Soundarya Lahiri--Verse 19 [SrI Samkara-Bhagavatpada]

[Guest guest]

, venkat bhasksr

<sitam_subba wrote:

>

> mukham bindum krutvaa kuchayougamadhastasya tadadhou

> hakaaraardhamdhyaeyddharamahishi tey manmadha kalaam

> sasadyah samskshobham nayati vanitaa ityadi laghu

> trilokeemapyaasu bhramayati raveendu stana yougaam

>

 

O Queen of Hara! It is but a trifle that one who contemplates Thy

Manmatha-kalA, taking the Bindu to be the face, what is there under

to

be the breasts, and still underneath to be one half of Hara [ ie a

triangle] once fascinates women [in general]; [what is more] he very

soon causes even Triloki [the three worlds together], who has the

Sun

and the Moon as her breasts, to swirl.

 

 

This stanza, like the previous ones, also affords an example of the

MAdana-prayoga and deals with the fruit of meditation on the Devi,

as

IcchA-sakti presiding over the KAmarAja-kUta, in virtue of which the

votary acquires the power of fascinating women.

 

Queen of HAra - ie the Devi of the form of Sac-cid-Ananda, being the

spouse of Hara, the ParamAtman, who absorbs the entire universe unto

Himself. This is also construed as the Tri-kona, which is the resort

of the Bindu in the form of Hara.

 

Thy Manmatha-kalA - the Kama-kalA indicating Thee, ie [1]'klim',

which, according to the DevanAgari script, is made up of one Bindu

at

the top, two Bindu-like curves on either side of the 'k' thereunder

and what is thereunder, namely the 'l' [2]Bereft of the 'k' and 'l',

this Bija becomes the Gupta-mahAsArasvata-bijA, namely 'im' which is

made up of three Bindu-s, one above and two thereunder, the former

indicating the Sun and the latter Fire and the Moon thereunder. [3]

Which is of the form of 'e', ie the Yoni, and [4] which is power in

the form of the three Guna-s, ie the Universe which is the product

of

the union of Siva and the Sakti.

 

taking-ie conceiving by the strength of meditation.

 

One half of Hara - there is also another reading, 'hakArArdham',

meaning 'one half of HakAra', which is the same as

Hara. 'HakArArdha'

is capable of being construed in the following ways :

[1] The upper half of 'ha' being neglected, the lower half, which

resembles 'e', is construed as the Yoni. [2] 'ha' is Siva an done

half

of Siva will be SivA, made up of S,i, U and A, eliding the

consonants

S and v, the other half 'i' and 'A', when combined, yields 'e',

which

is the Yoni [3] 'ha' stands for 'Ravi' and when half of it, namely

the

consonants 'r' and 'v' are elided, the resultant 'a' and 'i', when

combined, yield 'e', the Yoni. According to SrIkrama, the three

Bindu-

s are : the first or Fire, indicating Rajas and presided over by

Brahman, is the face; the second and third Bindu-s, which are the

Sun

and the Moon, indicating Sattva and Tamas, presided over by Hari and

Rudra, are the breasts. Below that, a subtle Cit-kalA, which is one

half of 'ha' with the upper half neglected, and transcends all the

three Guna-s, is the Yoni, ie the triangle connecting the three

Bindu-

s, indicating the three Guna-s, the characteristics of Brahman,

Hari

and Rudra. [4] 'ha' is the 'Hamsah' and the one half of it, namely

the

consonants 'h' and 's' being elided, the other half, 'aM' and 'ah',

yield three Bindu-s, which should be meditated upon as the Manmatha-

kalA, namely 'e', the Yoni [5] HarArdham - one half of Hara, ie the

Sakti, which means the Yoni. Besides these there is also an

estoteric

significance, which should be received out of the mouth of the Guru.

While the first half of the stanza extols the influence of the Devi

on

the votary with reference to women in general, the second half dels

with the extraordinary influence which, through her grace, her

votary

has over the three worlds personified as the woman par excellence,

and

in virtue of which he becomes the lord of the three worlds, within

the

tree Sakti-s in harmony with his wishes. According to the

RudrayAmala,

the Triloki is said to assume the form of the KamarAja-kalA with the

Sun and the Moon as her breasts.

 

To swirl - by the extraordinary powers he commands as the true

devotee

of the Devi in the form of IcchA-sakti. Some hold the view that this

verse speaks of PaNcama-yagA, estoterically the union of the

KundalinI

with Paramasiva and of Maithuna on the material plane.

 

 

The Ocean of Beauty - Saundarya Lahari of SrI Samkara-Bhagavatpada

Pandit S. Subrahmanya Sastri and T.R Srinivasa Ayyangar