स्फुरद्गण्डाभोगप्रतिफलितताटङ्कयुगलं
चतुश्चक्रं मन्ये तव मुखमिदं मन्मथरथम्।
यमारुह्या द्रुह्यत्यवनिरथमर्केन्दुचरणं
महावीरो मारः प्रमथपतये सज्जितवते॥

sphuradgaṇḍābhogapratiphalitatāṭaṅkayugalaṁ
catuścakraṁ manye tava mukhamidaṁ manmatharatham |
yamāruhyā druhyatyavanirathamarkenducaraṇaṁ
mahāvīro māraḥ pramathapataye sajjitavate ||

sphurad gaṇḍābhoga – lustrous cheeks; pratiphalita tāṭaṅka yugalaṁ - a pair of reflective ear rings; catuś cakraṁ - four wheels; manya – appearing as; tava mukham idaṁ - this face of Yours; manmatha ratham – Manmatha’s chariot; yam āruhya – mounting on that chariot; druhyati – fighting; avaniratham - earth as chariot; arkendu caraṇaṁ - having sun and moon as wheels; mahāvīro māraḥ - the great hero Manmatha; pramatha pataye – Śiva.

“Your face with a pair of ear rings that reflect on Your lustrous cheeks appear to me as the chariot of Manmatha with four wheels. Manmatha sitting on this chariot fights against Śiva, who uses earth as His chariot and sun and moon as its wheels.”

Parāśakti is wearing a pair of earrings, which are glittering in nature. These reflective earrings get reflected in Her shining cheeks and appear as additional pair of earrings (two original earrings and two reflective images on Her cheeks). These ear rings are compared to the four wheels of chariot of Manmatha. Parāśakti is always fond of Manmatha; hence She resurrected him without a form, after he was burnt by Śiva. The verse says that Manmatha after mounting on the seat of this chariot of four wheels decides to fight against Śiva, who appears to have ascended on earth the earth using it as a chariot and using sun and moon as its wheels. This is the gross interpretation of this verse.

Manmatha represents amorous thoughts and actions. By attempting to induce Śiva. He got himself burnt. Śiva is a perfect Yogi and is always associated with purity of thoughts and actions. Śiva is the source of Light to this universe and hence He is known as Prakāśa. There cannot be any trace of darkness in this Light. He is beyond three guṇa-s. He is neither, sattva, nor rajo nor tamo guṇa. When there is no guṇa, it means purity. Manmatha wanted to somehow induce Śiva and he has not learnt from his past mistakes. His only hope was Her compassion towards him, because he used to worship Her with his own Pañcadaśī mantra, that is being widely practiced today. Ultimately, it turned out to be a romantic skirmish between Śiva and Śakti. The face of Parāśakti was so beautiful, finally Śiva also succumbed to Her beauty, as explained in Soundarya laharī (verse 5) “...Viṣṇu, only after having worshipped You, attained the form of a woman and disturbed Śiva. Cupid also worshipped You and attained good looks and using the charm of his wife Rati and other beautiful celestial women enticed even saints and sages.”

The verse speaks about creative aspect of Brahman. Creation can happen only if Śiva and Śakti exist in unison.