अविश्रान्तं पत्युर्गुणगणकथाम्रेडनजपा
जपापुष्पच्छाया तव जननि जिह्वा जयति सा।
यदग्रासीनायाः स्फटिकदृषदच्छच्छविमयी
सरस्वत्या मूर्तिः परिणमति माणिक्यवपुषा॥
aviśrāntaṁ patyurguṇagaṇakathāmreḍanajapā
japāpuṣpacchāyā tava janani jihvā jayati sā |
yadagrāsīnāyāḥ sphaṭikadṛṣadacchacchavimayī
sarasvatyā mūrtiḥ pariṇamati māṇikyavapuṣā ||
aviśrāntaṁ - continuously, without interruption; patyuḥ - Your Consort (Śiva); guṇa gaṇa kathā amreḍana japā – repeatedly dwelling (reciting, explaining) on His Grandeur; japāpuṣpa cchāyā – in the colour of hibiscus flower (which is red in colour); tava – Your*; janani – O! Divine Mother; jihvā jayati sā – *(Your) tongue conquers; yat agra āsīnāyāḥ - who inhabits at the tip of (Your) tongue; sphaṭika dṛṣadacchaccha vimayī – having a complexion like that of a crystal; sarasvatyā mūrtiḥ – form (body) of goddess Sarasvatī; pariṇamati māṇikya vapuṣā – turning into the colour of ruby (gem).
“O! Divine Mother! Your tongue has turned into deep red like a hibiscus flower, as You are repeatedly talking about the Grandeur of Your Consort Śiva! Goddess Sarasvatī having a crystal like complexion and residing in the tip of Your tongue turns red like that of a ruby (due to the redness of Your tongue).”
This verse is in praise of the tongue of Parāśakti. By nature, tongue of everyone is red in color. But the tongue of Parāśakti, by nature is red in color. She constantly talks about the Grandeur of Śiva to everyone. How Her tongue turns deep red, like hibiscus flower, when She speaks about Her Consort Śiva? The only possible interpretation is that Her tongue too can blush! Śaṁkarācārya could have thought only this way, as there is no other possibility of Her tongue becoming so red in colour. There is one possibility as explained in Lalitā Sahasranāma 559, tāmbhūla-pūrita-mukhī, which says, that the betel leaves turn Her lips into red colour. But this is absolutely ruled out, as She will never talk about the Glories of Her Consort with betel leaves in Her mouth, which is not considered as an act of etiquette. Her tongue blushes when She talks about Her Consort Śiva, an idea only Śaṁkarācārya can conceptualize.
It is said that goddess Sarasvatī lives in the tongue of Parāśakti. Sarasvatī is pure crystal in complexion, like her twin brother Śiva (According to ancient mythology, Brahmā and Lakṣmī, Viṣṇu and Umā, Śiva and Sarasvatī are twins). The complexion of Sarasvatī turns into deep red like a ruby stone. Reference to ruby is very interesting. Śaṁkarācārya could have used any other comparison to explain this red colour of Sarasvatī; but he had chosen ruby stone because, ruby stone is transparent and reflects the colour of the tongue of Parāśakti. The crystal complexion of Sarasvatī appears deep red in colour simply because of the radiance of Her deep red tongue.
The verse also subtly conveys that those who worship Her, need not worship any other gods or goddesses.
(Further reading: In terms of complexion both Śiva and Śaktiappear as red. Lalitai is red in complexion. Śiva is pure white like a spatika (crystal). The specialty of spatika is that it gets reflected with the colour of the properties nearby. When Lalitai sits by the side of Śiva or on the lap of Śiva, His translucent crystal complexion also appears as red. The gods and goddesses, who witness this glorious scene compare this to the rising sun. This scene could lead to an inference that Śaktī is more potent than Śiva as Śiva only reflects the colour of Śaktī. Both of them hold the same four weaponries.)
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