Sloka, is the most common Sanskrit meter and is a descendant of the older Vedic gayatri
The sloka, meaning ‘song’, although metric, is not considered poetic.
It functions more as the equivalent to Western prose with lines and meter and
is often used in narratives or epics.
The defining features of the sloka are:
stanzaic, written in any number of couplets made up of 2 hemistiches.
The hemistiches can be broken into 4 lines or padas creating quatrains,4 lines or padas
syllabic, either 2 lines of 16 syllables each or 4 hemistiches of 8 syllables each.
metric, alternate hemistiches of trochaic and iambic patterns.
The following verses are my own work based on the great slokha ‘Lalitha Sahasranamam’
where the meaningful thousand names of Adi Para Sakthi(primordial cosmic Energy)
are narrated.These verses are not lireral or exact translation of the slokha.But I refered to
the translation of the great slokha by Mr.P. R. Ramachander
(Please read the previous parts of this series before reading this)
142 Thyself the supreme Mind thee who’s
Ever in one with thy mind, so’s
Manomayi.Who’s the spouse of
Shiva who has sky above Him
As His matted locks, thee’s so called
Vyoma kesi.In thy highest
Celestial Charriot, thee
Who’s seated is so well known as
Vimanastha.Vajrayudha
A war weapon like thunderbolt
Thee who wields it in the form of
Indrani, so’s called Vajrini
Who’s the deity of Vamakas
Of Kaula path thee is so called
Vamakeshwaree.Who’s fond of
‘Panchayagna’sacrifices
So’s thee Pancha yagna priya
Brama, Vishnu, Rudra, Eshwar
And Sadashiva who are dead
Without thy power and thee who
Controls them seated on their five
couches, so is thee Pancha pretha
-manchadhi sayini.How great’s
Thee Mother! to thee namaste
Namaste Mother namaste
Divine Mother, unto thy feet
This tiny droplet surrenders
Rise my size within me, I watch
143 Thee who’s the fifth of five brahmas
By name Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra
Sadasiva and thee the spouse
Of Shiva, so’s calledPanchami
Thee who rules the five elements
Is so called Pancha bhoothesi
Who’s worshipped with offerings of
Dhoopa, dheepa, gandha, pushpa
And neivedya is so known as
Pancha sankhyopacharini
Thee who’s eternal is so called
Saswathi.Who’se providential
Sovereingty is eternal, so’s
Saswathaiswarya.Who bestows
Happiness on Her devotees
Thee is so known as Sarmadha
Thee who charms thy consort so’s called
Sambhu mohini.Thee the Earth
Our Mother, is so called Dhara
Thee the daughter of Himavan
The king of mountains is so called
Dharasutha.Thee who’s wealthy
Wholesomely is so called Dhanya
To such great Mother, namaste
Namaste Mother namaste
Divine Mother, unto thy feet
This tiny droplet surrenders
Rise my size within me, I watch
144 Thee who’s righteous, thee thyself who’s
Righteousness, Who adores dharma
Who Herself is dharma, so’s called
Dharmini.Thee who helps dharma
Flourish on earth is so known as
Dharma vardhini.Mother thee
The supreme Power, the supreme Force
Who’s the Creatrix of all, who’s
The Empress of all worlds, the space
And all five elements, yet thee’s
Beyond these all, so is thee called
Lokatheetha. Such’s thy greatness
Ho ho, divine our sweet Mother
Thou art beautiful the bestest
Thou art our brave queen the bestest
Thou art our Wisdom the bestest
Thou art our Strength sole the bestest
The Support for mind the bestest
The Support for life the bestest
Thou art all Force the mightiest
So to thee Mother, namaste
The Power of all, namaste
The causer of all, namaste
Creatrix of all, namaste
Namaste Mother namaste
Divine Mother, unto thy feet
This tiny droplet surrenders
Rise my size within me, I watch
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Note: Translation by Mr.P.R Ramachandar
Naamaas941-960
* 941 * Manomayi – She who is one with mind
* 942 * Vyoma kesi – She who is the wife of Shiva who has sky as his hair
* 943 * Vimanastha – She who is at the top
* 944 * Vajrini – She who has indra’s wife as a part
* 945 * Vamakeshwaree – She who is goddess of the people who follow the left path
* 946 * Pancha yagna priya – She who likes the five sacrifices
* 947 * Pancha pretha manchadhi sayini – She who sleeps on the cot made of five corpses
* 948 * Panchami – She who is the consort of Sadshiva -the fifth of the pancha brahmas
* 949 * Pancha bhoothesi – “She who is the chief of Pancha bhoothas viz earth, sky, fire, air. And water”
* 950 * Pancha sankhyopacharini – “She who is to be worshipped by five methods of Gandha(sandal wood) ,
Pushpa(flower) , Dhoopa(incense) , dheepa(light) , Naivedya(offering)”
* 951 * Saswathi – She who is permanent
* 952 * Saswathaiswarya – She who gives perennial wealth
* 953 * Sarmadha – She who gives pleasure
* 954 * Sambhu mohini – She who bewitches Lord Shiva
* 955 * Dhara – She who carries (beings like earth)
* 956 * Dharasutha – She who is the daughter of the mountain
* 957 * Dhanya – She who has all sort of wealth
* 958 * Dharmini – She who likes dharma
* 959 * Dharma vardhini – She who makes dharma grow
* 960 * Loka theetha – She who is beyond the world
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