Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-68)

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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 -

68

(Digest of pp.1190 - 1196 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume,

4th imprn.)

 

dRshA drAghIyasyA dara-dalita-nIlotpala-ruchA

davIyAmsaM dInaM snapaya kRpayA mAm-api shive /

anena-ayaM dhanyo bhavati na ca te hAnir-iyatA

vane vA harmye vA samakara-nipAto himakaraH //57 //

 

“dRshA” denotes ‘by the eye’ as also ‘by the glance’.

“drAghIyasyA” means ‘longer than anything’. The comparison

is with any thing else in the world. Therefore the

expression ‘dRshA drAghIyasya’ connotes the eye-glance that

can outreach any distance. In other words ambaal’s glance

falls on those even in the farthest corners of the

universe. And naturally it does not distinguish among them;

it falls on all of them equally.

 

“dara-dalita-nIlotpala-ruchA” : Usually ‘ruchi’ is taken to

mean the taste that the tongue feels. But the feeling of

‘light’ that is associated with the eye-sense is also

called ‘ruchi’. In shloka #48 earlier, the Acharya used

‘dara-dalita-hemAmbuja-ruchiH’ – the ‘ruchi’ corresponding

to the golden lotus slightly in bloom – for ambaal’s third

eye. Thus the light of fire that comes from the third eye

is the golden lotus and the other two eyes are blue

water-lilies (‘nIlotpala’). The two sounds of ‘la’ in

‘nIlotpala’ give the soft gentle touch of sweetness to the

description. It befits the deity whose name itself –

‘lalitA’ – contains the same two soft sounds of ‘la’. Just

as an expert jewel-maker chooses the right colour and

nature of the gem-stones to be studded in his jewels so as

to maximise the attractiveness and majesty of the jewel

that he makes, the poet in the Acharya chooses his words

meticulously to fit the subject and produce the delightful

sound effect!

 

The nIlotpala radiates cool beauty. The coolness compares

to the compassion that radiates from the graceful

eye-glance of ambaal. And it permeates the whole universe.

This radiation is not the eye-blinding brilliance of the

golden lotus (hemAmbuja) – which belongs to the third eye.

The Lord’s opening of the third eye is known to radiate

terror. We have no instance of ambaal’s opening of Her

third eye. So what is prayed for here is the

nilotpala-glance of the right and left eyes.

 

Then there is the qualification ‘dara-dalita’ for the

nIlotpala. When the waterlily is fully closed but ready to

blossom, the cool shine of the moon falls on it and it

starts to open up. ‘dalita’ indicates the just-opened

state of the petals of the lily. ‘dara’ – meaning, ‘a

little’ -- indicates that the blossoming is not full but

very little. If the lily opens out fully, it won’t give

the eye-shape. Nor is it totally a bud. Only a closed eye

would look like a lily-bud. And we know that ambaal never

closes her eyelids! She has to cast Her glance on all the

world all the time!

 

Nor can we say Her eyes are fully open. Actually such a

fully open look from the eyes would not radiate compassion;

only in anger the eyes will radiate such a full stare. In

a compassionate look, the eyelids are half closed and

half-open. In complete shAnta (Peace) state the eyes will

be almost closed though a little of it is visible. So when

ambaal casts Her graceful compassionate glance, the eyes

have the half-blossomed state of the nIlotpala. It is in

this state that the flower also has a subtle attraction,

for what is inside is not visible, but what is inside is

also showing a little! A poet also enjoys and revels in

such a state where he dares not say something explicitly

but still is not totally implicit.

 

When you look at a nIlotpala petal, it shows up as blue in

the outer fringes but as you look more and more inside and

follow it up to its base, the blue colour fades and

brightens up into white. This happens even in the petals of

a red lotus. Thus when a nIlotpala flower shows up as a

silken blue with a polished oily surface, with no other

colour spoiling the blueness, then it must be only in its

half-blossomed state. When it has fully blossomed, the

white colour at the bottom will begin to show up. Hence the

words ‘dalita’ ( just blossomed) and ‘dara’ (only a

little). What an accurate matching of words!

 

Now let us go to the second line of the shloka:

 

“davIyAmsaM dInaM snapaya kRpayA mAm-api shive”

 

Note that the first line had a number of words sounding

with ‘da’. ‘dRshA’, ‘draghIyasyA’, ‘dara’, and ‘dalita’.

And the same flooding of words with ‘da’ continues even in

the second line: ‘davIyAmsaM’ and ‘dInaM’. And again the

sound effects of ‘drAghIyasyA’ and ‘davIyAmsaM’ are the

same. All this is of course gymnastics of words. That is

only the tip of the iceberg. The gymnastics of the contents

of the words is thousand times more superb.

 

‘davIyAmsaM’ is also a word denoting a degree of comparison

just as ‘drAghIyasyA’ was in the first line. ‘davIyAmsaM’

denotes ‘farther than anything’. So it indicates the person

who is praying is farthest removed from Her. ‘dInaM’

indicates lowliness, pitiability, worthlessness,and a state

of total fright. All these meanings are together applicable

here. The Acharya has put in this word so as to have all

its meanings relevant here.

 

Such a lowly person is to be bathed (snapaya) in the rain

of compassion from the Mother Goddess. But where is the

rain of compassion supposed to come from? It is not

‘from’; it is ‘by’. By Her glance. By Her ‘kaTAkshha’ –

glance of grace.

 

But if you look at the first line there doesn’t seem to be

any need for such a prayer. For ‘drAghIyasyA’ is the nature

of Her eye-glance; that means it is far-reaching and covers

the entire world. Not only it covers universally every

one, but it does not also make any distinction from person

to person. So there is no reason to assume that somebody

has been left out.

Why then is this prayer ‘snapaya kRpayA’ – meaning, please

deign to bathe (this devotee) in Your compassion?

 

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