Syama Sastry Kriti

Meaning - Gist

O kAmAkshI! O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!
O Mother whose feet are illumined by the crown jewels of Emperors! O Bestower of boons to all people! O Moon Faced! O Mother extolled by SyAma kRshNa! O Ruler of kAncI pura! O Blossomed Lotus petal eyed! O Witness of Universe! O Gracious parA SaktI!
O lalitA, resident of mEru!

Please listen.
You are Mother of entire Universe.

Why did You do like this to me, who always beseeches You much, in many different ways?
Please relieve my grief quickly.

You have earned an attractive name that –

You always bestow happiness to all those pious people who think of You alone in their interior;
You are the bestower of fruits of wishes.

Aren’t You the Mother who protected the Universe by assuming a gracious form? I am Your child.

This Form, having this much radiance,
Manifestation of this kind of fame,
This embodiment of virtue –

Are all these found anywhere even if one searches in all the three Worlds?
Probably because I undertook some religious austerities earlier, I attained darSana of Your feet lotus, a thousand times, and I became successful.

I sought much Your exclusive sannidhi.
I am such a dullard who did not perform Your bhajana always.

Please protect me.
Please protect by soothing me.
Please protect me by heeding to my plea.
Please remove my troubles now, grant boons and protect me.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
pAlincu kAmAkshI pAvanI
pApa SamanI amba

O kAmAkshI! Please protect (pAlincu) me. O Sanctifier (pAvanI)! O Destroyer (SamanI) of sins (pApa)! O ambA!

anupallavi
cAlA bahu vidhamugA ninnu
sadA vEDukonEDi nAyandu-Ela
I lAgu jEsEvu veta
harincavE vEgamE nannu (pAlincu)

Why (Ela) did You do (jEsEvu) like this (I lAgu) to me (nAyandu) (literally towards me) (nAyandEla) who always (sadA) beseeches (vEDukonEDi) You (ninnu) much (cAlA) in many (bahu) different ways (vidhamugA)? Please relieve (harincavE) my grief (veta) quickly (vEgamE).
O kAmAkshi! Please protect me (nannu). O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!

caraNam
caraNam 1
svAntambulOna ninnE
dalacina sujanulaku-ellanu-E vELa
santOshamulu-osagEvu-ani nIvu
manOratha phala dAyinivi-ani
kAntamagu pEru ponditivi
kAruNya mUrtivai jagamu
kApADina talli gadA nEnu
nIdu biDDanu lAlinci (pAlincu)

You (nIvu) have earned (ponditivi) an attractive (kAntamagu) (literally magnetic) name (pEru) that (ani) –
You always (E vELa) bestow (osagEvu) happiness (santOshamulu) (santOshamulosagEvani) to all (ellanu) those pious people (sujanulaku) (sujanulakellanE) who think (dalacina) of You alone (ninnE) in their interior (svAntambulOna); and that (ani) -
You are the bestower (dAyinivi) (dAyinivani) of fruits (phala) of wishes (manOratha).
Aren’t (gadA) You the Mother (talli) who protected (kApADina) the Universe (jagamu) by assuming a gracious (karuNya) form (mUrtivai)? I (nEnu) am Your (nIdu) child (biDDanu).
O kAmAkshi! Please protect by soothing (lAlinci) me. O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!

caraNam 2
I mUrti(y)inta tEjO-mayamai-
iTu vale kIrti visphUrti-
iTlanu guNa mUrti tri-lOkamulO
jUcina-endu-aina galadA
EmO toli nOmu nOcitinO
nI pAda padma darSanamu
vEmAru labhinci kRta-arthuDanu-aiti
nA manavini-Alakinci (pAlincu)

This (I) Form (mUrti) having this much (inta) (mUrtiyinta) radiance (tEjO-mayamai), manifestation (visphUrti) of this (iTu) (tEjO-mayamaiyiTu) kind (vale) of fame (kIrti), this (iTlanu) (visphUrtiniTlanu) embodiment (mUrti) of virtue (guNa) – are all these found (galadA) anywhere (endaina) even if one searches (jUcina) (jUcinayendaina) in all the three Worlds (tri-lOkamulO)?
Probably (EmO) because I undertook (nOcitinO) some religious austerities (nOmu) earlier (toli), I attained (labhinci) darSana (darSanamu) of Your (nI) feet (pAda) lotus (padma) a thousand times (vEmAru) and I became (aiti) successful (kRta arthuDanu) (kRtArthuDanaiti).
O kAmAkshi! Please protect me by heeding (Alakinci) to my (nA) plea (manavini) (manavinAlakinci). O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!

caraNam 3
rAja-adhi rAjan-makuTI
taTa maNi rAja pAdA
nE cAla nija sannidhini kOri
samasta janulaku-ella varadA
rAja mukhI SyAma kRshNa nutA
kAncI pura-ISvarI vikasa
rAjIva daLa-akshI jagat-sAkshI
O prasanna parA SaktI (pAlincu)

O Mother whose feet (pAda) are illumined (rAja) by the crown (makuTI taTa) jewels (maNi) of Emperors (rAja adhirAjan) (adhirAjanmakuTI)! I (nE) sought (kOri) much (cAla) Your exclusive (nija) sannidhi (sannidhini), O Bestower of boons (varadA) to all (samasta) people (janulaku ella) (janulakella)!
O Moon (rAja) Faced (mukhI)! O Mother extolled (nutA) by SyAma kRshNa! O Ruler (ISvari) of kAncI pura (purESvarI)! O Blossomed (vikasa) Lotus (rAjIva) petal (daLa) eyed (akshI) (daLAkshI)! O Witness (sAkshI) of Universe (jagat) (jagat-sAkshI)! O Gracious (prasanna) parA SaktI!
O kAmAkshi! Please protect me. O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!

sara sAhitya
kanaka giri sadana lalita ninu bhajana
santatamu sEyani jaDuDanu
vinumu nikhila bhuvana jananivi-ipuDu
mA duritamu dIrci varAlu-icci (pAlincu)

O lalitA (lalita) resident (sadana) of mEru – golden (kanaka) mountain (giri)! I am such a dullard (jaDuDanu) who did not perform (sEyani) Your (ninu) (literally You) bhajana always (santatamu).
Please listen (vinumu). You are Mother (jananivi) of entire (nikhila) Universe (bhuvana).
O kAmAkshi! Please remove (dIrci) my (mA) (literally our) troubles (duritamu) now (ipuDu) (jananiviyipuDu), grant (icci) boons (varAlu) (varAlicci) and protect me. O Sanctifier! O Destroyer of sins! O ambA!

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
¹ - pApa SamanI amba - pApa SamanI.
² - cAlA bahu vidhamugA - cAla bahu vidhamugA. From prAsa point of view, ‘cAlA’ seems to be appropriate.
³ – sadA – cAlA.
⁴ – vEDukonEDi – vEDukoNDi –vEDukonnaTTi : ‘vEDukoNDi’ is not correct. If it is ‘vEDukoNTi’, it could be appropriate.
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⁵ – harincavE – harinci. If ‘harinci’ is correct, then ‘veta harinci vEgamE nannu’ will be connected to pallavi.
⁶ – dalacina – dalacE.

⁷ - sujanulakellanE vELa (sujanulakellanu+E vELa) - sujanulakellanI vELa (sujanulakellanu+I vELa) : In the present context, ‘E vELa’ is more appropriate.

⁸ - phala dAyinivani - phala dAyakiyani.
⁹ - pEru ponditivi - pEru ponditivi (I jagamu).
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¹¹ - rAjAdhi rAjan-makuTI - rAjAdhi rAja rAjan-makuTI.
¹² - nE cAla – It is given as ‘nE jAla’ in all books. In the present context, ‘jAla’ is not an appropriate word.

¹³ - sannidhini kOri – This is how it is given in all books. In the present form, the meaning is not complete. In the books, the meaning derived ‘I surrendered at your altar’. For such a meaning, it should be ‘kOriti’.

¹⁵ – bhajana santatamu sEyani jaDuDanu – bhajana santatamu sEya nijamuganu – bhajana santatamu sEyaka jaDuDanu - bhajana santatamu sEyaka januDan. In the books, the meaning derived is ‘I am a dullard who refrained from meditating’. For such a meaning ‘bhajana santatamu sEyani jaDuDanu’ is the appropriate version.

¹⁶ - jananiviyipuDu - jananiyipuDu.
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References
¹⁰ – kAruNya mUrtivai – It is stated that, earlier, kAmAkshi had an ugra (terrible) rUpa and that Adi SankarAcArya made Her assume SAnta rUpa by establishing SrI cakra – kAmAkshi

¹⁴ - kanaka giri sadana lalita – lalitA resident of mEru – lalitA sahasra nAma (55) – ‘sumEru madhya SRngasthA’.
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Comments
¹¹ – makuTI taTa maNi rAja pAda – feet illumined by the crown jewels – When the emperors supplicate at Mother’s feet, the brilliance of the jewels of their crowns illumine Her feet.
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pAlincu kAmAkshI - rAga madhyamAvati