aruṇācala aṣṭakam

• darśanātby the sight of it
• abhra-abhra-sadasiin the Hall of the Sky, Cidambaram
• jananātby being born
• kamala-kamala-ālayein Kamalālaya, Tiruvārūr
• kāśyāmin Kāśī
• tubut
• maraṇātby dying
• muktiḥliberation comes
• smaraṇātand by the mere remembering
• aruṇācaleof Aruṇācala

anvaya abhrasadasi darśanāt kamalālaye jananāt kāśyām maraṇāt tu aruṇācale smaraṇāt muktiḥ

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

abhrasadasi in the Hall of the Sky, Chidambaram — Abhra is cloud or sky and sadas a hall. The shrine at Chidambaram is called the Hall of Space, where Shiva is worshipped as the dancer.

kamalālaye at Kamalalaya, Tiruvarur — The town is named for its lotus tank. Being born there is what the verse counts.

aruṇācale at Arunachala — The red hill at Tiruvannamalai, worshipped as Shiva himself in the form of fire. Aruṇa is the red of daybreak.

note A saying known all over the south, set here as the opening verse. Each of the four places asks something different of a person: you must go and see Chidambaram, be born at Tiruvarur, die at Kashi. For Arunachala it is enough to remember it.

• karuṇā-pūrita-karuṇā-pūrita-apāṅgamwhose sidelong glance brims with compassion
• śaraṇa-āgata-śaraṇa-āgata-vatsalamtender toward all who come for refuge
• taruṇa-indu-jaṭā-taruṇa-indu-jaṭā-maulimwhose crown of matted hair bears the young moon
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya karuṇāpūritāpāṅgam śaraṇāgatavatsalam taruṇendujaṭāmaulim aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

apāṅgam the outer corner of the eye — The sidelong look, which is how kindness shows in a face before anything is said.

śaraṇāgatavatsalam tender towards whoever comes for shelter — Vatsala is the feeling a cow has for its calf, used for the care a god has for those who turn up with nothing.

note From here to the end, every verse keeps the fourth pāda of the first verse as a refrain and hangs its describing words on it. The verb is the one carried over from that verse: liberation comes by remembering.

• samasta-jagat-samasta-jagat-ādhāramthe support of the whole world
• sat-cit-ānanda-sat-cit-ānanda-vigrahamwhose form is being, consciousness and bliss
• sahasra-rathasa-sahasra-rathasa-upetamattended by a thousand chariots of the sun
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya samastajagadādhāram saccidānandavigraham sahasrarathasopetam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

saccidānandavigraham whose form is being, awareness and joy — Sat, cit and ānanda are the three words Vedanta uses for what is finally real. Vigraha is a form or a shape, so the three are spoken of here as having taken shape.

sahasrarathasopetam attended by a thousand — The word as printed gives no settled reading. Ratha is a chariot, so it can be read as a thousand chariots in attendance; a nearby reading is sahasra-raśmi, the thousand-rayed sun. The gloss keeps only what is certain.

note The third pāda is doubtful as printed. It has been left as it stands and glossed only as far as the words allow.

• kāñcana-pratimā-kāñcana-pratimā-ābhāsamshining like an image of gold
• vāñchita-artha-phala-vāñchita-artha-phala-pradamgiver of the fruit of every wished-for end
• mām ca rakṣaand protect me
• sura-sura-adhyakṣamoverseer of the gods
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya kāñcanapratimābhāsam vāñchitārthaphalapradam surādhyakṣam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt mām ca rakṣa

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

surādhyakṣam the one set over the gods — Adhyakṣa is the one who oversees, the head of an assembly.

vāñchitārthaphalapradam who gives the fruit of what is wished for — Vāñchita is the thing wanted, artha what it is wanted for, phala what comes of it.

note The third pāda steps out of the describing and asks straight out for protection. It is the only line in the hymn that does so.

• baddha-candra-jaṭā-baddha-candra-jaṭā-jūṭamwith the moon bound into his coil of matted hair
• ardha-nārī-ardha-nārī-kalebaramwhose body is half woman
• vardhamāna-dayā-vardhamāna-dayā-ambhodhiman ever-swelling ocean of mercy
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya baddhacandrajaṭājūṭam ardhanārīkalebaram vardhamānadayāmbhodhim aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

jaṭājūṭam the coil of matted hair — Jaṭā is matted hair and jūṭa the knot it is gathered into, with the crescent moon tied into it.

ardhanārīkalebaram whose body is half woman — The form in which Shiva and the Goddess share one body, the right side his and the left hers. Printed कलेबर, a common spelling of कलेवर, the body.

note The kindness is called a sea that keeps rising, vardhamāna, so it is never at its highest mark.

• kāñcana-pratimā-kāñcana-pratimā-ābhāsamshining like an image of gold
• sūrya-koṭi-sama-sūrya-koṭi-sama-prabhamof a brilliance equal to ten million suns
• baddha-vyāghra-purī-baddha-vyāghra-purī-dhyānamheld fast in meditation upon the Tiger City, Cidambaram
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya kāñcanapratimābhāsam sūryakoṭisamaprabham baddhavyāghrapurīdhyānam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

vyāghrapurī the Tiger City, Chidambaram — Named after the sage Vyaghrapada, who was given tiger's feet so he could climb for flowers before the bees reached them.

koṭi ten million — A round figure for a number past counting.

note The first pāda repeats the opening of verse 4 word for word, as the printed text has it. The hill is described as held fast in meditation on Chidambaram, so the two shrines of the first verse are tied together.

• śikṣayāby chastisement
• akhila-deva-akhila-deva-ariof every foe of the gods
• bhakṣita-kṣvela-bhakṣita-kṣvela-kandharamin whose throat the swallowed poison rests
• rakṣayāby his protection
• akhila-akhila-bhaktānāmof all his devotees
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya akhiladevāri śikṣayā akhilabhaktānām rakṣayā bhakṣitakṣvelakandharam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

kṣvela poison — A spelling of kṣveḍa. When the sea was churned the poison came up first, and Shiva drank it and held it in his throat so that it went no further.

kandharam the throat — Holding the poison there is what gives him the name Nilakantha, the blue throat.

note Two things are set side by side in one verse: the lesson given to the enemies of the gods, and the guard kept over his own people. Printed devāri; read as devārīn, the foes of the gods.

• aṣṭa-bhūti-aṣṭa-bhūti-samāyuktampossessed of the eight forms of manifest being
• iṣṭa-kāma-phala-iṣṭa-kāma-phala-pradamgiver of the fruit of every cherished wish
• śiṣṭa-bhakti-śiṣṭa-bhakti-samāyuktānthose joined with the devotion of the good
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya śiṣṭabhaktisamāyuktān [prati] aṣṭabhūtisamāyuktam iṣṭakāmaphalapradam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

aṣṭabhūti the eight — Usually read as the aṣṭamūrti, Shiva's eight forms: earth, water, fire, air, space, sun, moon and the one who offers the sacrifice. Bhūti also means well-being, so some read the eight kinds of prosperity instead.

śiṣṭa the good, the well-taught — Those who keep to what has been handed down. The word also carries being trained, so it is devotion that has been schooled.

note The three pādas rhyme on -ṣṭa: aṣṭa, iṣṭa, śiṣṭa. The word play is the point of the verse as much as the meaning.

• vināyaka-sura-vināyaka-sura-adhyakṣamoverlord of Vināyaka and of the gods
• viṣṇu-brahma-indra-viṣṇu-brahma-indra-sevitamserved by Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Indra
• vimala-aruṇa-pāda-vimala-aruṇa-pāda-abjamwhose lotus feet are spotless and red as the dawn
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya vināyakasurādhyakṣam viṣṇubrahmendrasevitam vimalāruṇapādābjam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

vināyakasurādhyakṣam lord of Vinayaka and of the gods — Ganapati is named first among those he is lord of, then the gods as a body.

vimalāruṇapādābjam whose lotus feet are clear and red — Aruṇa, the red of daybreak, is the colour of the hill itself, so the feet and the hill are the same colour.

note All three pādas begin with vi, and the verse is built on that repetition.

• mandāra-mallikā-jāti-kunda-campaka-mandāra-mallikā-jāti-kunda-campaka-paṅkajaiḥwith mandāra, mallikā, jāti, kunda, campaka and lotus blossoms
• indra-ādi-indra-ādi-pūjitāmworshipped by Indra and the rest
• devīmthe Goddess, his consort
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya mandāramallikājātikundacampakapaṅkajaiḥ indrādipūjitām devīm [ca] aruṇācalam smaraṇāt

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

mandāramallikājātikundacampakapaṅkajaiḥ with mandara, jasmine, jati, kunda, champak and lotus — Six flowers of temple worship, filling a whole pāda. Mallika, jati and kunda are all jasmines of different kinds.

devīm the Goddess — The Goddess of the same temple at Tiruvannamalai, worshipped there as Unnamulai.

note The one verse in the hymn that turns to the Goddess rather than to the hill.

• sampat-sampat-karamthe maker of prosperity
• pārvatī-pārvatī-īśamthe lord of Pārvatī
• sūrya-candra-agni-sūrya-candra-agni-locanamwhose eyes are sun, moon and fire
• manda-smita-mukha-manda-smita-mukha-ambhojamwhose lotus face bears a gentle smile
• smaraṇātby the mere remembering of
• aruṇācalamAruṇācala, the red mountain

anvaya sampatkaram pārvatīśam sūryacandrāgnilocanam mandasmitamukhāmbhojam aruṇācalam smaraṇāt [muktiḥ]

chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas

sūryacandrāgnilocanam whose eyes are sun, moon and fire — The right eye is the sun, the left the moon, and the third, in the forehead, is fire.

mandasmitamukhāmbhojam whose lotus face carries a slight smile — Manda is soft or slow. The smile is a faint one rather than a broad one.

note The last verse closes on the face, after the earlier verses have gone over hair, throat, eyes and feet. The title calls the hymn an ashtakam, a set of eight, but eleven verses are printed here.