to destroy Mahisha, the wicked demon.

Line 6

Anger was bubbling in your eyes when you were banished to the outskirts of Thillai or Chidambaram by Lord Siva.

Line 7

You, Sati, were the picture of fear  after having a premonition of the impending disaster for your father.

Line 8

You despised the demigod Kubera for his flirtations and his transformation into an ugly being.

Line 9

You danced in elegance and wonderment equal to the dancing God Siva in the fierce competition, until in desperation He switched the foot.

Line 10

You are the personification of compassion for providing a second life and the armaments of floral arrows to Cupid or Lord Manmatha to continue his job.

Line 11

You, Sambhavi, were the picture of tranquility and peace when you went into a severe penance to join with Lord Sankara.

Lines 12-14

Oh Goddess, lover of grace who dances with nine dazzling emotions on your face, protector of the three universes, and charming queen of Tricity: Abhirami, won’t you shower compassion on this crying child?  

Author’s Note

This song was written as Navarasa piece for Bharatha Natyam Arangetram of my daughter, Kavita, in September 1999. She was a student of Smt. Vidhya Subramanian, Artistic Director, Lasya Dance Academy of Sunnyvale, CA.  The music for this song was composed by Smt. Asha Ramesh as a viruttham.

Lines 1-2 refer to Samudra manthan and the snake Vasuki emitting the potent toxin Haala hala and Siva drinking it to save the universe. Parvathy immediately places her hand on her Lord’s throat and arrests the poison. Due to the toxic effects of poison, the neck is distorted into the color blue. Hence his name as Neela Kantan. He is the origin of the primordial sound “Om”. This story of Parvathi stopping the poison is not laid out completely in Mahabharata or in puranas such as Bhagavatha puranam or Siva puranam or Padma puranam. However, the sthala puranam and all legends associated with the Siva temple in Suratapalli in Chittoor district of AP have the fine details of this episode. As Siva slowly realizes the effects of the poison on his way to Kailash, he becomes very drowsy and sleeps on the lap of Goddess Parvathi in Suratapalli. This happens on Pradosham day in the early evening, approximately in the 4:30-6:30 time frame. Once he wakes up, he sees all rishis and devas at this location who have assembled there after hearing about the Lord’s condition, and he indulges in reenacting the cosmic dance. Pradosham observation originated at this temple around the time when Siva swallowed the toxin to save the universe. For full details, see:

Pallikondeeswara Swamy Temple Sthalapuranam

First of navarasa, sringaram (Line 3) is in full display when Meenakshi meets Sundareswara in Madurai. Parvathi appears as a 3-year-old baby during Malayadhwaja Pandiya’s yagna and is named Thadadhagai. As a child she has three breasts and learns warfare as a male child, and defeats a lot of enemies. The king dies and she becomes the princess. When she meets Sundareswara in Madurai, she appears coy. Bitten by divine love, she is the picture of shyness and romance. Her physiology changes and she loses a breast when the Lord lays eyes on her. She is named Meenakshi by Sage Agasthya during her crowning, and rules the kingdom with Madurai as the capital, fostering Tamil with the assembled poets and scholars. Refer to Thiruvilaiyadal puranam for complete details of Meenakshi’s growth until her wedding in:

கூடல் மாநகரத்து ஆடவல்லான் திருவிளையாடற் புராண மகிமை), நாகர்கோவில் கிருஷ்ணன், முதற் பதிப்பு 2003, Published by: Mathi Nilayam, #4(39) Thanikachalam Road, Brindavan Apartments, T.Nagar, Chennai 600017, பக்கம் 79-108.

Line 4 refers to one of the legends (without any puranic support) where the three Goddesses get into a debate about who is the bravest and beautiful. Such debates and quarrels were frequently initiated by Sage Narada. The poet has used an imaginative lens in making Goddess Parvathy reflect on the conversation of the trio. She has a hearty laugh recollecting the sheer ignorance of the other two. This is brought out as Devi’s hasya rasa.

Line 5 shows Devi as the personification of courage. Devi Mahathmiyam in Markandeya puranam has ample details of Devi getting ready to fight Mahishasura and his army. With all the decorations of armour and sword etc, she appeared courageous and brave.  

For details see: ஶ்ரீ தேவீ மஹாத்மியம், உரை ஆசிரியர் “அண்ணா”, ஶ்ரீ ராம கிருஷ்ண மடம், மயிலாப்பூர், சென்னை600004, பக்கம் 81-102.

Line 6 has a reference to the dance competition between Siva and his consort KaLi in Chidambaram and how Siva pursued Urdhva thandavam to reduce her pride and sent her to the outskirts of the city. With uncontrollable anger, Kali left the city and is domiciled at the boundary and this episode is described in detail in the book on Famous Kali Temples.

புகழ் மிக்க காளித் திருக்கோயில்கள், சி. எஸ். முருகேசன், சங்கர் பதிப்பகம், 21 டீச்சர்ஸ் கில்டு காலனி, இராஜாஜி நகர் விரிவு, வில்லிவாக்கம், சென்னை 600049, தொலைபேசி 26502086, முதல் பதிப்பு, டிசம்பர் 2002, தில்லை மாகாளி, பக்கம் 105-110.

Line 7 portrays the Goddess in extreme fright thinking about the fate of her father Daksha. 

Frightened Sati/Parvathi

Line 8 refers to one of the legends associated with  Kubera visiting Kailash to see Siva. Enamored by the beauty and radiance of Parvathi who was in Siva’s company, Kubera kept gazing at her. He started losing sight in one of his eyes and tried to refocus by fluttering the eyes. Parvathi became angry at Kubera, burst his eye, and cursed him to become very ugly in appearance. Parvathi exhibited utter contempt at his actions and his transformation into an ugly individual by her own curse. Kubera pleaded with Siva saying that he did not wink his eye and explained that Devi totally misunderstood him. Siva made him the God of wealth and a forgiving Parvathi gave him all the riches and restored his vision.

Parvathy’s contempt towards Kubera

Line 9 refers to the fierce dance competition between Siva and Kali in Thiruvalankadu. Devi danced as an equal, matching him in both Nritta and lasya. Suddenly Siva lifted his foot very high to locate, find, and replace the missing ear stud all at once, and she accepted failure and stopped. She realized that it would not be graceful or feminine to lift her leg that high in the dance. This is referred to as Urdhva thandavam of Siva. A reference for this Thiruvalankadu dance can be seen in the book on Famous Kali Temples referenced below.

புகழ் மிக்க காளித் திருக்கோயில்கள், சி. எஸ். முருகேசன், சங்கர் பதிப்பகம், 21 டீச்சர்ஸ் கில்டு காலனி, இராஜாஜி நகர் விரிவு,வில்லிவாக்கம், சென்னை 600049, தொலைபேசி 26502086, முதல் பதிப்பு, டிசம்பர் 2002, தில்லை மாகாளி, பக்கம் 53-60.

Line 10 depicts Parvathi as the mother of compassion restoring the function of Manmatha, God of love, after being burnt to ashes by Siva. This merciful act of Goddess Parvathi is elaborated by the Sage of Kanchi in his discourses.

தெய்வத்தின் குரல், முதற் பகுதி, ஜகத்குரு ஶ்ரீ காஞ்சி காமகோடி பீடாதீச்வர ஶ்ரீ சந்திரசேகரேந்திர சரஸ்வதி சங்கராசாரிய ஸ்வாமிகளின் அருள்வாக்குகள், வானதி பதிப்பகம், 13 தீனதயாளு தெரு, தி.நகர்.,சென்னை-17, ஒன்பதாம் பதிப்பு: டிசம்பர் 1992, காமாக்ஷியின் சரிதை, பக்கம் 823-837.

Line 11 refers to the intense penance Devi underwent to attain Siva. Parvathi undergoes immense thapas eating only water, leaves (hence the name Aparna), and air at one point, as an ascetic brahmacharini. Pleased with her sincerity and devotion to attain him, Siva appears and marries her. During her intense prayers, Devi appeared totally calm and serene. On the second night of Navarathri, Devi is worshipped as Brahmacharini. For more details of this avatar of Devi, see: 

Peaceful Parvathi in Penance

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