Great hymns of spiritual value that can stir unshakable devotion and also inspire jnana are all born through divine inspiration. This is the recurrent refrain of the poet Mooka Kavi when he sings the praises of Goddess Kamakshi in the Mooka Panchasati, pointed out Sri R. Krishnamurthy Sastrigal in a discourse. This hymn of 500 verses is constituted of five satakas, Arya Sataka, Stuti Sataka, Padaravinda Sataka, Kataksha Sataka and Mandasmitha Sataka. The poet’s life is witness to the boundless compassion and grace of the Goddess. It is held he was unable to hear or speak right from birth. But his inner promptings made him seek the grace of Goddess Kamakshi through silent and fervent prayer.
Eventually the Goddess showered her grace on him, not merely by restoring in him the faculties of speech and hearing but also by inspiring him to write this hymn. This gifted poet is thus able to invest the many similes, metaphors, hyperboles, etc, that are used to describe the form of the Goddess with extraordinary philosophical worth. The hymns are powerful to awaken one’s inner consciousness in such a way to enable the perception of that eternal truth that lies hidden behind the world of Her Maya Shakti.
The term ‘Kama Koti’ might overtly suggest hordes of desires; but by propitiating Goddess Kamakshi, one is able to reach a state where there is no trace of desire at all. Renunciation is the only path available for the jivatma who yearns to be freed from the cycle of birth. Renunciation implies a cessation of all other desires. This is the greatest hurdle because no matter how much one strives to still one’s worldly desires, they keep multiplying in unseen ways. Realised souls thus aver that only with divine grace can one hope to cross the bondage of samsara.