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).