Gopaala Sundari

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Gopaala Sundari

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'kaDachilalliteshani pumruupaa krishNa vigraH ' - some times Lalitha is seen

in the form of Krishna.

 

There are innumerable forms of Devi described in Veda, Agama and PuraaNas.

No other deity in the Hindu pantheon has such countless forms. She being the

universal mother with bound less mercy, manifests in a number of forms to

enable one to meditated in any of these that one likes to visualize. Though

the ultimate reality is beyond all forms and conception, its out of immense

compassion that the he manifests with a swaroopa embracing kalyaNa guNas.

There is a special roopa of devi described in tantric texts as a fusion of

goopla and lalita named 'Gopaala Sundari'.

 

 

The supreme manifestation of devi as the universal mother is Lalita. When

you say a sahasranAma or a trishati on Devi with out a prefix, it refers

only to Lalita's. She is 'shrI mahA rAGYI', the supreme empress. She is

tripurasundarii who rules over the entire universe with Brahma,VishhNu and

Shiva are mere functionaries in her empire. Rig-Veda celebrates her as the

supreme power in all beings.

 

'ahaM rudrebhir basubhishcharAmyaham Aditairuta vishvadevaiH ahaM

mitrAvaruNobhA vibharmyahamindrAgnI ahamashvinobhA ..'

 

 

Like wise the most celebrated masculine form of the saguNa brahma is Sri man

naaraayaNa. He is parama purusha the first and fore most among devatas.

 

naaraayaNaparo yogo naaraayaNapara.m tapaH |

naaraayaNapara.m j^naana.m naaraayaNaparaagatiH ||

 

Out of several incarnations of Sri mannaaraayaNa, Sri Krishna is considered

as the poorNaavatara as he brims with all kalyaNa guNas. We find a beautiful

shloka by leela shuka, which reads as,

 

satyaM satyaM durlabhaM daivateshhu

tatkaishoraM tachcha vaktraaravindaM |

tatkaaruNyaM te cha liilaakaTaakshaaH

tatsaundaryaM saa cha mandasmitashriiH ||

 

(I swear, I swear, there is none equating Krishna with such an enchanting

beauty, lotus face, kaaruNya, liilaa kaTaakshaa, saundarya and that smile

(saa cha mandasmitashriiH), indeed there is none.)

 

These two supreme principles manifest in a single swaroopa named 'Goopaala

Sundari', needless to say this is the most enchanting of all swaroopAs.

She is shyamala and he is shyamalaanga. She is rAjarAjeshwari and he is

rAjagopAla. There exist several puraanic evidences to state that they are

one and the same. The following shloka from krishNa karNamrutam beautifully

describes the form that result when Devi and Krishna unite.

 

kodanDamaikshavamakhaNDamishhuM ca paushhpaM

cakraabjapaashasR^iNikaaJNcanavaMshanaalam |

vibhraaNamashhTavidhabaahubhirarkavarNaM

dhyaayeddhariM madanagopavilaasaveshham ||

 

 

dhyaayeth hariM madana gopa vilaasa veshham - I meditate upon hari in the

form of madana gOpAla,

arkavarNaM - who with the color of a rising sun,

vibhraaNam - holds

akhaND aiksha kodanDa - a strong sugar cane bow,

ishhuM ca paushhpaM - an arrow of flowers,

cakra abja paasha sR^iNi kaaJNcana-vaMshanaalam - cakra, shanka, lotus,

wipe, AN^kushA and a golden flute,

AshhTa baahubhiH - in his eight arms.

 

The Mantra dedicated to Sri gopaala sundari has 33 beejaaksharams, which is

a fushion of Pancha Dassakshari (15) and Sri Rajagopaala (18) ashhta

Dassakshari.

 

It's a traditional practise to equate Gopaala sundari to shyamala or

meenakshi. Meenakshi being visualized as Sri mannaaraayaNa is nothing new.

There is a special ramaayaNa which says meenakshi assumed the form of rama &

sundareshwara as seetha. So nandi deva incarnates as Anchaneya (shrii

chandrasekharendra sarasvatii mahAsvamigaL has elaborated on this

topic).Mutthuswami diikshitar in one his songs on somasundareshwara

(madurai) says 'nandi ropa Anchaneyadi nutam' - The one served by nandi in

the form of Anchaneya (implies, he took the form of jaanaki).

 

One the other hand, sri chakra of devi is seen at the lotus feet of gopaala

in dakshina dwaaraka (mannargudi). He is named as sri vidya raaja gopaala

and decorated as madana Gopaala Sundari during Brahmothsavam. There is a

special krithi of diikshitar dedicated to the sri vidya swaroopam of raja

gopala.

 

These fusion principles serve as standard testimony towards mutual tolerance

and bakti. Let shyamala and shyamaanga bestow their grace on us and empower

us to always meditate upon their lotus feet.