Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

Page 70

Verse No. 22 (4) The Chämara-Whisk
O Lord! The clusters of the sacred celestial whisks (Chämaras) which first bend very low (as if they bow down to you) and then rise up, proclaim that those pure hearted persons who bow to this master of the sages are sure to reach the highest grade.
Comments: Here one must really imagine this situation. The Tirthankara is seated in the samovasarana. Two attendants are gently fanning Him with whisks. They lower the whisks and then lift gently in a rhythmic motion. See how the poet has perceived this phenomenon.
Verse No. 30 of the Bhaktämara Stotra says: "O Lord! When the whisks (Chämaras), which are as white as the flowers of kunda, are gently fanned either side of your handsome and golden body; (and when it happens) your body looks like the Meru (mountain) from the peaks of which flows the streams of pure water white as the fresh moon."
It can be noted here that both the Kalyan Mandir and the Bhaktämara have described many divine attributes of the Tirthankara, but in both cases poets have used their own style of comparison and making comparisons with different phenomena. In the case of the Bhaktämara Stotra, whilst describing this attribute, the poet Mäntunga says that when white Chämaras are being used to fan the Tirthankara rhythmically it looks like a stream of water flowing gently from the top of a mountain. In this stotra, Siddhasena Diwakar has made a different type of comparison. Those who humbly bow down are sure to rise up in the presence of the Tirthankara as Chamaras do.
Verse No. 23
(5) The Throne (Simhasana)
The noble people (bhavyas) here ardently look at you who is dark, whose speech is grave and who is seated on a glittering golden lion throne studded with jewels, as is the case with the peacocks who eagerly look at the dark, thundering, and fresh cloud which has risen to the summit of the golden mountain.
Comments: It is said that the Tirthankara Pärshvanätha had a dark complexion. Pärshvanatha's idols are usually made from the dark coloured marble. Here the poet compares the beauty of shining dark colour of Pärshvanätha who is seated on a throne to the dark clouds on the peak of a mountain.
Mäntungächärya in the Bhaktämara Stotra describes this phenomenon in a different style: "When seated on a lion throne with multifaceted jewels, your bright and golden body, shines like the disc of the sun radiating under the sky, seated on the summit of the eastern mountain.
The Bhaktamara has been composed in praise of the Tirthankara Rishabhadeva whose complexion was golden, and therefore the poet has compared his shining beauty to that of the rising sun with golden colours radiating in the eastern sky.
Verse No. 24 (6) Divine Halo:
The Ashoka tree seems to have lost its colour by the shining dark halo which surrounds you and which is spreading above. This way O passionless one! Who would not loose his colours (attachment in worldly matters) by the influence of your mere presence?
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