Ashtapathi Lyrics
Since it is considered a Kavya, a work of poetry, it is divided into sargas or chapters, like other kavyas such as the Raghuvamsha. This work has been composed in twelve sargas, bearing the Dvadashakshari mantra (twelve-syllable mantra) of Krishna. The names given by Jayadeva to each of these sargas are also unique and meaningful. They bestow grace upon devotees.
- Samoda Damodaran: He who gives joy to the mother who tied him to a mortar.
- Aklesha Keshavan: He who protected Brahma and Shiva.
- Mukta Madhusudanan: He who punished Madhu, the asura who was enslaved by Moha.
- Snigdha Madhusudanan: He who revealed his beauteous form to Madhu and Kaitabha.
- Sakanksha Pundarikakshan: He who awaits the arrival of his devotees with eyes wide open.
- Dhrishta Vaikuntan or Dhanya Vaikunthan: He who reveals the bliss of Vaikuntha to every one.
- Nagara Narayanan: He who can appeal to people of a city, though He had lived in a village among Gopis (cowherdesses).
- Vilakshya Lakshmipati: He who accepts every one who seeks his Grace as Lakshmi herself.
- Mukta Mukundan: The Guru who bestows a unique experience.
- Chatura Chaturbhujan: He who has four arms which grant all the goals of human life.
- Sannada Govindan: He who brings joy to cowherds and to every one on earth.
- Supreeta Pitambaran: He who, pleased by the devotion of his devotees, bestows upon them the Pitambara (the yellow garment worn by Him).
These meaningful names explain the import of the Ashtapadi clearly. We have no knowledge of Moksha and the unknown is to be reached through the known. Moksha is unalloyed bliss and all other pleasures we experience are but drops of this Ocean of Bliss. This bliss is purely experiential. The sacred texts try to make us have a glimpse of it through the example of Sringara bhava known to all of us in our experience. Today’s world, following Western thought, understands Sringara bhava in terms of brutish lust. This is fallacious. Sringara bhava comes out of the perfect union between the husband and wife and is expressed in a harmonious life, sweet conversation, congenial behaviour, not being separated from one another, the misery felt if separation happens, offering music and dance, (a part of the worship of the Lord) to the god residing in the temple of the body, embracing one another, exchanging kisses and so on.