shrI lalitA aShTottara shatanAmAvaliH-28

[Guest guest]

shrIH

> 27. saubhaagyajaatashR^i.ngaaramadhyamaayai namo namaH

>

> Salutations to Her, whose waist is pretty (dainty),

>

> and is the cause of saubhAgya(welfare, good luck,etc.).

 

 

28. divyabhuuShaNasa.ndohara.njitaayai namo namaH

 

Salutations to Her, who is adorned with a multitude of divine

 

ornaments.

 

As in LS 51. sarvAbharaNabhAsurA, meaning "adorned with all

 

ornaments".

 

Additonal notes on LS 51 from R.A Sastry's translation:

 

"The Kalika Purana describes forty jewels from crest jewel to

 

the ring of the feet. The Kalpa Sutras (of Parashurama Khanda

 

IV, 5) give more ornaments".

 

Also see meaning of "haaTakAbharaNojjvalA" below.

 

/message/2677

 

rgds

[Guest guest]

Dear members,

 

Though Ravi's translation and interpretation are quite adequate, I

am writing this for the benefit of people who are less acquainted

with Vedantic concepts (and for my own understanding). I realized

how difficult it is to translate/interpret Shankaracharya's trishati

commentary. It took me more than two hours and I don't think I have

done justice. I apologize for a long post.

 

shariira traya vilaxaNa sukhatara svaatmaanu bhoginyai,

sarvabhUShaNabhUShitAyai namaH

 

Aravind

 

sarvabhUShaNabhUShitA

 

..praaNinaH bhuushhaNa ala.nkaara bhojanaadini bhogya vastuni

aatmaarthaM sampaadyanti ..

 

"Living beings seek ornaments, delicious food etc for their

enjoyment."

 

 

Acharya uses the phrase 'aatmaartam sampaadyanti' (roughtly

translated) 'they obtain for their own sake'. The very reason for us

to work towards aquiring ala.nkara or bhojana is because it gives us

pleasure. So ala.nkara and bhojana become the means (saadanam) and

pleasure is (saadyam) my goal. If the means does not get me to the

goal I desire; I no longer seek the means. To restate, the love for

the means is not for the sake of the means; but for the sake of the

goal.

 

YagGyavalkya introduces this (saadana saadhya viveka) 'means-end

discrimination' in the BrihataaraNyaka mantra,

na va are patyuh kamaya patih priyo bhavati........atmanas-tu kamaya

sarvam priyam bhavati.

 

He groups, pati,jaayaa etc. in the means-group.

 

Now the question arises, what is the goal or the love for the goal?

 

Acharya says every thing is sort for the sake of the self

(aatmaartam), Hence 'self' is the goal.

 

When we say 'aatmaartam' or 'for my own sake', what does the

word 'me' or 'aatmaa' mean?

 

aatmaa in this context means 'sthUla-sUxma-kaaraNa shariira

vayatirikta pratyagAtmaa', technically know as 'pratibimba

chaitanyam' or `prayagaatmaa' in Vedanta.

 

When some one asks me who I am, I inherently identify myself with

this body-mind complex. Vedanta defines this body-mind complex as

comprising of three layers 'shariiratrayam' namely sthuula, suuxma

and kaaraNa. (Please refer to Tatvabodha for further explanation on

this topic)

 

'sharira trayam' is bautikam (matter) and hence it is jaDam (is not

conscious by itself).

 

But we are conscious of ourselves and rest of the living beings too

appear sensuous to us. Vedanta says, the body mind complex is

conscious not because of inherent consciousness (svaabhaavika

chaitanya.m), but because of borrowed consciousness (aagantuka

chaitanya.m).

 

If the body mind complex has borrowed consciousness, who is the one

who is lending consciousness?

 

 

Vedanta says; aatmaa is the one that lends consciousness to

shariiratrayam.

 

In Gita, Bhagavan says,

 

ahamaatmaa guDaakesha sarvabhuutaashayasthitaH ...

ahamaadishcha madhya.n cha bhuutaanaamanta eva cha .. (10-20)..

 

"I am the Self, O guDaakesha, dwelling in the heart of all beings"

 

Hence it is paramaatmaa who provides sensuousness to a body-mind

complex. (pratyagaatmaa para.njyotir maayaa saa tu mahattamaH ..

16..-pAshupata brahma upanishhad). A more contextual quote,

bah.hvR^icha upanishhad says, this aamaa which is the one conscious

entity that lends consiousness to all living beings is none other

than Lalita Tripurasundari.

 

yo.ahamasmiiti vA sohamasmiiti vA yo.asau so.ahamasmiiti vA

yA bhAvyate saishhA shhoDashii........ (Please refer to Ravi's

posts on this subject for further elobaration)

 

Hence,

 

..sarvaatmakatvena, teshhaaM sarveshaaMpratyaktayaa taiH sarvair-

bhuushitaa, upakR^itetyarthaH. tasmaat sarvabhUShaNabhUShitA

 

"As the indeweller of all beings, she is adorned with all (ornaments

etc.) they seek (for the sake of their own `self')"

Hence, she is adorned with all ornaments.

 

As she indwells in every living being as the very consciousness,

when people seek varied things for their sake, they indeed seek them

for the sake of the 'self' which is none other than HER. Hence she

is adorned with everything that is sort by living beings.

(sarvabhuushaNa bhushitaa is from the standpoint of antaryaami or

saaxi chaitanyam)

 

Now you can see how perfectly the Upanishad verse fits the

context. "aatmanasthu kaamaaya sarvaM priyaM bhavati"

 

 

Additional Notes:

 

1) The concept of pratibimba chaitanya.m is extensively dealt in the

third chapter of Brahma sutra and the seventh chapter of Gita. In

another stotra Acharya uses the same concept in a slightly different

fashion and says 'Even if you want the reflected object to be

decorated; only the reflection needs decoration'

 

pratibimbAlaMkR^itikushalo biMbAlaMkR^itimAtanute

"Decorating the reflected object (automatically) decorates the

reflection"

 

 

2) If you notice all the sa-kaara names in this series have 'sarva'

prefix. Acharya's interpretation mainly focuses on this 'sarva'

aspect. In his first interpretation of sarvabhUShaNabhUShitA Acharya

interprets sarva to mean not just bhUShaNa, but all that one seeks

for ones own shariira trayam. (I.e bhUShaNa, bhojana, bhogya etc.)

In the next interpretation he uses sarva to mean all ornaments.