Soundarya Lahiri Verse- 22 [SrI Samkara-Bhagavatpada]

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, venkat bhasksr

<sitam_subba wrote:

>

> bhavaanitvam daaseymayi vitaradrushtim sakarunaam

> iti stotum vaanchaan kathayati bhavani tvamitiyah

> tadaivatvam tasmin dishasi nijasaaujya padaveem

> mukunda brahmendra sphutamakuta neerajita padaam

 

 

When one, desirous of earnestly beseetching Thee with the words, " O

BhavAni! mayest Thou cast Thy merciful glance on me, Thy slave',

pronounces the words, " BhavAni tvam', [may I be Thou], that very

moment, Thou bestowest on him the status identically Thine own,

rendered lustrous by the brilliant crowns worn by Mukinda, Brahman

and Indra.

 

 

This stanza extols, by implication, the worship of the DevI, with

the conception, by the worshipper, of his identity with her, in

preference to the other forms of worship, such as by the performance

of Japa, Homa, etc as it is held that the mere utterance of words

converying the idea of the MahAvAkya-s such as 'Tat tvam asi', etc,

either intentionally or by accident, carries with the the full

fruits attainable by the realization of their contents. The author

of this work, after dealling with the AntaryAga and BhairyAga

methods of approach in the previous stanzas, deals with the potency

of Bhakti or devotion in this stanza. Bhakti is held by a school of

thought as leading to liberation in the form of SAlokya, reaching

the abode of the Supreme Being; SAmipya, proximity to the Supreme

Being; SArUpaya, becoming of the form of the Supreme Being; and

SAyujya, at-one-moment with the Supreme Being. The liberation

referred to here is SAyujya.

 

Rendered lustrous - the implication is that Mukunda, Brahman and

Indra hold the status referred to above in such esteem, and so

venerate it as to perform NIrAjana [the offering of lights] as it

were, before it with their dazzling bright crowns serving the

purposes of lights in the ceremony.

 

 

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

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