kāvyakaṇṭha vāsiṣṭha śrī gaṇapati muni viracitam umāsahasram
Uma Sahasram
ekādaśaḥ stabakaḥ - āryāvṛttam
The eleventh Stabaka, entitled **Pādādi-keśānta-varṇanam — “Description from the Feet up to the Hair”**, deliberately reverses the order of the preceding Stabaka. Beginning with the lotus feet of the Goddess, Śrī Gaṇapati Muni ascends gradually through Her legs, thighs, waist, navel, breasts, arms, hands, neck, face, forehead, smile, lips, nose, eyes, ears and finally the hair. The title is thus exact in both structure and content: the verses form an ascending visual meditation in which the devotee’s contemplation rises from **pāda to keśa**, seeing every limb as a revelation of divine beauty, power, nourishment and grace.
What makes this Stabaka especially rich is that Muni continually moves beyond physical description into **symbolic and theological suggestion**. The three worlds are poetically located in Her body; Her breasts are inexhaustible sources of nourishment for Gaṇapati, Skanda and the whole universe; Her hands are known differently by demons, companions, sages and Śiva—through their power, beauty, generosity and tenderness. Her face defeats both moon and lotus, Her lips inspire even Śiva with passion, and Her eyes become dwellings of beauty and compassion. Thus the Goddess’s form is not treated as merely ornamental; it becomes a **cosmic body in which motherhood, śakti, rasa and universal sovereignty are simultaneously present**.
Muni’s poetic expertise is particularly evident in his control of **reverse-order description, layered comparison, śleṣa-like suggestiveness, personification and playful exaggeration**. Many images deliberately echo or complement those in the previous *Keśādi-pādānta* Stabaka, showing how the same divine form can be contemplated from opposite directions without repetition of poetic effect. The flexible **Āryā metre** allows him to combine delicacy, humour, śṛṅgāra and devotion with remarkable freedom. The final verse explicitly gathers these compositions as Āryās singing the Goddess’s supreme beauty from feet to hair, completing a beautifully paired diptych with the preceding Stabaka.
ekādaśaḥ stabakaḥ - āryāvṛttam
pādādikeśāntavarṇanam
jhaṣaketunā prayuktaḥ sammohanacūrṇamuṣṭirīśāne ।
darahāso dharaduhituḥ karotu bhuvanaṃ vaśe'smākam ॥ 251 ॥
upajīvadbhiḥ kānterleśāṃste jagati sundarairbhāvaiḥ ।
upamitumaṅgāni tava prāyo lajje'mba yatamānaḥ ॥ 252 ॥
avataṃsapallavatulāṃ bibhrāṇaṃ śrutinatadhruvaḥ śirasi ।
caraṇaṃ vrajāmi śaraṇaṃ vāmaṃ kāmārilalanāyāḥ ॥ 253 ॥
śaṅkaranayanonmādanamatimadhuraṃ bhāti matimatā varṇye ।
jaṅghāyugaṃ bhavatyāḥ kusumapṛṣatkasya sarvasvam ॥ 254 ॥
ekaikalokane dvayamanyonyasmaraṇahetutāmeti ।
devi bhavasya tavoruḥ śuṇḍā ca gajendravadanasya ॥ 255 ॥
nāko'valagnamīśvari kaṭiravanirbhogināṃ jagannābhiḥ ।
kukṣau na kevalaṃ te bahirapi vapuṣi trayo lokāḥ ॥ 256 ॥
manye mahākṛpāṇaṃ tava veṇīmacalaputri madanasya ।
asidhenukāṃ viśaṅke niśitatarāgrāṃ tu romālim ॥ 257 ॥
dviradavadanena pītaṃ ṣaḍvadanenātha sakalabhuvanena ।
akṣayyakṣīrāmṛtamambāyāḥ kucayugaṃ jayati ॥ 258 ॥
jagadamba lambamānā pārśvadvitaye tavāgalād bhāti ।
sāndragranthitamanójñaprasūnamāleva bhujayugalī ॥ 259 ॥
jānanti śaktimasurāḥ suṣamāṃ sakhyo vadānyatāmṛṣayaḥ ।
mṛdutāṃ tavāmba pāṇervedasa devo purāṃ bhettā ॥ 260 ॥
kambusadṛgamba jagatāṃ maṇiveṣoḍusrajākṛtākalpaḥ ।
kaṇṭho'naghasvaraste dhūrjaṭidornayanakarṇahitaḥ ॥ 261 ॥
harakānte vadanaṃ te darśaṃ darśaṃ vataṃsaśītāṃśuḥ ।
pūrṇo'pyavāpa kṛśatāṃ prāyeṇāsūyayā śuṣkaḥ ॥ 262 ॥
candraṃ raṇāya sakalā capalākṣīvadanajātirāhvayatām ।
taṃ tu mahasā mukhaṃ te maheśakānte jigāyaikam ॥ 263 ॥
vadanakamalaṃ taveśvari kamalajayāddarpitaṃ sudhābhānum ।
nirjitya kamalajāteramalaṃ mahadājahāra yaśaḥ ॥ 264 ॥
lāvaṇyamarandāśā bhramadbhalokabambharaṃ paritaḥ ।
mugdhaṃ mukhāravindaṃ jayati nagādhīśanandinyāḥ ॥ 265 ॥
śuddhendusāranirmitamāsyārdhaṃ te bhavāni bhālamayam ।
sakalaramaṇīyasārairnirmitamardhāntaraṃ vidhinā ॥ 266 ॥
vadanaṃ tavādriduhitarvijitāya natāya śītakiraṇāya ।
dvārapapadavīṃ pradadā vayamiha darahāsanāmadharaḥ ॥ 267 ॥
te te vadantu santo nayanaṃ tāṭaṅkamālayaṃ mukuṭam ।
kavayo vayaṃ vadāmaḥ sitamahasaṃ devi te hāsam ॥ 268 ॥
bimbādharasya śobhāmambāyāḥ ko nu varṇayitumīṣṭe ।
antarapi yā praviśya pramathapatervitanute rāgam ॥ 269 ॥
gaṇapataye stanaghaṭayoḥ padakamale saptalokabhaktebhyaḥ ।
adharapūṭe tripurajite dadhāsi pīyūṣamamba tvam ॥ 270 ॥
dṛkpīyūṣataṭinyāṃ nāsāsetau vinirmite vidhinā ।
bhāsāṃ bhavati śive te mukhe vihāro nirātaṅkaḥ ॥ 271 ॥
kamalāvilāsabhavanaṃ karuṇākelīgṛhaṃ ca kamanīye ।
haradayite vinatahite nayane te janani vijayete ॥ 272 ॥
sarvāṇyapyaṅgāni śrīmanti tavenducūḍakulakānte ।
kavinivahavinutipātre śrotre devi śriyāveva ॥ 273 ॥
api kuṭilamalinamugdhastava keśaḥ putri gotrasutrāmṇaḥ ।
bibhratsumāni kānyapi hṛdayaṃ bhuvanaprabhorharati ॥ 274 ॥
caraṇādikuntalāntaprakṛṣṭasaundaryagāyinīretāḥ ।
a ṅgīkarotu śambhorambhojadṛgātmajasyāryāḥ ॥ 275 ॥