kUrma-pruShTha-jayiShNu-prapadAnvitA

SuklAmbara-dharam-viShNum-SaSi-varNam-caturbhujam|

prasanna-vadanam-dhyAyEt-sarva-vighnOpaSAntayE||

SrIgurbhyOnamaH

prapada-jita-kUrmam-Urmila karuNam|bharma-ruci nirmathana dEham|

Sruti marma varma SambhOh kiMcana narma mama Sarma nirmAtu||

 (Arya Dvisati-175)

 May Sambhu’s tattva - that is beyond words – whose feet’s upper part wins over that of a tortoise, with waves of kindness and whose radiance defeats the glittering shine of gold, with the armour called Veda’s secret, bestow happiness upon me.

kUrmapruShTha-jaiShNu-prapadAnvitA

kUrma-pruShTa – top hard shell portion of tortoise

jayishNu – wins over

prapada – top portion of feet (pAdAgram prapadam – Amara-kosam)

anvita – one who has

brahmaNastEjasA pAdau (Brahmanda purana  82.15) The upper portion of Amma’s feet (formed with Brahma’s tejus) defeats the shell of a tortoise in its beauty.  

rOma-svEdaiSca-rahitam masruNam mrudu-mAmsalam|

 pruthulam gUDasiraH Sastam pAdapruShTham samunnatam | 

(Bruhat samudrika)

A glossy, tender, wide, fleshy and a bulky top part that hides the veins without hairs and sweat, is considered to be the ideal characteristic feature for the upper part of feet.

Amma’s feet with such best samudrika features are compared with the shell of a tortoise by Vagdevatas. The top portion of women’s feet are often compared with the tortoise shell by poets! They might have learnt this from these Vagdevatas!!  

Tortoise shell is very hard and Amma is Mahalavanyasevadhi! Sankara Bhagavatpada in Soundaryalahari 88^th sloka wonders as to how is it that the poets of yesteryears compared Her soft, lotus like praiseworthy feet that ward off all evils, to the hard shell of a tortoise! He goes on to mention that at the time of wedding, even Tripurantaka had put Her feet on the grinding rock with great pity!! Here, Sankaracharya seems to be sarcastic about the “kindness” (daya guna) of Sambhu!!  

While explaining the same sloka, Kanchi Maha Periyava referred to the 80^th sloka of Sivanandalahari, where Sankaracharya says, “Oh! Sambhu!! you seem to have practiced walking, dancing on the rocky mountains even before I was born, so that it will be easier for you to walk on my hard heart”. According to Maha Periyava, Adi Sankara meant to say that ParamaSiva wanted Amma to practice walking on hard surfaces by (suggestively) placing Her feet on a grinding rock, before walking on his (Adi Sankara’s) rocky heart.

This is the superficial meaning.

In the names that describe Amma’s saguna rupa, Vagdevathas used the word kacchapa/kUrma (tortoise) in two namas, one in the Vagbhava kuta (nijasallApa-mAdhurya-vinirbhatsita-kacchapI) and the other in Sakthi kuta (kUrma-pruShTha-jayiShNu-prapadAnvitA).

When Lalita parAbhaTTArika emerged from the cidagni, the Devatas praised Amma with a Stavaraja in which they described Her Viratrupa. In that they eulogised Amma’s face as svarlOkam (svastE mukhamudAhrutam) and feet as atala (atalam tu bhavEtpAdau). We refer to Sathapatha Brahmana to understand the secret behind Vagdevatas using kurma/kacchapa in the names corresponding to these two parts.

dyAvA pruthivyO hi kUrmaH (Sathapatha Brahmanam – 7.5.1.10)

(dyauH) svarlOkam, pruthvi are Kurma.

rucam vAcam prapadyE manO yajuH prapadyE

sAma prANam prapadyE cakshuH SrOtram prapadyE 

(Yajur-Veda samhita 36.1)

Ruks are obtained through speech, Yajus through mind and Sama, through the prana.

sa yaH sa kUrmaH asau sa AdityaH 

(Sathapatha Brahmanam – 7.5.1.6)

Vagbhava kuta is the place of knowledge. Since Aditya is representative of knowledge, the kacchapi in the Vak sthana nama seems to be indicative of Rig-Veda.

yaja dEvapUja-sangatikaraNA-dAnEShu

 (Panini Dhatupatha – 1002)

The root of yajna is yaja. According to Panini, yaja means praying to Gods (worshiping), satsanga and offering donations. So, Yajur-Veda is the science of sacrifices and hence is indicative of action.

yajnO dAnam tapaScaiva pAvanAni manIShinam 

(Bhagavad Gita 18.5)

By performing yajna, danam and tapas, human beings become purer. In the whole of creation, only human beings have the opportunity to seek salvation, by performing good deeds with the help of their indriyas.

vruShA vai kUrmaH (Sathapatha Brahmanam – 7.5.1.6)

Indra is Kurma.

The kUrma in the nama indicating the prapadas (maHA vakyAs) represents Yajur-Veda. As was observed in the earlier nama, the prapada/feet is the kriyasakthi part of the Sakthi kuta.  Hence, it is apt that Yajur-Veda, namely the science of actions/sacrifices is indicated through the word kUrma here.

This way, the kacchapa in the Vaksthana and kUrma in the prapada sthana seem to be indicative of Rig-Veda (knowledge) and Yajur-Veda (sacrifices/actions), respectively.

Vagdevatas did not refer to the third Veda of the thrayE, i.e., the Sama-Veda. This could be because the Sama-Veda mantras are taken from the Rig-Veda itself.  Instead of chanting the Rig-Veda mantras with udatta and anudatta intonation, they are set to music and are sung, in Sama-Veda (The Vedas, Kanchi Maha Periyava).

Praying that Amma, with Her lotus like soft feet, along with Pura mathana, dance on my rocklike heart,

SrImAtrEnamaH