Jagan Mohini Lyrics by Amaradeva

Enchantress of the world, sweet of speech,
graceful of form, dweller in the lotus,
Saraswati Devi, I bow to you, Saraswati Devi

Golden garlands trembling, softly chiming,
a net of tiny anklet-bells,
lotus feet, and at the pool of the waist,
the play of a swaying dance

Fish, sea-dragon and lotus adorning her form,
traced with lines of vermilion,
her full breasts like brimming pots,
overflowing with streams of nectar

Bearer of the holy form that grants good fortune,
loveliest of the family of the gods,
grant, oh grant, with your boon-giving hand,
the sign of auspicious blessing

This is a stately hymn of praise to Saraswati, the goddess of learning, music and the arts, sung in Sanskrit by Pandit W.D. Amaradeva to words by Shri Chandraratna Manawasingha. Its refrain is an act of worship, Saraswati Devi vande, Saraswati Devi, I bow to you, and it opens by naming her the enchantress of the world, sweet of speech, graceful of form, and the one who dwells in the lotus.

The body of the hymn is a loving, detailed portrait of the goddess in the classical manner, the way a devotee visualises a deity. Her golden garlands tremble and chime, tiny bells ring at her anklets, and her lotus feet move in the play of a swaying dance. She is adorned with auspicious signs and traced with vermilion, imagined in the rich, sensuous imagery of Sanskrit devotional poetry, where beauty itself is a form of the sacred.

The close turns from description to prayer. She is the bearer of the holy form that grants good fortune, the loveliest of the gods, and the singer asks her, with her boon-giving hand, to grant the sign of auspicious blessing, a request for the grace, learning and art that Saraswati bestows. Sung by Amaradeva, it is a reverent classical hymn meant to be received as devotion, an offering of praise to the goddess of the very arts he served.