Soundarya Lahiri verse 11 [ of Sri Samkara Bhagavatpade. ]

January 30, 2007

, venkat bhasksr

<sitam_subba wrote:

>

> caturbhih sri kanthaih sivayuvatibhih pancabhirapi

> prabhinnabhih sambhornavapirapi moolaprakrutibhih

> catuscatvaarinsad vasudala kalaasra trivalaya

> trirekhabhih sardham tava saranakonaah parinataah

>

The angles containted in what constitutes Thy mansion [ the Sri-

cakra], which is built of the nine Mulaprakrti-s [ the basic

triangles], namely the four Sri-kantha-s [ with apex down-ward] and

the five Siva-yuvati-s [ with apex upward], all lying apart from

Sambhu [the BIndu], along with a lotus of eight petals, one of

sixteen petals, the three circles and the three lines, turn out to

be forty-three [in number]

The angles contained in what constituted Thy mansion :-

ie the angles of the Sri cakra, which forms the Devi's Sarana,

abode. The word 'abgles' should be understood as the angles at the

apex of the triangles pointing outward in the Sri Cakra. Others take

it in the sense of 'triangles', probably with a view to avoid what

they consider to be the contigency of having to reckon two more

angles in taking the inmost triangle into account. There is no room

in our view for any such contigency. In calculating the number of

kona-s in the Sri cakra, we should start with the initial triangle

with which we began the design of the Sri-cakra in Srsti-krama and

not the inmost triangle, which was derived later on. As the angles

at the base of the initial triangle form two of the corner angles of

the Asta-kona, the angle pointing upwards alone has to be taken into

account.

The nine MUlaprakrti-s :- the nine roo-cause of the Sri-cakra, ie

the nine triangles having as their base the nine horizontal lines

drawn perpendicular to the diameter. They also signify the prime

cause of PrapaNca ie primordial matter, and are also appropriately

called the nine Yoni-s, which are said to be the form of the nine

DhAtu-s which go to make up the body of the microcosm. The five

DhAtu-s humours : Tvas, Asrj, MAmsa, Medas and Asthi, originate from

the Sakti; and MajjA, Sukla, PrAna and the Jiva of the microcosm

originate from Siva; while the five BhUta-s, the five TanmAtra-s,

the five JNAnendriya-s, the five Karmendriya-s and the Manas of the

macrocosm have their origin in the Sakti, and likewise MAyA, Suddha-

vidyA, Mahesvara and SadAsiva are from Siva. Thus it will be seen

that the nine basic triangles, involving the twenty-five Tattva-s,

stand for the entire microcosm and macrocosm. 'Srikantha-s'

and 'Sivayuvati-s' are the triangles so designated.

Lying apart from Sambhu:- 'Sambhu' stands for the Bindu, which lies

in the quadrilateral and therefore apart from the nine triangles.

The words 'vasu' and 'kalA' in Samskrt are conventional for 8 and 16

and here denote the eight-petalled and the sixteen-petalled lotus

respectively.

The three circles and the three lines - in drawing the Sri cakra

some describe only one circle in the place of the three MekhalA-s,

forgetting the two alreadly existing circles from the pericarps of

the eight-petalled and the sixteen-petalled lotus. This is against

the view od the majority.

The Three lines - the author of the Saundarya-lahari is not

apparently of the view that four doorways, one on each side, should

be provided for the quadrangular BhU-grha of three lines, as

otherwise, he would have specifically made mention of them here.

Although the VAmakesvara-tantra and some others hold the view that

the BhU-grha has four doorways, still BhAskararAya, in his

Setubandha makes mention of the fact that YAmala is silent about the

doorways and Samkara-bhagavatpAda in his Saundarya-lahari follows

suit with the same view. Strangely enough, Laksmidhara, who strongly

supports the view in favour of the doorways, quotes the selfsame

authority in support of the view, taking care, however, to fabricate

a reading of his own convenient for his purpose. The

word 'DvArcopAnta' occuring in stanze 96 infra, however seems to

lend support to LaksmIdhara's view.

Forty-three in number - comprising the vertical angle of the initial

Tri-kona, the eight corner angles of the Asta-kona pointing

outwards, the twenty corner angles of the internal and external

DasAra-s pointing outwards, and the fourteen corner angles of the

Catur-dasAra pointing outwards are the forty-three kona-s meant. The

portions of the Sri cakra lying outside these angles are considered

as merged in them, the Astadala-padma in the Tri-kona, the

Sodasadala in the Asta-kona, MekhalA-traya in the two Dasara-s, and

the BhU-grha in the Catur-dasAra respectively. Those who adopt the

reading 'catuscatvArimsat' understood the word 'sarana-konAh'

as 'Bindu, the abode of Siva, and the angles and give their number

as forty-four"

To be continued

Saundarya-lahari of Sri Samkara Bhagavatpade.

The Ocean of Beauty

Pandit S. Subrahmanya Sastri and T.R Srinivasa Ayyangar.

January 30, 2007

, "NMadasamy" <nmadasamy

wrote: Those who adopt the reading 'catuscatvArimsat' understood

the word 'sarana-konAh' as 'Bindu, the abode of Siva, and the angles

and give their number as forty-four"

The Sri-cakra [containing the fifty-one letters of the alphabet],

which is the Devi's abode, inside which is the abode of Laksmi, is

constructed as of the character of Soma, SUrya and Anala. Some hold

the view that it contains the three regions of the Moon, the Sun and

the Fire in the descending order, in three distinct parts, among the

six Cakra-s forming part of it. Others maintain that it partakes of

the character of each of the three, offering the following

explanation : The forty-three angles of the Sri-cakra are

represented by the sixteen KalA-s of the Moon and the twenty-seven

stars in its Soma aspect; by the twelve KalA-s, twelve MUrti-s,

twelve Rsi-s, the three Veda-s and the four Svara-s in its SUrya

aspect; and by the Tri-kona representing Agni, the Asta-kona, the

eight MUrti-s of Agni, the Antar-dasAra, the ten KalA-s of Agni, the

Bahir-dasAra, the ten VibhUti-s of Agni, the Visva over which the

three tongues representing the three Guna-s of Agni spread, made up

of the fourteen worlds representing Catur-dasAra in its Agni aspect.

It may be pointed out in this connection that this stanza is

considered by some as the BahiryAga, the external sacrifice of the

UpAsaka-s of the Devi, while the previous two stanzas deal with the

AntaryAga, the internal sacrifice, as both of them culminate in the

partaking, by the UpAsaka, of the ParAmrta as Havya.

There are three ways in which the parts of the Sri-cakra are viewed,

as providing abodes for the deities, each of them forming the basis

of distinct form of worship. They are known as the Meru-, the

KailAsa-, and the BhU-prastAra-s [a]

The arrangement of the sixteen NityA-s according to the design of

the Meru-prastAra is as follows :

The sixteen Nitya-s namely Mahatripurasundari, Kamesvari,

BhagamAlini, NityaklinnA, BherundA, VahnivAsini, MahA-vidyesvari,

SivadUtI, TvaritA, Kulasundari, NityA, NilapatAkA, VijayA,

SarvamangalA, JvAlAmAlinikA and CirkalA are split into eight pairs,

in the order above mentioned. The fifty-one letters of the alphabet

are similarly divided into the following eight groups, namely A-

varga, Ka-varga, Ca-varga, ta-varga, Ta-varga, Pa-varga, Ya-varga

and Sa-varga. The pairs of deities along with the groups of letters

are then considered as having their places over the eight petals of

the Astadala-padma, commencing from the petal pointing to the east,

clockwise. Each petal thus comes to be identified with a distinct

pair of deities and a group of letters. In the same manner,

commencing from the angle pointing eastwards of the asta-kona, the

same pairs of deities and groups of letters should be considered as

inherent in each corresponding angle of the Asta-kona. The same

NityA-s coupled with the sixteen vowels should be identified as

having their place in the sixteen petals of the Sodasadala-padma and

as inherent in the Dvi-dasAra. The first two of the NityA-s are

considered to be of the form of the Tri-kona and the Bindu

respectively; the other fourteen NityA-s are considered as inherent

in the fourteen angles of the Catur-dasara.

This is how the NityA-s are considered to inhere in the Sri-cakra.

The arrangement of the fifty-one MAtrkA-s according to the design of

the KailAsa-prastAra is as follows :

The sixteen vowels, the very life of the alphabet, corresponding to

the sixteen NityA-s, are compressed, into 'ah' which is made up of

the 'a' preceding the 'e' and the 'visarga' derived from 'sa' of the

PaNcadasAksari. This is assigned its place in the Baindava-sthAna

and should be considered as also inhering there. The consonants,

commencing from 'ka' and ending with 'ma', known as the 'Sparsa',

with the three syllables 'Am', 'hrIm', 'krOm' [ the PAsAnkusa-bija-

s], these twenty-eight should be considered as inherent in the

angles of the Asta-kona and the two Dasara-s, one letter in each

angle, the remaining nine letters commencing from 'ya', after

duplication, should be considered as inherent in the fourteen angles

of the Caturdasa-kona and the four Siva-cakra-s, one in each.

This is how the MAtrkA-s are considered to inhere in the Sri-cakra.

The arrangement of the deities consisting of Vasini and others,

according to the design of the BhU-prastAra, is as follows :

The Sixteen NityA-s split into eight pairs along with one of the

wight deities, namely VasinI, KAmesvarI, ModinI, VimalA, ArunA,

JayanI, SarvesvarI and KaulinI added to each pair, the eight groups

of three deities each thus formed, should be considered as inherent

in the eight Cakra-s lying beyond the Bindu and the Tri-kona, one

in each.

The MahA-tripurasundarI should be considered as inherent in the

middle of the Sri-cakra; the eight varga-s, the eight deities,

VasinI, etc, the remaining fifteen NityA-s and the twelve Yogini-s,

namely VidyA-yoginI, RecikA-yoginI, MocikA-yoginI, AmrtA-yoginI,

DipikA-yoginI, JNAna-yoginI, ApyAyani-yoginI, VyApinI-yoginI, MedhA-

yoginI, VyomarUpA-yoginI, SiddhirUpa-yoginI and LaksmI-yoginI,

constituting forty-three in all, should be considered inherent in

the forty-three angles of the Sri-cakra, one in each.

In the four doorways, the four deities, namely GandhAkarsinI,

RasAkarsinI, RUpAkarsinI and SparsAkarsinI, should be considered as

inherent. This is how the VasInI etc are considered to inhere in

the Sri-cakra.

The worship of the Sri-cakra as well as the successful

accomplishment of the Yogic practice of rousing the KundalinI and

leading it to the SahasrAra, thence back to the MUlAdhAra, by the

Rsi-s of yore is born testimony to by the TaittirIyAranyaka, when it

makes reference to the Prsni-s [i.27]

Footnote:

[a] UmAnandanAtha, in his treatise named Nityotsana, which deals

with the daily worship of the devi, makes mention of the BhU-

prastAra and the Meru-prastAra only, leaving off the KailAsa-

prastAra, citing the TantrarAja as his authority. According to him

the BhU-prastAra has for its requisite a flat plat of gold four

inches square and weighing six tolas, over which is worked out in

relief the Sri-cakra. Meru-prastAra is spoken of as of three kinds :

The three Cakra-s commencing from the BhU-pura or BhU-grha

constituting the Srsti-cakras-s, the next three constituting the

sthiti-cakra-s and the last three constituting the SamhAra-cakra-s

are wrought in massive gold in the three stages rising one above the

other in the form of pyramid;

[ii] the BhU-pura as the first stage, the two lotuses as the second

stage, and the six other Cakra-s as the third rising one above the

other in the form of a pyramid; and

[iii]the nine cakra-s risig one above the other in nine stages.

Saundarya-lahari of Sri Samkara Bhagavatpade.

The Ocean of Beauty

Pandit S. Subrahmanya Sastri and T.R Srinivasa Ayyangar.

January 31, 2007

Hi there

I don't understand why all of a sudden you all have started spelling Adi Sankara's name as 'Bhagavatpade' instead of 'Bhagavatpada'. Have you found new evidence that he was from Sri Lanka rather than Kaladi?

JR

NMadasamy <nmadasamy (AT) nmadasamy (DOT) com> wrote: , venkat bhasksr