Padmabandha: the lotus verse

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new composition The padmabandha is a verse inscribed in an eight-petalled lotus. By the classical rule (Böhtlingk–Roth, s.v. padmabandha) a single akshara sits in the pericarp of the flower and is repeated before each group of three aksharas on the petals: 8 × (1 + 3) = 32 syllables of an anuṣṭubh.

No verifiable classical specimen with a published reading scheme could be found in open sources, so this page presents a new teaching composition by samskrtam.ru (clearly labeled as new, never passed off as classical; classical padmabandhas are attested, e.g., Rājaśekhara’s as quoted by Bhoja; our search trail is documented as an open question to specialists: SanskritLexicography #1783):

महादेव महेशान मम देहि मतिं शुभाम् / मलहीनं मनः कृत्वा मदहीनो महीयते

mahādeva maheśāna mama dehi matiṃ śubhām /
malahīnaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā madahīno mahīyate //

“O Mahādeva (mahādeva), O Maheśāna (maheśāna), grant (dehi) me (mama) a bright (śubhām) mind (matim)! Having made (kṛtvā) the mind (manaḥ) free of impurity (malahīnam), one free of pride (madahīnaḥ) attains greatness (mahīyate).” (bracket translation, each element followed by its Sanskrit source word — the Klammerübersetzung of the Petersburg school)

The pericarp is “ma”: it opens every group of four syllables (the 1st and 5th syllable of each pāda). The verse is a correct pathyā anuṣṭubh.

Source and verification