Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-57)

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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 -

57

(Digest of pp.1107- 1114 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

tanotu kshhemaM naH tava vadana-soundarya-laharI

parIvAha-srotaH saraNiriva sImanta-saraNiH /

vahantI sindUraM prabala-kabarI-bhAra-timira-

dvishhAM bRndaiH bandhIkRtam-iva navInArka-kiraNaM //44//

 

[since the word-by-word meaning is

automatically coming out of

the Paramcharya’s explanations,

it is not given here separately. VK]

This shloka has an added significance since it has

contributed to the title of the stotra ‘soundarya-laharI’.

“naH kshhemaM tanotu” : Let there devolve auspiciousness on

all of us. Thus begins the shloka auspiciously. What is

supposed to devolve the auspiciousness?

“sImanta-saraNiH” : The line of the parting of hair (on

the head). ‘SImanta’ is the parting of hair. ‘saraNiH’

means path, route, line, wave, flow. The particular meaning

will depend on the context. Here it is ‘line’. The word

‘SImanta-unnayanaM’ denotes a special ritual that is done

for pregnant women for the benefit of the foetus. The

ritual consists of drawing a line along the sImanta of the

woman with the chanting of certain mantras. This is good

for the foetus. The word sImantaM is a union of ‘sImA’ and

‘antaM’. SimA means boundary, here, the boundary that

parts the two sides of the hair. Its ‘antam’ is the end of

that boundary. Technically it should have been ‘sImAntaM’

but the middle long ‘a’ has been shortened. This is

actually an exception to the usual grammatical rule. A

similar exception, but in the opposite direction, takes

place in the name ‘VishvAmitra’ where it should have been

only ‘Vishvamitra’, thus meaning, friend of the world. On

the other hand as ‘VishvAmitra’ (‘Vishva’ + ‘amitra’) it

now means ‘the enemy of the world’. Again this is an

unusual grammatical exception.

 

So ‘SImantaM’ means ‘the end of the boundary or border’. Of

what is it the border or boundary? For a human body there

are two boundaries. One is the foot and the other is the

head. In the boundary that is the head, the line of

parting of the hair goes up to the position of

‘brahmarandra’ and ends there. So it is called ‘the end of

the boundary’ or ‘sImanta’.

Goddess Mahalakshmi permanently resides in five places. A

lotus, the frontal head portion of an elephant, the hind

part of a cow, the spine on the back of a bilwa leaf, and

the sImanta of a sumangali.

 

It is interesting to note that the Acharya has used

“vadana-soundarya-laharI’ (waves of beauty of the face) in

this shloka and this has become the title of the whole

stotra. We do not know who made it the title, but what we

may conclude is that it is quite apt. What is further

interesting is the fact that this beauty-wave occurs in the

shloka where the sImanta of the Devi is talked about. It is

this flood of facial beauty that should bring us the

auspiciousness that we need. ‘tanotu kshhemaM naH tava

vadana-soundarya-laharI’.

 

Now let us find out what is so special about the sImanta

here. “vahantI sindUraM” : It (the sImantaM : the parting

in the hair) bears the vermilion. The word ‘sindUraM’ also

means ‘red lead’ which is used for medicinal purposes in

Siddha medicine. In North India almost all Ganesha deities

would be totally soaked in this sindUraM. And in the same

way they would do it for the Anjaneya deity also. Maybe the

indication is that the beginning and the end are the same!

 

In traditional books, kumkumam is spoken of as sindhUram.

The Veda-mAtA (Mother Goddess representing Shruti) bows

down in obeisance to ambaa. It is the kumkumam from the

sImantam of Veda-mAtA that has sprinkled itself on the feet

of ambaa. This idea occurs in LalitA-sahasranAma.

‘SImanta-sindhUri’ is the expression there. It is in the

parting of the hair that kumkumam is applied. On the

forehead however, that is, between the eyebrows where one

applies the ‘tilakam’ what is applied is ‘kastUri-tilakam’

-- this is what one gathers from the sahasranAma. Recall

the name:

“mukha-chandra-kaLankAbha-mRga-nAbhi-visheshhakA”. It says,

just as there is a spot (kaLanka) on the disc of the moon,

so also is the kastUri-dot on the face of ambaa. This name

occurs (in the sahasranAma) between the name that describes

the forehead (aLika-sthala) and the name that describes

the eyebrows (cillikA). Therefore it is clear that the name

‘mukha-chandra- kaLankAbha- ...’ describes the centre of

the eyebrows. So kumkumam at the parting of the hair

(SImanta-sindhUri) as well as the kumkumam at the centre of

the eyebrows – both are called ‘sindhUram’ by the Acharya.

 

According to the shAstras, the place where sumangalis

(women with living husbands) have to adorn the kumkumam is

the parting of the hair, at the place where it starts from

the forehead. The practice of adorning the centre of the

eyebrows is only a cosmetic addition. It is at the centre

of the eyebrows where one concentrates the Supreme. It is

in that manner one wears the vibhUti or sandal-paste, etc.

at that spot; so also kumkumam is also applied there.

Whatever it be, the characteristic of a sumangali is only

the kumkumam at the parting of the hair. Women of olden

days applied the kumkumam first at the parting of the hair

and then only on the forehead between the eyebrows.

 

The location of the central parting of the hair is a kind

of residential address of the Goddess Bhagya-lakshmi of

Prosperity. Goddess ambaa has the kumkumam along the entire

parting of the hair. That is what this shloka says.

‘SImanta-saraNI’ means only that. In fact as the shloka

goes, it appears that there is a round spot of kumkumam at

the point where this ‘saraNI’ (the path) starts at the top

of the forehead and thereafter along the path of the

parting, it goes as a streak of red. There is no greater

bliss than the pleasure of visualising ambaa with this

SImanta-sindhuram. In other words the place of residence of

mahAlakshmi has been decorated with kumkumam. In fact there

is much more in this.

 

(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