भस्म विलेपन सुन्दर, शिरमा चन्द्रकला। शिव–२ कलकल बग्छिन् हर्दम–२ गंगा पुण्य जला॥ ॐ हर हर हर महादेव
bhasma vilēpana sundara, śiramā candrakalā | śiva–2 kalakala bagchin hardama–2 gaṁgā puṇya jalā || ōṁ hara hara hara mahādēva
Translation
Beautiful is the ash smeared on his body, and the crescent moon on his head. Ever murmuring flows the Gaṅgā of holy waters.
Word by word
- bhasma
- sacred ash
- vilēpana
- smeared on the body
- sundara
- beautiful
- śiramā
- on the head
- candrakalā
- the crescent moon
- śiva
- Śiva
- kalakala
- with a murmuring sound
- bagchin
- she flows
- hardama
- ever, at every moment
- gaṁgā
- the Gaṅgā
- puṇya
- holy
- jalā
- of waters
- ōṁ
- Oṁ, the sacred syllable
- hara
- Hara, "the one who takes away" (sorrow and bondage), a name of Śiva
- mahādēva
- Mahādeva, the great god
Meaning
The ash on Śiva's body, the crescent moon in his hair and the Gaṅgā he caught in his locks are among his best-known marks; the verse dwells on the sound of the river flowing from his head.