saundaryalaharI - 5

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shrI lalitAyai namaH

 

haristvAmArAdhya praNatajanasaubhAgyajananIM

purA nArI bhUtvA puraripumapi kshobhamanayat.h

smaro.api tvAM natvA ratinayanalehyena vapuShA

munInAmapyantaH prabhavati hi mohAya mahatAm.h 5

 

 

jananIM: Mother

saubhAgya: (who causes) saubhAgyam (to)

praNata: prostrating

jana: people

tvAM: You

ArAdhya: having worshipped

hariH: vishNu

purA: earlier, ancient (times)

nArI bhUtvA: assuming the form of a woman

puraripuM api: even to shiva who is the enemy of the three cities

ksobham anayat: caused mental agitation (kAma vikAra)

smaraH api: manmatha too

tvAM natvA: having bowed to you

ratinayanalehyena vapuShA: with a body seen only by ratI devI's eyes

mahatAM: great

munInAM api: sages even

antaH: in their minds

mohAya: of generating passion

prabhavati: capable

 

O Mother, the bestower of saubhAgya to people who worship You:

vishNu, having worshipped You, assumed the form of a woman and caused

mental agitation even to shiva, the destroyer of the three purAs.

Likewise, having bowed to You, smara, with a personality pleasingly

attractive to ratIdevI, has become capable of generating passion even

in the minds of the great sages.

 

 

Commentary:

 

praNatajanasaubhAgyajananI: praNata means worship with trikaraNashuddhi,

by manasA, vAcA, kAyA. prakarShena nataH praNataH.

 

saubhAgyaM: is a real poignant word in sanskrit with pregnant meaning,

and no single english word (or word in any language) can describe that

well. aishwaryasya, samagrasya, vIryasya, yashasshriyaH, j~nAnavairAgya-

yoshcaiva ShaNNAM bhaga itIraNa

 

purA nArI bhUtvA: This refers to the anecdote of the mohinI incarnation

of vishNu at the time when amR^itaM was obtained after churning of the

ocean of milk by the dAnavAs and the devatAs. This mohinI form was

repeated at the desire of shiva. shiva, the greatest of the yogis, who

had control of all the senses, and who burnt kAma (manmatha) to ashes,

was kindled by passion on seeing the mohinI form of vishNu and lost

himself. vishNu got this enticing form of mohinI because of his worship

of shrI devI.

 

tvAM ArAdhya: adored (worshipped) You. Another anecdote which need to

be mentioned in this context is as follows: shiva saved the world by

destroying tripurAsura. The other asurAs feared destruction of their

entire community by shiva. As a group, they prayed on vishNu to guard

them from shiva's wrath. vishNu promised to do so, and was thinking of

ways of appeasing shiva. Sage nArada came by and noticed the anxiety on

vishNu's face. On knowing the reason for his anxiety, nArada advised

vishNu to worship shrI devI in the form of shrIcakra and meditate upon

shrIdevI by repeating the devI mahAmantrA which would satisfy all

desires. vishNu went in search of a preceptor who could initiate him

in the devI mantrA. Not long after, devI parAshakti appeared before

vishNu and taught him the mantrA and the mode of worshipping shrIcakra.

By prolonged worship and meditation of shrIdevI, vishNu got the power

to assume any form that he wished for. He had the mohinI form and

deceived the dAnavAs while serving amR^itaM obtained during the

churning of the ocean. On a glance at mohinI, shiva's mind got

agitated and he lost control of his senses.

 

puraripu: refers to shiva who killed tripurAsura. He is considered

(at that stage) to be very angry, and is not easily amenable to

kAmavikAra. To mentally agitate amorously such a person is indeed

difficult and mohinI was able to do it because of shrIdevI's grace.

 

Lakshmidhara's commentary on saundaryalaharI (considered the standard

in all commentaries) also narrates the incident where vishNu took the

form of a beautiful woman and killed the demon by name Kanakaswami.

When shiva requested him (vishNu) to appear before him, he did in that

damsel's form with the result stated in the verse.

 

vishNu was one of the great devI-upAsakAs.

 

smara api: manmatha, likewise, i.e., in the same manner as vishNu.

smara also worshipped shrIcakra, meditated on devI, chanting

pa~ncadashAksharI mantrA and thereby received the grace of shrI devI.

 

ratinayanalehyenavapuShA: ratIdevI is said to be beauty par excellence

among ladies. The fact that she is attracted to smara, indicates that

smara must be unusually handsome. manmatha in physical form can be

seen only by ratIdevI's eyes. ratinayanalehyenavapuShA refers to this

fact and to the following anecdote. manmatha was burnt to ashes by the

fire of shiva's third eye. He got back to life by shrIdevI's grace and

ratIdevI was given the boon that manmatha will be visible in physical

form only to ratIdevI's eyes.

 

manmatha's prowess in agitating the minds of even the great sages with

kAmavikAra is due to shrIdevI's grace.

 

The implication of this verse is: Lord shiva, the supreme controller of

the senses, and also the great sages with many years of concentrated penance

to their credit, fell prey to the temptation of passion by vishNu in the

form of mohinI, and to manmatha's actions respectively. This is because

vishNu and manmatha are blessed by shrI devI's grace. Both vishNu and

manmatha are shricakra-upAsakAs and the verse indirectly tells about

the great power of shrIcakra upAsana.

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

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