cintāmaṇi ṣaṭpadī

• dviradavadanaO you with the face of the elephant
• viṣamaradaO you with the odd tusk
• varadaO giver of boons
• jayabe victorious
• īśānaO lord
• śāntavarasadanaO you whose home is peace and blessing
• sadanavasādanaO you who lift a house out of its sinking
• dayayāout of kindness
• kurumake
• sādanamthe bringing down
• antarāyasyaof the obstacle

anvaya dviradavadana viṣamarada varada īśāna śāntavarasadana sadanavasādana jaya dayayā antarāyasya sādanam kuru

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

ṣaṭpadī shatpadi — Shatpadi means six-footed: a verse of six feet, and also a bee, which has six legs. The last verse turns on that second sense.

viṣamarada with the odd tusk — Vishama is what does not divide in two. His tusks are odd in number, which is the polite way of saying one of them is broken.

antarāya the obstacle — Antaraya is what comes in between, the thing standing in the road. It is the exact word for what Ganesha is asked to remove.

note Attributed to Shankaracharya. sadanavasādana is read sadana and avasādana, the sinking of a house; what is to be brought down is named at the end of the verse.

• indukalākalitālikaon whose brow the moon's crescent is set
• sālikawith the mark on the forehead
• śumbhatkapolapāliyugawhose two cheeks shine on either side
• vikaṭasphuṭakaṭadhārādhāraḥwhose broad temples run open with must, and who is the ground that holds
• asyaof this
• prapañcasyaspreading world

anvaya indukalākalitālika sālika śumbhatkapolapāliyuga [tvam] asya prapañcasya vikaṭasphuṭakaṭadhārādhāraḥ

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

prapañca the spreading world — Prapancha is the world seen as a spreading out into five, the elements and everything made of them.

dhārādhāraḥ the stream and the ground — One word doing two jobs: dhara is the stream of must, adhara the ground that bears a weight. The pun holds the verse together.

• varaparaśupāśapāṇeO you with the boon, the axe and the noose in your hands
• paṇitapaṇāyafor the stake that is offered
• apaṇāyitaḥnot to be bought
• asiyou are
• yataḥsince
• ārūhyahaving mounted
• vajradantamwith teeth like adamant
• ākhumthe mouse
• vidadhāsiyou make
• vipadantaman end of trouble

anvaya varaparaśupāśapāṇe yataḥ paṇitapaṇāya apaṇāyitaḥ asi [tataḥ] vajradantam ākhum ārūhya vipadantam vidadhāsi

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

paṇa a stake — Pana is what is put down in a wager or paid in a bargain. The line plays on the word three times over to say that he is not for sale.

ākhum the mouse — Akhu is the one that digs. His mount goes under what stands in the way rather than through it.

• lambodaraO hanging-bellied one
• dūrvāsanaO you seated on durva grass
• śayadhṛtasāmodamodakāśanakaO you who eat the fragrant modak held in your hand
• śanakaiḥslowly
• avalokayalook
• māmat me
• yamāntarāyāpahāricārudṛśāwith that lovely glance which carries off death and every obstacle

anvaya lambodara dūrvāsana śayadhṛtasāmodamodakāśanaka yamāntarāyāpahāricārudṛśā mām śanakaiḥ avalokaya

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

dūrvā durva grass — The grass offered to him in blades of twenty-one, and the only offering he is said to prefer to food.

śanakaiḥ slowly — The poet asks not for a look but for an unhurried one, as one asks a busy person for a moment.

• ānandatundilākhilavṛndārakavṛndavanditāṅghriyugaO you at whose two feet the whole company of gods, swollen with joy, bows
• sukhadhṛtadaṇḍarasālaḥholding the sugar cane staff with ease
• nāgajabhālaḥwhose brow is an elephant's
• atibhāsiyou shine past all measure
• vibhoO mighty one

anvaya ānandatundilākhilavṛndārakavṛndavanditāṅghriyuga vibho sukhadhṛtadaṇḍarasālaḥ nāgajabhālaḥ atibhāsi

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

tundila swollen — Tundila is having a swollen belly. The poet gives the gods his own shape, swollen with joy as he is swollen with sweets.

rasāla the sugar cane — Rasala is what holds juice: the mango, and the sugar cane he carries.

• agaṇeyaguṇaO you with qualities past all counting
• īśātmajaO son of the lord
• cintakacintāmaṇeO wishing-gem of those who think of you
• gaṇeśānaO Ganesha
• svacaraṇaśaraṇamone who has taken refuge at your own feet
• karuṇāvaruṇālayaO sea of kindness
• devaO god
• pāhiprotect
• māmme
• dīnamwretched

anvaya agaṇeyaguṇa īśātmaja cintakacintāmaṇe gaṇeśāna karuṇāvaruṇālaya deva svacaraṇaśaraṇam dīnam mām pāhi

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

cintāmaṇe O wishing-gem — The stone that gives whatever is thought of, which is where the hymn gets its name. The play is on chintaka, the one who thinks, and chintamani, the gem of thought.

varuṇālaya the sea — The home of Varuna, that is, the ocean. Kindness is given its size.

• ruciravaco'mṛtarāvonnītācarried up by the nectar-sound of lovely words
• nītābrought
• divamto heaven
• stutiḥthe praise
• sphītāfull
• itiso
• ṣaṭpadīthis six-footed poem
• madīyāof mine
• gaṇapatipādāmbujeinto the lotus of Ganapati's feet
• viśatulet it enter

anvaya ruciravaco'mṛtarāvonnītā sphītā stutiḥ divam nītā iti madīyā ṣaṭpadī gaṇapatipādāmbuje viśatu

chandas Irregular by syllable count; the ṣaṭpadī is measured in beats, six feet to the verse

ṣaṭpadī the six-footed poem — The same word means a bee. The last line asks the poem to go into the lotus of his feet the way a bee goes into a flower, which is why the poem is built on six feet.

note The hymn ends by naming its own form and making a picture of it.