Vaagarthaaviva Samprukthau – Learn Sanskrit through Slokas

Welcome back to the series of learning Sanskrit through Slokas. It is good to see that our vocabulary is building gradually!

Today we are going to look a sloka which is the prayer song of the great work ‘Raghuvamsa‘ written by Mahakavi Kalidasa. Kalidasa is considered the greatest poet and dramatist in Sanskrit. His usage of similes (Upama) is extraordinary. His Raghuvamsa is an epic poem about the kings of Raghu Vamsa (dynasty of Raghu) that includes Lord Rama.

The prayer song goes thus:

vaagarthaaviva samprukthau vaagartha prathipaththaye
jagatha: pitharau vandhe paarvathi parameshvarau

Let’s discuss the word-by-word meaning of the above sloka.

vaagarthaaviva samprukthau

• vaagarthaaviva – This compound splits as ‘vaak arthau iva‘ . vaak is ‘word’ and artha is ‘meaning’ in this context. The word iva means ‘like’. The meaning of the phrase would be ‘just like the word and its meaning’
• samprukthau – sampruktha is ‘blended into one’ or ‘attached’ (to each other)

vaagartha prathipaththaye

• vaagartha – this splits into vaak and artha, the word and its meaning
• prathipaththaye – is ‘in order to acquire’

jagatha: pitharau vandhe

• jagatha: – jagath is the world. The Lord (naatha, pathi) of jagath is ‘Jagannaatha‘ or ‘Jagathpathi‘
• pitharau – pitha is father as you would know. pitharau in this context would be parents
• vandhe – to salute

paarvathi parameshvarau

• paarvathi parameshvarau – paarvathi is Goddess Uma and Parameshwara is Lord Shiva

To summarize, Kalidasa prays to the divine parents Paarvathi & Parameshwara who are inseparable like the word and its meaning, in order to guide him in acquiring the power of words and their meanings (literature).

There is another interpretation at work here in terms of whom Kalidasa was actually praying to. If the final phrase is rearranged a bit, we get the below:

paarvathipa rameshvarau

Now ‘pa:’ in Sanskrit can indicate ‘Lord of/Husband of’. Thus paarvathipa can mean Lord Shiva (Husband of Paarvathi). Rameshvara can be split as ‘Ramaa- Ishvara’,  meaning, the Lord of Ramaa (Goddess Lakshmi) who is Lord Vishnu. Thus this can also mean that Kalidasa is praying to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu who are ‘Pitharau’ (fathers) to this Jagath who are inseparable like the word and the meaning .

In the Tamil movie ‘Salangai Oli’, actor Kamalhaasan who is a dancer performs to this sloka rendering both meanings of this sloka.   Observe for yourselves by clicking the below link! (Watch until 40 seconds).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH2YNMp_jSs

Previous posts in this series

Part 8  Part 7  Part 6   Part 5     Part 4     Part 3     Part 2     Part 1