Composed by poet Venkatdhvari of Arasanipalai near Kanchipuram consists of 1018 verses divided into 25 sections called stabakas of varying length highlighting the greatness of Goddess Lakshmi.
Sri Venkatadhvari was a staunch follower of Sri Vedanta Desika and lived in the 17th century. His works disclose his mastery over poetry rhetorics and dramaturgy. he was the chief pandit at the court of Pralayakaveri. fourteen literary works are attributed to his authorship. the foremost them is the famous Visvagunadarsa Champu, a proso poetic composition, intended to expose the faults of the manners and customs of his time. The narration is made by two Gandharvas Visvasu and Krisanu who take a birds eye view of the countries in their ariel car. The former is generous in his appreciation of merits while the later is always critical. As a consequence of such a censure of the world around, it is said that the author lost his sight and the same was restored when he praised in thousand verses Goddesses Lakshmi. which is the present work Lakshmisahasram. another famous work by the author is Raghava Yadaveeyam. already discribed in another blog entry earlier. its a master piece too.
The salutations at the begining of the work, the work itself speaks volumes of the mental capacity of the author. a must read for the lovers of Sanskrit. a brief description of the stabakas.
Kinchithsanchitayogopi kila kinchita vanchitam.
Anchitam jothi ramarai ranjanadra vrandan chitam.
1.Aarambastabaka.ivity discloses his versatilitary act
The first stabaka starts off in 29 verses a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Venkateswara, paying obeisance to the line of preceptors poet Valmiki, sage Parasara. expressing his mental anguish and prays for an easy flow of a thousand verses by her side glances which confer great positions.
2.Atha Pradurbhava stabaka.
In23 verses the poet describes the magnificent appearance of goddess Lakshmi from the milky ocean that was churned. Two gems arose one the Kaustubha a hard one and another Lakshmi the soft one. Lord Shiva who adorned the crescent moon that came up first, beheld the goddess Lakshmi rising up afterwards and thought it was another moon without blemish and in order to dislodge the first is said to have gently shaken his head.
3. Atha Vakshastala vastana stabaka.
In 23 verses the poet states that the reason for the goddess adorning the chest of the Lord was compassion. its an excellent fortune that cannot be gained by anyone. She is equal to the life breath of the Lord. she is the destroyer of all the sins the author accumulated by treading the unrighteous paths. He says the Lord God desires not to cause any fatigue to the gentle goddess on account of his association, but he could not control the horripilation on his body on account of her contact.
4.Atha Karunaya stabaka.
This stabaka in 23 verses fancies whether the goddess had manifested in the form of compassion, as she has shown compassion to Kakasura and so would definitely be compassionate to the poet, just as it had been to the tail of Hanuman by her grace. the poet hopes that she be gracious to him who tormented by the heat of mundane existence. Lord Vishnu gains his power from the grace of the goddess. the munificent good fortune that the yogins gain after many penances. so too he gains by the grace of the goddess on account of his penury.
5.atha Kataksha stabaka.
In 64 verses the poet describes the greatness of the side glances of the goddess. he states that her glance even for a moment would confer the benifit of the glances of Lords siva, vishnu and Indra. Her glances would yield birth in a good family, good knowledge, steady fortune,undim inishing ability to compose verses, devotion towards Lord Vishnu, good progeny and fame.
6. Atha Prayatna stabaka.
In 39 verses the poet describes the efforts by Lord Vishnu for gaining goddess Lakshmi, describing the events of the Ramayana, the poet says in order to amuse the bow of god of love, namely the eyebrows of the goddess, Rama has broken the bow of Lord Siva and in order to substantiate the injunction that one has to yearn for fortune from the fire god, Rama obtains the goddess from the fire.
7. Atha Mangala stabaka.
In 13 verses the poet describes the auspicious nature of the goddess. her compassionate glances are capable of redeeming one from the mundane existence.When Indra lost his fortune he regained the same by glorifying the goddess.
8. Atha Soundarya stabaka.
In this stabaka consisting of 235 verses the poet describes the beauty of the goddess and her form.
9. Atha Sringara stabaka.
In 50 verses the gentle nature of the goddess and her amorous sports are described.
10. Ata Aishwarya stabaka.
In 19 verses is described the glory of her greatness and how she too has been with the lord in all his manifestations, as sita in Rama avatara as Rukmini in Krishna avatara as dear skin in dwarf manifestation etc.
11. Atha shanti stabaka.
In 30 verses the poet prays to the goddess to forgive his offences. he says that there is no other prop for him except the goddess for protecting him from the wraths of Lord Vishnu for his offences. What is the use of speaking much about other matters? he requests the goddess not to count his faults and free him from mundane existence. A big piece of Iron swallowed cannot be digested by the decoction of dry ginger. similarly the explanations laid down in the vedas are not capable of removing the mighty sins committed by him. Only the gracious pardon by the goddess can accomplish it.
12. Atha Utsava stabaka.
In 50 verses the poet Venkatadhvari sings the glory of the goddess. The celestials and men do not get satisfied in beholding the goddess having the grace of the inside of the lotus united with the God. IN the festivities of the goddess the Lord Brahma extols her with his four faces. the poet describes the efforts of the gods in extolling her. he says one who does not hasten to behold the festival of the goddess, the eyesight of such a person is fruitless.
13. Atho Dharya stabaka.
In 20 verses he describes the greatness of the lofty heart of the goddess. he says it is possible to sing the glory of the goddess only by Agastya who drank the ocean, Hanuman who crossed the ocean, and Lord Vishnu who reposes on the sea. There is no doubt that the goddess has a noble disposition of conferring the desired favour. The testimony for that is the Lord Venkateswara in whom rests the goddess. the moon can offer only its digits, Sibi a piece of flesh, the clouds water but the goddess alone offers more than the desired.
14. Atha Yamaka stabaka.
in 61 verses the poet Venkatadhvari has employed the technique of repetition of groups of letters conveying different meaning glorifying the goddess. He prays the goddess to destroy quickly his sins. One who sings the thousand names of the goddess with purity would be described by the learned in the vedas as equivalent to Yajnavalkya and others.
15. Ata Nakshatra mala stabaka.
In 28 verses the poet has sung the praise of the goddess each verse containing the name of an asterism. The poet prays to the goddess to redeem him from mundane existence with her side glances glorified as the steps leading to Vaikuntha. He prays to the goddess to tell secretly "You save this person in distress" in the ears of lord Vishnu engaged in the tasks such as creation of the world etc.
16. Atha vichitra stabaka.
in 11 verses the poet describes the wonderful episodes relating to the goddess.The exponents of logic have stated how the inference that fire is cool has been annulled by perception. But the compassion of the goddess in making the fire on the tail of Hanuman to become cool is wonderful.
17.Atha Namavaibhava stabaka.
In 42 verses is explained the glory of the names of goddess Lakshmi. In verse two he states that he is singing the glory of the cool and tender names of the goddesses with a tongue tormented by singing the glory of vassal kings. He requests the goddess to accept his singing of her glory to expiate the misdeeds such as glorifying the wicked.
18. Atha Sadanavaibhava stabaka.
In 40 verses poet Venkatadhvari glorifies the excellence of the abode of the goddess.Since Lord Vishnu stayed in the mud while rescuing the earth during his manifestationas a Boar, the goddess also resides in the lotus born out of mud. Since the word kamalam denotes both water and lotus let the two be treated alike. but he says the Lotus which is the abode of goddess Lakshmi is Specially glorified than the water that is the abode of the first being.
19. Atha bhistabaka.
in 30 verses describes the nature of the goddess Mahalakshmi offering refuge. The lord took the form of the man lion in order to remove the fear of Prahalada. The poet says it was the goddess that softened the fierce nature of the God by graceful words. He also explains the repetition words which give different meaning eg. the answer for the question lies in the question itself.verse 30 the Kaka abhaya prada is the question for which the solution is kakabhayaprada. meaning who gives protection and the one who gave protection.
20. Atha Parisanghaya stabaka.
In 30 verses begins with the statement that other gods get the power of offering protection by the grace of the goddess. he states that he is not interested in glorifying the planets which become exalted by change in their positions only and glorifies the goddess who is always soft in her temperament. He says does a person desirious of crossing the ocean get hold of the lump of grass discarding the boat? so also a person desirous of getting moksha does not glorify other gods other than goddess Lakshmi. another example he gives is a person that had gained a good fortune would not approach a miser for favour.
21. Atha Dashavatara stabaka.
In 36 verses the poet says that the grace of the goddess is the cause of the ten manifestations of Lord Vishnu. Since Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyakasipu assuming the form of man lion panchasya, the later had born with ten heads Ravana. Lord Vishnu killed him with Brahmastra for having offended the goddess. thus he has described the manifestation as Rama. Describing the manifestation as Krishna the poet points to the similarity of the complexion qualities etc between the goddess and lord Krishna. He employs the names of the ities Ayodhya, Maya Haridvara, Kasi, mathura etc. he goes on saying the goddess is of the form of the seven cities offering beatitude.
22. Atha Chitra stabaka.
In different poetic compositions he glorifies the goddess adorning the different ornaments. he has applied the technique of chitra kavya to do so where the first line read in the reverse order in the second line. Chakra bandha, sixteen petaled lotus, verses composed of single letter and two letters etc.
23. Atha sankeerna stabaka.
In 30 verses the poet describes the goddess of having all the qualities.The goddess shines as the Vidarbhi style of composition possessing the ten qualities such as audarya etc. Similarly she is verily the dramatic composition, logic, grammar, liturgy texts etc. She is the herb, potent medicinal globules, the Parijata etc. he doubts if she is the Hamsa, Maina or the jewel box.
24. atha Nirveda stabaka.
In 12 verses the poet describes his mental anguish and prays to the goddess to pluck all his grief.
25. Atha Phala stabaka.
In 18 verses the poet describes the benefit of composing this poem. he compares his hymn to the wish yielding tree Kalpa vriksham. In the concluding verse he explains the specialities of his hymn.
All the slokas are easy reading and beautiful to recite.
Sri Venkatadhvari was a staunch follower of Sri Vedanta Desika and lived in the 17th century. His works disclose his mastery over poetry rhetorics and dramaturgy. he was the chief pandit at the court of Pralayakaveri. fourteen literary works are attributed to his authorship. the foremost them is the famous Visvagunadarsa Champu, a proso poetic composition, intended to expose the faults of the manners and customs of his time. The narration is made by two Gandharvas Visvasu and Krisanu who take a birds eye view of the countries in their ariel car. The former is generous in his appreciation of merits while the later is always critical. As a consequence of such a censure of the world around, it is said that the author lost his sight and the same was restored when he praised in thousand verses Goddesses Lakshmi. which is the present work Lakshmisahasram. another famous work by the author is Raghava Yadaveeyam. already discribed in another blog entry earlier. its a master piece too.
The salutations at the begining of the work, the work itself speaks volumes of the mental capacity of the author. a must read for the lovers of Sanskrit. a brief description of the stabakas.
Kinchithsanchitayogopi kila kinchita vanchitam.
Anchitam jothi ramarai ranjanadra vrandan chitam.
1.Aarambastabaka.ivity discloses his versatilitary act
The first stabaka starts off in 29 verses a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Venkateswara, paying obeisance to the line of preceptors poet Valmiki, sage Parasara. expressing his mental anguish and prays for an easy flow of a thousand verses by her side glances which confer great positions.
2.Atha Pradurbhava stabaka.
In23 verses the poet describes the magnificent appearance of goddess Lakshmi from the milky ocean that was churned. Two gems arose one the Kaustubha a hard one and another Lakshmi the soft one. Lord Shiva who adorned the crescent moon that came up first, beheld the goddess Lakshmi rising up afterwards and thought it was another moon without blemish and in order to dislodge the first is said to have gently shaken his head.
3. Atha Vakshastala vastana stabaka.
In 23 verses the poet states that the reason for the goddess adorning the chest of the Lord was compassion. its an excellent fortune that cannot be gained by anyone. She is equal to the life breath of the Lord. she is the destroyer of all the sins the author accumulated by treading the unrighteous paths. He says the Lord God desires not to cause any fatigue to the gentle goddess on account of his association, but he could not control the horripilation on his body on account of her contact.
4.Atha Karunaya stabaka.
This stabaka in 23 verses fancies whether the goddess had manifested in the form of compassion, as she has shown compassion to Kakasura and so would definitely be compassionate to the poet, just as it had been to the tail of Hanuman by her grace. the poet hopes that she be gracious to him who tormented by the heat of mundane existence. Lord Vishnu gains his power from the grace of the goddess. the munificent good fortune that the yogins gain after many penances. so too he gains by the grace of the goddess on account of his penury.
5.atha Kataksha stabaka.
In 64 verses the poet describes the greatness of the side glances of the goddess. he states that her glance even for a moment would confer the benifit of the glances of Lords siva, vishnu and Indra. Her glances would yield birth in a good family, good knowledge, steady fortune,undim inishing ability to compose verses, devotion towards Lord Vishnu, good progeny and fame.
6. Atha Prayatna stabaka.
In 39 verses the poet describes the efforts by Lord Vishnu for gaining goddess Lakshmi, describing the events of the Ramayana, the poet says in order to amuse the bow of god of love, namely the eyebrows of the goddess, Rama has broken the bow of Lord Siva and in order to substantiate the injunction that one has to yearn for fortune from the fire god, Rama obtains the goddess from the fire.
7. Atha Mangala stabaka.
In 13 verses the poet describes the auspicious nature of the goddess. her compassionate glances are capable of redeeming one from the mundane existence.When Indra lost his fortune he regained the same by glorifying the goddess.
8. Atha Soundarya stabaka.
In this stabaka consisting of 235 verses the poet describes the beauty of the goddess and her form.
9. Atha Sringara stabaka.
In 50 verses the gentle nature of the goddess and her amorous sports are described.
10. Ata Aishwarya stabaka.
In 19 verses is described the glory of her greatness and how she too has been with the lord in all his manifestations, as sita in Rama avatara as Rukmini in Krishna avatara as dear skin in dwarf manifestation etc.
11. Atha shanti stabaka.
In 30 verses the poet prays to the goddess to forgive his offences. he says that there is no other prop for him except the goddess for protecting him from the wraths of Lord Vishnu for his offences. What is the use of speaking much about other matters? he requests the goddess not to count his faults and free him from mundane existence. A big piece of Iron swallowed cannot be digested by the decoction of dry ginger. similarly the explanations laid down in the vedas are not capable of removing the mighty sins committed by him. Only the gracious pardon by the goddess can accomplish it.
12. Atha Utsava stabaka.
In 50 verses the poet Venkatadhvari sings the glory of the goddess. The celestials and men do not get satisfied in beholding the goddess having the grace of the inside of the lotus united with the God. IN the festivities of the goddess the Lord Brahma extols her with his four faces. the poet describes the efforts of the gods in extolling her. he says one who does not hasten to behold the festival of the goddess, the eyesight of such a person is fruitless.
13. Atho Dharya stabaka.
In 20 verses he describes the greatness of the lofty heart of the goddess. he says it is possible to sing the glory of the goddess only by Agastya who drank the ocean, Hanuman who crossed the ocean, and Lord Vishnu who reposes on the sea. There is no doubt that the goddess has a noble disposition of conferring the desired favour. The testimony for that is the Lord Venkateswara in whom rests the goddess. the moon can offer only its digits, Sibi a piece of flesh, the clouds water but the goddess alone offers more than the desired.
14. Atha Yamaka stabaka.
in 61 verses the poet Venkatadhvari has employed the technique of repetition of groups of letters conveying different meaning glorifying the goddess. He prays the goddess to destroy quickly his sins. One who sings the thousand names of the goddess with purity would be described by the learned in the vedas as equivalent to Yajnavalkya and others.
15. Ata Nakshatra mala stabaka.
In 28 verses the poet has sung the praise of the goddess each verse containing the name of an asterism. The poet prays to the goddess to redeem him from mundane existence with her side glances glorified as the steps leading to Vaikuntha. He prays to the goddess to tell secretly "You save this person in distress" in the ears of lord Vishnu engaged in the tasks such as creation of the world etc.
16. Atha vichitra stabaka.
in 11 verses the poet describes the wonderful episodes relating to the goddess.The exponents of logic have stated how the inference that fire is cool has been annulled by perception. But the compassion of the goddess in making the fire on the tail of Hanuman to become cool is wonderful.
17.Atha Namavaibhava stabaka.
In 42 verses is explained the glory of the names of goddess Lakshmi. In verse two he states that he is singing the glory of the cool and tender names of the goddesses with a tongue tormented by singing the glory of vassal kings. He requests the goddess to accept his singing of her glory to expiate the misdeeds such as glorifying the wicked.
18. Atha Sadanavaibhava stabaka.
In 40 verses poet Venkatadhvari glorifies the excellence of the abode of the goddess.Since Lord Vishnu stayed in the mud while rescuing the earth during his manifestationas a Boar, the goddess also resides in the lotus born out of mud. Since the word kamalam denotes both water and lotus let the two be treated alike. but he says the Lotus which is the abode of goddess Lakshmi is Specially glorified than the water that is the abode of the first being.
19. Atha bhistabaka.
in 30 verses describes the nature of the goddess Mahalakshmi offering refuge. The lord took the form of the man lion in order to remove the fear of Prahalada. The poet says it was the goddess that softened the fierce nature of the God by graceful words. He also explains the repetition words which give different meaning eg. the answer for the question lies in the question itself.verse 30 the Kaka abhaya prada is the question for which the solution is kakabhayaprada. meaning who gives protection and the one who gave protection.
20. Atha Parisanghaya stabaka.
In 30 verses begins with the statement that other gods get the power of offering protection by the grace of the goddess. he states that he is not interested in glorifying the planets which become exalted by change in their positions only and glorifies the goddess who is always soft in her temperament. He says does a person desirious of crossing the ocean get hold of the lump of grass discarding the boat? so also a person desirous of getting moksha does not glorify other gods other than goddess Lakshmi. another example he gives is a person that had gained a good fortune would not approach a miser for favour.
21. Atha Dashavatara stabaka.
In 36 verses the poet says that the grace of the goddess is the cause of the ten manifestations of Lord Vishnu. Since Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyakasipu assuming the form of man lion panchasya, the later had born with ten heads Ravana. Lord Vishnu killed him with Brahmastra for having offended the goddess. thus he has described the manifestation as Rama. Describing the manifestation as Krishna the poet points to the similarity of the complexion qualities etc between the goddess and lord Krishna. He employs the names of the ities Ayodhya, Maya Haridvara, Kasi, mathura etc. he goes on saying the goddess is of the form of the seven cities offering beatitude.
22. Atha Chitra stabaka.
In different poetic compositions he glorifies the goddess adorning the different ornaments. he has applied the technique of chitra kavya to do so where the first line read in the reverse order in the second line. Chakra bandha, sixteen petaled lotus, verses composed of single letter and two letters etc.
23. Atha sankeerna stabaka.
In 30 verses the poet describes the goddess of having all the qualities.The goddess shines as the Vidarbhi style of composition possessing the ten qualities such as audarya etc. Similarly she is verily the dramatic composition, logic, grammar, liturgy texts etc. She is the herb, potent medicinal globules, the Parijata etc. he doubts if she is the Hamsa, Maina or the jewel box.
24. atha Nirveda stabaka.
In 12 verses the poet describes his mental anguish and prays to the goddess to pluck all his grief.
25. Atha Phala stabaka.
In 18 verses the poet describes the benefit of composing this poem. he compares his hymn to the wish yielding tree Kalpa vriksham. In the concluding verse he explains the specialities of his hymn.
All the slokas are easy reading and beautiful to recite.
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