Devishataka 1

1

śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ |
anantamahimavyāptaviśvāṃ vedhā na veda yām |
yā ca māteva bhajate praṇate mānave dayām ||

Kāvyamālā.
The *Devīśataka* composed by the venerable teacher Ānandavardhana, together with the commentary composed by the venerable Kayyaṭa.

Homage to the Lord of Speech, Hayagrīva, Viṣṇu,
whose hands are marked by Kaumodakī, the discus, the conch, and the lotus.

Having bowed to the supreme light, through whose grace these [luminaries] shine—
the sun, the lord of the stars, and fire—though afflicted by the might of great delusion,

wishing fully to abbreviate with synonyms fashioned by his own intellect
the commentary which Vallabhadeva composed on the hymn of praise to Bhavānī for the remembrance of noble minds,

Kayyaṭa, son of Candrāditya and that very [Vallabhadeva's] grandson,
reading the readings composed by the poet together with the grammatical operation [and] with synonyms, made this new [commentary].

What is done by me, one of little intellect, upon this poem composed by the foremost poet Ānandavardhana?
Yet do not swarms of ants seek shelter in the line of footprints left by a rutting elephant's tusks, immeasurable in strength?

Whether my intellect stumbles on this poetical path, uneven or delightful,
yet reaching this boyish path, it moves forward step by step.

Everywhere at the commencement of a poem, the connection, subject matter, and purpose must be known: "For the success of the listeners' undertaking proceeds from stating the connection; therefore, in all branches of learning, the connection is stated first." And: "Of every treatise whatsoever, or indeed of any action of a person, so long as the purpose is not stated, who takes it up?" Here, however, the connection is the propitiation of the Supreme Worshipful One by means of a hymn of praise to the Devī. Her qualities and deeds are the subject matter here. And the purpose is the attainment of the fruits of worldly enjoyment and final liberation, which constitute the seen and unseen fruit of propitiating the Devī by means of recounting them.

There, at the outset, the poet, wishing to begin the hymn of praise, constructed a *kulaka* of five verses:

She who fills the universe with infinite majesty, whom Vedhas knows not,
and who, like a mother, shows compassion to a human who bows [to her]— (1)