Line by Line summarized meaning of the sanskrit verses in Shivananda Lahari discourse
Day 10 – August 7 – verse 18 and 19
Verse 18
In this stanza, Bhagavad pādacharya seeks the Lord’s complete protection. He declares that Lord Shiva is the only one who can bless the being with parama phala and due to this reason Indra and other Devatas rush to Him and serve Him.
Twameko lokānām parama phalado divya padavīm,
Vahantha stwanmulām punarapi bajanthe hari mukhāh,
Kiyadwa dākshinyam tawa shiva madāśā ca kiyathī,
Kadā vā mad rakshām vahasi karunā poorita drishā.
Twam eko lokānām parama phaladah – You are the only one in the entire creation (Loka) who can shower the supreme result (parama phala) i.e. mukti and supreme knowledge.
Divya padavīm vahanthas twan mulām punarapi bajanthe hari mukhāh – Devatas, who have attained the exalted levels (divya padavīm), under the leadership of Indra (Hari mukha) visit Your holy abode Kailasa (vahantas) and seek shelter at Your lotus feet (tvan mūlam) time and again (punarapi).
This is because the happiness enjoyed in Kailasa far exceeds the happiness of heaven. Hari mukha refers to Indra. Indra and other Devatas were also humans at one point of time. They performed limitless meritorious good deeds, yagnas and yaagas and attained the position of Devatas (divya padavīm) in heaven. We also learn about this from the story of Nahusha. Man can reach these levels through the right Sadhana.
Kiyadwa dākshinyam tawa shiva madhāśa ca kiyatī – What can be said about your compassion (dākshinyam), O Lord Shiva? It stands at par with my unlimited desires (mat+āśa).
I have endless desires and your compassion is at par with these endless desires of mine. You are fulfilling all my desires, due to this limitless compassion of yours.
Kadā vaa mad rakshām vahasi karunā pooritha drishā – When will you take over (vahasi) my responsibility O Lord? When will you give me Your protection and shower that compassionate look upon me?
Showering a compassionate look – karuna pūrita drśa – means filling the person with complete Jnana and bliss. It means taking over the responsibility of spiritual progress.
O Lord, Indra and other Devatas, who enjoy all the luxuries of heaven, also seek shelter at your lotus feet. This is because where You exist, everything exists- such is the greatness of my Lord Shiva. O Lord, you who are sought after by the Devatas themselves, is blessing me, the ordinary person, with darshan. What more can I say about your compassion? But look at me, I am seeking far more than just your darshan. My desire is too vast. I am seeking your complete shelter. Please O Lord, I am eagerly waiting for the time when You will take me completely under Your umbrella. You have so far been so compassionate that you have been fulfilling all my desires. Fulfill this desire too, although I may not have the worthiness for it.
Inner meaning – bhavana: O Lord I do not think that I have done that much punya to be blessed with your darshan. It is not my punya but your greatness that you bless me with your divine vision. With this trivial punya that I have with me, I am seeking the ultimate desire of attaining jnana. You are the only one in the entire creation who blesses all the beings in all the lokas with the Parama phala i.e. liberation or attaining paramapada.
Harih Om tat sat means – Hari has many meanings. One of it means that He is the force who controls the creation, sustenance and absorption activities. Om consists of A, U, M – the 3 lokas. O Lord hari, He who worships You with this mantra OM, will be rewarded with the supreme truth (Sat).
Shiva lives in the cave of the heart. Any sound that enters the cave reflects back. So what should we say when we stand at the entrance of Shiva’s cave? “I am Yours, I belong to You”. What happens then? The same sound gets reflected back as Shiva’s answer.
Our Shastras state –
Na āradhito harih samyak aishwaryādi prado bhavet āradhito Harih samyak apavargah prado bhavēt –
When the person does not worship (āradhita) Shiva properly (samyak) i.e. when He offers worship just as per his limited ability and understanding, then Shiva rewards him with prosperity. When a person offers proper worship to Shiva i.e. when the person offers the worship (karma) with the complete understanding (jnana) about the Lord, His tattva, the essence of puja etc., He then rewards the person with liberation (apavarga) itself!
Na kinchit sādhavō dhīrāh bhaktyā ēkāntino mama vānchyantapi maya dattam kaivalya punar bhavam – True sadhakas and great people do not desire any returns/ reward for the worship done by them. They do not even desire liberation (Kaivalyam) when the Lord asks him to seek any boon. At last, the Lord decides to give Himself away to the sadhaka.
Verse 19
In this verse Bhagavad padacharya asks for the Lord’s protection even though he is filled with durāśa and forgetting the Lord, he has served unworthy persons hoping that his desires be fulfilled.
Dhuraśā bhūyishte dhuradhipa gruhadwāra ghatake,
Durante samsāre durita-nilaye dukha janake,
Madāyāsam kin na vyapanayasi kasyōpa krithaye,
Vadeyam preethischeth tawa kritārthah khalu vayam.
Dhurasā bhūyishthe – In this life, which is filled with bad desires (dussvartha, durāśa).
Nissvartha, Svartha and Dussvartha are the three terms to be understood. Svartha refers to selfishness wherein a person desires that he, his family or may be his relatives should all do well. When a person is filled with dus-svartha, he will seek that only his family/ himself should prosper while the rest of the world should suffer. The attitude of such a person will be ‘it does not matter if I suffer/ be harmed, but the world/ society should necessarily suffer or should be destroyed’. Such dus-svartha is terrible mental state.
Dhuradhipa gruhadwāra ghatake – I behave like a dog waiting at the entrance of the house of unworthy/evil people.
With the sole aim of fulfilling his desires/ goals (durāsa), the person falls at the feet of all those whose feet should not be touched (unworthy). Such people do not have any self-respect.
Durante samsāre – as a result this samsara of mine has a pitiable ending (duranta).
The person gets deeply struck in this samsara because of it. Durantam does not refer to untimely or accidental death. It means getting badly struck in samsara, this cycle of births and deaths.
Durita nilaye dukha janake – and it becomes a storehouse of sins (durita nilaya) and the cause of all sorrows (dukha janake).
Madāyasam kin na vyapanayasi – Why are you not relieving me from these sufferings (āyāsa)/ burdens, O Lord?
I admit that I have forgotten you and held the feet of the unworthy and got entangled in this whirlpool of samsara. But yet, won’t you help me?
Kasyōpa krithaye – Is it to benefit Brahma (that you are not helping me)?
Kasya means Brahma. ‘Ka’ stands for Brahma.
Maybe Brahma prayed to you for protection. He fixes the destiny of the beings (brahma lipi) and if you go and wipe it then Brahma’s job gets nullified. So to help Him, you are not helping me now. I have understood.
Vadeyam preethischeth tawa Shiva – or is this due to your love and affection for Brahma, tell me O Shiva?
By using the term Shiva, Bhagavad pādacharya reminds us that He is the Lord of all auspiciousness. He will only shower this auspiciousness on us.
Kritārtha khalu vayam – If so, I know I will also be blessed with krtātha (fulfillment).
Krthartha means ‘having attained what is to be attained’.
If Shiva has this amount of love for his devotee Brahma, then there no cause of worry for other devotees like me. If He can go to this extent to help Brahma, He will also go to any extent to help me and will ultimately bless me with auspiciousness. This is the bhavana behind this prayer.
Through this verse, Bhagavad pādācharya concludes that everything that Shiva does for us is for our own good. Whether He decides to erase our destiny or not, it is for our welfare. This is the siddhanta of His upadesha.