Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

Page 67

Verse No. 5 O Lord, I, though, dull-witted, have started to sing a song for you who is the mine of innumerable, resplendent virtues. (For) does not even a child describe according to its own intellect the vastness of the ocean by stretching its arms?
Verse No. 6 O Lord, whence can it be within my scope to describe your merits, when even the masterly saints (yogis) fail to do so? Therefore, this attempt of mine is a thoughtless act. My attempt at reciting this stotra is like the chirping of birds, which seems imperfect, but the birds manage to communicate with their own kind.
Verse No. 7 O Jina, let alone your hymn which possesses sublime powers, your name is enough to save the (living beings of the) three worlds from this worldly existence. Even the cool breeze from a lake full of lotuses, delights travellers tormented by the immense heat (of the sun).
Verse No. 8 O Lord, when you are enshrined in the heart by a living being, his firm fetters of karma, however tight they may be, become certainly loose within a moment like the serpent-bands of a sandal tree, loosen immediately when a wild peacock arrives at its centre.
Verse No. 9 O Lord! of the Jinas. No sooner you are merely seen by persons, then they are indeed spontaneously released from hundreds of horrible adversities, like the animals who are released from the thieves when they (thieves) see the mere sight of (1) the sun resplendent with lustre, or (2) the king or (3) the brave cowherd rushing to fight them off.
Comments: It is noteworthy that the stotra does not mention above three - i.e. the sun, the king or the brave cowherd, separately but just gives one simple word 'go-swamin". This word is the combination of two words 'go' and 'swamin' meaning the master of the 'go'. In the Sanskrit language there are three meanings of the word 'go': rays (of the sun), therefore go-swamin would mean the sun;
go also means cow, and therefore go-swamin would mean cowherds;
go also means land or the earth and therefore go-swamin would also mean the king.
It is a beauty of the poem that all three meanings here fit perfectly well.
Verse No. 10 O Jina! How can it be that you are considered the saviour of mundane beings when they themselves carry you in their hearts while crossing the sea of existence? Or indeed, that a leather bag (for holding water) floats on water, is certainly the effect of the air inside it?
Comments: What the poet is saying is that although the air is inside the bag it is instrumental in keeping the bag afloat. Likewise even when the Lord is inside the devotee's heart, He is the one who can save the man. When one carries something with him, it becomes difficult to swim but the poet is saying that even though some people carry you they can easily swim and do not sink because of your weight. This is an example of 'contradiction' (virodhäbhäsa), one of the gems of Indian poetry, called alankära.
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