Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

Page 27

male snake was born as Dharnendra and the female snake as Padmavati, the famous goddess of the Jains.
(The Uvasaggaharam Stotra mentions both Pärshvanätha and his attendant God, Pärshva, both have the same name.
5.6 Detailed Interpretation of Each of the Verses:
Uvasaggaharam Päsam Päsam vandämi kammaghana mukkam Vishhar vishninnäsam, mangal-kallän ävasam (1)
The first verse worships Pärshvanätha. The poet praises Him by saying that I bow down (vandämi) to Pärshva (Päsam). Here the poet has really created a riddle by saying the word Päsam twice. The word Päsam has three meanings: Päsam could be something, which is nearer to oneself, and it could mean the attendant god (yaksha) who is also called Pärshva. In addition, the word Päsam is used to denote the Tirthankara Pärshvanätha. One manuscript states that the word Päsam can also be seen as the derivation of Sanskrit word Pashya meaning 'to see11
That means the first part of the above verse, which is Uvasaggaharam Päsam Päsam vandämi can be translated in three different ways.
I bow down to Pärshvanätha (Päsam) who has Pärshva as His attendant God (Päsam) who is capable of removing obstacles. Here this means when the word Päsam appears the first time it is for the attendant God, Pärshva, and when it appears for the second time it is for the Tirthankara Pärshvanätha.
Second interpretation would be:
I bow down to the one who has the obstacle remover Lord Pärshvanatha (Päsam) near (päsam) Him.
Third interpretation: I bow down to the Pärshvanätha (Päsam) who is removing obstacles and seeing (pashya päsam) everything. (here there is no word suggesting 'everything').
This way there are three different interpretations of the first part of the first line. The first interpretation is the most favoured one and it also signifies the devotional aspect of the poem because the word Päsam is used for Pärshvanätha, the Tirthankara. This way the devotee recites Pärshvanätha's name as well.
The second part of the first line consists the phrase: kamma-ghana-mukkam. Here again, this phrase can be interpreted in two different ways. Kamma-ghana-mukkam is an adjective used for the Tirthankara Pärshvanätha. Kamma-ghana-mukkam is made up of three words kamma meaning Karma, ghana has three meanings - clouds (1), intense and thick (2), and blacksmith's anvil (3). The word mukkam means freedom. This way the whole adjective kamma-ghana-mukkam would mean that Pärshvanätha is:
Kim vishishtam Parshvam? Pashyam, pashyati kalatray, vartaman vastusamuhaham iti pashyah tam pashyam - (in Sapta Smarana Stava by Samaysundar Gani, Jindatta Suri Gyan Bhandar 1942)
27