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July - Sept 2024

Anugraha Bhashanam – Sri Kamakshi Ambal darshan of Pujyasri Jagadguru Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamiji on Full moon, Pournami day – 23rd May 2024

कामारिकामां कमलासनस्थां काम्यप्रदां कङ्कणभूषहस्ताम्  ।
काञ्चीनिवासां कनकप्रभासां कामाक्षिदेवीं कलयामि चित्ते ॥

kāmārikāmāṃ kamalāsanasthāṃ kāmyapradāṃ kaṅkaṇabhūṣahastāṃ |

kāñcīnivāsāṃ kanakaprabhāsāṃ kāmākṣidevīṃ kalayāmi citte ||

कामारिकामां – kāmārikāmāṃ – One who is the beloved of Shiva, the enemy of Manmatha.

कमलासनस्थां – kamalāsanasthāṃ – One who is seated on a lotus flower. Further, Ambal’s lotus feet have a mark of the lotus symbol imprinted naturally.

काम्यप्रदां – kāmyapradāṃ – The meaning of Devi’s name Kamakshi is given in ललितोपाख्यानम् lalitopākhyānam. The three syllables ‘ka’, ‘ma’, ‘kshi’ denote the bestower of all kinds of auspiciousness.

कामाक्षीहि त्रयो वर्णाः सर्वमङ्गलहेतवः। kāmākṣihi trayovarṇāhā sarva maṅgala hetavaha|

सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

sarvamaṃgala māṃgalye śive sarvārthasādhike |

śaraṇye tryambake gaurī nārāyaṇi namostu te||

When we chant the above shloka, it inherently denotes Devi Kamakshi.

कामाक्षीहि त्रयो वर्णाः सर्वमङ्गलहेतवः।

kāmākṣihi trayovarṇāhā sarva maṅgala hetavaha,

कामारिकामां कमलासनस्थां काम्यप्रदां

kāmārikāmāṃ kamalāsanasthāṃ kāmyapradāṃ,

कामाक्षी कामदायिनी kāmākṣī kāmadāyinī,

सुधासागरमध्यस्था कामाक्षी कामदायिनी

sudhāsāgara-madhyasthā kāmākṣī kāmadāyinī,

ड्याणपीठ-निलया बिन्दु-मण्डलवासिनी

oḍyāṇapīṭha-nilayā bindu-maṇḍalavāsinī;

सुधासागर-मध्यस्था – sudhāsāgara-madhyasthā

There are different types of ocean such as salty ocean, ocean filled with milk and so on. When we receive even a drop of nectar, it is considered a great blessing. However, Devi Kamakshi is seated in the midst of an ocean that is completely filled with nectar. Therefore,

sudhāsāgara madhyasthā kāmākṣī.

कामाक्षी कामदायिनी- kāmākṣī kāmadāyinī – She is the one who fulfills devotees’ desires that are justified, dharmic and nonaggressive.

कङ्कणभूषहस्ताम् – kaṅkaṇabhūṣahastāṃ – There are various types of accessories and adornments that are used. Ambal has a bangle around her hand for the fulfillment of a resolve which signifies firmness, truthfulness, harmony and inner virtue. When we show commitment to Bhagavan, we will be freed from any materialistic desires that bind us. Therefore, this bangle acts as an ornament, adorning our Devi.

उमालिङ्गन संक्रान्त कुच कङ्कण मुद्रितम् |

लिङ्गं एकम्रानाथस्य सैकतं समुपास्महे||

umāliṅgana saṅkrānta kuca kaṅkaṇa mudritam |

liṅgam ekāmra nāthasya saikatam samupāsmahe||

Therefore, Devi Kamakshi who is the consort of Lord Ekamranatha, appears with this ornament, bangle, the impression of which is visible in Umalinganamurthi.

कमलासनस्थां – kāñcīnivāsāṃ – There are two meanings generally associated with the word Kanchi. One who resides in the placekshetra called Kanchi is the first meaning. There are 51 śakti pīṭhas in which Ambal resides. In Kamakhya, Ambal’s yoni pīṭam is present. Likewise, she has her śakti pīṭam as Vindhyavasini near Kashi Prayag and in our neighboring nation around Sindhu river. Ganga is also known as Padma and she appears as Dhakeswari in Ganga riverbank in another neighbouring country. Ambal’s different body parts form these śakti pīṭhas spread across our nation traditionally. In that perspective, Kanchi also means waist belt in sanskrit. ओड्याणपीठ-निलया Ambal resides in her waist belt Pitham and blesses everyone.

कनकप्रभासां – kanakaprabhāsāṃ – The word kanakam denotes purity, tejas of a high order. We chant नमो हिरण्यबाहवे namo hiraṇya bāhave, हिरण्यरूपाय हिरण्यपतये hiraṇyarūpāya hiraṇyapataye, आभरणाः सर्व एव सुवर्णः ābharanahā sarva eva suvarṇaḥ. This means that the Lord’s ornaments are all made of gold. We sing in praise of Lord Rama in the song kaṇakamaya sevā. Gold shines with brilliance and splendor which represents growth, eternal purity, capital wealth . आम्रतरु मूलवसतेः āmrtaru mūlavasateḥ – Shiva resides beneath a mango tree. In Mūkapañcasati, the author refers to Devi Kamakshi as Muladhanam, capital wealth of Parameshwara..

कामाक्षिदेवीं कलयामि चित्ते – kāmākṣidevīṃ kalayāmi citte – We can meditate upon different forms of Devi such as in standing posture and as standing on one leg and doing tapas. Ambal can be imagined as ‘Bilakasha’, the space in the cave and meditated as in सचामर रमावाणी सव्य दक्षिण सेविता sacāmara ramāvāṇī savya dakṣiṇa sevitā. We can also meditate upon her golden form and as the mūla sthāna form. Devi is the mother of this universe – जय जय जगदम्ब शिवे jaya jaya jagadamba śive. She also appears as the daughter of Parvataraja – जय जय कामाक्षी जय जयाद्री सुते jaya jaya kāmākṣī jaya jayādri sute.

Ambal appears on the left side of Lord Ekamranatha – जय जय महेश दयिते jaya jaya maheśa dayite. जय जय चित् गगन कौमुदीधारे jaya jaya cit gagana kaumudīdhāre. There is a reference in Abirami Andhadhi that when the earstud of Devi was thrown into space, Ambal appeared as full moon. The good thoughts, pure consciousness are compared to moonlight that illuminates the universe. Like water flowing from a natural stream, Ambal is showering her blessings on all of us.

The Vasanta mandap of Kamakshi temple holds great sculptures from Ramayana including King Dasharatha praying, his three pregnant wives Kousalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi, killing of Ravana and Lord Anjaneya seated on a high seat of his long tail curled across etc. There is also a sculpture that shows ‘Gods of eight directions’  अष्टदिक्पालकाः and also our Acharyal and many more sculptures. Therefore, this Vasant mandap holds great significance and this function which is celebrated during spring can be considered as a mini Brahmotsavam, which is the forerunner to the Brahmotsavam celebrated in Magha month. This function is celebrated every year and this year, it has been arranged in a grand manner with team effort. Our temples are symbols of Sanatana Hindu Dharma that brings together everyone and they must flourish in a good manner. Everyone including rich, poor, learned, illiterate, ambitious, great sages come to Ambal’s feet. Sage Durvasa, Adi Shankaracharya have also performed meditation upon Devi and Puja here.

ज्ञानिनामपि चेतांसि देवी भगवती हि सा |

बलादाकृष्य मोहाय महामाया प्रयच्छति ||

jñānināmapi cetāṃsi devi bhagava hi sā |

balādākṛṣya mohāya mahāmāyā prayacchati || 

Ambal worship is done right from great sages to common man and this place is established as a seat of love, dedication and devotion. Ambal has been showering her blessings for aeons from here. This utsav is taking place in this temple which has four temple towers. Long back, Kanchi Maha Periyava had arranged Jata parayanam through Shri. Muthuswamy Iyer in various temples that have four towers and it happened in Vriddhachalam, Vedaranyam, Vilambal, Thiruvannamalai, Madurai and Kanchipuram. Rishi tower, Golden tower are present here among others. There is an old saying, “Sight of the temple tower fetches crores of religious merit.” Ādi Śank̇arācar̄ya has consecrated Shri Chakra here. Celebrating such utsav in such a sacred kshetra stands for good spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is necessary to eradicate regression. We should ensure that idleness does not occur in our spiritual journey. We must work towards the prosperity of our temples. To maintain this, we must perform dhūpa dīpa naivedyam to deity. Pooja has to be performed on a daily basis and we must take good care of the existing temples. This can be done in different ways. One such way is performing abhiśekam (ablution), arcanā (puja), alaṅkāram (decoration), naivedyam (offerings) and mantra puṣhpam – flowers offered by chanting mantras. We might use various flowers for decorating deities but flowers used for pooja need to be chosen meticulously – that comply with our āgama, that hold good fragrance and those adhering to Vedas. We need to chant mantras from Vedas and offer these mantra puṣpam.

Secondly, these mantras need to be recited in the right meter as specified for Vedas such as ‘Udatta’, ‘Anudatta’, ‘Svarita’. When we offer the right Naivedya offerings,  decoration and follow the right regulations, Ambal bestows on the devotees religious merit and the four Purusharthas – dharma, wealth, pleasure and Liberation. Therefore, people should indulge in improving and maintaining our temples in order to attain mental grit and satisfaction. It is not enough if they just make the mental resolve but should implement actions to maintain our temples. Our temples inculcate an unwavering mind, mental grit, mental wellness and generosity. Mental purity is achieved through temples. Therefore, we need to preserve these temples and Vedic mantras in a good manner. We must pass on these values to the next generations. Our state’s and nation’s pride is dependent on spirituality, moral values and cultural traditions. We are in the 75th year of independence and in this moment, we must ensure to preserve temples with proper infrastructure that in turn induce good thoughts and integrity among us. Likewise, we must take good care of temple priests who act as a bridge between devotees and deities to convey devotees’ prayers to the deity. We do upāsanā to Agni devatā who conveys our prayers to Bhagavan. We offer oblations along with other offerings during agni upāsanā.

अग्निं दूतं वृणीमहे होतारं विश्व वेदसं | अस्य यज्ञस्य सुक्रतुम् |

agnim dūtam vruṇīmahe hotāram viśva vedasam| asya yañasya sukratum|

Similar to our communication technology, we have temples that act as a messenger to convey our prayers to devatā.

देवान भावयतानेन दे देवा भावयन्तु वः|

परस्परं भवयन्त: श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ||

devān bhāvayatānena de devā bhāvayantu vaḥ|

parasparam bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha||

This develops a good relationship between the devotee and devatā. This would also improve the standards of temple priests, offerings, decorations, musical concerts, temple streets such as mada street, sannidhi street, rajaveedhi street. We must make efforts to renovate our temples with special devotion. Our Periyava has taken special care of the temples and made huge contributions. Currently, celebrations like these are happening in prominent temples only. Similarly, we need to carry out such renovation tasks in all the temples for our lineage to prosper. Let us maintain these aspects of temples properly including temple tanks, temple sacred trees (sthala vrukṣam) and let us not consider temples as mere architecture but as a bridge & moral support system to all of us. Here, in Kamakshi temple, manaśa pūjāis performed. Whatever grandeur is imagined in that Puja is all actually to be seen here in the special arrangements made.

In order to attain self-satisfaction, we have involved ourselves in such divine activities like tying pearls to Devi during kalpa utsavam. It should grow in strength. When we perform these good deeds for temples, our distress and worries are resolved, we attain happiness and contentment. Therefore, we must perform pooja and maintain our temples like Tirupati and conduct discourses in various places to spread our culture. We have volunteers who do discourses in various places to spread our dharmic culture. We must have such devotees in every centre for giving discourses and propagate dharma. Periyava performed Kumbhabhishekam at Kamakshi Amman temple in 1944, 1976 and again on May 29th, 1983 (mūlā star, tṛtiya). Again, during the month of Feb 2017, we all fondly remember how Pudhu Periyava organized everything and performed Kumbhabhishekam with much grandeur. Even today, all of us cherish those divine moments. Musical concerts and other art programmes are being conducted regularly. Offerings are made to Ambal as per  pañcapakṣa paramānnam. As per Lalita Sahasranamam, varieties of offerings are made to Ambal हरिद्रान्नैकरसिका haridrānnaikarasikā , दध्यन्नासक्तहृदया dadhyannāsaktahṛdayā, सर्वौदनप्रीतचित्ता sarvaudanaprītacittā, स्वस्थास्वभावमधुरा svasthāsvabhāvamadhurā.

Being good to please others is one thing. When we praise or honor others, they become pleased. But here Ambal’s nature by itself is happier than the happiest and her thoughts are sweeter than the sweetest. For that kind of Ambal, five varieties of savories, rice are offered and this is known as alaṅkāra naivedyam. After the consecration ceremony of 1976, Periyava elaborated and brought in this kind of worship and offerings which have been followed since then. Ambal is decorated in different beautiful ways in the Gayatri mandap of the temple. We must do this kind of worship in temples across Tamil Nadu and throughout our nation to please Ambal and get her divine blessings

कामाक्षीहि त्रयोवर्णाः सर्व मङ्गल हेतवः। kāmākṣihi trayovarṇāhā sarva maṅgala hetavaha,

For attaining all auspiciousness with spiritual wellbeing, वसन्तवद् लोकहिताय चरन्तम् vasantāvad loka hitaya carantam, similar to how the spring season brings prosperity to the world, such festivals should be increasingly performed for universal welfare. In Tirupati, lighting of thousand lamps (sahasra dīpālaṅkāra) is being done in a grand manner which is pleasing to witness. Likewise, let us continue celebrating this vasanta utsav every year and keep praying to Ambal for her blessings

அழகான காஞ்சியில் புகழாக வாழ்ந்திடும் அன்னை காமாக்ஷி உமையே

‘Oh Mother Kamakshi! You’re the one who resides with fame in magnificent Kanchi’.

Hara Hara Shankara! Jaya Jaya Shankara!

Translated: Padma Kaushik