Soundarya Lahari Sloka -27

[samayaacaara maanasika pooja]
[aatmajnaanasiddhi]

Japo jalpah silpam sakalamapi mudraa viracanaa
Gatih praadakshinya-kramana-masanaaddhyaahuti-vidhi
Pranaamah samvesah sukhamakhila-maatmaarpana-drisaa
Saparyaa paryaaya-stava bhavatu yanme vilasitam

aatmaarpana-drisaa - by aatma samarpana bhaava [by total surrender to the supreme power who is available in the heart]
jalpah - simple speech [or words uttered]
Japah - japa
sakalam silpam api - all actions of the hand
mudraa-viracanaa - the descriptions of the mudraas
Gatih - walk
praadakshinya-kramanam - [action of ]doing the pradakshina
asanaadi - eating [and other deeds] so on
aahuti-vidhih - homa
samvesah - lying down [sleeping]
Pranaamah - namaskaara
Sukham - with ease [what other deeds also]
me[pronounce as may] - let
yad vilasitam - what ever action is
akhilam - all [these]
tava - your
Saparyaa paryaayah - the method of pooja or worship
bhavatu - may become

Oh! Goddess Supreme! by aatma samarpana bhaava let my simple speech [or words uttered] become japa for you. Let all actions of my hand become the descriptions of your mudraas. Let my walking become pradakshina for you. Let my eating [and other sensory and mental and intellectual pleasures] become homa or aahuti you. Let my lying down become pranaama for you. And whatever else I perform with ease let all these become the method of worship for you.

Mudra :
Samkshobhini, vidraavini, aakarshini, vasankari, unmaadini, mahaankusa, kesari, beeja, yoni, trikantaa : these ten mudraas are the important ones with respect to devi upaasana.

Lalita Sahasranaama refers devi as “dasa mudraa samaaraadhyaa”

Whatever be the actions of the hand, all actions of a jnaani are mudraas of Goddess Supreme. The jnaanis who follow “samayaacaara “ never do any pooja with sricakra or with any mudra; but whatever they do naturally, become pooja for the Goddess Supreme. Whatever they utter become stuti or Upanishad words and whatever they do become pooja for all the Gods.

Siva maanasa pooja written by Sankara says :
Aatmaa twam girijaa matih sahacaraa praanaah sareeram graham
Pooja te vishayopabhogaracanaa nidraa samaadhisthitih
Sancaarah padayoh pradakshina vidhih stotraani sarvaa giro
Yad yad karma karomi tatta-dakhilam sambhoh tavaaraadhanam

Oh! Lord [Sadaa] Siva !You are [my] aatman. My intellect is [your] Partner Girija. My panca praanaas and their associates [like praana, apaana, vyaana, samaana, udaana and so on] are the your sahacaraas. My Sareeram [body] is your abode. my sensual [also mental and intellectual] pleasures are all your pooja. The actions of my feet are the methods of pradakshina for you. All my words are your stotras. What-else I do, all those are the methods of aaraadhana for you.
{Note: Sri Neelakantan has referred about this sloka in the beginning of our Soundarya Lahari session. So many thanks are due to him for the response at the appropriate time }.

Let us recall in this context the poem by the great Tamil poet “Thaayumaanavar” who refers like this :

Thullumariyaa manathu balikodutten karma tuttadevataikalillai
Turiya nirai caanta devataiyaamunakke Thozhumpan anbhabhishekaneer
Ulluraiyil yennaavi naaivettiam praanan omkumati doopa deepam
orukaalamandritu sadaakaala poojaiyaa oppuvit teyn karunai koor
tellimarai vadiyitta vamutappizhampe thelinta teyne seeniye
divyarasa miyaavun tirandozhuku paake tevit taata vaanandame
kallanari voodume mella mella mouniyaaik kalakkavaru nalla urave
karutariya cir sabaiyil aananda nirtamidu karunaa karakkadavule
Bhaavanopanishad says like this :

Jnaanam arghyam jnyeyam havih jnaataa hotaa Jnaatru-jnaanakjneyaanaa-mabheda bhaavanam Sreecakra poojanam. Bhaavanaayaa-mapramattataa upacaarah. Aham twam asti naasti kartavya- makartavyamitivikalpaanaamaatmani vilaapanam homah. Bhaavanaa-vishayaanaa-mabheda bhaavanam tarpanam.
[The meaning of this is that there is only one Brahman which is sat chit aananda and the triputi jnaatru-jnaana-jneya vanishes; only pure consciousness remains.This is called jnaatru jnaana jneya abheda bhaavana and this is sree-cakra-pooja]

In this context let us recall the two lines of Abhiraami Andaadi : sloka 10 below:-

Ninrum irundum kidantum nadantum ninaippatunnai
Enrum vananguvatun malarttaal.

Refer Bhagavad Gita chapter nine sloka 27- in this context which says :

Yatkaroshi yadasnaasi yajjuhoshi dadaasiyat
Yattapasyasi kaunteya tat kurushwa madarpanam

[Whatever you do, you eat [intake by indriyaas, mind , intellect ], havis you apply tapas you do, let all thesebecome unto you]

The above method of offering pooja referred in this sloka 27 is that of a jeevan-mukta yogi. The jeevan mukta does not require either any internal or external method of pooja. All his words/actions are becoming pooja unto the Lord.

The body of each person is yantra [micro level] for the sree-cakra-pooja. The world is also the yantra [macro level]. The mantra for sree-cakra-pooja is called shodasaakshari matra. In this shodasaakshari mantra nyaasa, there are two types:-

Shodaanyaasa and mahaashodaanyaasa.
A devotee who does mahaashodaanyaasa becomes a jeevan-mukta.

All actions of such a jeevan-mukta become pooja to Goddess supreme and in turn all gods all over the world.

This is referred in Dakshinaamoorthy samhita wherein Lord Siva refers to Goddess Parvathi thus :-

Mahaashodaanyaasa kartaa suddho bhavati sarvadaa
[the devotee who practices/has practiced mahaashodaanyaasam is ever pure]
Japo jalpobhavettandraa samaadhirabhidheeyate
Twacaa yat kriyate karma tanmudraa racanam bhavet
Tattaddhyaanam bhavedicchaa jaayate yatra mat priye
[his utterances of words become japa and tantra samaadhi for the lord; his actions (of jnaanendriyaas and karmendriyaas ) become mudraa-racanaa and icchaa-dhyaana ]
Praadakshinyam bhavettattadyatra yatra hi gacchati
Yatra yatraasane tishtettattadeva namaskriyaa
Yadyaducchaaryate vaacaa tat stotrapathanam bhavet
Yadaa yadaa bhavet swapnastadanusmaranam bhavet
Tasmaadayam mahaasuddho bhavet sarvatra sarvadaa.
[His travel becomes pradakshina and his rest becomes namaskaara; his utterances become stotras]

Hence, he is ever pure : as referred by the Advaita Makaranda sloka :-

Ahamasmi sadaa bhaami
Kadaacinnaahamapriya
Brahmaivaahamatah siddham
Sat chit aananda lakshanam

Such a person will definitely become one as referred by the Mundaka Upanishad mantra :-

Sa veda yetad paramam brahma dhaama
Yatra viswam nihitam bhaati subhram
Upaasate purusham ye hi akaamaah
Te sukram yetad ativartanti dheeraah
All the living [so we refer , for our purpose] mahaatmaas, depict this by their practical approach C[manasaa vaacaaa karmanaa].

Here is a prayer which is given by Amma to all over the devotees in the world :-

Amme! Yente yetu vaakkum ninde vaakkayi teeratte.
Yente yetu icchaiyum ninde icchayaayiteeratte
Jnaan cheyyunna yethu karmavum
nee cheyyunna karmamaaiteeratte.
Jnaan evidekku kaal eduthu vacchaalum
Athu ammayilekkethicherunna paatayai teeratte.
Jnaan evide kidannalum atu ammakkulla namaskaaramaiteeratte.
Jnaan entu kazhicchaalum atu ammakkulla
yajnamaayiteeratte.Amma nee yevide, amma nee yevide
Enne vittu piriyalle, yennil ninnu piriyalle, yennil ninnu piriyalle
Bhakti taa jagadambe !
Premam taa jagadambe !
Viswasam tannenee rakshikoo jagadambe !
Viswasam tannenee rakshikoo jagadambe [amriteswari].

Amma says to her devotees often :
Bhaktiyillatta jnaanam
kadicchaal pottatta paara poleyaanu.

This sloka and the method referred in this sloka 27 if a devotee adopts to implement will, no doubt, become in due course, a stiraprajna, a gunaateeta,a bhaktaa, a jnaani or a yogi.

Let the blessings of almighty be on all of us.