My first offering also happens to be one of my favorites. I have come across this colorful snippet in many Sanskrit anthologies but unfortunately all are silent on the name of its ingenious creator.
शिवयोः सुधाहरिद्रादीप्तिमतोः सारभृज्जगत्पित्रोः|
त्रिभुवनविघ्नध्वंसी करिकल्पः कश्चिदरुणिमा जयति||
Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:
zivayoH sudhAharidrAdIptimatoH sArabhRjjagatpitroH|
tribhuvanavighnadhvaMsI karikalpaH kazcidaruNimA jayati||
Loose translation: Glory to the redness that resembles an elephant, destroys obstacles in all three worlds, and bears the (combined) essence of Shiva and his wife, the parents of the universe, who possess the radiance of lime and turmeric (respectively).
N. B. The word sudhaa (सुधा) also refers to amrita (अमृत), the drink that bestows immortality, but in this context the meaning "lime" makes most sense; haridraa (हरिद्रा) unambiguously denotes the herb turmeric (Curcuma longa) or its rhizome ground to powder and used as a spice in South Asian cuisine; त्रिभुवन or "the three worlds" obviously refers to the Earth, whatever lies above, and whatever lies below.
I admit that the literal translation above does not throw much light on what the poet is trying to say, so here is a more detailed explanation. Shiva is white like lime (not the fruit but the calcium-compound obtained from limestone or chalk), his wife (known by various names such as Parvati and Uma) is yellow like the interior of a turmeric tuber, and their offspring Ganesha has a red-skinned human torso topped with a white elephant-head. So the poet, in his indirect supplication to Ganesha to obliterate all difficulty, compares the glorious deity to the red substance that is produced when turmeric powder is mixed with slaked lime. Here is a brief description of the underlying chemical process with a lot of scientific jargon (but sadly no equation) thrown in.
It was this clever
use of a remarkable observation without getting too wordy that made the couplet
under consideration stand out to me. The following are some other observations I have made on the form and content of this verse (and all my posts will follow this pattern).
Notes:
1. The verb used here, jayati (जयति), literally translates to "he/she/it is victorious" but , when used in paeans or benedictions, it is best interpreted as the equivalent of the English expressions "Glory to him/her!" and "Hail him/her!" A more common way of achieving the same effect is to use the imperative form of the verb jayatu (जयतु; literally, "may he/she/it be victorious") or to call upon the deity directly and chant jaya! (जय, literally, "may you be victorious"). This is the origin of several popular Indian slogans like Jai Hind! and "Jaya He" in the Indian national anthem.
2. In the above couplet, Ganesha is nowhere mentioned by name and is merely described as "करिकल्पः कश्चिद् अरुणिमा" that translates to "some elephant-like redness". This expression might sound rather odd to a reader unfamiliar with Indic literature but such circumlocutions were far from frowned upon by critics of classical poetry. One can often find the author of a hymn referring to their object of adoration by the word vastu (वस्तु; literally, "entity") or mahas (महस् ; literally, "power" or "greatness") accompanied by a word that means "some", and then making up for the deliberate vagueness of their word choice with a slew of ornate adjectives that collectively pinpoint the deity.
3. Another interesting aspect of this excerpt is the use of a masculine word in the dual-number form to denote a conjugal couple. The word जगत्पित्रोः comes from the root जगत्पितृ (जगत् = world/universe; पितृ = father) and should be taken to mean "of the father and mother of the universe" rather than "of the two fathers of the universe". Likewise शिवयोः means "of Shiva and his wife", the latter having Shivaa (शिवा) as one of her numerous names.
4. Some readers might find the complexions of Shiva's family mentioned above incompatible with what they have seen or heard. After all, we are talking about three of the principal deities of Hinduism. Religious and occult works like Puraanas, Aagamas, and Tantras as well as local folklore attribute a plethora of Roopas (रूप) or manifestations and Avataaras (अवतार) or incarnations with widely differing physical features to each of them. In modern-day poster art, Shiva is shown blue-skinned more often than not; his wife is fair (though not necessarily having a yellowish tinge) in Northern India but dark, often dark green, in many Southern temple depictions; and the versatile elephant-headed god now comes in all possible shapes, sizes, and hues! But according to most of the textual traditions that I am aware of, the common forms of Shiva, Uma, and Ganesha -- the forms in which they permanently inhabit their mountain abode Kailaasa, and not the special-purpose forms in which they transiently appear in order to grant boons to devotees or kill demons, or esoteric forms meditated upon by practitioners of occult rituals -- are white, fair (whitish or golden-yellow), and red respectively. I will probably talk more about Ganesha's association with the color red in later posts. Below you can see a fine specimen of the Kalighat Patachitra school of painting (that flourished in 19th century Calcutta) depicting the three mythological characters in the three hues mentioned above.
The Hindu Holy Family
5. The connection between turmeric and Ganesha's mother deserves some attention here. This herb shares a name with Shiva's light-skinned consort: Umaa (उमा), which is a word of obscure etymology but is assigned the meanings "light" and "splendor" by lexicographers. Moreover, a popular name of the goddess is Gauree (गौरी), "the fair lady", while the neuter-gender form gauram (गौरम्) counts "turmeric" among its meanings.
In Bengal, the ten-armed Durga (दुर्गा) is traditionally identified with Shiva's wife Gauree, the daughter of the mountain-god Himaalaya (हिमालय) and his wife Menakaa (मेनका). According to local folklore, she visits her parents' house (that is identified with the world of mortals) with her children every year in early autumn during the four-day Durga Puja ceremony, the single most important festival of the Bengali Hindu community. An important ritual of the Puja is to tie parts of nine sacred plants into a structure called the Navapatrikaa (नवपत्रिका) and worship it as the combined representation of nine emanations of the Mother Goddess; one of these vegetable components is a turmeric tuber that is said to inhabited by Durga herself. Moreover, the colossal clay idols of Durga in her demon-slaying pose that are at the center of the Puja festivities are traditionally painted the color of turmeric!
In certain rituals, Gauree is symbolized by an idol made of turmeric or simply by the rhizome of the plant. This representation is called Haridraa Gauree (हरिद्रागौरी) in Sanskrit and arishinada gauri in Kannada (haridraa and arishina being the names of turmeric in the respective languages). It is particularly common in Karnataka and some other South Indian states during a festival, observed mainly by women, known as Gowri Habba or Swarna Gauree Vrata (स्वर्णगौरीव्रत) in Karnataka, and Hartalika Teej in the Northern states and parts of Maharashtra. The primary purpose of this religious observance (like most others involving women as the principal participants) seems to be ensure that the female worshiper secures a suitable groom if she is single and a long, healthy, and prosperous life for the husband if she is already married. The Bhavishyottara Puraana (भविष्योत्तरपुराण) speaks of the Mangala Gauree Vrata (मङ्गलगौरीव्रत), another vrata (व्रत) or religious vow dedicated to the Goddess, and for this vrata too, the turmeric Gauree can be used as the chief article of worship.
Turmeric is considered a mangaladravya (मङ्गलद्रव्य) or auspicious item in Hindu tradition and is an essential ingredient of several rites in wedding ceremonies, which adds another dimension to its association with the patron of marriage and bestower of a woman's continued marital bliss. The interested reader can find out more about the ceremonial uses of the turmeric tuber and the powder and paste obtained from it here, here, and here.
6. And finally, a few words about the red stuff that is at the heart of the above composition. Kumkum or something similar-sounding is the generic name given in many Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit-influenced languages to a red-colored powder or paste used for multiple ritual purposes, often alongside turmeric. One of the several methods for preparing this stuff is to put turmeric and lime together. Since this red substance is believed to possess magical welfare-inducing and evil-averting powers, its comparison to Ganesha probably goes more than skin-deep!
In Kerala, this turmeric-lime mixture is of considerable importance in the cult of the wrathful goddess Bhadrakaalee (भद्रकाली) and is sometimes sacrificially offered to her in the liquid form as a substitute for one's blood (find out more here and here). It is also used in the powdered form as a red pigment for making elaborate drawings or kalams of said goddess and other local deities on the floor -- an art form called Kalamezhuthu (check this and this out) in which traditionally only five colors are allowed.
