Word-by-word Meaning Of This Sanskrit Sloka

Discussion in 'Pujas Prayers & Slokas' started by startinganew, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi All,

    I am trying to learn a few slokas and would like help in understanding them. Here is the first one:

    A-gajanana padmarkam
    Gajananam Aha-nisham
    Aneka dam-tam Bhaktaanam
    Eka-dantam-Upasmahe

    I've been able to use Google to find it's essence in meaning:

    "Seeing the elephant-faced Ganesha all the time, Goddess Parvati’s face lighted up, just like how a lotus opens up seeing the sun and I meditate upon the Lord with single tusk, the giver of many boons to the devotees."

    But what I want to understand is the word-by-word - which is what will help me remember the words.

    So what does "agajanana" mean? What does padmarkam mean ? And so on...

    Thank you!
     
    Srama likes this.
    Loading...

  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
  3. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    Thank you very much - very good resource! It is so interesting how the meaning here is a little different from my other source:

    "Meaning:
    1: As the Rays from the Lotus-Face of Gauri (Devi Parvati) is Always on Her Beloved Son Gajanana ( Who is having the Face of an Elephant ),
    2: Similarly, the Grace of Sri Ganesha is Always on His Devotees; Granting their Many Prayers; the Devotees who with deep devotion Worship the Ekadanta ( Who is having a Single Tusk )."
     
  4. Anusha2917

    Anusha2917 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    2,575
    Likes Received:
    7,022
    Trophy Points:
    408
    Gender:
    Female
    Hey will you be posting more such shloka and request meaning here for the same in this thread?

    I would like to learn. So I'll follow this thread. :)
     
    startinganew likes this.
  5. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    So that others coming to this thread don't have to check the link and mouse over each word:

    Agajaanana: The Face of Gauri [Devi Parvati]
    Agajaa = Devi Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya
    Aanana = Face

    Padmaarkam: The Rays from the Lotus [Face of Gauri]
    Padma = Lotus
    Arka = Belonging or Relating to Sun

    Gajaananam: Having the Face of an Elephant
    Gaja = Elephant
    Aanana = Face

    Aharnisham: Day and Night, Continually

    Anekadamtam: Granting Many [Wishes of] His [Devotees]
    Aneka = Many
    Da = Giving, Granting
    Tam = His

    Bhaktaanaam: Devotees
    Bhakta = Devotee

    Ekadantam: Having a Single Tusk
    Eka = One
    Danta = Tusk

    Upaasmahe: Worship
    Upaas = Worship



    A couple of questions in my mind:

    - What's a little confusing for me is that the actual words in the sloka alone don't make a sentence or convey the meaning fully - leaving it up to the interpretation of the translator (maybe?). It seems the 4 words in the first two sentences can be translated to either:

    "Seeing the elephant-faced Ganesha all the time, Goddess Parvati’s face lighted up, just like how a lotus opens up seeing the sun" or
    "As the Rays from the Lotus-Face of Gauri (Devi Parvati) is Always on Her Beloved Son Gajanana ( Who is having the Face of an Elephant )"

    How do we know which is right? :)

    - Can Aharnisham be broken down to constituent words to get the meaning "day and night" ?



     
    stayblessed and SpringB like this.
  6. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    Yes, I do! :smiley:I have a few in my list for now. Please feel free to add ones you are interested in too.
     
    Anusha2917 likes this.
  7. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    Atma Rama Ananda Ramana
    Achyutha Keshava Hari Narayana
    Bhava Bhaya Harana Vanditha Charana
    Raghukula Bhooshana Rajeeva Nayana
    Adi Narayana Anantha Shayana
    Satchidananda Sathya ( Sai ) Narayana


    Verse Meaning:
    O Lord Rama! You are indweller of hearts and You are the embodiment of bliss. Chant the names of Keshava, Narayana and Sai, the remover of worldly fears. O Lotus eyed jewel of the Raghu dynasty, the embodiment of truth, awareness and bliss, we bow down to Your lotus feet.

    Source: Atma Rama Ananda Ramana | Sathya Sai International Organization - USA

    For the word-to-word meaning, I tried to check the source that @Viswamitra Sir shared but couldn't spot it.
     
    Mistt and SpringB like this.
  8. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

    Messages:
    10,075
    Likes Received:
    11,569
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear @startinganew ,

    Thank you for starting this! It would be interesting for me to follow and learn as well. I know it is not going to be easy but will be very interesting!

    This website here gave me a better breakdown of the Samskrit words I feel.....

    Guru Peetham: Meaning of Ganesha Shloka - Agajanana Padmarkam


    I believe, it is dam(dum)=giver
    I also think tam=that (not as given in the website)



    It has to be
    Agajanana - the face of parvati (lit up)
    Padmarkam - like the lotus brightening with sun

    "Seeing the elephant-faced Ganesha all the time, Goddess Parvati’s face lighted up, just like how a lotus opens up seeing the sun" - from what you had said! And yes, translation is prone to a lot of interpretation depending who has done that.


    Yes!
    AHah=day
    Nisha=night

    So word to word meaning from the website I quoted -
    Word to word meaning:
    *Agaja = Parvati; Aanana = face; Padma = lotus flower; Arkam = sun; Gaja = elephant; Aananam = face/faced; AhaH = day; Nisham = night; Aharnisham = day & night (all the time or round the clock); Aneka = more than one / multiple; #Dam = giver; Tam = you/your; Bhaktaanaam = to the devotees; Eka = single or one; Dantam = tooth (tusk since it is an elephant); Upasmahe = I meditate upon;

    I would like to tag JS Ma'm @jayasala42 to please come and help us here!

    Thank you again @startinganew for starting this :)
     
    joylokhi, startinganew, Mistt and 2 others like this.
  9. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    @startinganew,

    Here is another with meaning.

    Asatoma Sadgamaya is a Shanti Mantra (Mantra of peace), it is taken from Brihadaranyaka Upanishads (1.3.28). It is used as a prayer in Indian schools, during spiritual/ religious gatherings , social events and other times; it is believed that the recitation of these verses bring peace.

    In recent times this peace mantra has been used in the 'Navras' soundtrack from the movie 'The Matrix Revolutions'

    Sanskrit Lyrics
    Lyrics transliterated in english
    Meaning in English

    असतोमा सद्गमय ।

    तमसोमा ज्योतिर् गमय ।

    मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय ॥

    ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ।।

    asato mā sadgamaya

    tamasomā jyotir gamaya

    mrityormāamritam gamaya

    Oṁ śhānti śhānti śhāntiḥ

    From ignorance, lead me to truth;

    From darkness, lead me to light;

    From death, lead me to immortality

    Om peace, peace, peace

    Words and their meanings
    Word Meaning
    Asat
    Unreal, non-existence, untruth, ignorance
    Ma me
    Sat (sad) Reality, truth,
    Gamaya gam means movement, gamaya means move or lead

    Tam (tamas) darkness, ignorance
    Jyoti (jyotir) Light, clarity, purity
    Mrityu (mrityor) Death
    Amrita (amritam) Deathlessness, ambrosia
    Om holy ghost as in Christian trinity, holy word, word of creation, holy vibration, god
    Shanti peace
     
    joylokhi, startinganew and Mistt like this.
  10. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    670
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Female
    @Srama Thank you for the detailed response - I like how you clarified the subtleties! :thumbup:

    Thanks to the back and forth in this thread for this tiny sloka - I find it much easier to remember the words now.

    Also noticed how "Dantam" means tooth in Sanskrit and is close to the word Daant (tooth in Hindi.) While the word Thandam (in tamil) also so close, means tusk, while "pal" is the word for tooth.
     

Share This Page