śrī ṣaṇmukha pañcaratna stuti

I praise him who dwells in the lap of Vaḷḷī — who is herself like a shining lightning-creeper — and who, out of his boundless compassion, as their very life-force, ever saves and sustains those who are scorched by the fever of worldly existence. That radiant six-faced lord, master of the divine armies — may Subrahmanya, the very embodiment of grace, bestow his protection on us all.

He who becomes Subrahmaṇya through the power of divine Knowledge-Śakti (jñānaśakti) — in him alone the office of Dēvasēnapati (commander of the divine army) is perfectly established. Thus it is that this Śakti — the power called Dēvasēnapati — has its ultimate fulfilment only in Subrahmaṇya. That is the mystery of his sovereign command over the gods.

The right wing of the peacock is truly indescribable (pakṣō'nirvachanīyō dakṣiṇa) — and it generates in the minds of all people the faculty of discriminating wisdom (dakṣiṇā = the right-facing, the discerning). For the peacock, by its right wing — that wing which itself transcends all verbal description — awakens in every mind the capacity to turn toward truth and distinguish the real from the unreal. This is the hidden teaching of Subrahmanya's peacock vehicle.

He who, by taking support of that indescribable wing — the faculty of pure discriminating wisdom — comes to be seen as he truly is: through him the supreme Brahman, beyond the beyond, immaculate and stainless (parātparamamalam), known by the name Subrahmaṇya, is directly realized. Thus the very name Subrahmaṇya points to the supreme Brahman — and devotion to him leads to the highest knowledge.

May the six-faced lord with laughing, lotus-like faces (ṣaṇmukhaṃ hasanmukham), who sports in the vast ocean of bliss (sukhāmburāśikhēlanam), whose lotus feet are always worshipped by the foremost of great sages (sanmunīndrasēvyamāna pādapaṅkajam), who is the destroyer of Kāma and other inner enemies (manmathādiśatru) — may that ever-blissful Ṣaṇmukha bestow his grace and liberation upon us all.