Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-58)

[Guest guest]

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 -

58

(Digest of pp.1115 -1119 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

[Note by VK: The delightful commentary in Tamil

of the Paramacharya on this shloka, #44,

has been really a difficult one for me

to present in English (in DPDS – 57, 58 and 59).

The superb majesty of his discourse

should be enjoyed in the original]

 

In the Assembly of ambaa, on both sides of Her, Lakshmi and

Saraswati are said to be fanning Her. This is what the name

“sa-cAmara-ramA-vANI-savya-dakshhiNa-sevitA” says in the

Lalita-sahasranAma. Instead of having them as Her

assistants, She has them both as Her very eyes – this is

what the name “kAmAkshhi” means. “kA” means Saraswati and

“mA” means Lakshmi. And “akshha” means ‘eye’. So

“kAmAkshhi” is the One who has ‘kA’ and ‘mA’ as Her eyes!

 

Later, shloka 64 says that Saraswati dwells in Her tongue.

In fact, the grace of ambaa in bestowing power of

expression to devotees is well known. That is why Saraswati

is spoken of as dwelling in Her own tongue. And the poet in

the Acharya plays gymnastics with the word japa in that

shloka, where it says: Your tongue defies the japa

(hibiscus) flowers in its redness because it is constantly

engaged in the Japa (mantra-repetition) that gives

expression to the glories of Lord Shiva; the redness of Her

tongue is so intense that the Goddess of Speech, Saraswati,

who dwells therein, gets Her crystal-like white complexion

changed into the colour of a ruby (noted for its

reddishness). We already saw in Shloka 16 that poets have

spoken of Her as ‘shRngAra-laharI’ in Her form as the ‘red’

Saraswati (aruNa-saraswati).

 

Thus, of the two fanning divines, one of them, Saraswati,

is elevated to the position of residing in the divine

tongue of ambaa. So, the other of them, namely Lakshmi, is

now elevated in this shloka (#44), to even a higher

position, namely, the top of the divine head itself.

Lakshmi resides in the sImanta of ambaa; and it is that

Lakshmi who is decorated with the kumkuma-ornamentation of

redness.

 

So the parting of the hair goes like a white streak amidst

the jet black forest of hair (‘cikura-nikurumbaM’ of

shloka 43) which looks like waves of blue-black on either

side of it. It is the whiteness of the sImanta (parting

line) that is usual; but here ambaa’s sImanta has been made

reddish by the sindhUraM. So the blackness of the locks of

hair on either side and the redness of the parting line

make the imagination of the poet run riot. Many of us do

not appreciate such poetic licence, because of our

preoccupation with the utilitarian value of everything we

see or experience. But a poet does not just see beauty; he

invents original analogies and that is what makes us enjoy

both the poetry and the devotional sentiment built into it.

 

‘prabala-kabarI-bhAra-timira-dvishhAM bRndair-bandhIkRtaM

iva navInArka-kiraNaM’ -- these are the words.

 

‘arka’ is the Sun. ‘arka-kiraNaM’ means the Sun’s ray.

‘navIna’ is new. So ‘navIna-arka-kiraNaM’ means the rays

of the rising Sun. Certainly it is reddish. Only when the

Sun comes up higher and higher it loses its redness of

appearance and becomes pure white. But at the point of

rising it is red. The Acharya sees the sImanta-sindhUram on

the divine head as one of the red rays of the rising Sun.

At the beginning of the parting, namely at the top of the

forehead, the sindhUra is a big dot (red) and so is the Sun

itself (rising) and the saraNi, namely the line of parting,

is the red ray emanating from that Sun.

 

‘prabala-kabarI-bhAra-timira-dvishhAM bRndair-bandhIkRtaM’.

Does this not sound like a cluttering chatter of teeth? Why

this hard construction ? The very words speak of a

thunderous noise of battle. Who is battling with whom? The

talk is about the sImanta-saraNi. Then who is warring with

it?

 

‘kabarI-bhAra-timiraM’ means the darkness shown by the jet

black dense hair. The adjective ‘prabala’ prefixed to it,

indicates a further strength to that darkness. When

something is ‘strong’ it can be expected to be aggressive

also, in the worldly ways of thinking. So whom will this

darkness challenge or contest? Only Light. What is opposed

to darkness is light. It is the sun which dispels the

darkness of the night and brings the day. It is not even

just the sun; it is the morning sun that night considers as

the harbinger of its doom. Because darkness never ‘sees’

the full Sun. As soon as the first ray of the morning sun

appears, darkness has to wind up and run.

 

And here, while darkness is in the form of ambaa’s hair,

the morning sun has appeared in the form of the sindhUram

on the top of the forehead. It is the crimson ray of the

morning sun that is represented by the sindhUram-coloured

parting of the hair. And it is this parting that prevents

the darkness on either side to become one large mass of

darkness. Further, it is the darkness of the hair that has

been pampered by oil, shampoo, and flowers – as has been

indicated by the words ‘ghana-snigdha-shlakshhNaM’

(luxuriant, soft and oily) in shloka #43. Because it has

been ‘pampered’ it has become ‘prabala’ (exceedingly

strong) now. And that gives it the courage to dare

challenge the redness of the sImantaM!

(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