saundarya laharI - 6

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Milk of J~nAna

 

 

As part of the keshAdi-pAdAnta description of ambA,

the AcArya now depicts her bosom in a few stanzas. In

one of them (73) he gives the reason for her breast

milk being superior to amR^ita, the divine ambrosia.

The celestials who have had ambrosia are eternally

young; they remain middle-aged always. gaNapati and

subrahmaNya who have had ambA's breast-milk remain

eternally boyish and do not age. "kumArau adyApi":

even today they remain boys.

 

What is the inner meaning of this? The greatness of

ambA's breast-milk is such that her two children who

have had it are j~nAna personified and they know no

kAma. "avidita-vadhUsa~Nga-rasikau kumarau": they know

not what is strIbhoga [sexual enjoyment with women].

The AcArya himself was an example in this matter. The

celestials passed from boyhood to middle age and did

not age further because of their having partaken of

amrta. But they are all the time after petty

pleasures. So the ambrosia of the breast-milk of ambA

who is an ocean of beauty is far superior to that

churned out of the ocean of milk.

 

In the South, gaNapati is believed to be a

brahmacArin; while subrahmaNya has two consorts, vallI

and devasenA. In the North, subrahmaNya is a

brahmacArin while gaNapati has siddhI and buddhI as

his consorts. The AcArya who exemplified the uttermost

limits of brahmacarya brings together the Southern

gaNapati and the Northern subrahmaNya. He shows that

ambA's breast-milk is the milk of j~nAna.

 

 

 

(Excerpted from 'saundaryalaharI: An exposition by

pUjyashrI candrashekharendra sarasvatI svAmI, 68th

sha~NkarAcArya of kA~nci kAmakoTi pITha', compiled and

edited by rA. GaNapati and translated into English by

R.G.K., Revised by BrahmashrI A. KuppusvAmI; Published

by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2001)