Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-39)

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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 -

39

(Digest of pp. 964 - 969 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

Thus the identity (sAyujyam) that shloka 22 talks about in

its third line has something to do with jnAna, bhakti and

shakti. It is not the brahman-realisation spoken of in

advaita.

Now we shall take up the pun on the words ‘bhavAni tvam’ in

the shloka. As soon as the devotee utters the words

‘bhavAni tvam’ as a beginning for his full sentence:

‘bhavAni tvam dAse mayi vitara dRshhTim sakaruNAM’ the

Goddess is ready to grant him the highly merited sAyujyam

(identity) with Her. What is so powerful in those two words

‘bhavAni tvaM’? This is where the poet has played with

Sanskrit grammar.

 

The word ‘bhavAni’ can be interpreted in two ways – one as

a noun, and another as a verb. The verbal root is ‘bhava’.

This itself gives the two meanings. When ‘bhava’ is a noun

it is a name of Lord Shiva. In this context ‘bhavAni’ would

mean ‘the consort of bhava’, that is, ambaal. ‘bhava’ as a

verb would mean ‘be’ or ‘become’. In this context,

‘bhavAni’ would mean ‘Let me become’ or ‘Let me be’. So

‘bhavAni tvam’ would mean ‘May I become You’. Remember that

in Sanskrit a sentence accommodates changing the order of

the words in the sentence without affecting the meaning.

 

Ambaal is an ocean of compassion and grace. So when a

devotee seeks the identity with Her by the two simple words

‘bhavAni tvam’, She doesn’t wait for his further words; She

simply grants the sAyujya-status ‘then and there’ ! But

the irony of it is, he, the devotee, considers himself too

low in the spiritual ladder to merit anything great and he

has no conception of what honourable return from the

Goddess awaits him. ‘Just a glance towards this poor me, Oh

Mother!’ – this is all what he pleads for. Note that the

poet uses the word ‘yah’, meaning, ‘whoever’. So the

devotee does not have to be a great ‘sAdhu’. He could be

any one. He may not even know that there is a status called

‘sAyujyam with ambaaL’! The couple of words ‘bhavAni tvam’

has such an effect even on ordinary persons who recite it.

 

The Almighty is the Lord. I am only a servant – This is the

attitude of the devotee in the first line of the shloka. Of

course it is an attitude of duality, not advaita. But even

to such a person who only wants to be a servant of the

Goddess, ambaal hands over in a platter the very advaita

itself. Certainly this is saguNa-advaitam. But would She

not also grant him, in due course, the nirguNa-advaitam?

 

Take the case of Hanuman. He was always steeped in the

concept “dAsoham”, (‘dAsaH + ahaM’) meaning, “I am your

servant”. ‘dAsa’ means servant. By the very fact that he

was steeped in that concept of “dAsoham” all his life, he

reached the advaitic stage of “soham” (‘saH + ahaM’), which

means, “I am He (That)”. What this shloka says is that

ambaal transforms every one who comes to Her with the

attitude of “dAsoham”, to the apex stage of “soham”! It is

a stage which is difficult for countless persons who

struggle for the realisation of “aham brahmAsmi” and for

even still more who ceaselessly meditate on the words

“tat-tvam-asi” of the guru. While many of them find it an

inaccessible ideal, it is granted even to the ordinary

person who sincerely comes to ambaal with the two words

“bhavAni tvam” though with something else in mind.

 

We have still not finished with ‘bhavAni tvam’. So far we

considered ‘bhavAni tvam’ as two words. But ‘bhavAni-tvam’

can also be considered as a single word. Then it means ‘the

state of being bhavAni or parA-shakti’. The structure of

the single word is something like ‘amaratvam’ which means

‘the state of being immortal’ and like ‘kavi-tvam’ which

means ‘poetic talent’. So the moment the devotee says

‘bhavAni tvam’ ambaal takes it as a request for

‘bhavAni-tvam’ and She grants the ‘bhavAni-tvam’ to him. In

other words She gives Her own status, namely the status of

sAyujya with Her to him.

 

Remember the devotee has not even begun his petition to

Her. But even before He asks in full, She is ready to give

him not only what he asks but even more. Recall the

“vAnchA-samadhikaM” of shloka 4, where it was said that Her

feet are capable of gracing the devotee with ‘more than

what is wished’!

At this point the Paramacharya

makes a very subtle comment about Adi Shankara,

which is exquisite. It also shows

the bhakti which he has towards

(the Acharya) Adi Shankara. I am giving the following

paragraph (almost) in exact translation,

so that it can be enjoyed in the original. VK

 

When we see this, something remarkable strikes us. Suppose

somebody is a great scholar in a language and without any

knowledge-arrogance he is also a sincere devotee of the

Goddess, to the extent that he considers himself as nothing

but a lowliest servant of ambaal, -- all this is actually a

description of the Acharya himself -- such a one never

ignores even the commonest of people, but discovers a deep

content even in their ordinary comments and speeches. Such

profound contents will certainly be granted to him (at his

stature) as an experience, by ambaal. But when he says

that such an experience will be given by ambaal even to the

common man, why would She not give it to him who has the

greatness of heart to see the profound in the profane! The

stanza of KuraL (in Tamil) which says: “From whomsoever

whatsoever is heard, to see the Truth in that is Knowledge”

gets a new meaning here. “Knowledge” may as well be taken

to mean “Experiential Knowledge”!

 

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.

Also see the webpages on Paramacharya's Soundaryalahari :

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/DPDS.html