Chintaya makanda

In this essay one will basically focus on the sthala which pertains to earth or prithvi sthala

This composition in Bhairavi is set to rupaka talam. Dikshithar has composed six other krithis in this raga, of which two belong to the Kamalamba and Abhayamba vibhakthi series.  

While Bhairavi is a sampurna raga, it is a janya of the 20^th melakartha, natabhairavi. This is because of the chatusruti dhaivatam in the arohanam which is an anya swara and gives it the character of a bhashanga raga.

Before we go to the krithi, let us go to this particular sthala .

 The Ekambareswarar temple is situated in the northern part of Kanchipuram in Tamil Naadu.

Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva was doing penance under the temple's ancient Mango tree near Vegavathi river. In order to test her devotion Shiva sent fire on her. Goddess Parvati prayed to her brother, Vishnu, for help. In order to save her, he took the Moon from Shiva's head and showed the rays which then cooled down the tree as well as Parvati. Shiva again sent the river Ganga (Ganges) to disrupt Parvati's penance. Parvati prayed to Ganga and convinced her that both of them were sisters and so should not harm her. Subsequently, Ganga did not disturb her penance and Parvati made a Shiva Linga out of sand to get united with Shiva. The God here came to be known as Ekambareswarar or "Lord of Mango Tree".

The temple covers an area of over 23 acres . Reaching a height of 59 meters, the temple's Rajagopuram (the entrance tower to the temple) is one of the tallest in South India. One notable feature of the temple is the Aayiram Kaal Mandapam, or the "hallway with a thousand pillars", which was built by the Vijayanagar kings.^[ The temple's inner walls are decorated with an array of 1,008 Siva lingams.The campus is 25 acres with 5 prakarams (or courtyards) and has a thousand-pillared hall. Kampai Tirtha, the temple tank is believed to have an underground holy river. The fourth courtyard contains a small Ganesha temple and a pond. The third courtyard contains lot of smaller shrines. The sanctum sanctorum contains the lingam along with the image of Shiva.^[

There is no separate shrine for Parvati within the complex as with other Shiva temples in Kanchipuram. A local belief is that Kamakshi Amman is the consort for Ekambaranathar.

This is also a paadal petra sthalam . There are a total of 274 such paadal petra sthalams, which are revered in the verses of the Nayanars and are believed to be the most important Shiva temples on the sub continent. They are comparable to the Divya Deshams, which are the 108 Vaishnava temples glorified by the Alwars

The sthala vriksha  is a 3500 year old mango tree, which is believed to give four different types of mangoes from it’s branches. 

Now let us go to the song itself.

Pallavi

Chintaya ma kanda mulakandam

Chetah sri somaskandam

Oh mind( intellect) meditate on Sri Somaskanda who is at the root of the mango tree

Chintaya – Meditate on

Makanda – mango tree

Mula –origin/source/root

Kandam- bulb(?)

Chetah- Intellect/mind

Somaskanda  - a manifestation of Shiva featuring Shiva, Uma and Skanda;   in a seated posture, with Parvati to his left and with Skanda his son, seated in between the two.

Anupallavi

Santatam Akhanda Sachidanandam

Samrajyaprada charanaravindam

Who is always indivisible eternal bliss

Whose lotus feet are capable of bestowing empires (to his devotees

Santatam – Eternal/lasting/continued

Akhanda – entire/unbroken/indivisible

Sachidanandam- true bliss

Samrajya –empires

Prada- effecting/bestowing/causing

Samrajyaprada – can bestow empires

Charana – feet

Ravinda– lotus flower

Charanaravindam- feet like lotus flower( lotus feet)

Charanam

Mangalakara mandahasa vadanam

Whose smiling face bestows welfare and prosperity (to the devotees);

Mandahasa – smiling

Vadana- face

Mandahasa vadana – smiling face

Mangala – auspiciousness

Kara- causing

So literally His smiling face causes auspiciousness( to devotees)

Manikya mani kanchi sadanam

who is seated in the rich abode of Kanchi;

Manikya maya kanchi- the kanchi which is made of rubies( hyperbole to denote the richness of the city)

Sadana – home

aṅga saundarya vijita madanaṃ

who conquers the God of Love (Madana),who had a beautiful body

anga- body

saundarya beautiful

vijita –won/conquest

The reference at this place is as follows

One day, when Parvati was only eight years old, her father, Himavan, took her to see Lord Shiva. From birth, Parvati had always been very spiritual. She always wanted to know about God, so she was thrilled to see Lord Shiva. But Lord Shiva that first encounter, Parvati used to come every day to see Lord Shiva. She would offer him fresh flowers, hoping that one day he would open his eyes and speak to her. In the back of her mind, she had formed the ideathis was the man she wanted to marry.

The days became years and Parvati grew into a beautiful young woman. Still Shiva remained absorbed in his eternal trance. How could anybody disturb Shiva’s trance? Once he enters into trance, he enjoys the highest and deepest bliss. So why should he come back?

Himavan was very sad that Shiva was not paying any attention to his beautiful daughter, who was so spiritual in every way. He decided to play a trick on Shiva: he invoked the god of love to disturb Shiva’s meditation. The name of this particular god was Madana. Madana had a bow and some arrows that were made of flowers. He used to shoot these arrows at his victims and then they would be filled with feelings of emotional love.

At Himavan's request, Madana aimed his arrows at Lord Shiva and the arrows fell as flowers at Shiva’s feet. Suddenly, Shiva opened his third eye and caught sight of the god of love standing with his bow in his hands. Shiva immediately burned this unfortunate god to ashes because he had disturbed Shiva’s meditation.

antaka sūdanaṃ kunda radanaṃ

who is the destroyer of the God of death (Anthaka), and always having white teeth Antaka – Yama/Death/God of Death Sudana- Destroying/Killing Kunda – jasmine flower Radana- teeth Kunda radana – teeth like jasmine flowers or white pretty small teeth  The reference to destroyer of death is as follows. Shiva is also believed to be the conqueror of time and death, itself personified by the god Yama.[He is depicted as defeating or killing Yama when the latter comes to take the life of Shiva's devotee Markandeya. Shiva is often depicted as dancing on Death, personified by Yama.Shiva is also regarded as Mrityunjaya ("Victor over Death").

uttuṅga kamanīya vṛṣa turaṅgaṃ bhairavī prasaṅgaṃ 

Whose vehicle is in the form of tall and beautiful bull, and enjoys the company of Goddess Bhairavi

Uttunga- tall/lofty/high/splendid

Kamaniya – beautiful

Vrsa – bull

Turanga – horse. Here the literal translation would be that the tall beautiful bull was his horse. However the word turanga which literally means horse has to be taken to mean vehicle in this context.

Prasangam – devoted to/fond of

guru guhāntaraṅgaṃ pṛthivi liṅgam

And always residing in the heart and mind of Guru Guha;
Who is in the form of Parthiva Linga

 Antaranga – Essential /interior

 Guruguhantarangam – in the interior of guru guha

It is prasa filled with both pratim akshara prasa and antim akshara prasa in both anupallavi and charanam. In addition, there are swaraksharas at both Mangala and Maanikhya in the charanam.

The raga mudra  and the vaggeyakara mudra( guruguha) in the very last lineof the charanam.