kanakadasara mandige
Kanaka Dasara muNDige
I salute to Mr. Kesava Rao of Dvaita List for such a wonderful translation
halavu jeevanava oMdele nuMgitu kAgi
neleyAdikEshavanu ballanI beDaga
This "dasarapada" does not seem to depict the sR^ishhTikArya, rather
it seems to depict the praLayakarya of the Lord, who is mR^ityoH
mR^ityu or death to death.
"kAgineleyAdikeshava" is the ankita Sri KanakadAsa used in his
songs and it extolls Lord Adikeshava located in a temple in
a place called kAginele.
Normally ankita comes at the end. In this case, the pallavi
also has ankita and also it comes in the final charaNa. May
be it is symbolically saying that the Lord is the beginning
and end of all.
halavu jIvanava = many lives;
oMdu ele = one leaf;
When Lord swallows many lives during Pralaya, it is like an
act of consuming a betel leaf (in the form of a tAmbUla or
ele + aDike). He swallowed one leaf of many lives.
OMdu = One; "He is the Most Important One". That is why
He is known as "ekaH".
"eko vishhNurmahadbhUtam pR^ithagbhUtanyanekashaH
trIN lokAN vyApya bhUtAtmA bhuN^kte vishvabhugavyayaH"
- Mahabharata.
"eko devaH sarvabhUteshhu gUDhaH sarvavyApI
sarvabhUtAntarAtmA" - shvetAshvataropanishat.
Also the word "ele" is used to denote remembering
(smaraNe), deliberation (vichAra) and adressing
(sambodhana). One must address oneself with an intent
to deliberate and remeber this all Supremacy of the Lord.
No one knows about the Lord completely. Lord only knows
Himself completely.
beDaga = marvel; Also beDagu is a variation of beRagu
which is an astonishing act.
Also, the Lord lies on "vaTapatra" during Pralaya.
This leaf is Laxmi herself. At the command of the
Lord, Laxmi also partakes in the praLayakArya. So
"ele" can mean Laxmi, when used as subject.
"ahaM rudrAya dhanurAtanomi brahmadvishhe sharave
hanta vA U" - AmbhraNIsUkta.
"Laxmi says : I bring the bow and arrow to cause the
annihilation of Rudra, who took out one head of Brahma".
When used as an object, the word "ele" is what is
devoured by the Lord.
hariya nuMgitu para brahmana nuMgitu
surariguMTaada dEvara nuMgitu
urigaNNA shivana oMdele nuMgitelo dEva
hariya baLagava oMdele nuMgitu
Instead of saying "Parabrahma", say them separatly.
para hariya nuMgitu brahmaNa nuMgitu.
para = All Supreme Lord; Purushottama.
(yasmAtxaramatItohaM axarAdapi chottamaH)
The word "hari" has several meanings including Vayu,
Surya, Indra, etc. We can take both Vayu and Surya here
(as Indra is mentioned next).
surariguMTAda dEvaru = Indra;
urigaNNu shiva = Fire eyed Shiva; (It is well known that
his third eye emanates fire);
Hearken oh man, the All Supreme One swallowed, Brahma,
Vayu, Shiva, Indra, Sun and why indeed all the devatas,
who are but his parivAra only.
(parivAratayA grAhyAH api heyA pradhAnataH)
eMTu gajavanu nuMgi kaMTakaraivara nuMgi
uMTAda giriya taleya nuMgitu
kaMTava piDidu brahmana nuMgitelo dEva
eMTAru lOka oMdele nuMgitu
It swallowed eight elephants, swallowed five evil doers,it swallowed
resultant mountain's head. It swallowed Brahma by holding the neck, Oh
God, one leaf swallowed many many universes.
The eight elephants are "AshTamada-s" (arrogances)
annamada, arthamada, yauvanamada, shIlamada, rUpamada, vidyAmada,
tapomada, rAjyamada.
The five trouble makers are five sense organs.
The giri or mountain is nothing but the AhamkAra. All the above create
or lead to ahamkAra. Swallowing the head of this mountainous ahamkAra
springing from the ashhTamadas and five indriyas is tantamount to
devoring all th objects that are responsible for such ahamkAra.
Holding the throat symblolizes "yama, niyama" (self-control,
indriyanigraha, etc.). Even the brahmaj~nAnis, who do penance with
self-control, etc. are devoured by the Lord.
giDava nuMgitu giDadoDattotiyanu nuMgitu
giDuvina tAyi taMdeya nuMgitu
beDaga ballarE pELi, dEva kanaka dAsa
ennoDeyAdikeshava ballanI beDaga
The One swallowed the tree.
giDadoDatoTTiyanu = giDada + Oda + toTTiyanu = The base that is
inherently associated with the tree.
"UrdhvamUlamadhashshAkhamashvatthaM prAhuravyayaM" Gita 15-1
"jagadvR^ixo.ayamasvattho hyashvavat chaJNchalAtmakaH "
- gItAtAtparya
The universe is like an ashvattha tree. Like a horse, it is
ever-moving.
The root casue of all the problems that is associated
with this tree is "aj~nAna" and also the three guNas.
(Not to be confused with Lord Vishnu being the root of
the tree. He is pR^ithak mUlaM or like a detached/separate
root).
(brahma vA asya pR^ithaN^mUlam | prakR^tiH samUlaM |
satvAdayo arvAchInamUlaM |)
- gItAbhAshhya
That is why it is told that one must do vichAra thru j~nAna
to remove the influence of this tree and the consequent
aj~nAna.
asaN^gashastreNa (saN^garAhityenasahitena j~nAnena)
dR^Dhena chhitvA (chhedashcha vimarsha eva)
That Supreme One also swallowed the father and mother
of this tree (Brahma and Sarasvati).
Thus the Lord causes the entire deed of Pralaya by devouring
this entire universe.
May those who know about this astonishing deed of the Lord
speak out.
Kanakadaasa's Lord Adikeshava only knows His own astonishing
deeds completely.
(What to mention about tha lack in the understanding of
mere mortals like us).