Thus, one who leads life in the form of tapas, yajña, and dāna, does not have to hanker after mokṣa. It is readily available. By leading a life that is dedicated to the divine, he climbs above the duality caused by lust and anger. Gradually he will realize that there is something beyond worldly enjoyment and becomes eligible to see the abode of paramātmā. Then is freedom from karmic shackles.
yastvātmaratirēva syādātmatṛptaśca mānavaḥ |
अवारणीयं रिपुभिर्-वारणीयं करं नुमः |
हेरम्बस्य ससिन्दूरम्-असिन्दूरम्-अघच्छिदं ||
avāraṇīyaṃ ripubhir-vāraṇīyaṃ karaṃ numaḥ |
herambasya sasindūram-asindūram-aghacchidaṃ ||
Let us pray to the trunk of elephant-faced Gaṇeśa, which his enemies find unopposable!
It is red lustred due to the sindūra and destroys all pāpas.
पायाद्-वः पुरदाहाय शंभोः संदधतः शरं |
While ‘kapālin’ is taken in literal sense before the word Pāṇigrahaṇa which literally just means holding hands is turned to the other meaning, taking one’s hand in marriage derived by lakṣaṇa is utilised while Satyasoma accuses Nāgasena in public when he first helps Devasomā to get up. There is also a suggestion that Satyasoma still couldn’t trust Devasomā completely since she has already betrayed Babhrukalpa before. Also notice that Nāgasena is being tested in the two things which are forbidden for him and he betrays his failure in both those things.
An apt epithet for Prof. Srikanta Sastri would be satyānveṣī – ‘the seeker of truth,’ for all through his life, he worked against all odds to get to the truth, to declare it without hesitation, and uphold it despite trials and tribulations.
Soṇḍekoppa Srikanta Sastri was born on November 5th, 1904 at Nanjangud and was named no doubt after the presiding deity – Śrīkaṇṭheśvara. Both his parents hailed from illustrious families of Sanskrit and Telugu scholars, poets, and pundits.
In these verses Vyāsa has succinctly described the central focus of his poem and the nature of its characters. This is the way of great poets: they present the essence of the story upfront and then go on to narrate how it evolves. Lesser poets present the story in bits and pieces, intending to keep the readers hooked till the end. They sometimes stretch this technique to extreme limits, thus stripping the story of suggestive value and rendering it less enjoyable. A work bereft of poetic suggestion does not invite readers to revisit it.
