A Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS - 08)

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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 - 8

 

But, though the work begins with the name of Shiva, the ShAkta

school will still find in the very name of Shiva itself, the

dominance of the feminine Shakti ! In the very word ‘Shiva’

there is the vowel ‘i’ along with the consonant ‘sh’. The vowels

‘I’ (as in ‘feel’) and ‘i’ (as in ‘fit’) are themselves names

of ambaal. All consonants are letters pertaining to Shiva and

all vowels pertain to Shakti. This is a general rule. In

addition the letters ‘I’ and ‘i’ are supposed to be the very

forms of ambaal. Just as the actionless immutable brahman has a

symbolic praNava or ‘Om’, so also the brahman coupled with

Shakti, the kArya-brahman, has a symbolic seed letter called the

praNava of Shiva-Shakti. And in that praNava, the letter

corresponding to Shakti is ‘I’.

 

There is Vedic authority for this. Also in the ShrI sUkta the

form of ambaal as Lakshmi who resides in the heart-lotus is

mentioned as manifesting in the vowel ‘I’ and the surrender is

made to that manifestation. Note that one of the many

sanctities of the word ‘ShrI’ is derived from this.

 

Thus the first word of of the first sloka, though it begins

with Shiva is actually a propitiation to the feminine Shakti.

For, from the word ‘Shiva’ if we remove the vowel ‘i’ and bring

the consonant ‘sh’ to its first position ‘sha’, the word becomes

‘shava’ meaning ‘a dead body’ ! Thus the word ‘shiva’ gets its

life from the vowel ‘i’ , which is the seed letter for Shakti.

Also note that the popular word for ‘saguNa-brahman’ in Vedanta

is ‘Ishwara’, which begins with the sound ‘I’. This is quite in

accordance with its role as the dynamic active Lord who takes

care of the creation and propels the entire universe.

 

(For those who know the Tamil language

here are two more interesting observations: VK)

In Tamil the consonants and vowels are known as ‘body-letters’

(mey-ezhuttu) and ‘life-letters’ (uyir-ezhuttu) respectively .

So in the praNava of Shiva-Shakti, the Lord corresponds to the

‘body-letter’ and the Goddess corresponds to the ‘life-letter’.

And this coordinates with the thought that Shiva is the body and

Shakti is the soul.

Secondly, in Tamil parlance it is common to say: ‘If you have

the power (shakti) to do this, do it; otherwise stay quiet as

‘shiva’ (‘shivane-enRu iru’) ! This again coordinates with the

thought that Shiva is the actionless substratum and Shakti is

the switch that switches everything into action!

 

Throughout his bhAshyas and all his minor works, our Acharya is

never tired of repeating: All worldly activities are mAyA; one

should aspire to realise and become the changeless and

actionless nirguNa brahman. Thus the immutable Shivam is the

object of all his writing and advice. What produces movement out

of that brahman was called mAyA by him and he spared no pains to

paint that mAyA in uncomplimentary colors and warn us strongly

against getting into her clutches.

 

But the very same Acharya, now, in the first sloka of

Soundaryalahari, exclaims with great admiration of Shakti (that

very same mAyA): Oh, Goddess, without you even Shiva cannot

move!

How can the same person talk in two contradictory ways like

this? Which is true? If one of them is not true, can the Acharya

tarnish his name by speaking an untruth?

 

If you look at these things only by logic, you will not get

anywhere. The definition of Truth does not come by logic.

WHATEVER WILL DO GOOD TO WHOMSOEVER IT IS INTENDED, THAT SHOULD

BE STATED LOVINGLY; THAT IS TRUTH (SATYAM). For those who can

tread the path of jnAna, he recommended retirement from the

world. For those who have yet to evolve to that stage of

spiritual maturity, he recommended the path of Bhakti and Karma;

this will make them reach the kArya-brahman through worldly

actions of work and worship. When one does not have an evolved

attitude to a certain path, it is counterproductive to advise

him go that path. So it is not a question of being logical; it

is a question of seeing the psycho-logical (!) perspective. The

ancients called it ‘adhikAri-bheda’, that is, difference in

prerequisite qualifications.

 

Secondly, it is not just that he understood the psychology of

different types of seekers of spirituality and preached

accordingly. It is more. Both the advices he gave, though

seemingly opposite, are ‘true’, each at a particular stage of

evolution. In the phenomenal world, creation and the universe

and the activator of all of them, namely, Ishwara, are all

‘real’ certainly. But when we enquire into the root cause of all

this, we find that the more basic Reality is the Existent

Self-in-itself that is actionless but through a miraculous magic

wand of mAya brings about all this moving world.

 

Thus, when an Acharya or the scripture compares two paths or two

objects of worship and speaks of one as the better or greater of

the two, it does not always mean that the other thing, that had

a lower estimate, is worthless. That which our Acharya talked

about as the thing to be discarded, namely, perception of

duality, in all his works – that very same thing he now praises

to the sky, saying that this is what you have to hold

steadfastly in the bhakti-mArga. In one case it is duality, in

the other case it is ‘sva-svarUpa-anu-sandhAnaM’ (remaining

steadfast in one’s own Self).

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.