तटित्वन्तं शक्त्या तिमिरपरिपन्थिस्फुरणया

स्फुरन्नानारत्नाभरणपरिणद्धेन्द्रधनुषम्।

तव शयामं मेघं कमपि मणिपूरैकशरणं

निषेवे वर्षन्तं हरमिहिरतप्तं त्रिभुवनम्॥

taṭitvantaṁ śaktyā timiraparipanthisphuraṇayā

sphurannānāratnābharaṇapariṇaddhendradhanuṣam |

tava śyāmaṁ meghaṁ kamapi maṇipūraikaśaraṇaṁ

niṣeve varṣantaṁ haramihirataptaṁ tribhuvanam ||

taṭitvantaṁ - accompanying lightning; śaktyā - due to power; timira paripanthi sphuraṇayā - enemy to darkness viz. light; sphurat nānā ratna ābharaṇa pariṇaddha indra dhanuṣam - rainbow formed due to the (rays of) lustrous ornaments made of precious gems; tava śyāmaṁ - Your dark blue; meghaṁ - clouds; kam api - indescribable; maṇipūra eka śaraṇaṁ - Abode as maṇipūraka chakra; niṣeve - worship; varṣantaṁ - causing to rain; hara mihira taptaṁ - heat of Śiva; tri-bhuvanam - three worlds.

"I worship you in navel chakra as the one, appearing dark blue in colour and like a powerful lightning, that dispels darkness. The reflections of Your ornaments appear like a rainbow, cause rain to cool the three worlds, burnt by  Śiva."

Śaṁkarācārya goes with the description of maṇipūraka  chakra with "Ṣaṭcakra Nirūpaṇa" verse 10. The verse says that at the root of the navel, there is a ten petal lotus in the colour of rain laden clouds and within, there are two blue lotuses and one should meditate on this region of fire, shining like the sun at dawn. Lalitā Sahasranāma 101 maṇipūrāntha ruditā says that She appears in the navel chakra and again Lalitā Sahasranāma 495 also says maṇipūrābja-nilayā. Navel chakra is one of the important points both in terms of gross body and energy body. This is mainly because, it holds a central position in the body and also the point through which a fetus was nourished. This chakra is also capable of receiving energy from Guru.

Śaṁkarācārya always worships both Śiva and Śakti together and this verse is not an exception. He contemplates Śiva as dark in complexion, like rain bearing clouds and Śakti as lightning. Generally it is explained that Śiva is the cause of Light, hence He is known as Prakāśa. But, in this verse, He is described as dark in appearance and Śakti as the source of Light. This can be explained from different angles.

  1. Śiva and Śakti  are inseparable and nobody knows who is Śiva and who is Śakti as one's power cannot be differentiated form him.  Śiva's Power is Śakti .
  2. By projecting  Her as Light, Śaṁkarācārya emphasizes Her compassion, as She alone can reveal Śiva who is omnipresent. The Light that is described Her is Her compassion and willingness to offer liberation. To describe His omnipotence, clouds can be taken as an example, because clouds remain diffused throughout the atmosphere.
  3. Śiva by nature is very hot, as He is the source of Light. Since She does not want the world to bear the brunt of His heat, She causes rain from the dark clouds. In other words, She induces  Śiva  to cool the earth by making Him to cause rain as a remedy to His scorching heat.

A jñāni like Śaṁkarācārya fully knows Brahman and does not restrict Brahman in a particular form or shape. Spiritual realization consists of two parts. One, realizing the Self within and two, realizing omnipresence of Brahman. A person is said to be Self-realized only if these two realizations are complete. Śaṁkarācārya not only visualizes Śiva and Śakti  in the navel chakra , but also takes into account the worldly sufferings such as heat, etc and in order to remedy their sufferings from extreme heat, he visualizes that heat is balanced by rain.

There is a reference about a rainbow that is formed out of the effulgence of the ornaments made out of precious gems, worn by Her. This poetic parlance speaks about the rays emanating from the gems, appearing like a rainbow. Why rainbow is drawn as a comparison? It is because the bows of Śiva and Śakti have no strings, in their Kāmeśvara and Kāmeśvarī forms.  Their bows are made of sugarcanes and their bows have no strings signifying infinity, meaning that they cannot be bound.

This verse speaks about dispelling darkness of spiritual ignorance illusion by contemplating on Śiva and Śakti at navel chakra. When this chakra is perfectly activated, many of the worldly desires are dispensed with, leading to the higher level of spirituality.