Today's snippet is the introductory benediction of a 16th century treatise on muhoorta jyotisha (electional astrology) entitled Muhoorta Chintaamani (मुहूर्तचिन्तामणि). It was penned by Daivajna Raamaachaarya (दैवज्ञरामाचार्य), an authority on said branch of astrology that deals with determining the most auspicious time for the performance of an event (recall the Hindi word muhurat).
गौरीश्रवःकेतकपत्रभङ्गमाकृष्य हस्तेन ददन्मुखाग्रे|विघ्नं मुहूर्ताकलितद्वितीयदन्तप्ररोहो हरतु द्विपास्यः||
Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:
gaurIzravaHketakapatrabhaGgamAkRSya hastena dadanmukhAgre|
vighnaM muhUrtAkalitadvitIyadantapraroho haratu dvipAsyaH||
vighnaM muhUrtAkalitadvitIyadantapraroho haratu dvipAsyaH||
Loose translation: May
the Elephant-faced One dispel obstacles as he rips away the ketaka-petal
that adorns Gauree's ear with his trunk (or hand), puts it in his
mouth, and (in doing so) displays for a while, as it were, the sprouting of a
second tusk.
The above translation probably does not make much sense unless one is familiar with the ketaka flower. So let us take this one step at a time.
Notes:
1. The ketaka (केतक), often feminized as ketakee (केतकी), is a flowering shrub that has been celebrated (or sometimes censured) in Indic literature and mythology through the ages. Called screw pine in English (scientific name: Pandanus fascicularis), the plant is noted for its extremely strong fragrance. The flowers have large white petals, each tapering to a sharp tip and thus resembling the blade of a sword. Our poet-astrologer has compared the tip of a ketaka petal to an elephant-calf's nascent tusk, and the aptness of the comparison can be judged from the image below. I will now attempt to describe in my own words the surreal pen-picture of the divine mother-son duo that the author has painted here:
As Gauree, wearing petals of ketaka as ear-ornaments, takes her hungry elephant-headed infant up in her arms, he tears away one of those petals and starts chewing it; the white forepart of the petal sticking out of the corner of his mouth with the missing tusk (recall Ganesha's name Ekdanta, "one-tusked") gives the impression that the tusk is growing out again (and this illusion lasts only a short time since the petal is soon drawn completely into the oral cavity).This similarity between a ketaka-petal and a tooth/tusk (the same words are used in Sanskrit to denote a tooth and a tusk) was also noted by the renowned poet Jayadeva in his magnum opus Gita Govinda:
विरहिनिकृन्तनकुन्तमुखाकृतिकेतकिदन्तुरिताशे (description of the spring season)
– The quarters seem to have projecting teeth (दन्तुरित) on account of all the ketakee flowers resembling spearheads that torture (the hearts of) those separated from their lovers.
Ketaka petals and elephant tusks
source (left to right):The Mythnosis Blog, Wikimedia Commons
2. Our gifted author has chosen to use a rather obscure appellation of Ganesha – Dwipaasya (द्विपास्य) which means elephant-faced. It is a combination of dwipa (द्विप) which is another word for "elephant", and aasya (आस्य) which means "face". The etymology of the first word is quite interesting: it is derived from dwi (द्वि) which denotes the number "two" and the verb paa (पा), "to drink". Dwipa, thus, literally means "drinking twice", an allusion to the fact that an elephant typically sucks up water through its nostrils, and then transfers it to its mouth by bending its trunk inwards! Obviously, the first step in said process is not "drinking" per se, but the name is still justifiable if you interpret "drinking" as "sucking (liquid) in through any facial orifice" :). A synonymous (but etymologically more problematic) Sanskrit word is dwiraapa (द्विराप).
3. In common speech, the word muhoorta (मुहूर्त), which appears here as part of the long compound muhoortaakalitadwiteeyadantapraroha (मुहूर्ताकलितद्वितीयदन्तप्ररोह), refers to any short period of time of unspecified length (and is often used in the same sense as the English words "while" or "instant") but, to be precise, it denotes a unit of measurement for time equal to the 30th part of one day (sunrise to sunrise). In astrology, the 30 muhoortas in a day all have names, mostly derived from the names of deities (there is more information on this Wikipedia page), and each one of them is considered good or bad for the performance particular events ranging from weddings to meditation.
I believe that the author deliberately (and rather deftly) included the word muhoorta in his mangalaacharana to hint in the very first verse that the following treatise would be on muhoorta jyotisha (मुहूर्तज्योतिष). Such poetic allusions or suggestions are sometimes described using the word dhwani (ध्वनि; literally, "sound"); however, according to some exponents of Sanskrit literary theory, the word dhwani has a much deeper meaning and refers to the very "soul of poetry" (the 9th century scholar Anandavardhana's "Dhwanyaaloka" introduces this concept).
3. In common speech, the word muhoorta (मुहूर्त), which appears here as part of the long compound muhoortaakalitadwiteeyadantapraroha (मुहूर्ताकलितद्वितीयदन्तप्ररोह), refers to any short period of time of unspecified length (and is often used in the same sense as the English words "while" or "instant") but, to be precise, it denotes a unit of measurement for time equal to the 30th part of one day (sunrise to sunrise). In astrology, the 30 muhoortas in a day all have names, mostly derived from the names of deities (there is more information on this Wikipedia page), and each one of them is considered good or bad for the performance particular events ranging from weddings to meditation.
I believe that the author deliberately (and rather deftly) included the word muhoorta in his mangalaacharana to hint in the very first verse that the following treatise would be on muhoorta jyotisha (मुहूर्तज्योतिष). Such poetic allusions or suggestions are sometimes described using the word dhwani (ध्वनि; literally, "sound"); however, according to some exponents of Sanskrit literary theory, the word dhwani has a much deeper meaning and refers to the very "soul of poetry" (the 9th century scholar Anandavardhana's "Dhwanyaaloka" introduces this concept).
4. The word patrabhanga (पत्रभङ्ग) also deserves some attention. Here, it describes a "piece broken away" (bhanga (भङ्ग)) from a "petal" (patra (पत्र)); पत्र usually denotes a leaf but can also refer to "similar" things such as the petal of a flower (the meaning which applies here), the feather of a bird, a page or letter, or even the blade of a sword or knife! However, traditionally, पत्रभङ्ग is the name given to a kind of body painting: lines or designs drawn on the face or other part of the body with musk, sandalwood-paste, or other fragrant substances (I am unaware of the details of this art form). In this sense, the word occurs quite frequently in erotic literature, and this is, in fact, the first meaning which comes to mind when a reader of Sanskrit literature encounters said word. According to at least one commentator, the word पत्रभङ्ग is inappropriate in this context, and should be replaced with something like patrabhaaga (पत्रभाग; भाग=portion/fragment).
5. Another word to be noted is hasta (हस्त) which refers to the human hand as well as to an elephant's trunk, presumably because they perform similar functions. Both meanings apply to Ganesha, and this leaves room for some ambiguity. Personally, I prefer the meaning "trunk" because it makes the picture so much more adorable :)
6. Some other facts about the verse that I gleaned from its Sanskrit commentaries are:
- The meter (rhythmic structure) used in the couplet is called Indravajraa (इन्द्रवज्रा). Sanskrit meter (chhandas (छन्दस्)) is a fascinating but complex topic, and I am most definitely not the right person to talk about it. The interested reader can find some information here.
- The alankaara (अलङ्कार) or literary trope used here is adbhutopamaa (अद्भुतोपमा) or "strange comparison" (that of a ketaka petal to an elephant's burgeoning tusk).
