Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari(DPDS-78)

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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 -

78

(Digest of pp.1265-1283 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume, 4th

imprn.)

 

The shloka # 91 also is in the same trend of praise of

Devi’s feet. Usually poets describe the gait of their

heroic women as ‘hamsa-gati’, the gait of swans. But in

#91, the Acharya reverses this analogy. He says that it is

the swans that learn their gait from the beauty of ambaal’s

gait! In compassion with the swans Her divine feet

actually ‘demonstrate’ how to produce that graceful gait,

but in the act of this demonstration they (the feet) indeed

‘teach’ the swans the theory of this gait! “teshhAM

shikshhAM AcakshhANaM”, says the shloka.

 

And how is this ‘teaching’ done? She is having anklets on

Her feet, studded with precious gems.

“subhaga-maNi-manjIrac-chalAt” – the auspicious jingling of

the gem-studded anklet, is the pretext of teaching! The

jingling of the gems is poetically extolled as the words of

the teaching. Earlier in Shloka #60, it was said that the

clang of her ear ornaments, as She shakes Her head in

appreciation of Sarasvati’s speech, seem to be appreciative

words spoken by Her. Thus the jingling of the ear ornaments

of ambaa was the appreciation of Sarasvati in #60 and here

in #91, the jingling of the gems of Her anklet turns out to

be the teaching of the swans, which are the vAhanas of

Sarasvati!

 

Having described and praised in his inimitable poetry all

the different parts of the divine body and thus having

immersed us in the waves (lahari) of beauty (soundarya) of

ambaaL, the Acharya finally comes to the seat on which that

Fullness of Form is seated. This is shloka #92. Therein he

also mentions the crimson glory (“rAga-aruNatayA”) which

the entire body emanates. In Lalita sahasranama, the

description of the devi begins with

“udyat-bhAnu-sahasrAbhA” – the effulgence of thousand

rising suns –and then goes on to describe the form from

head to foot. Here for a change, the Acharya first

describes the form from head to foot and finally ends up

with the composite Glory of the whole Form. The crimson

redness of ambaal makes even the assumed whiteness of Lord

Shiva appear as the ‘red’ Kameshvara. The redness indicates

creation just as the rising sun is the harbinger of

activity. The Mother-Father role for the whole universe has

to be taken up and that is why Kameshvara becomes

overpowered by ‘redness’ and becomes, as it were, the

embodiment of erotic sentiment. (“sharIrI shRngAro rasa

iva”).

 

But once the world is created it needs all the infinite

compassion of the Mother. In fact the very purpose of

creation seems to be to manifest that Compassion. The

brahman, without a second, cannot show any compassion or

love because there is no second. When it manifested as

Shiva-shakti, as partners in a sati-pati relationship, the

love that arose is called ‘shRngAra’. When the same love

directs itself to the created world, it is called ‘karuNA’

(Compassion). So the shRngAra rasa of shloka 92 becomes the

karuNA-rasa of shloka 93. And this is proclaimed with a

poetic gymnastics of words:

“jagat trAtuM shambhor-jayati- kAcid-aruNA”

 

jagat trAtuM : For the purpose of protecting the universe,

karuNA : the Compassion

shambhoH: of Shivam, the Immutably white

kAcid-aruNA : as the indescribable redness, that is,

ambaaL

jayati : shines gloriously.

 

Thus the Shiva-Shakti advaitam is established.

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

The Acharya has a motherly affection towards all humanity

in the sense that they should never succumb to the lower

instincts of man. Having talked about the shRngAra (Love)

of the divine couple, the Acharya wants to issue a warning

to posterity, lest mankind may slip into an error. This

error could be of two kinds. One might take liberties with

the worship of the divine through yantras and mantras,

emphasized in the Ananda-lahari part; and, because, the

divine has been said to be the Mother and Father of the

universe, one might construe it as a licence to take

liberties with that Universal Parent-couple.

 

Yes, you can treat them as your Mother and Father and

worship them as you like, pouring forth all your love. But

in that case there should be no yantras, nor should you

bring in any mantras for invoking them. Mantras and Yantras

have to be used only with the proper ritualistic sanction

and discipline. When these latter are absent, just go

about your worship by doing Soundaryalahari as a devotional

recitation and no more. In fact I know many of you do only

that. There is nothing wrong in it. And I am constrained to

say ‘many of you’ and not ‘All of you’. For there are

people who get into such spiritually advanced scriptures

for curiosity, for academic research, or for enjoyment of

literature, without observing the need to control their

sensual distractions. Such failure to follow ethical and

religious discipline is the second potential error, of the

two errors that I talked about.

 

Obviously the Acharya does not want his beautiful poem on

the beauty of the divine to end with the whimper of a

mundane rude warning to the public not to be swept into the

profane. He issues the warning, however, in the subtlest

terms. Instead of saying: “Whatever you do with this

stotra, do it with great discipline of mind and control of

the senses”, he indicates, in shloka #95, what awaits those

who approach Her without the necessary self-discipline and

regulatory mind. In modern times I see some people write

without any sense of shame at the fact that they are only

fanning the fumes of basal instincts of man. Not only that,

they seem to justify such writing and use alibis like

‘Realism’. When one provokes another to fall down in

ethical and moral standards, the provocateur accrues more

sinful discredit to himself than the one who has been

provoked into sin. And that is why, as an author, the

Acharya takes great care to see that his readers do not

fall into any trap of sin. So in shloka #95 he paints what

happens if you fail to follow discipline.

 

purArAter-antaHpuram-asi tatas-tvac-caraNayoH

saparyA-maryAdA tarala-karaNAnAm-asulabhA /

tathA hyete nItAH shata-makha-mukhAH siddhim-atulAM

tava dvAropaAnta-sthitibhir-aNimAdyAbhir-amarAH // 95 //

 

asi: You are

antaHpuraM : in the inner apartments, (as Consort)

pura-arAteH : of the Destroyer of the cities (that is, of

Lord Shiva)

tataH : and therefore

saparyA-maryAdA : the proper regimen and privilege of

worship

tava caraNayoH : of Your feet

asulabhA : (is) difficult to attain

tarala-karaNAnAM : for those with fickle senses, or of

unregenerate mind.

tathA : Thereby

ete shata-makha-mukhAH amarAH : these deities headed by

Indra

nItAH hi: are led, indeed, (only up to)

atulAM siddhiM : an unparalleled achievement

aNimAdyAbhiH : by the psychic powers like aNimA, etc.

dvAropAnta-sthitibhiH : who are stationed in proximity to

the gates (which are only peripheral to Your mansion ).

 

This shloka employs a negative compliment to those of

fickle senses, who are said to reach ‘atulAm siddhiM’

(matchless siddhi). But Who is giving them this

achievement? Only those who stand at the Gates of the Royal

mansion, far removed from the sanctum sanctorum of ambaa’s

inner apartments. These are the attendants of ambaal

stationed in the outermost rounds (AvaraNas) of Her

navAvaraNa mansion (the nine – round Shrichakra). In fact

they stand even outside the outermost round. They are the

ten devatas, eight of them representing the eight siddhis

(the psychic powers) aNimA, mahimA, etc. So the deities who

propitiate them have to stand only at the same outer rounds

of the Devi’s mansion and naturally get only what these

attendant devatas can give them. And the Acharya

satirically calls, almost in contempt, what they bestow to

the seeker, as ‘atulAm siddhiM’ (matchless psychic power).

Thus indirectly the Acharya is saying that we should aspire

to reach not these siddhis, which are given by the

‘dvAropAnta-sthitAH’ – those who guard the gates -- but we

should aim far beyond.

 

Shiva-Shakti couple, in their inner apartments, have to be

understood in the esoteric sense. The right understanding

will not come to those who are still imprisoned by their

minds. Even the poetic descriptions in the stotra should

not draw us to the state in which the very celestials like

Indra find themselves only just at the gates of the mansion

and not inside! Only those who honour and welcome the

mental discipline and the strict regimen required for a

valid entry into the Royal Mansion, beyond what the

fickle-minded celestials can reach, should ever attempt to

do the Shri Chakra worship. Once that welcoming desire is

planted in the mind, naturally ambaal will lead us to the

understanding and following of all the rules of the

rituals that constitute the Shri Chakra Puja. This is the

message of this shloka. What a beauty that the Acharya has

driven it all so nicely and softly into us, without a

single harsh word about the consequences of unregulated

and indisciplined worship!

 

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