Saundarya Lahiri: Waves of Divine Beauty

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Saundarya Lahiri: Waves of Divine Beauty

 

The nature of the Self is described as Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram: Truth,

Tranquillity and Innocence, and Beauty.

 

Spirituality is a journey from the outer world of names and forms to the

subtle world of energies, to the innermost core of our being, the Self.

 

Satyam or Truth is multidimensional, unchanging in time and space. It is

the substratum, the basis of entire creation. Shivam is the embodiment

of calmness and tranquillity, innocence and benevolence. Shiva is always

mentioned along with Shakti. Shakti is the primordial energy responsible

for entire creation. Energy is the feminine aspect and is addressed as

Mother Divine, the Devi. Like the sea and the waves, though seemingly

separate, they are essentially the same. Like the light and the lamp,

dancer and the dance, Shiva and Shakti, the creation and the creative

impulse are inseparable.

 

Sundaram is beauty. We move from recognising beauty outside to beauty

within. Adi Sankaracharya in his composition Saundarya Lahiri (Waves of

Beauty), glorifies the incomparable beauty of the Divine Mother. Here he

speaks of Apangat or Kama, the god of love, an archer with a bow and

five flower arrows. When Apangat hits you with his arrow of flowers, a

wave of beauty is created inside you.

 

The five flowers represent the five senses through which you experience

something that is beyond the senses. You experience a wave of beauty

rising deep inside you; you have dissolved into the formless. Rather,

you are formless. You have come back to your nature.

 

When you look at beautiful scenery, your eyes shut and you sink into

that ocean of beauty. When you smell a fragrant flower, the flower

remains outside, the fragrance disappears in a void, and you drop into

being. That is beauty. When you hear beautiful music, you become fully

immersed in it and you no longer know what is being played. You are lost

in the formless divinity within.

 

In this way, Adi Sankara has described the beautiful journey from the

gross to the subtle, the outer to the inner, the form to the formless,

and the limited to the infinite, non-dual consciousness.

 

Established in such a state, you start appreciating everything from a

thorn to a snail and a sea urchin. Dispassion to one's Self,

dedication to society and devotion to God is the secret of undying

beauty. Without dispassion, beauty is short-lived. Possessiveness turns

beauty into a mirage. Devotion and wonderment is simply appreciating

beauty without possessiveness. You see a beautiful painting and you want

to own it, you want to take it home with you, but then you hang it on

your wall and after a while you don't even look at it. Adi

Sankaracharya was an embodiment of dispassion. He could fully cognise

and experience beauty in entire creation.

 

Beauty creates a thrill; it wakes up the sleeping consciousness. Beauty

can also bring ecstasy and draw you into deep meditation. Meditation is

complete relaxation, like a cool shower for the mind. It is the act of

getting in touch with your own divinity, getting back to your nature.

Your nature is truth, innocence and beauty.

 

To be able to perceive truth or beauty in creation, calmness is

essential. An agitated mind can neither see the truth nor appreciate

beauty. That's why Satyam, Sivam and Sundaram always go together.

The whole of Creation is nothing but `Waves of Beauty'.

 

(Bhanumathi Narasimhan)

 

(The writer is director, Women & Child Welfare Programmes, The Art of

Living Foundation.)