ಶಿವ ಪಾದಾದಿ ಕೇಶಾನ್ತ ವರ್ಣನ ಸ್ತೋತ್ರಂ

On Kailāsa — where Vidyādhara women take shelter in the alcoves of golden peaks, where peacocks open their fans dancing to the falling waterfalls, and where the trumpeting of Gaṇeśa's elephant-voice fills the mountain caves — may that summit bestow auspiciousness.

The Piṇāka — Śiva's great bow — is the very essence of all divine wealth. It is that supreme weapon from which Śārṅga, the bow of Viṣṇu, was derived. May Śiva, the wielder of Piṇāka, protect us — he who is the foundation of every auspicious thing in the three worlds.

This axe (paraśu) of Śiva — wielded by the arm that also cradles the deer — is the destroyer of demon armies, the feller of the forest of accumulated sins, and the cutter of the noose of worldly bondage. May it ever shine in Śiva's hand for our protection.

This trident (triśūla) of Śiva — worshipped and anointed by Pārvatī with sandal-paste and flowers — strikes terror into the hearts of enemies and protects, like a father, all those who have taken refuge at Śiva's feet. May that gleaming trident be our refuge.

The deer held in Śiva's hand — its eyes wide with wonder — trembles with joy as it reads the sidelong glances that Pārvatī casts toward her lord. It has found the best of all places: the divine hand of Śiva, resting beside the heart of the Goddess herself.

Nandī — lord of Śiva's divine bull-hosts — bears a golden bell at his throat whose ring fills Kailāsa's peaks. His mighty horns, tipped with moonlight, seem to swallow the summits of the mountain. May that foremost of Śiva's attendants, whose glance itself bestows blessings, protect us.

Gaṇeśa — the first-born of the Goddess, with his broad elephant-forehead — fills the caves of Kailāsa with the deep hum of bees drawn by the fragrance of ichor flowing from his temples. He who is worshipped before all endeavors blesses this praise of his father.

Skanda — the destroyer of Tāraka, born to vanquish the demon-sons of Diti — is he at whose very name the vast armies of asuras scatter in every direction. He who split the Krauñca mountain with his vel (lance) — may that divine general, Kārttikeya, protect us.

Like a skilled hunter mounted on a swift steed, Śiva rides through the forest of the mind — hunting with his three-eyed gaze the fierce deer of desire (rāga) and the deer of hatred (dveṣa). May that divine hunter, who purifies the inner forest of our passions, protect us always.

The divine hall on Kailāsa — inlaid with pearls and rubies on its floor, its walls hung with the golden palaces of the direction-lords — contains Pārvatī's celestial garden where wish-fulfilling trees bloom. In that radiant assembly-hall, Śiva presides in eternal splendor.

In that luminous hall, the reddish glow of Indumaulin — the moon-crested one — suffuses everything with a tender light. Celestial musicians play the vīṇā with consummate skill, and the deer-eyed Apsarās cast oblique glances, filling the assembly with grace and beauty.

In the divine assembly, Nandī beats the mṛdaṅga drum whose sound reverberates through all the worlds. The Pramathas — Chaṇḍeśa and others, the beloved attendants of Śiva — bring their singular joy to the celestial gathering, filling it with festive celebration.

The assembly hall's ceiling is studded with the finest gems of Indra's treasury; atop its gleaming pillars rest golden water-pots filled with sacred water, adorned with mango leaves and crowned with coconuts — auspicious beyond measure.

The four legs of Śiva's celestial throne are fashioned from solid gold set with the nine precious gems; upon it is spread a fine, soft garment white as the moon. That supreme throne, the seat of the lord of the universe, awaits the one whose feet alone are worthy of it.

The assembly of Kailāsa is complete: the wish-fulfilling garden of Pārvatī blooms in its court, the palaces of the direction-lords gleam at its perimeter, and the celestial Apasarās move in graceful procession. This is the divine durbar where Śiva, the lord of all, holds eternal sway.

Those two feet of Śiva — full of lotus-softness, displaying on their soles all the auspicious marks (lotus, conch, discus, ankuśa, and more) — are reddened at the toenails by the touched crowns of bowing gods. May those feet, the very refuge of the universe, be our refuge too.

The anklets (nūpuras) on Śiva's feet ring with a sound that is itself the declaration of all Vedic marks and mantras. Even Lakṣmī, hearing that sound, is filled with delight — for the anklets of Śaṃbhu are the very ornament of eternal fortune.

When the gods beheld Śiva's radiant shanks (jaṅghās), they wondered among themselves: had Kāma's golden quiver somehow escaped the fire of Śiva's third eye and fallen to earth, transformed into these shining limbs? Such is their perfect golden luster and smooth beauty.

The thighs (ūrus) of Śiva are like twin pillars of the purest gold, fashioned to the dimensions of the finest elephant — firm, broad, and supremely beautiful. They are the object of Pārvatī's devoted attention, caressed by her lotus-hands in playful, loving contemplation.

Around Śiva's hips (nitamba) — broad and white as milk, covered in Chinese silk — gleams the kāñcī girdle set with precious gems: sapphires, rubies, and pearls flashing like lightning. That ornament declares the fullness and perfection of his divine form.

Śiva's waist (madhya) is slender as the middle of sunset clouds — bound by the garland of his sacred thread and the glow of divine fire. Incomparable, self-luminous, it defies all description: the meeting-point of the divine form's two halves, held in perfect cosmic balance.

The fine line of hair (roma-valli) ascending from Śiva's navel is like the flowing script of the Kāma-āgama — the sacred text of divine love — written in living letters upon his divine body. Those who can read it find inscribed there the deepest secrets of creation.

Śiva's chest (vakṣas) — adorned with gem-garlands and tinged with saffron from Pārvatī's embrace — is the eternal shelter for all who bow before him. From that chest, which holds the three worlds within itself, pours forth the stream of compassion that sustains all beings.

Śiva's four arms (bāhus) span the three worlds: one arm holds Pārvatī close in tender embrace; one bears the battle-axe; one carries the trembling deer; and the fourth extends in abhaya-mudrā — the gesture of fearlessness — granting refuge to all who come to him.

When Śiva's throat (kaṇṭha) turned blue from holding the hālāhala poison that arose from the churning of the ocean — as Pārvatī clutched his arm in terror and Viṣṇu urged him on — that moment of cosmic sacrifice became his eternal mark: Nīlakaṇṭha, the blue-throated one, protector of all worlds.

Śiva's lower lip (adhara) bears the loving imprints of Pārvatī's teeth — marks that glow like coral against the pearl-and-ruby luster of his face. That lip — bitten in the passion of divine love — is itself a Tantric text, teaching that the highest bliss arises from the union of Śiva and Śakti.

Śiva's nose (nāsikā) is perfectly formed — like the golden pistil of a lotus flower. It is the path through which the prāṇa-vāyu moves in and out, regulating the universe. In the hearts of yogīs, Śiva himself is meditated upon as seated at the tip of that same nose-breath.

Śiva's earrings (kuṇḍalas) outshine the noon-day sun in brilliance — and in their polished surface is engraved, for those with eyes to see, the entire record of every devotee's births and deaths, their karmas and their journey toward liberation.

Śiva's three eyes (trikṣaṇas) are the Three Vedas made manifest. His two natural eyes govern the flow of time — sun and moon — while the third eye is the fire that knows no obstruction. Together, those eyes sought by bees in Rudrāṇī's lotus-face order all of creation.

His left eye — cool as the moon, forever turned toward Pārvatī in tender regard. His right eye — bright as the sun, surveying all three worlds. His forehead eye — blazing fire, the destroyer of all darkness and delusion. Together, these three remove the three kinds of suffering from all who behold them.

On Śiva's forehead (phāla) gleams the crescent moon — yet its natural glow is softened by the brilliant saffron tilaka. The eyebrows, curving like the bows of celestial dancing-girls, move with every expression, drawing all gazes upward toward that luminous forehead.

Śiva's matted locks (kaiśika) are dark as rain-laden clouds, filled with the Gaṅgā who begs to be accepted within them. That same hair that once conquered the braided tresses of Tripura's wives — let it stream across all the worlds, bringing the sacred river's blessing to every being.

The crown (kirīṭa) of Śiva — adorned with flowers strung by Pārvatī's playful companions — blazes like a ruby beacon, visible across the three worlds. That crown which removes all difficulties (vighnas) from those who meditate upon it is itself a proof of Śiva's unmatched sovereignty.

The crescent moon (candra-mauli) on Śiva's crown — itself crooked, spotted, and diminished — has been elevated beyond its natural station solely by its service at Śiva's feet. It now declares by its own shining example: 'Serve Śiva, and even the most blemished and faded being is exalted to the crown of the universe.'

Over Śiva's head is held the white parasol (śveta-chhattra) — white as jasmine, as milk, as moonlight — carried by Nandī whose wrists are adorned with gem-bracelets. That parasol spreads its white canopy across all the worlds, filling them with the cool, pure light of Śiva's sovereignty.

The bangles (kaṅkaṇas) on the wrists of Pārvatī's companions jingle in rhythmic music as they wave the cāmaras (fly-whisks) before Śiva. That sound — delicate, rhythmic, silver — mingles with the music of the assembly and rises to fill the vault of Kailāsa.

In the divine assembly, celestial ladies move in graceful dance — their arm-movements (mudrās) as eloquent as poetry, their footwork precise as meter. Their melodious songs fill the hall, and with each gesture they seem to offer the beauty of the entire universe back to its source.

The vīṇā of Nārada resounds in Śiva's assembly, filling it with all the classical rāgas. Each rāga carries a different mood (rasa) — from heroic to tender, from furious to peaceful — and the nine flavors (navarasa) rise together in one great flood of musical offering to Śiva.

The mṛdaṅga drums played by the speech-goddesses (Vāk-devīs) thunder like monsoon clouds across Kailāsa. The golden tāla-cymbals ring out in perfect rhythm. Together, these sounds make the peacocks spread their fans and dance — and the entire mountain becomes a living concert of cosmic joy.

I offer salutation to all beings gathered at the feet of Śarva — from the highest gods (suras) to the most powerful demons (asuras), from the sacred rivers to the smallest insects, from the great forests to the individual blades of grass growing on Kailāsa's slopes. All of them, without exception, find their completion at Śiva's feet.

One who recites or hears this sacred description of Śiva's form — from his feet to his crown — shall be blessed with complete prosperity, the highest honor among all beings, universal love, and after a full life of one hundred years, shall attain the supreme state of Śiva-Brahman, beyond birth and death.