Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-55)

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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 -

55

(Digest of pp.1086-1091 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

Among the various relationships of Shiva and Shakti, there

is also the relationship of guru-shishya. Almost all the

Agamas, Tantras and Samhitas are supposed to have been

taught by the Lord to ambaaL.

[Note by Ra. Ganapati: Generally,

rites of worship follow the Agamas,

Tantras and Samhitas according to

what deity is being worshipped – Shiva, Devi or Vishnu]

This guru shishya relationship – with the Lord as guru and

ambaaL as shishyaa, comes in shloka #31.

[i am giving shloka 31 here along with its translation,

though the Paramacharya does not do so,

but still discusses it in detail. V.K.]

 

catuH shhashhTyA tantraiH sakalam-atisandhAya bhuvanaM

sthitas-tattat-siddhi-prasava-paratantraiH pashupatiH /

punas-tvan-nirbandhAd-akhila-purushhArthaika-ghaTanA-

svatantraM te tantraM kshhiti-talaM avAtItarad-idaM //31//

 

pashu-patiH – Lord Shiva

sthitaH - remained as if fulfilled

atisandhAya – after having deceived

sakalaM bhuvanaM– all the world

catuH-shhashhTyA tantraiH – with the sixty four tantras

tattat-siddhi-prasava-paratantraiH. – (that that – result

– generating --worldy fulfillments) which expound

practices that result in one or other of various psychic

powers and worldly fulfillments.

punaH – But again,

tvan-nirbandhAt – by Your insistence,

avAtItarat – (He) revealed

kshhiti-talaM – (to the ) world

idaM – this

te tantraM – Thine own tantra,

svatantraM – independent (of all the others)

akhila-purushhArthaika-ghaTanA – (which is) capable of

conferring all the purushhArthas (by itself)

 

The Lord taught the various 64 tantras (means or

strategies for attaining an end) to the world. But each one

of them can give a certain type of worldly benefit, not

more. In some sense this is a curtain of delusion thrown on

the people of the world. The four purushhArthas (objectives

of life) are dharma, artha, kAma and mokshha. All these can

be had in one stroke by resorting to the Sri VidyA tantra.

The Lord knew this. Then why did he not teach that also to

the world? In fact the Sri VidyA tantra not only gives the

worldly benefits but also takes one to the level of

Brahman-realisation, because it makes all worship internal

and focusses the entire physical and mental body toward

that Ultimate goal of brahman-experience. So the Mother

Goddess insisted that the Lord should teach this also to

their worldly children.

 

The word ‘nirbandhAt’ is very aptly put. It was She who

involved the actionless brahman somehow into being the

cause of the Cosmic World-play. But what happened? The play

became so involving that it became a cosmic dance for Him.

The dance of the five cosmic functions; then the samhAra

dance, where the parA-shakti is only a non-participating

witness! And then there are the seven different dances

called ajapA-dance, kukkuTa-dance, and so on. In addition

to this there is the nine-fold dance mentioned in shloka

41. Over and above this there are the 64 leelas, like

bikshATanaM, tripura-dahanAm, and jalandhara-vadha – not to

speak of the 64 leelas particularised in the temple-city of

Madurai, where Meenakshi reigns. Not only he is involving

himself in a pluralistic capacity, but He has also

manouvred to distract the populace into the 64 tantras

which give worldly benefits and retained the supreme Sri

VidyA Tantra which could give the advaitic realisation to

them.

 

It is at this point ambaaL decided to insist that they be

taught the Sri VidyA tantra. It is of course the worship of

ambaaL. But instead of Herself propagating it, She wanted

this husband of Hers, this guru of Hers, to bring it to the

world. This shows three characteristics of the Mother

Goddess. Firstly, Her conjugal devotion to the ‘pati’;

secondly Her respect for Her guru; and thirdly Her infinite

compassion on Her children, the people of the world. It

need not be emphasized it is the third quality, the

motherly affection, that shows uppermost here.

 

The Sri VidyA tantra has several greatnesses of which one

is the fact that it is the most concordant with the vedic

route. Of course all the tantras can be adapted to the

vedic route; but some of them do present obstacles to such

vedic adaptation. So there is a necessity to speak of

tantras which are concordant with vedic practices and which

are not. It was our Acharya who established the pure vaidic

pUjA and instilled life into it. It is true that even this

pUjA contains some of the mantras which owe their origin

to the tantra way. When he initiated the vaidic pUja

rituals in connection with the upAsanA following the

SriVidyA tantra, he followed only the samayAchAra

discipline.

 

It is this tantra that he calls ‘te tantraM’ (Your tantra).

In other words it is Hers, and She got it initiated into

the world by the Lord Himself by insisting on it

(‘nirbandhAt’). And again, it is interesting to note that

in all those other tantras, very often only a lower

hierarchical position is given to Shiva. On the other hand,

it is in this tantra which is delibrately called ‘te

tantraM’ , that there is a perfect equality (‘samaya’)

between Shiva and Shakti!

 

Looking back at the Anandalahari portion we see that Shiva

and Shakti have been represented in several different roles

– Shiva, as Her Majesty’s most obedient servant; as Husband

with an equal role; as a functionary so positioned by Her;

as Husband only in name; as Guru; as devotee ; even as a

son. And again, ambaaL has been depicted severally, as

half of His body; as one who has appropriated even the

other half of Shiva’s body; as life-saver; and as the

motive force who moves Him.

 

In spite of all this, what is most important in this

Anandalahari section are the two shlokas 32 and 33 where

the esoteric nuances of the Shri VidyA tantra are

mentioned. The later part of the hymn is a description of

the physical form of the Goddess; whereas the first part is

the representation of that form through the akshharas. Any

deity for that matter has two forms – one physical and the

other, the form of sound. This Anandalahari part is the

sound-form (shabda-svarUpa) of ambaaL. The physical form is

a vision for the eyes. The sound-form is to be heard by the

ears, articulated by the tongue through speech. In fact the

physical form actually emanated from the sound. Only by the

japa of the sound the other form becomes visible. Of course

the same thing also means that it is the physical form that

is the goal and the japa of the sound or the aksharas is

only a means for that end. And thus we come to the end of

Anandalahari looking forward to that goal of viewing the

delightful physical form of ambaaL.

 

The Acharya ends the Anandalahari portion with the mention

of “janaka-jananI” – the Father and the Mother, of the

whole universe. So the philosophical part is going to be

set aside now and we go on to see the physical form of the

Mother in all its infiniteness of Grace, Compassion and

Beauty.

(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