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

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Namaste.

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

from DPDS – 26 or the earlier ones.

V. Krishnamurthy

A Digest of Paramacharya’s Discourses on Soundaryalahari -

29

(Digest of pp.903 - 909 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume, 4th

imprn.)

 

We were talking about Shiva-sAyujya-padavI (the status of

unity with Lord Shiva). To reach the world of the

ishhTa-devatA (Chosen favourite deity) and live in that

world is called sAlokya-padavI. The next stage is the

sAmIpya stage. This is the stage where one lives in the

beatific presence of that God. The next stage which is

sArUpyam is the process of becoming that very form by

continuously meditating on the form. The ultimate is the

sAyujya-padavI where one becomes in essence the object of

one’s adoration. This is an identity status, both in form

and essence.

 

There are devotees of Shiva who seek that sAyujya padavI in

their unquenchable thirst for becoming one with the Lord.

In their case the sAyujyam is an end in itself. On the

other hand, the divine damsels (go back to Shloka 12) who

are seeking that sAyujya status with Lord Shiva do not seek

it as an end, but as a means to be able to see the beauty

of the Supreme Goddess. It is an irony that in the hands of

these damsels even the greatest goal (sAdhyam) of

shiva-sAyujya status has become a sAdhanA (means) for the

sadhyam (that is, that which is sought, and therefore, a

further goal), the darshan of the fullest beauty of ambaal!

 

Well, just because these damsels have sought that status is

it going to be within their reach? It is something which is

inaccessible even for the hardest penance. These damsels

know only to disturb and destroy the penances of the

rishis. The sense-control needed for the hard penance is

beyond their reach. So what do they do? They only try to

achieve it mentally. But that status indeed is not

reachable even by the mind. ‘yan manasA na manute’ says the

Upanishad, meaning, ‘What cannot be thought of even by the

mind’. The bottomline therefore is, even they cannot

ultimately know the beauty of ambaal!

 

It is to be noted that this shloka, which elevates the

beauty (soundaryam) of ambaal to its apex, is actually in

the midst of the first part, that is Ananda-lahari.

 

Another shloka (#14) describes ambaal as the

personification of Time (kAlam).There are six seasons in a

year. These 360 days of the year are the 360 rays of light

emanating from the infinite Light of Shakti. Each of the

chakras represents one of these seasons and there are as

many rays there as there are days in the corresponding

season.For instance, in the mUlAdhAra chakra, there are

fifty-six rays, corresponding to the fifty six days of

vasanta-ritu (the spring season). She thus contracts

Herself as a ritu in Time and stays as such in that chakra.

In reality She transcends Time; She is kAlAtItA. It is in

that transcendent state, She manifests as the divine Feet

in the thousand-petalled chakra, beyond the six chakras.

The pair of Her lotus feet – ‘tava padAmbuja-yugam’ -- is

there in that sahasrAra chakram.

 

Amidst the Anandalahari shlokas I will now pick up one

shloka (#15) which depicts Her, not in Her lalitA form, but

in another form consistent with the ShrI VidyA tantra.

 

Sharat-jyotsnA shuddhAM shashi-yuta-jaTA-jUTA-makuTAM

vara-trAsa-trANa-sphaTika-ghuTikA-pustaka-karAM /

sakRn-na tvA natvA katham-iva satAM sannidadhate

madhu-kshhIra-drAkshhA-madhurima-dhurINAH paNitayaH //

 

satAM: For (those) noble ones,

sakRt : just once

natva: having prostrated

tva : to You

Sharat-jyotsnA-shuddhAM : who is as pure and white as the

autumnal moonlight

shashi-yuta-jaTA-jUTA-makuTAM: who has the crown of matted

hair that includes the moon, and

vara-trAsa-trANa-sphaTika-ghuTikA-pustaka-karAM: who holds

in the (four) hands, the boon mudrA, the fear-protection

mudrA, the crystal bead necklace, and the book

Katham-iva : why(would)

paNitayaH : the speech capabilities

madhu-kshhIra-drAkshhA-madhurima-dhurINAH: which are

pregnant with the sweetness of honey, milk and grapes

na sannidadhate: not accrue?

 

Here the Goddess depicted is the the Goddess of Speech,

(vAg-devi or Sarasvati), but without Her usual VINA in Her

hand.

 

The word ‘sharad’ becomes very apt when one refers to

Goddess Sarasvati. It is in sharad-ritu (the autumnal

season) that we do pUjA to Sarasvati. She is called ShAradA

because of that. Our Acharya had a special affinity to the

ShAradA name. Sarasvati is very important to him because we

know he reached the peak of excellence in scholarship.

 

[Note by VK. It is a miraculous coincidence

that the turn, in this series, of this posting,

has come on the ninth day of navarAtri,

which is the day of Sarasvati-Puja,

that falls on Saturday the 4th of October, 2003.]

 

ShAradA is one of the more important names of Sarasvati.

It indicates simultaneously the perfect purity of whiteness

and the cool Grace that combines pleasantness and goodness.

Very often ‘sha’ and ‘sa’ get interchanged in tradition. In

north India there is the custom of referring to ShAradA as

SaradA. The latter word means, SAra-dA, the One who graces

you with the essence (sAram) of Knowledge.This may be

another reason why the Acharya had an affinity toward the

name. The name of the deity he installed in Sringeri is

ShAradAmbAL. In spite of the fact that he had a liking

towards this name, just as he never mentioned either lalitA

or Tripura-sundari in this stotra, he did not also mention

ShAradA. Still, by the words ‘Sharad-jyotsnA’ in the

beginning of this shloka, he reminds us of ShAradAmbAl.

 

The second line of the shloka talks about the four hands.

Two of the hands show the vara (boon) and abhaya

(fearlessness) mudrAs. Earlier it was said in shloka 4 that

all others other thanLalitAmbAL show the vara-abhaya

mudrAs. So in this shloka he presents Saraswati with the

vara-abhaya mudrAs. The dual word ‘trAsa-trANa’ indicates

the ‘abhaya’. For ‘trAsa’ means ‘fear’ and ‘trANa’ means

protection. Protection from fear is just ‘abhaya’,

fearlessness.

 

SphaTika-ghuTikA is the crystal bead necklace. In Sanskrit

it is called ‘aksha-mAlA’. This is the same as

‘akshara’mAlA’. The aksharas are the alphabets. The 51

letters of the Sanskrit alphabet from ‘a’ to ‘kshha’

correspond each by each to the beads in the necklace; that

is why it is called ‘akshara-mAlA’, also called

‘aksha-mAlA’. Here I have to tell you a very important

component of the ShAkta tradition and scriptures.

(To be Continued)

Thus spake the Paramacharya.

 

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.