Word Bytes


“वागर्थाविव सम्पृक्तौ वागर्थ प्रतिपत्तये ।
जगतः पितरौ वन्दे पार्वतीपरमेश्वरौ ॥“


The ślōka that I just sang, is a verse from Raghuvamśa, a magnum opus of Mahākavi Kālidāsa. It was sung in the rāga, Śivaśakti. Just like how words and meanings are inseparable, so is Śiva and Śakti. In this episode of Word Bytes, we will see various prayōga-s used by various composers to depict Ambāḷ or Dēvī as a daughter. 


According to our sacred and ancient texts, we have validations that the Saṃskṛtam Syllables were derived from the Ḍamaru Śabda of Lord Śiva. The Vēda-s propound the same. Another important term associated with Vēda-s is Vēdānta. Anta means the end and Vēdānta is the last part of Vēda-s. Talking about Vēdānta, one can never forget Jagadguru Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara Bhagavadpāda. In one of his works, Braḥmagñānāvalimālā, he mentions,

“ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।”

Braḥmam is the Ultimate Truth and Jagat (World) is Māya (Illusion).


But, according to the Śakta Philosophy, there is a slight modification to this truth. It says that the world is not an Illusion, instead, but is manifestation of Śakti, which arises from Śiva. Śiva, here refers to the Braḥmam, the eternal consciousness. Braḥmam’s static energy is denoted as Śiva. The Supreme, by its own deliberation becomes Śakti. Śiva and Śakti are inseparable. According to Kēnōpaniṣad, we have references of Śakti in Vēda-s, describing her as Umā and Haimavatī.


Śakti is the consciousness and Cit Śakti is all-pervasive. Śakti can be worshipped through both practices, Nirguṇa (Formless) and Saguṇa (Form). This practice of worshipping Śakti with a form becomes incomplete without Pārvati.


Pārvati, as everyone knows, is a consort of Lord Śiva. According to Śiva Purāṇa, Braḥma wanted a consort for Lord Śiva and instructed Dakṣa to do Tapas on Ādi Śakti. That was how Satī was born and later, due to ill treatment by Dakṣa, she burnt herself and appeared as Goddess Pārvatī. 


Pārvatī is the daughter of Himavān (Himalayan) Mountain. We have many composers describing mountain with different names like, Adri, Giri, Aga, Himavān, Himagiri, etc.


How did the composers get access to these synonyms?

We have a thesauruses in Sanskrit that is a one-stop solution for synonyms. The most popular one among them is Amarakōśa or Nāmaliṅgānuśāsanam by Amarasiṃha. We find references of words like Adri, Himavān, Acala in Śailavarga in the 2nd Khaṇḍa of Amarakōśa.


According to the Śakta Philosophy, one of the manifestations of Goddess Pārvatī is Goddess Mīnākṣī of Madurai. She is the consort of Lord Sundarēśvara. King Malayadhvaja of Pāṇḍya Dynasty wanted a son and had performed the Putrakāma Yāga and was blessed with Mīnākṣī, whom he raised as a son. We have various composers singing in praise of her with popular names like, Aṅgayarkaṉṉī, Mīnalōcanī, Mīnanētrī, highlighting her fish-like eyes. 


There are also rare names of Goddess Mīnākṣī like Pāṇḍya Sañjāta, Pāṇḍya Bhūpāla Putrī, Pāṇḍya Rāja Tanayā, Pāṇḍya Bālā and Pāṇḍya Kumārī.