aananda-saagara-stavaH - Verse 12

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tasmai prasiidasi giriindrasute ya itthaM

saMpaadayeta shanakairaparoxabodham.h |

yasmai prasiidasi sa ca xamate.avaboddhu-

mitthaM parasparasamaashrayametadaaste || 12 ||

 

In a split form,

 

tasmai prasiidasi giriindra-sute ya itthaM

saMpaadayeta shanakaiH aparoxa bodham.h |

yasmai prasiidasi sa ca xamate avaboddhuM

itthaM parasparasaM aashrayaM etat.h aaste || 12 ||

 

 

In this verse shrii niilakaNtha diikshitaa wonders the intimate and

nonlinear coupling of grace and one's effort in attaining jnAna.

 

O umaa! Daughter of himavan, who is the king of mountains

(giriindra-sute), little by little (shanakaiH) in this manner (ittham)

one who (yaH) earns (saMpaadayeta) direct knowledge (aparoxa bodham.h)

to him (tasmai) you shower your grace (prasiidasi). Enabling him to

get even more direct knowledge. On the hand, only that person on whom

(yasmai) you shower your grace (prasiidasi), he (sa cha) alone gets

the ability to obtain jnana by direct experience ( xamate

avaboddhuM). In this manner (ittham), it is (etat.h astae) one-to-one

interdependent (parasparasaM aashrayaM).

 

By the term aparokSha, direct experience is indicated. parokSha is

second hand knowledge one gets by reading texts etc. In the previous

verse it was mentioned that is useful only when applied diligently to

get anubhava or direct experience, and a sheer waste when engaged for

the vain display of knowledge. In this verse, shrii diikshita wonders

at the interdependence of grace and direct experience. One who is

advanced, gets the grace in abundance, and only the one who has HER

grace can even start. shrii diikshita does not higlight what is the basis

on which SHE first graces the jiivaa so that (s)he can start in the

first place.

 

As bhagavan shrI shankara says in the first verse of saundaryalaharii

(katham akR^ita puNyaH prabhavatii), through good karma one gets

puNyam and that enables them get the grace of ambaaL to even worship

HER, that in turn enables them to receive the more grace to get direct

anubhava.

 

 

Ravi and Swami Vishwarupananda.