Thursday, March 22, 2012

all is well that ends well

क्ळेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवतां विधत्ते ।।

when incessant hard toil is rewarded by matching restults, it gives impetus to futher attempts.

this is a simple but very true statement  by Kalidasa. 
This remark appears  in Kumarasambhavam. 
 The Divine mother is born as Parvathi and she is yearning for reunion with her Lord Shiva. 
 With this desire in mind, she set out to the forests in the valleys of Himalaya and set up a hermitage and started doing penance. 
 A vibrant, beautiful and affluent girl blessed with all virtues and wealth and having the whole world offered to her as if in a platter for mere enjoyment, gave up all the pleasures of the world just to attain the company of her Lord. 
 It is remarked by Kalidasa in the words of the Sakhi of Parvathi... 
" This girl. having attained marriageble age, has rejected all the affluent suitors starting from the Lord of Gods, Indra and the masters of the directins, but is intent on having Pinakapani the Shiva as her husband, in spite of realizing that the Lord has simply annihilated the lord of love, Kamadeva..
इयं महेन्द्रप्रभृतीनधिश्रियः चतुर्दिगीशानवमत्य मानिनी
अरूपहार्यं मदनस्य निग्रहात् पिनाकपाणिं पतिमाप्तुमिच्छति॥
iyaṁ mahendraprabhṛtīnadhiśriyaḥ caturdigīśānavamatya māninī
arūpahāryaṁ madanasya nigrahāt pinākapāṇiṁ patimāptumicchati||

Shiva had reached the hermitage of Parvathi to test her and receive her (the Lord is disguised as a young initiate) and Parvathi's friend tells Him in desperation.
" the saplings which were planted by this girl as souvenirs of the start of her penances have all borne fruit, but the plant of this girl's desire to attain the company of Shiva does not appear to have even given out little sprouts.. and the chariot of imagination of her communion with the Lord is a non-starter "

द्रुमेषु सख्या कृतजन्मसु स्वयं फलम् तपः साक्षिषु दृष्टमेष्वपि
न च प्ररोहाभिमुखोऽपि दृश्यते मनोरथोऽस्याः शशिमौलिसंश्रयः॥
drumeṣu sakhyā kṛtajanmasu svayaṁ phalam tapaḥ sākṣiṣu dṛṣṭameṣvapi
na ca prarohābhimukho'pi dṛśyate manoratho'syāḥ śaśimaulisaṁśrayaḥ||

The Lord was listening to all this with keen interest and was blissfully happy, but he pretended as if the girl was doing the most foolish thing by opting for Shiva. 
 He tells that girl that she is so rich and beautiful and Shiva is a wandering mendicant clad in the bark of an elephant, wearing matted hair and snakes as ornaments and his chariot was an old wizened bull.  
He adds that the whole world would laugh at her if she committed the blunder of accepting of all the people, Shiva as the husband . 

Parvathi is enraged. She is hurt by the sarcasm and she feels that not only one who tells ill of the great people but also one who happens to hear of it, becomes a sinner.

न केवलम् यो महतोऽपभाषते शृणोति तस्मादपि यः स पापभाक्
na kevalam yo mahato'pabhāṣate śṛṇoti tasmādapi yaḥ sa pāpabhāk

Then in impossible rage, the young girl simply tells that she is going to withdraw from the presence of the foulmouthed youth.. (shiva in disguise)
She started going away in haste, and the bark of trees which covered her bosom just fell away and even without caring for it she tries to make a quick retreat.
 But enough was enough. Thinks Shiva 

  The lord with the bull as insignia in his flagstaff could not persist with the playful activities.
 He simply assumed his Regal form and caught Parvathi by her Hand.
इतो गमिष्याम्यथवेदि वादिनी चचाल बाला स्तनभिन्नवल्कला
स्वरूपमास्थाय च तां कृतस्मितः समाललम्भे वृषराजकेतनः
ito gamiṣyāmyathavedi vādinī cacāla bālā stanabhinnavalkalāa
svarūpamāsthāya ca tāṁ kṛtasmitaḥ samālalambhe vṛṣarājaketanaḥ


He says, 
"from today onwards, I am your slave, as you have purchased me though your sincere penance.. 
Then, and at that point itself, all the tiredness and physical debilities she had imposed upon herself left her and she was jubilant and was in the seventh heaven of happiness. 
 When even unbearable hard work  culminates in its expected result, the body and mind gets rejuvenated and one  forgets all the past tiredness. 

अद्यप्रभृत्यवनताङ्गि तवास्मि दासः क्रीतस्तपोभिरिति वादिनि चन्द्रमौलौ
अह्नाय सा निय्मजं क्ळममुत्ससर्ग क्ळेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवताम् विधत्ते॥
adyaprabhṛtyavanatāṅgi tavāsmi dāsaḥ krītastapobhiriti vādini candramaulau
ahnāya sā niymajaṁ kḻamamutsasarga kḻeśaḥ phalena hi punarnavatām vidhatte||

All is well that ends well.


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