Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-65)

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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 -

65

(Digest of pp.1174 -1179 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

After having described how the eyes enjoy the nine rasas

poured out by poets into the ears of the Mother, now the

Acharya tells us how the eyes themselves show the dance of

the nine rasas:

 

Shive shRngArArdrA tad-itara-jane kutsana-parA

saroshhA gangAyAM girisha-carite vismayavatI /

harAhibhyo bhItA sarasiruha-soubhAgya-jananI

sakhIshhu smerA te mayi janani dRshhTis-sakaruNA // 51 //

 

It is the eyes that can show all the different rasas that

reflect the status of the mind. The ears are simply of no

use for this task. The lips of course can reflect anger (by

twitching in a certain way) and sorrow (by twitching in a

different way). Sometimes they also show happiness by

showing a slight movement peculiar to a smile. But the one

organ in the body which shows out all the attitudes that

exist internally is the eye. Whether it is love, disgust,

anger, wonder, fear, courage, comic mirth, compassion, or

serenity, for all these the eye is the indicator. In

dramatics the rasa of compassion is also shown by the

sorrowful eye, but the rasa of divine compassion (karuNA)

is recognised in dance forms only by the eye. The artist

when bringing to life his picture or painting, takes the

greatest care on his depiction of the eyes for it is

through them that he brings out the state of mind of his

subject. A slight alteration in the presentation of the

eyeballs will change the entire bhAva of the painting.

Equal care has to be taken of the eyes by the actor or

actress in a play. All this world is a play of the Mother.

And She showers all the rasas through Her eyes. And that

is what is taken up in this shloka.

 

In what context is the shRngAra rasa (the sentiment of

Love) dominant? Naturally in Her relationship with the

Lord. ‘Shive shRngArAdrA’: The eyes are wet by the rasa of

Love towards Shiva. His crystal whiteness is flooded by Her

redness and thus draws Him into the shRngAra rasa – as is

talked about in shloka 92.

 

The expression of Love is something that attracts. The

opposite of this is not the fear or terror (raudra rasa)

that is generated by anger. Anger has always a reason.

Love is blind. So Love has no reason or rhyme. The opposite

of it is the bhIbatsa rasa (the sentiment of disgust) that

also has no reason. We have many things in us that are

disgusting – both physically and mentally. But ambaa the

Universal Mother takes all of us in Her arms. How can She

have any rasa of disgust? Yes, She has – when some male

other than Her Lord, comes to Her not as Her child, but as

an adult. Even Lord Shiva came to Her in disguise once,

with tales of blame on Shiva and that is the time when She

exhibits the bhIbatsa rasa as exquisitely described by

Kalidasa. By just closing the eyes also, She may exhibit

the disgust.

 

“tad-itara-jane kutsana-parA”: “tad-itara” means ‘other

than He (Shiva)’. ‘kutsana-parA’ means ‘full of disgust’.

‘jane’: in the people. ‘kutsana’ is the same as ‘bhIbatsa’.

 

When does She show Her ‘raudra’ rasa – the rasa of extreme

anger? “saroshhA gangAyAM”. ‘rosha’ and ‘roudra’ are the

same. When the Lord is keeping another woman right on the

top of His head – that is what Shiva is doing with GangA –

She is naturally angry. He gave Her only half His body;

whereas the other woman is sitting on his head! She is not

angry with Him; She is a pati-vratA. But She shows Her

anger on GangA! By a poetic ruse the Acharya here gives

Her the feeling of an ordinary human female!

 

‘adbhuta’ is another rasa. It is the wonder expressed at

something extra-ordinary. “girisha-carite vismaya-vatI”:

‘vismaya’ is wonder. ‘GirIsha’ and ‘Girisha’ are both names

of Lord Shiva. ‘GirIsha’ is ‘Giri-Isha’, that is, the Lord

of the Kailas mountain. ‘Girisha’ means the One who resides

in Kailas mountain. His history is full of wonders and

miracles. The destruction of Tripura, the burning of

Manmatha, the vanquishing of GajAsura, the silencing of

Kala, the killing of the asura ‘andhaka’, the consumption

of the HalAhala poison, the roaming about as a mendicant

(BikshhATanaM), the tANDava dance of Nataraja, and the 64

leelas in the kshhetra of HalAsya (Madurai) – all these and

many more! That the Actionless (‘nishh-kriyaH’) Ultimate

got involved in all these numerous actions was itself due

to ambaa -- that is why the Soundaryalahari started. She

wonders at the Leela-actions of the Lord and we wonder at

Her miraculous prompting that made Him do all the actions!

 

The next is ‘bhayAnakaM’, the rasa that expresses fear. She

as the Universal Mother is ‘abhaya-vara-pradA’, the

dispenser of abhaya, fearlessness and vara, boon. How can

She have fear? Yes, She has. The poet in the Acharya says

She is ‘harAhibhyo bhItA’ – afraid of the snakes on the

person of the Lord! Actually the very snake depicted around

a Shiva-linga is Herself – in the form of the KunDalini in

every jIva. And still She is ‘afraid’ of Shiva’s snakes!

This is another divine play!

 

The rasa of ‘vIra’, that is, courage, is certainly visible

in Her great leelas of the destruction of MahishhAsura and

BaNDAsura, where She could be seen as the very

personification of ‘vIraM’. But the Acharya could not

possibly bring himself to link Her vIraM with such

destructive episodes. Instead he says

‘sarasIruha-soubhAgya-jananI’ – the One who generates the

brilliance of the lotus. Lotus-brilliance is red. Redness

indicates the rasa of ‘vIraM’. In fact he could have said

that She excels the brilliance of the lotus. For he does

not want even that slight hint of a competition or battle

implied in the word ‘excels’. So he says She ‘generates’

(‘jananI’) the brilliant redness of the lotus.

 

One more observation about the word ‘jananI’. There is

also an alternate reading as ‘jayinI’. This means ‘the One

who wins’. Her eye certainly wins the brilliance of the

lotus. In this reading, the concept of ‘winning’ is

explicitly stated. Whether it is winning or generating,

what is significant here is that it is the very eyes of the

Mother that do these actions directly. So far the ‘rasas’

that we have seen earlier – like anger, fear, wonder, etc.

– are all only shown as a reaction to something else by the

eyes. Whereas, this ‘vIra rasa’ is not a reaction by the

eyes, it is an action performed by the very eyes!

 

“sakhIshhu smerA” -- humorous among Her friends. The

mischievous look that She would exhibit in Her humorous

conversations with friends is what is enjoyed by the

Acharya here.

 

The remaining of the nine rasas are: ‘shoka’ that is sorrow

which is also exhibited as ‘karuNA’ (divine compassion)

and ‘shAnta’ that is serenity.

 

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