A Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS - 07)

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Namaste.

Recall the Note about the organization of the ‘Digest’, from

DPDS – 6 or the earlier ones.

V. Krishnamurthy

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A Digest of Paramacharya’s Discourses on Soundaryalahari - 7

 

Shivas-ShaktyA yukto yadi bhavati shaktaH prabhavitum

na ced-evam devo na khalu kushalaH spanditum-api /

atas-tvAm-ArAdhyAm hari-hara-virinchAdibhir-api

praNantum stotum vA katham-akRtapuNyaH prabhavati // 1 //

(The Paramacharya stays on this sloka

from p.687 to p.806 in the original.

So we are likely to have several postings,

upto DPDS – 17, on this. VK)

ShaktyA yuktaH bhavati yadi – Only if yoked with shakti

ShivaH devaH – (even) Lord shiva

shaktaH – has the ability

prabhavitum – to create the world;

evam na cet -- if not so (yoked),

kushalaH na – (He) is not capable

spanditum api – even to make a move.

khalu – Isn’t it so?

ataH – Therefore,

katham prabhavati – how is it possible

akRta-puNyaH – (for) one who has not accrued any (spiritual)

merits

praNantum – to do prostrations to

stotum vA -- or to praise (by hymns)

tvAm – You

hari-hara-virinchAdibhir-api ArAdhyAm –

who are worshipped even by Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and the

like?

 

(To get the total meaning, please read the English portions

above in the order in which they are presented above. The

Paramacharya does the same thing, but presents it in the order

in which it will make sense in the Tamil language. He usually

does not give the total meaning in one go. VK)

 

Here is embedded the most important ShAkta doctrine that the

parAshakti is higher than the Triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

It is only by Her will and action that even the actionless

nirguNa Shivam gets into action through the Triad and the

cosmic process of presentation of Duality starts. “Everything in

the universe moves because of You, Oh parAshakti; when that is

so, even the prostration to you or praise of you by a devotee

does not happen by itself”. And then by implication our Acharya

brings out the point that when ambaal grants the power to

somebody of praising Her, She does not give it to all and sundry

but only to those who have spiritual merits.

 

And again then, by one more implication, one can take it to mean

that the one who is doing the stotra now, namely, the Acharya

himself, must, ipso facto, be of great spiritual merit. Is that

what he means? Is he so devoid of humility that he praises

himself by implication? No. Later in sloka 57 he is going to

say: ‘snapaya kRpayA mAm-api’ ( that is, pour your glance of

compassion, EVEN on poor me) and again in sloka 84, ‘mamApi

shirasi dayayA dehi caraNau’ (EVEN on my head please place your

feet). So the only way we should interpret the present sloka

is: “You can move even the immutable Shivam into action. It is

You therefore who have given even me, who does not have any

spiritual merit, the capability that you usually grant only to

the meritorious ! It is You who have moved my senses of speech

into the action of hymnising You !”

 

Prostration is by the body (kAyam). Praising through a hymn is

by speech (vAk). By implication the mind (manas) is also

mentioned. Thus in the very first sloka the dedication to Her by

manas, vAk and kAyam has been done. And naturally, the

completeion of this dedication in the form of ‘Atma-samarpaNam’

– dedication of one’s self in fullness – comes in the very last

sloka (#100).

 

There is a parallel observation in the very first sloka of

Viveka-chUDAmaNi. “muktir-no-shata-koTi-janma-sukRtaiH

puNyair-vinA labhyate”, meaning, ‘Unless one has earned

spiritual merit in 100 crores of births, one cannot go the jnAna

mArga and obtain moksha’. But note: our Acharya does not say

explicitly, in this major work of bhakti, that only by

spiritual merit you can go along the path of Bhakti or jnAna or

for that matter any noble path. Whereas, in the Viveka

chUDAmaNi, which is a work on the path of jnAna, -- mistakenly

appropriated by people who think that that is the way to avoid

the traditional worship of deities !-- right in the 3rd sloka,

he says that ‘Seeking a proper guru and starting on the path of

jnAna occurs only by the Grace of God’ – “deivAnugraha-hetukam”!

 

The bottom line of this sloka is that Shiva earns His place and

prestige only when He is united with Shakti. But the words Shiva

and Shakti have been placed in the sloka in that order, with

Shiva first. This indicates that the dependence is mutual;

neither of them is to be lower in hierarchy or glory. THERE IS

NO HIGHER OR LOWER BETWEEN THIS ORIGINAL DIVINE COUPLE. They

have an equality, ‘samam’ in Sanskrit and this is the origin for

the word ‘samaya’ to get the meaning of ‘religion’ or

‘tradition’ in Hindu culture. In the ShAkta and Shaiva

scriptures the word ‘samayAcAra’ is used to denote the path of

worship, that is done mentally through the noblest attitude of

devotion arising from the bottom of the heart. The reason for

the word ‘samaya’ therein is that there are five categories in

which Shiva and Shakti are considered ‘equal’ in that regimen of

worship.

 

One: In their names. Shiva and ShivA; hamsa and hamsI; bhairava

and bhairavI; even, samaya and samayA.

Two: In their forms: KAmeshwara and KAmeshwari are both maroon

in colour, each has four hands, three eyes, the half-moon

adorning their heads, the same four weapons – bow, arrow, pAsha

(noose) and ankusha (spear) -- in the four hands.

Three: In their location: the same peak of Meru; the center of

the Ocean of nectar in MaNi-dvIpa; the same central bindu of

shrI-chakra.

Four: In their function: It is the same five-fold function –

called pancha-kRtya – namely, Creation, Protection, Dissolution,

TirodhAna or mAyA, Grace or anugraha leading to moksha.

Five: In their benediction to the world.

To be Continued.

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PraNAms to all advaitins and Devotees of Mother Goddess.

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.