shrI subrahmaNyO mAM rakSatu

From: Srinivasan Pichumani 
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 93 10:18:19 -0500

I have used the following transliteration scheme transliteration scheme.

Sanskrit Vowels:

a A i I u U e ai o au am :  (I have dropped the "ru" and "lru"
                             vowels for simplicity)

Sanskrit Consonants:

k kh g gh ng
c ch j jh jn
T Th D Dh N
t th d dh n
p ph b bh M

y  r  l v
sh Sh s h

Text:

shrI subrahmaNyo mAm rakShatu ShaNmukhAvatAra: shaktirUpa:

bhAsamAna vallidevaseno bhAratIshAdi tatvabodhano
vAsavAdi vandita shubhacaraNo patravibhUti pradAna nipuNa:

shatakoti bhAskara shobhAkara: shiShTa shitikaNTAtmaja shivakara:
pratApa tArakAdi hatadhIra: prabala gaNeshAnuja ShaDakshara:
shatAyu: prada bhakta mandAra: shankAbhiShekAt upacAra:
kShitisha pUjita divyAmbara: nava vIrAnanda vara guruguha:

Translation:

(shrI/shrImati is the traditional honorific for men/women)

SubrahmaNya, whose form is the embodiment of energy,
who incarnated as the six-faced, please protect me.

Beautiful lord (i.e husband) of Valli and Devasena, Preceptor of Brahma ...,
One whose feet were worshipped by Indra,
One who graces his devotees by giving them vibhUti in a leaf,

SubrahmaNya, whose form is the embodiment of energy,
who incarnated as the six-faced, please protect me.

One whose brilliance is that of 100 crore suns,
Son of his own disciple NilakaNTa,
One who bestows well-being,
Valorous one who destroyed the asura, tAraka,
Younger Brother of the famous gaNesha,
One who is of the form of the 6-lettered mantra,
Bestower of longevity to devotees,
One who is consecrated with waters poured from a conch,
One who is worshipped by Lords of the Earth (i.e kings), and wears beautiful raiment,
Guruguha who gives happiness to his warriors known as Navanandana.

Notes: Dikshitar draws on a wide variety of sources to build up the text of his kritis -- stock phrases from Sanskrit literature all the way from Vedic to recent times, devotional literature of all types, Mantric/Tantric sources, local traditions, pan-Indian traditions, ...

For e.g. "shatakoTi bhAskara" is a stock phrase (BTW, crore is an Indian equal to 10 million). Subrahmanya is worshipped by meditation-on/repetition-of the 6-lettered mantra, sharavaNa bhava.

This kriti is on the Lord Subrahmanya at Tirucchendur -- which is in on the east coast, in the deep South of India. It is one of the 6 foremost shrines associated with Murugan/Subrahmanya/Kartikeya. The temple is located right on the shores of the sea -- I have been to this temple many times -- the daily consecration of the idol is performed with sea-water filled in a conch; the sacred ash is distributed on a leaf here unlike other temples where it is just given in hand.

According to Puranic lore, Subrahmanya, the six-faced Lord, is the second son of Siva/Parvati, and the one who taught his own father, Siva, the "meaning" of the mystic syllable OM. NilakaNTa is an epithet for Siva referring to his drinking of the deadly poison and stopping it at his throat.

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