Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari (DPDS-76)

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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 -

76

(Digest of pp.1243-1251 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume, 4th

imprn.)

 

Shloka 69 continued:

The Shiva-factor and the Shakti-factor that are

respectively manifest in the male and the female, are most

explicitly manifest in the bulge of Adam’s apple in man and

the three lines on the neck of woman. These are the three

lines that are referred to as “gale rekhAs-tisraH” by the

Acharya. The verse also allows us to interpret it as

showing that She is expert in all the three facets ‘gati’,

‘gamakam’ and ‘gItam’ of music. In addition to this

implicit indication, he explicitly says in the fourth line

of the shloka: The boundaries between the different

‘grAmas’ based on the ‘shadja’, ‘gAndhAra’ and ‘madhyama’

in music are what is shown by the three lines on Thy neck –

“trayANAM grAmANAM sthiti-niyama-sImAna iva te (gale

rekhAs-tisro virAjante)”.

 

Recall “trayANAM devAnAM triguNa-janitAnAM” from Shloka 25.

[see DPDS-45]. The triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra were

said therein to have originated from the three guNas.

Here the ‘trayANAM grAmANAM” also mentions along with it

the three guNas in line 2.

 

What is stated in line 2, namely,

“vivAha-vyAnaddha-praguNa-guNa-sankhyA-pratibhuvaH” that

is, “A reminder of the strands of the auspicious string

made by twisting several threads and well tied round the

neck at the wedding ceremony”. This refers to the most

auspicious wedding of Goddess Parvati and the Lord. The

direct meanings however are:

 

vivAha-vyAnaddha : wedding – tied well.

guNa-sankhyA: consisting of a certain number of guNas.

praguNa : noble guNas.

pratibhuvaH: that which authenticates, guarantees.

 

These direct meanings do not add up to an easily understood

message. The “guNa-sankhyA” refers to the number three,

coming from the three guNas satva, rajas and tamas. But

when it comes to “praguNa” he is talking of ‘strands of

string’, because guNa also means ‘strand’. And ‘praguNa’

means ‘auspicious strands’. And this is what brings in the

‘mangala-sUtra’ (auspicious marriage thread) that is tied

at the time of the wedding ceremony. In other words, it

means that three noble strands of string have been twisted

to make the mangala sUtra for the Goddess. And it is these

three strands that are recalled – ‘pratibhuvaH’ – by the

three lines on the neck of ambaa. Of course, in addition,

we can also interpret that the three lines implicitly stand

for the three guNas also.

 

There are those who say that the ‘pANi-grahaNaM’ (holding

of the hand)

is the deciding religious rite for the wedding. The tying

of the mangala-sUtra may not be the tradition in many

areas. But the very fact that the Acharya has mentioned it

here in connection with the wedding of God and Goddess,

gives it a unique importance. The ‘holding of hand’ is an

event that does not leave any trace of itself after the

event. On the other hand it is the mangala-sUtra that

permanently stands out as a distinguishing mark of married

status to women and is also respected by all as such. At

the time when the solar months of Aquarius (mAshi, in

Tamil) and Pisces (panguni, in Tamil) coalesce, it is the

mangala-sUtra that is greatly and duly worshipped by women.

Even in the Lalita Sahasranama, we have

“kAmesha-baddha-mAngalya-sUtra-shobhita-kandarA” – She

whose neck is adorned with the mangala-sUtra fastened

thereon by Her consort Kameshvara.

 

Another point. The Acharya says only ‘guNa’ meaning ‘strand

of thread’. In modern times, women replace the marriage

thread by a golden chain and a heavy tirumangalyam and

rolling balls (kuNDu, in Tamil) on either side of it. It

is very inappropriate. The alleged plea is that the string

becomes dirty in due course of time. If you coat it with

turmeric every day it won’t become dirty.

 

There is a five-fold (pancakaM) mention of triads in this

shloka: The three lines on the divine neck, the three

musical nuances “gati, gamakaM and gItaM”, the three guNas,

the three ‘grAmas’ of music and finally, the three strands

of mangala-sUtra.

 

A sound musical tradition aims at the preservation of its

age-old purity. The classification in terms of ‘grAmas’ is

not supposed to be mixed up. It is to show the distinctness

of the three ‘grAmas’ that the three lines on the divine

neck are so distinct, says the Acharya. All this emphasizes

the need for a certain discipline in following the music

traditions.

 

When music is performed as “nAdopAsanA” (a dedicated

worship of ‘nAda-brahman’) with bhakti, then that music

itself will lead to Self-Realisation. When one merges in

the disciplined musical confluence of shruti and laya, that

merger itself becomes the merging in the Atman. ‘Entaro

mahAnubhAvulu’ -- sang Tyagaraja, the great ‘nAdopAsaka’

(the worshipper of ‘nAda-brahman’) and he was one such

great soul-experiencer (mahAnubhAva) of the musical

trinity. All three of the trinity were great souls who

attained this Self-Realisation through the path of

Devotional Music. Interestingly, all these three

flourished in the same time frame within the past one and

a half centuries.

 

Incidentally, I have added a sixth triad to the five-fold

triads (of this shloka) that I spoke of earlier!

 

Though the three qualities of satva, rajas and tamas are

only three in number they give rise to an infinite number

of quality-combinations in the worldly characters that we

experience. So also, just from the seven svaras of music,

with various permutations and combinations according to the

three ‘grAmas’, the musical world has generated numerous

rAgas. This is what is mentioned in the shloka as

“nAnAvidha-madhura-rAgAkara-bhuvAM” – meaning, ‘those

which generate the mine of multifarious melodious rAgas’ .

Here the word ‘those’ goes with ‘of the three grAmas’

(“trayANAm grAmANAM”) in the fourth line.

 

The word ‘rAga-Akara’ is significant. Just as a mine gives

out gold and gems as you dig deeper and deeper, so also the

subtleties of the seven svaras yield numerously different

rAgas as you delve deep. The word “Akara” means ‘mine’. The

ocean yields gems (ratnas) and that is why it is called

‘ratnAkara’. The commonly used words “karuNakara” and

“dayAkara” should mean only ‘a mine of compassion and

grace’ rather than ‘one who shows compassion or grace’.

 

Again the word ‘madhura’ in “nAnAvidha-madhura-rAga-bhuvAM”

is also significant. ‘madhura’ means sweet and melodious.

What is not sweet or melodious should not form part of

music. All this meticulous use of words in this verse show

how knowledgeable the Acharya is in the subtleties of music

and its understanding. Obviously he was himself a

‘gati-gamaka-gIta-eka-nipuNaH’ – Master of the musical

technicalities of the procedure, undulations and song of

music!

--------------------------

 

As the Acharya continues his description of ambaa from

head to foot, he comes to the breasts and has a few shlokas

on them. In one of them (shloka #73), he says that ambaal’s

breast-milk is not just the heavenly nectar, it is more

than that. And he gives reasons! Those who have tasted the

heavenly nectar are the ‘devas’ (divines); and they are

always in their age of youth. They never grow to become

old. On the other hand, Ganapati and Subrahmanya, the two

children of Hers are always young boys – kumArau adyApi.

 

What is the big idea? The Acharya explains it.

“avidita-vadhU-sanga-rasikau”, meaning ‘having never known

the pleasure of union with woman’. We can say this of the

Acharya himself. The divines pass through the stage of

‘kaumaram’ (boyhood) and then reach the stage of

‘yauvanam’ (youth) but never go beyond that. So they are

always involved only in sensual pleasures. But these two

children of ambaa are ever in the ‘kaumaram’ stage and so

are not tainted by sensual distractions. That is the effect

of ambaal’s milk of beauty, in contrast with the nectar

that sprung forth from the ocean of milk!

 

Incidentally it should be noted here that the Acharya, the

model of celibacy that he was, combines here the celibate

deity Ganapti as conceived of in South India and the

celibate deity Subrahmanya as conceived of in the North.

For, Ganapati of the North has two consorts Siddhi and

Buddhi and Subrahmanya of the South has two consorts Valli

and Deivayanai.

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