तनीयांसं पांसुं तव चरणपङ्केरुहभवं विरिञ्चिस्सञ्चिन्वन् विरचयति लोकानविकलम्। वहत्येनं शौरिः कथमपि सहस्रेण शिरसां हरस्संक्षुद्यैनं भजति भसितोद्धूलनविधिम्॥
tanīyāṁsaṁ pāṁsuṁ tava caraṇa-paṅkēruha-bhavaṁ viriñcis sañcinvan viracayati lōkān avikalam। vahaty ēnaṁ śauriḥ katham api sahasrēṇa śirasāṁ haras saṁkṣudya enaṁ bhajati bhasitōddhūlana-vidhim॥
Translation
Brahma, collecting the finest dust from your lotus feet, creates the worlds perfectly. Vishnu, somehow bearing it with his thousand heads, carries it. Shiva, grinding it, performs the ritual of smearing ash.
Word by word
- tanīyāṁsaṁ
- finest
- pāṁsuṁ
- dust
- tava
- your
- caraṇa
- feet
- paṅkēruha
- lotus
- bhavaṁ
- arising from
- viriñciḥ
- Brahma
- sañcinvan
- collecting
- viracayati
- creates
- lōkān
- worlds
- avikalam
- perfectly
- vahati
- bears
- ēnaṁ
- this
- śauriḥ
- Vishnu
- katham api
- somehow
- sahasrēṇa
- with thousand
- śirasāṁ
- heads
- haraḥ
- Shiva
- saṁkṣudya
- grinding
- bhajati
- performs
- bhasita
- ash
- uddhūlana
- smearing
- vidhim
- ritual
Meaning
The verse glorifies the dust of the Goddess’s lotus feet as the source of cosmic functions. Brahma uses it to create the universe, Vishnu sustains it with his thousand-headed form (Shesha), and Shiva, as the destroyer, grinds it into ash for his ascetic ritual. This imagery underscores the Goddess’s supremacy, as even the Trimurti rely on her feet’s dust for their roles. In Śrīvidyā, her feet symbolize the ultimate refuge, and devotion to them grants spiritual power, reflecting the Shakta view of Shakti as the origin of all divine activities.