Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-42)

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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 -

42

(Digest of pp.978 - 981 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

I was telling you about the non-mention of Rudra in shloka

#22. And that led me on to shloka #25, which we shall

scrutinise now in order to understand that, in keeping with

the esoteric nature of Anandalahari, the subtlety of the

pati-patni relationship between the murtis of shiva and

ambaa has not been damaged there. For there is not even a

loophole therein to bring the identity of Rudra and Shiva.

 

(Note: Though the Paramacharya does not get into

Shloka #25 in detail, in order for us to understand

the key point he makes about it, I give below

my own word-by-word translation of #25,

for the benefit of readers. VK)

 

trayANAM devAnAM triguNa-janitAnAM tava shive

bhavet-pUjA pUjA tava caraNayor-yA viracitA /

tathA hi tvat-pAdodvahana-maNipIThasya nikaTe

sthitA hyete shashvan-mukullita-karottamsa-makuTAH // 25 //

 

yA pUjA : The worship

viracitA : done

tava caraNayoH : at They Feet

bhavet : becomes, as it were,

pUjA : the worship

trayANAmM devAnAM : of all the three deities (Brahma,

Vishnu and Rudra)

tava triguNa-janitAnAM : who were born of Thy three guNas

tathA hi: Indeed it is this way.

Ete : These gods

sthitAH shashvat ; are stationed, ever,

maNipIThasya nikaTe : in proximity to the seat of gems

tvat-padodvahana : that bear Thy feet

mukulita-karottamsa-makuTAH: with their joined palms held

(in salutation to Thee) above their diademed heads

 

Now we shall go back to

the Paramacharya’s explanations: VK)

 

The three divinities mentioned here are referred to as

“triguNa-janitAnAM”, meaning, ‘those who have their origins

in Thy three guNas, satva, rajas and tamas’. Rudra is the

only one who has the tamas as the source. Since he is said

to ‘be born’ (janitAnAM) of tamas, it is tantamount to

saying that he is ‘born’ of Her and therefore He is Her

offspring. And this justifies his falling at Her feet.

Since the topic here is to say that the pUjA of the Divine

Triad (born of Her guNas) is actually embedded (included,

implied) in the pUjA of Mother Goddess, the deity Rudra,

who is generally equated with Shiva, has to be included

here. But whenever one wants to develop the theme that

even great divines worship the devI, (as in shloka 22) one

uses Mukunda, BrahmA and Indra without mentioning any of

the names Rudra, Shiva or Ishvara which names are

identified with Shiva. All the divines disappear in the

Grand Dissolution, while the one who doesn’t disappear even

at the time of the Dissolution, is not here at the scene of

the falling at the feet!

 

Lest I forget, let me now itself dwell on a subtle point

regarding the nIrAjana corresponding to the Grand

Dissolution (mahA-pralaya) (shloka 30).

(Again, as before, I give below the shloka #30

and its meaning, though the Paramacharya

does not choose to give the word-by-word meaning: VK)

 

svadehodbhUtAbhir-ghRNibhir-aNimAdyAbhir-abhito

nishhevye nitye tvAm-aham-iti sadA bhAvayati yaH /

kim AshcaryaM tasya trinayana-samRddhiM tRNayatA

mahA-samvartAgnir-viracayati nIrAjana-vidhiM //30//

 

nitye : Oh the Eternal One,

nishhevye : Oh the One adored by all,

yah : He who

sadA : always

bhAvayati : thinks of (meditates on)

tvAM : You

abhitaH : (You, who are) surrounded

ghRNibhiH : by rays

svadehodbhUtAbhiH : emanating from one’s own body

aNimAdhyAbhiH : such as aNimA and the like,

aham iti : as “I”,

kim Ashcaryam : What wonder is there (meaning, No wonder)

that

tasya : for him

triNayatA : (who) makes into insignificance

trinayana-samRddhiM : the glory of the three eyed (Shiva),

mahA-samvartAgniH : The Great Fire of Dissolution

viracayati : becomes

nirAjana-vidhiM : (only) the rite of waving of Lights.

 

 

The content here is this: Those who meditate with a

complete (advaitic) identification with ambaa, are

themselves offered the nirAjana by the Fire of the Grand

Dissolution. But in an earlier shloka, (#26), it is said

that BrahmA, Vishnu and all other divines disappear at the

time of that mahA-pralaya, but Shiva alone remains,

sporting with Her. The question now arises: How come, in

shloka 30, it talks as if the ‘tvAm-aham’ worshippers (that

is, those who have identified themselves with Mother

Goddess) survive during the Great Dissolution and receive

the nIrAjana of the mahA-pralaya?

 

Yes, it is alright --, in the following sense. If they had

been different from ambaa, they would have certainly been

destroyed in the Dissolution. But they are in advaitic

oneness with ambaa. They are the ‘tvAm-aham’ upAsakas. They

are the ‘I am one with You’ entitites. In other words they

are one with the devi. Of course this devi is not the

attributeless (nirguNa) one. How can there be a nIrAjana

for the nirguNa? The first line of Shlok 30 means ‘You

who are surrounded by divine powers like aNimA, which are

all rays emanating from Your own body’. This itself says we

are talking of the saguNa form only here. The identity or

oneness (sAyujyaM) that is talked about here is the same as

the ‘bhavAni-tvam’ idea of shloka 22.

 

But again one may question: ‘Then, why are they talked

about as separate and as if they are separately receiving

the nIrAjana of the Fire of Dissolution?’. Though they may,

in their identity with the Mother, have a feeling that they

are themselves doing the play of Dissolution, along with

that, there will be a symbiotic feeling of appreciation and

bliss at the sight of the divine leelA taking place right

before them.

 

Let us note clearly that never can a jIvAtmA attain the

identity of being the doer of Creation, Sustenance and

Dissolution. To be in that kind of complete oneness with

the saguNa-brahman in total advaitic identification is an

impossibility. The peak of experience can only be the

‘feeling’ as if it is itself doing the activities of the

saguNa-brahman. The feeling can be very deep and profound.

But never can it become the original. In order to

compensate for this gap in complete identification, one is

graced by Ishvara with this apex-like experience of being

witness to the divine deeds. In fact, let me venture to

say, that the very purpose of being a saguNa brahman may

well be to grant this experience to that single one in a

million!

To be Continued

 

Thus spake the Paramacharya

 

praNAms to all advaitins and Devotees of Mother Goddess

profvk

 

 

=====

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