Soundarya Lahari Sloka

Soundarya lahari - sree chakra - 04

2006-10-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

The script of the song referred in the previous lesson is given below:-
Chenjchurutti raga-
Sri cakra rajasimhaasaneswari sri lalitaambikaye bhuvaneswari Aagama veda kalaamaya roopini Akhila caraa cara janani naaraayani Naaga kankana nata raja manohari Jnaanavidyeswari rajarajeswari (Sri cakra)

Punnaaga varaali raga-
Pala vidhamaayunnai paadavum aadavum Paadikkondaadum anpar padamalar coodavum Ulakamuzhutum yena takamurai kaanavum Oru nilai taruvaai kaanchi kaameswari (Sri cakra)

Naathanaamakriya raga
Uzhandru tirinda yennai uttamanaakki vaittaai Uyariya periyorudan onridakkoodi vaittaai Nizhal yena todarnda yentan Kodumaiyai neenka ceytaai Nitya kalyani bhavaani parameswari (Sri cakra)

Sindhubhairavi raga-
Tunpappudattilittu tooyavanaakki vaittaai Todarnta mun maayam neekki Piranta payanai tantaai Anpai pukatti untan aadalai kaana ceytaai Adaikkalam neeye ammaa akhilaandeswari (Sri cakra)

The mp3 song is available at http://www.box.net/public/az4gmar7e5#main.

Also attached is the wordings of the song in malayalam.

Soundarya lahari - sree chakra - 01

2006-10-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

aum amriteswaryai namah
Attached is the picture of sricakra. The sricakra is our body as vyashti and as samashti it is the whole world.
This is the yantra for the mantra called panca dasa akshari mantra which is:
ka ye ee la hreemha sa ka ha la hreemsa ka la hreem

This is the most sacred mantra and given to us by the great saint agasthya which was given to him by goddess supreme herself in the presence of the great GOD Haya griva. Refer Sri lalita trisati for more details. This pancha dasa akshari mantra is what is used by Devi Upasakas.

This is the abode of goddess supreme called Tripura Sundari or Lalitaambika . This is also called as the body of the Goddess supreme.
Just like Sri Lalitaambika is containing in herself all other gods and goddesses, And takes care of all the gods and goddesses in all their functions like srishti sthiti and laya, Sricakra contains in itself all other cakras what are all available in the world.

Hence this is called as Raja or the king of all cakras or Sri Cakra Raja. Refer the beautiful song below composed by the great saint Agasthia, who is responsible for giving us the great Lalita Sahasra Nama and Lalita Trisati [the song will be available in the next three lessons of Sri Cakra]

Soundarya lahari - Sree chakra – the effect of kundalini sakti – 05

2006-09-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

15. Sree Goraakkumbhaar from Pandaripura :-

Goraakkumbhaar born in the kumbhaar family whose job is connected with pottery work his name was Goraa and work was connected with kumbhar or pottery work and hence the name.
He was born in a village called Todaki near Pandaripura to his father Annaiah and mother Sathyavati. His father Annaiah was highly devoted and hence directed his son to get blessings from guru.
Goraa got married to Padmavati. One very important incident took place in his life. One day while preparing the pots unknowingly Goraa switched fire to the pot in which there were some kittens sleeping. They died in the fire.
Goraa on knowing this was upset completely for the sin he committed and undertook pilgrimage to ganges and bathed in ganges.
Another incident took place after some time in his life. He was doing the job of making pots his legs always in the mud, whirling the muds. But his mouth was always uttering the name of lord Pandarinatha. One day while this process was taking place, unknowing his young son came crawling and got inside the mud and he unknowingly was tramping on the child and child died. He was not aware of the same.
Only when the mother Padmavati came to know that the child was missing, she searched for the child and came saw the dead body of the child and started crying. He was fully immersed in the chanting of the lords name and hence these incidents took place. Still he was chanting the name of Pandarinatha vittala vittala je je vittala. His mind was fully with the Lord.

The devotion of this great saint shows the effect of kundalini sakti as referred in the soundarya lahari by sri sankara.

16. Sree Periya daasar from Tanjore/Srirangam :-

There was a king named Mannaar naidu in tanjore in olden days. He was in the good books of his subordinates though he was not talented like other kings. He was having a highly devoted sheraaf - servant called Seshaacala chettiar. Sree periyasami was his son who became a great devotee by name Periyadaasar. He was asked by his father to take up a government job in the kingdom, but he did not like it and hence at last he was forced to do his family connected traditional job of maintaining a bangles shop.
But periyasamy was highly devoted and he was always chanting the lords name and spent whole time in naamasmarana and bhagavat dhyana.
He called all poor people and went on giving the bangles free of cost and hence the shop was to be closed in due course of time.

He was adviced to take up the job of his father sheraaf. Sheraaf used to travel in the horse only. But duly he left the job and was spending most of his time in temples. People called him as periya daasar instead of periya sami.He was interested only in devoting his time in imparting devotion to the people of the country. One day the king asked his poets how far is vaikuntam?They told that they didnt know and it may be possible to know the details only by the great devotees like periyadaasa. Periyadasa was brought immediately. But periyadasa told that he knew only the narasimha god and nothing else.
But he told that he knew only the temple gods;anyway he replied that vaikuntam may be only very very nearby because, when gajendra called aadimoola, the god Vishnu came immediately for his rescue. The king was pleased and gave lot of presents and sent him,But in due course, a desire came to the mind of the king that sree periyadaasa should sing in praise of him.
But periyadasa refused for the same saying that he will chant only the name of the lord. The king got angry and asked his servants to arrest him. But to his surprise, the effort was in vain as the saint was meditating on the lord. He was put in the cage of tiger.But nothing happened. The tiger surrendered to his love. He hands were burnt with hot iron rods but it was in vain. No burn was caused. The king tried all methods. But all in vain.
At last the lord narasimha came in front of the king.The king asked for pardon but narasimha asked him to approach periadasa for his relief. The king got the darsan of the lord due to great saint periya dasar.

The devotion of this great saint shows the effect of kundalini sakti as referred in the soundarya lahari by sri sankara.

17. Sree Thukkaaraam from Pandaripura :-

Sree Thukkaaraam was one of the most popular amongst those who propagated the devotion to the lord in the minds of the people in Maharashtra during the period of the great king Catrapati Sivaji and also when Delhi was ruled by the great moghul badusha Ourangaseb. It is told that Thukkaram was nobody other than the great saint Naama deva who took rebirth.
The great saint Maanickavaacaka was narrating the famous devotional Tiruvaacakam and was written in turn by azhakiya cittambalamudaiyaar. Similarly Naama deva sang many lakhs of songs in praise of the lord which were written by the lord pandarinatha himself. Namadeva wanted to complete it but could not do so before he left the body and hence is supposed to have taken rebirth to do the assigned job of writing these songs of pandarinatha thereby propitiating the lord and propagating the devotion and bhakti amongst the people.

Thukkaram was born to a great devotee called Madhava rao who was a businessman dealing with groceries in a place called Devanagara. Thukkaram became a highly intelligent person without high education and without any worldly experience.By nature he was possessing sweet voice and musical and poetic talent. He married two girls and lived happily.The elder of the wives died after giving birth to two boys.Thukkaram lived with the younger wife kamala baai and his two children.He also undertook the job [business grocery] of his father.
He also constructed a big and beautiful temple of pandarinatha in devanagara. But suddenly as a testing, poverty took over that place and seeing the poor people suffering thukkaram helped them by offering all food clothes etc. But on seeing this, the two children abandoned him and went out. His wife kamalabaai also got angry and shouted at him.
But she realized the problem and got some money on loan from a maarvaadi and gave him telling that he should go out in search of some business and get back the money and more for the welfare of the family. He went on travel by bullock cart with the groceries purchased by the money given by his wife and continued traveling.Enroute he felt high devotion to lord and started meditating after leaving the bullock carts and the materials nearby and slept unknowingly. But on getting up in the morning, to his surprise found that the materials and the bullock and the carts were missing. He was worried very much about the bullocks thinking sympathetically on those poor bullocks who were not able to express their difficulties. Also, he thought he should not go home since he could not get any money nor material to be taken to his wife. Hence thought that it is better to surrender to lord pandarinatha instead of brooding over these. He sat on padmasan nearby and went to Samadhi state. In the mean time, another thukkarm [lord himself took the form] approached his wife with lot of material and money and bulocks.Kamalabaai was very much pleased on seeing this and prayed the lord for this act of kindness and mercy on her. He told that he will take bath in the river and return. She took the money borrowed on loan to the marvaadi and went to his house to hand over the money back. But to her surprise the marvaadi told that just then her husband landed there and gave the money thereby getting the receipt of the same and he was very happy for that act of faith and punctuality. But she found that thukkaram who went for bathing did not return at all and hence went in search of him.At last after roaming around a lot, she found that thukaram was sitting in a place meditating. She fell on his feet and started crying.
He asked her why she is crying. She told the incidents happened. But thukkaram told that she was blessed to have the darshan of lord in his form which he even could not get his blessings or darshan.

The devotion of this great saint Thukkaram shows the effect of kundalini sakti as referred in the soundarya lahari by sri sankara.

18. Sree Thukkaaraam from Pandaripura :-
Sree Thukkaram came back home. He wanted to do some job but did not undertake any job. He did not take any effort. His mind was always immersed in Iswara dhyana. His wife Kamalabaai was worried about this. At last she found out a job for him.

He became a watchman-servant in the house of a business man and was given the job to look after his fields. A small hut was made in the field at one corner and he was asked to sit there at the top of the hut and watch during day and night.He was able to see from the top of the hut all the fields.He was watching the fields. He found that the birds came singing and were eating the grains.Thukkaram was happy to see that and enjoy. He thought those birds are god’s children singing with joy and more and more number of birds came flocking and they ate more and more grains and in due course of time they came near thukkaram’s hut and were dancing there with joy.He sang the songs in praise of pandarinatha and the birds started dancing according to the tune of the songs.
The land owner – the businessman came and got angry with Thukkaram.He wanted to beat thukkaram. But one of his friends who was watching the devotion of Thukkaram told that it is wrong to beat him who is a staunch devotee of the lord. He gave an alternative solution to the business man to watch for the output of the field and if found less than usual then take action to send Thukkaram away.
But to his surprise, the businessman got lot of profits and hence he was taken aback with surprise and could find Thukkaram’s devotion to the lord.

The devotion of this great saint Thukkaram shows the effect of kundalini sakti as referred in the soundarya lahari by sri sankara.

19. Sree Thukkaaraam from Pandaripura :-

Thukkaram and Catrapati SivaajiThukkaram was going on giving whatever he got to poor people and helping the downtrodden and was living with his mind ever fixed in the Lord.Kamalabaai was thinking during the night when Thukkaram was sleeping silently-why this man is ever going on giving things to poor people even without keeping for his household purposes.
Thukkaram suddenly got up from sleep as if from dream and started chanting with ecstasy –panduranga! Pandarinatha! Vittala vittala! I am coming.His wife asked him about the matter.Thukkaram told about his dream.He was sitting in a beautiful mantap.He saw in the mantap in a cradle full of decorated flower.
He saw Rugmini sitting with Krishna in that seat of flowers. Then Krishna asked thukkaram –Oh ! thukkaram – did you forget your job?You told me when you were naama deva that you will complete the songs left out during your next janma as Thukkaram.Even children were taken to ecstasy when they heard the abhang and the songs of Thukkarm.

In pandaripura, aashaadha sukla ekaadasi festival was being celebrated.Thukkarm wanted to sing his abhang songs in the name of the lord in the temple.Catrapati Sivaji has already heard about Thukkaram and hence he wanted to see and hear his songs in the temple during the festival but he went in the shape of a simple devotee and not in the form of a king.
At that time, king Ourangazeb of delhi heard the news and he wanted to arrest Sivaji. He sent a set of soldiers with horses and asked them to arrest Sivaji. The soldiers surrounded the temple outside completely. Thukkarm came to know of this and he prayed the lord while going on singing that no harm should be done to the king Sivaji and that the king should not be arrested.

On seeing the devotion of Thukkarm, lord Pandarinatha showed mercy on thukkaram.The lord took the form/shape of Sivaji and climbed upon a horse and started running in front of those soldiers. The soldiers started chasing him but could not succeed as he was going here and there and started hiding in between and the soldiers were defeated and they started running with fear to Delhi back. Next day morning news came that the horse sets sent by the king Aurangazeb which came with soldiers got wounded and were defeated and had to run back to Delhi. But when this news came, Catrapati Sivaji was on meditation.After getting up from meditation, when he was informed of this news, He got astonished and he understood that Lord Pandarinatha himself came to save him.
When Sivaji knew about the devotion of Thukkarm and about the poverty faced by Kamalabaai, he came to see her with lot of materials and went away after giving those materials to her.But to the surprise of all, Thukkarm gave away all those to poor people. Thukkaram was immersed in dhyana, ever thinking of the Lord.

The devotion of this great saint Thukkaram shows the effect of kundalini sakti as referred in the Soundarya Lahari by Sri Sankara.

Soundarya lahari - Sree chakra – the effect of kundalini sakti – 4

2006-08-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

13. Sree Bhadraacala Raamadaasa from Bhadracalam Hyderabad:-

All of us know that Sree Tyagaraja swamikal is one of the sangita trimurthys’.Every year on the makara maasa pushya bahula pancami day, Saint Tyagaraja’s remembrance day is being celebrated not only in India but also in every place where Karnatic songs are being sung. For the Karnataka sangeeta, Tyagaraja has delivered immense treasure. Bhakti world bows to Tyagaraja for his contribution. He has sung the description of the decorating of a chariot by a most lovely karnatik song. He was the first one to do so. He was a staunch Rama Bhakta, we all know. His songs are referred as Tyagabrahma Upanishad.

Such a great giant Saint Sree Tyagaraja praised the great Saint Bhadracala Ramadasa. In one of his famous songs “brindavana lola”, he refers himself as Rama daasa daasa. In one of his songs “ksheera saagaraa sayanaa”, Sri Tyagaraja sings –“dheerudau raama daasuni bandhamu” and asks with deep interest and asks God – are you not going to release the brave Ramadasa from his bondage and release him thereby giving him moksha? Saint bhadraacala Rama dasa sings like this even when he was in jail-
“nannu brovumani ceppave seetammaa! Tallee
nannu brovumani ceppave - Tallee ! Tallee !”He sings in another song like this :-“sree raamula divya naamamu bhajana ceyucunna caalu”

14. Sree Daamaaji panditar from Bedari graamam, mangalapata :-
Bedari was a small beautiful village with lot of farms around. In that village lived a Brahmin called Daamaaji. He was a dharma seela; who ever approached him got what ever they wanted – money material or anything else. He was a kodai vallal like Karna in our puraana - Maha Bhaarata. He studied systematically the vedaas and chanted with devotion and became a pandit in vedic scriptures but still lived a very simple life. The people in that village took him to be a god, friend in need who offer help without fail, whatever be his condition. His ancestors were grama pancaayats but he did not accept it. Even then, the king in that country heard about this simple man and made him the head of a town called mangalapata.

The people in mangalapata were extremely happy about this.
Damaaji was able to give confidence to people and was able to develop god devotion among the people in mangala pata. But suddenly one time heavy draught embraced that place and due to that the crops were not available. But damaaji said to the people not to worry telling that this can be compensated due to god’s grace later and hence he issued all the stock materials available for future use then and there to the people.

Another testing came, as usual for all devotees. A Brahmin from pandaripura came there. Damaji offered him food to his satisfaction and pleased him. Then the Brahmin told him that he is suffering from poverty and hence require some money. Damaji gave him 500 vessel full of grain and ensured by sending a vehicle and protection so that it reached that Brahmin at pandaripura. But nearby village people heard about it and they approached damaji and begged him for food since he has helped even the Brahmin from pandaripura.

They went to pandaripura and took away the grains given by Damaji. The Brahmin came to damaji and told the fact. Damaji felt pity on that Brahmin and asked him to bring his wife and family to come to mangalapata and stay there. Hearing this, all the poor people around came to Damaji, and asked for help. But Damaji found to his surprise that there was no stock of rice to be given, as the ones available was to be earmarked for future use.

Any he and his wife took pity on the people and they gave away the stock which was available to be distributed later. All the future stock also got exhausted. Anyway Damaji was not at all affected by this and he was going on remembering god pandarinatha throughout the day and night asking him to help all poor people all around. But the king heard the news and he got angry and he sent the sipoys to arrest Damaji for his wrong deed of misusing the future stock that too without prior permission or approval. Anyway an enquiry as usual was conducted and the minister gave the amount to be remitted by the stock misused to be costing Rs. Eighty four lakh varaahan and hence Damaji was arrested and taken to the king’s palace.

But while he was being taken to the palace under urrest, Damaji stopped in between at the place of pandaripura and begged the sipoys to allow him to pray Pandarinatha. He got off temporarily out of the fold of the sipoys and ran to pandarinatha temple and embraced as markandeya did and started asking pandarinatha for justice since he has not done anything wrong as per his mind.

But in the palace in the mean time a black colored young person started to enter in and was stopped by the watchmen and taken to the king. That person told that he has come to deliver the price of the rice stock used by Damaji of Rs. Eighty four lakhs varaahan and told that Damaji wanted receipt for that. But king was taken aback because the amount was so huge that it has to come by a vehicle but this man says he has brought it in a small piece of cloth. But to the surprise of the king, ministers and all around when the small piece of cloth was unwounded they found the eighty four lakh varaahan [brand new] and they were taken aback.

By the time the black person disappeared Damaji was taken to the king arrested and then king found his folly. He fell at the feet of Damaji. He understood that the black person was nobody other than the great god pandarinatha.

This was the effect of the devotion of even a single person in a country as told by our great poet John Milton thus :-“How far that little candle throws its little beams, so shines a good deed in a naughty world”.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - Sree cakra – the effect of kundalini sakti - 03

2006-07-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

10. Sree Sakku baai from Pandareepura:-

In India, the sacred land, there is a saying about the holy places linking with the divine consciousness in different levels thus :-
Annabrahma is jagannath puri
Taarakabrahmam is kaasi
Poornabrahmam is tiruppati
Naadabrahmam is pandaripura.

Even today if you go to the pandaripura, you hear naadabrahma bhajans and songs from various corners - it is told. The sound coming from the jaalra with the bhajans confirm this saying.
Pandarinatha came to her rescue when she was tied by her husband mitrurao not allowing her to go to the ekaadasi festival. But to the surprise of mitrurao, pandarinatha came to her rescue and untied her and allowed her to go to the function. Also, pandarinatha took the form of sakkubai and asked sakkubai to tie her. Pandarinatha taking the form of sakkubai changed the mind of her husband by acting as his wife and did miracle. Sakkubai with her husband both became staunch devotees of pandarinatha and they propagated the god principle and devotion around the place.

11. Sree Meera baai – from Udaipur/mewaar

In Udaipur, there is a temple where there is the idol/deity of Sri Krishna and Meera baai together in ecstasy [divine] state.
(This represents the naayaka naayakee bhava- Meera baai considered herself as naayaka and Sri Krishna as naayaka with full divinity.)
The songs of Meera baai are the ones which induce divine bhakti even for people belonging to other religions.
When Meera baai found it difficult to live in the midst of the difficult country, when the king and others were blaming her, she found no other course of action except to drink poison and leave her life; but to the surprise of the king and all around, they found the idol of Sri Krishna was turning to be bluish in color thereby saving Meera baai and the king and others become blessed to find out the bhakti of Meera baai and the value of true devotion.
She ends her devotional poems with the heart throbbing lines :-
“Meera kahe bina prem se naheem mile nandalaalaa”.

12. Sree Bosala baavaa - from paalkaadu near pandareepura.

The great poet from tamilnadu bharatiyaar said thus :-

“Uzhavukkum thozhilukkum vandanai seyvom”
For the farming and work we bow.
The farmer depends for his sowing and farming – the blessing from god and the rain. Even if anybody else is naastika, the farmer can not be !
In such a farmer caste was born the divine bhakta called Bosala baavaa.
Bosala baavaa got the blessings of the divine god and goddess in the form of an elderly couple to bless him even when he found only some pieces of chola maavu to feed them though earlier he had fed to all around the place with his rich food from his farming. But to his surprise he found that the chola maavu was returned to him to be given to his partner in house and others by the couple – that which was returned by the couple was rich and more in quantity and hence baava got upset – but by the time the couple disappeared and he found that it was the leela of the god and goddess to test his patience and bhakti in which he fully succeeded with full titikshaa which rarely other bhaktas even have.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - Sree cakra – the effect of kundalini sakti - 02

2006-07-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

5. mahakavi bharatiyaar from Tamilnadu Who uttered in tamil saying –
“kaakkai cirakinile nandalaalaa
Nintan kariya niram tonrutadaa nandalaalaa Paarkkum marangalellaam nanda laalaa
Nintan pacchai niram tonrutadaa nanda laalaaKelkum oliyilellaam nandalaalaa
Nintan geetam isaikkutadaa nandalaalaaTeekkul viralai vaittaal nandalaalaa
Ninnai teendum inpam tondrutadaa nandalaalaa”

Oh! Nandalaala! In the feather of the crow we see the divine black color;
In the trees around, we the divine greenish color;
In the words heard, we see your divine song;
If we poke our hands on the fire, we see the feeling of your divine touch;

6. Saint Naamadev from Pandaripura Who uttered in ecstacy–
“ranga ranga namostute jaya ranganaatha namostute
Paanduranga namostute jaya padmanaabha namostute”

Kabir das used to praise naamadev often.

7. Saint Jnaaneswar from Maharashtrawho gave the beautiful gita Jnaaneswari which was called sarvajana ranjaka to the society
Who made the egoistic Brahmin pandits spellbound with surprise making them run away from the place by His grace by placing his hands on the head of the buffalo and asked the question to the buffalo which answered like this –

“janmanaa jaayate soodrah karmanaa jaayate dwijah
Vedo viprastu mukhyaanaam brahmajnaanam tu brahmanaam”

[by birth one is born as a soodra –
but by karmanushthaana he becomes a brahmana;
for the great Brahmins [who reside in brahman],
the main job is to study and preach veda andpreach the content in the veda to deserving disciples who come forward to know the supreme knowledge the Brahman.]

Daasee garbhasamudbhooto naaradasca mahaamunih
Tapasaa brahmanodbhootaha tasya jaatim na kalpayet
[narada was given birth to by a dasee only.
But by tapas, he became the son of brahma the creator;
one cannot say what caste he belonged to
-beyond caste because of knowing brahma vidya].

Urvasee garbhasambhooto vasishtasca mahaamunih
Tapasaa brahmanodbhootaha tasya jaatim na kalpayet

[the greage sage vasishtha who was born to urvasi became the brahma kumara;
one cannot say what is his caste
– he is beyond caste by knowing brahman]

Sunakee garbhasambhootah saunakasca mahaamunih
Tapasaa brahmanodbhootaha tasya jaatim na kalpayet”

[the great saint saunaka who was born the female dog,
became by tapas a brahma kumara who apprehended Brahman
- we cannot say what is his caste – beyond caste by knowing Brahman].

8. Sree Sankaraacaarya [aadi sankara] Who wrote several prakarana granthaas and bhaashyaasfor the Upanishads,Gita and Brahma Sutra andsaid in Sanskrit in his soundarya lahari thus –

“japo jalpah silpam sakalamapi mudraa viracanaa
Gati praadakshinya kramana masanaadhyaahuti vidhi
Pranaamah samvesah sukhamakhila maatpaarpanadrisaa
Saparyaa paryaayastava bhavatu yan me vilasitam”

[let my utterances become your japa, Oh! Mother;
Let my actions of the karmendriyaas become your mudras;
Let my walk become your pradakshina karma;Let my lying down poses become your pranaama;
Like this whatever actions of mine are there,let them become by your grace, the actions of yours].

Let me recall what amma used to say –
“Oh! Amma! Entre yethu vaakkum ninre vaakkai teeratte;
[all my words become your words]
Oh! Amma! Enre yethu icchayum ninre icchayaayi teeratte;
[all my thoughts become your thoughts]
Oh! Amma! Jnaan ceyyunna yethu karmavumnee ceyyunna karmamaayi teeratte;
[let my actions become your actions]
Oh! Amma! Njaan yevidekku kaal yeduthu vaccaalumathu ninnilekku yethunna paathayaai maaratte;
[all my walking steps lead me to your abode]
Oh! Amma! Jnaan yevide kidannaalumatu angaikkulla namaskaaramai teeratte;
[let my lying down anywhere become prostration to you]
Oh! Amma! Jnaan entu kazhicchaalumathu angaikkulla yajnamaaiteeratte;”
[whatever I consume as food by body and emotionsby mind and thoughts by intellect let it become jajna to you.]

“pradeepa jwaalaabhir divasakara neeraajanavidhim
Sudhaasoote cchandropala jalalavir arghyaracanaa
Swakeeyai rambhobhih salila nidhi souhitya karanam
Twakeeyaabhir vaaghbhir tava janani vaacaam stutiriyam”
[Oh! Mother goddess supreme! Who is the goddess of all words!
Like the lighting of a lamp from the light borrowed from the sun god- applying thereby the neeraajana to the sun god--
Like the applying of the neeraajana to the moon god
orrowed by the light from the moon falling on the stone
which gives the water-Like the tarpana being applied by the water from the ocean to the ocean itself ]
[Offer your own belonging to you in turn for your(because you are only inside and outside us)happiness-Oh! Goddess Supreme]

9. Sree Rama Bhakta Hanuman : he was able to cross the ocean to reach Sri Lanka simply by chanting the name ‘Rama’.He elaborates on his relation with Sri Rama thus:-

Deha-buddhyaa to daso’ham
[identified with the body, I am thy servant]
Jeeva buddhyaa tvad amsakah
[as an individuality, I am thy part]
Aatma budddhyaa twamevaaham
[but as the pure self, we are one]
Iti me niscitaa matih
[this is my firm conviction]

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - Sree cakra – the effect of kundalini sakti- 01

2006-07-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

examples of saadhakaas or devotees :-

1. Sree Jayadeva swamigal from Orissa -Puri [jagannatha kshetra]Who entered the samaadhi state often singing the glory of the Lord as –
“Candana carcita neela kalebara peeta vasana vanamaali”

His legs and hands were cut by robbers and he was thrown into a well. But his mind was not at all affected, he was a sthitaprajna as referred in the gita chapter 2 sloka 15 thus :-

“Yam hi na vyathayantyete purusham purusharshabha
Sama dukha sukham dheeram somritatwaaya kalpate”

He gave gita govinda – which was even appreciated by foreign poets – Edwin Arlnold translated the same into English by name “song of songs ” and paved the way for the whole world to know about this great saint.

2. Sant Kabir Das from Vaaranaasi [Kaasi kshetra]Who uttered all along saying –

“raama kaho yaa rahim kaho voh yek hi hai”
“antar raama baahir raama jaham dekho vahaam sabhee raamaa hi raama
guru kripa anjan paayo more bhayee raama binaa kuch dekhat naahee
Raama binaa kuch jaanat naahee
Jaagat raama sovat raama sapan me dekhat raamaa hi raama”

”hari bolo bhaai hari bolo”
“mera mera kah kar kyaa phal paaya
Hari ke bhajan vinaa choothak maayaa
Kahat kabeeraa hari guna gaanaa
Gaavata naasata vaikunta jaanaa”

He went to the stage of pleasing the devotees and feeding the poor even by cutting his son’s head – he depicted the sthitaprajna in gita as referred by chapter 2 sloka – 19 thus:-“ya yenam vetti hantaaram yascainam manyate hatamUbhau tau na vijaaneeto naayam hanti na hanyate”

this simple man along with all of you who are reading this offer our pranaams to the great devotees of God .

3. Sant Tulasi Das from Delhi, Rajahpur, VaaranaasiWho said in his Tulasi Ramayan –

“kaama krodh mad lobh moh
Naath narak ke panth
Sab parihari raghubeera hi
Bhajahu bhajahi jehi sant”

“sakala sumangala daayaka
Raghu naayaka guna gaana
aadara suna hi te tarahiBhava sindhu binaa jala jaan”

Here is an incidence from the history of the great mughal emperor who was a staunch devotee of God almighty. He happened to come to see Saint Tulasidas and asked him to request Sri Rama to give darshan to him also. Akbar the great appreciated very much about the devotion of Tulasidas and was said to refer like this once-

“Turavikku vendan turumbu taane”
it was also referred in the history of Tulasidas that the Great King Akbar appreciated very much about the devotion of Tulasidas and also specifically in the articles in “vinaya patrikaa” and “raam carit maanas”. Our pranaams to the great King also.

4. Saint Ezhuttacchan from Kerala who wrote Harinaama Keertan and Adhyaatma Raamaayan -Who uttered in Malayalam saying
“yaatonnu kaanmatatu naaraayanapratima
Yaatonnu ketpatatu naaraayanasrutikal
Yaatonnu ceyvatatu naaraayana arcanakal
Yaatonnatokke hari naaraayanaaya nama”

What ever you see is the idol of naaraayana only;
Whatever you hear is naaraayana srutikal;
Whatever you do is naaraayana acrana;
Whatever else is there all are hari naaraayan only.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - Sree Cakra description - 2

2006-06-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Reference from bhagavad gita chapter 15 slokas –

regarding the micro part - vyashti and the macro part - samashti

Refer the Bhagavad Gita -
chapter 15 sloka 7, 12, 13 and 14 which refers like this :-

Mamaivaamso jeevaloke jeevabhoota sanaatanah
Manah shashthaaneendriyaani prakrtisthaani karshati

An eternal portion of myself, having become a living soul in the world of life,
and abiding in PRAKRITI, draws (to itself) the (five) senses, with mind for the sixth.

Yadaatiya gatam tejo jagat bhaasayatekhilam
Yaccandramasi yaccaagnau tattejo viddhi maamakam

That light which is residing in the Sun and which illumines the whole world,
and that which is in the moon and in the fire – know that Light to be Mine.

Gaamaavisya ca bhootaani dhaarayaamyahamojasaa
Pushnaamicaushadhee sarvaa somo bhootwaa rasaatmakah

Permeating the earth I support all beings by (My) energy;
and having become the liquid moon, I nourish all herbs.

Aham vaisvaanaro bhootwaa praaninaam dehamaasritah
Praanaapaana samaayuktah pacaamyannam caturvidham

Having become (the fire) VAISVANARA, I abide in the body of beings,
and associated with PRANA and APANA, digest the four-fold food.

Sarvasya caaham hridi sannivishtho
mattah smritir jnaanamapohanam ca
Vedaisca sarvairaha meva
vedyo vedaantakrit vedavideva caaham

And I am seated in the hearts of all,
from Me are memory, knowledge, as well as their absence.
I am verily that which has to be known in all the VEDAS;
I am indeed the author of VEDANTA, and, the “knower of the VEDAS” am I.

Our backbone has three naadis – this is not sthoola but sookshma [not hardware but software]On left side – ida
On right side – pingala
On middle – sushumnaa
At the bottom termination point is the moolaadhara.

There lies and sleeps the kundalini sakti in the form of a sarpaakaara [serpent shape], ith three and a half rounds and it is most softest and tiny like a bisatantu taneeyasi as referred in lalitaa sahasra naama It shines like a brilliant set of lightning beams of light . if a saadhaka is able to wake up the kundalini sakti, it wokes up and crosses over through the lingasthana swaadhishthaana cakra,
the naabheesthaana manipooraka cakra,
hridayasthaana anaahata cakra,
the throat sthaana visuddhi cakra and
the broomadhya aajnaa cakra and
thereby reaches the sahasraara cakra at the forehead.

It joins there with the sadaasiva caitanya and then the amrita pravaaha results which cools all the naadis in the body and the saadhaka feels tremendous aananda called paraananda or anubhooti.

We will try to see some of the examples from Sree Mahaa Bhakta vijayam indicating the effect of this paraananda or anubhooti in the next lesson of sree cakra–

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - Sree Cakra description -1

2006-06-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

We have given the meaning of the soundarya lahari sloka 11 which deals with Sree Cakra.
But we have given only a brief in that context. Now we will go through in detail about the Sree Cakra.

The ancient great rishis have established several methods of meditating and worshipping the aroopa, akhila loka vyaapta devee caitanya.

Method 1 is to imagine the familiar form of goddess -by joining the parts known to us - by thinking about the most beautiful parts -of the human beings and building up the form -
which does not have any blemish; it gives us rejoicing peace and happiness.
The method of worshipping the gods/goddesses -in pictures and in sculptures in temples -are the ones which have been found out by this method.

An alternative to the above method is -to have no specific shape of form but concentrate -
the devi form on some stone, or big lamp or wooden piece.
The aaraadhanaa part of this involves – calling the god or goddess as our guest and then -offer necessary arghya paada, peetha, vastra, food etc -and then pray them by stotras and mantras.

Method 2 is to understand that the upaasya cit sakti -is inside our heart of hearts and propitiate that power. This aaraadhana method has several sub parts.

Out of those the most versatile and saastreeya method - is Kundalini pooja.
The body of each individual is the exact micro [vyashti] part -of the macro [samashti] world and hence called -pindaanda -whereas the group of worlds is called as -brahmaanda. All the powers available in the brahmaanda are hidden -and available in the pindaanda also. Paraasakti is the aadhaara bhoota for the action -and sthiti of the brahmaanda. Similarly, the alpa maatra sphurana in the form of kundalini roopa -exists for all the actions of the pindaanda, so says patanjali yoga sutras.

Now, in the next lesson, we will go through in brief about -some of the reference sutras from Patanjali Yoga Sutra, which justify the vyashti samashti principle or -jiva eeswara principle or the individual B M I and the world.

Vibhooti paadaas - reference from patanjali sutras.

Refer vibhooti paada 29 of the patanjali yoga sutra which says :-
“Naabhee cakre kaaya vyooha jnaanam”

all the naadis in the body join together in the cakra of the nabhi i.e., manipooraka cakra. Hence, when one gets samyama with that, he gets all the complete states or sthitis of the body.

What is the sareera ghatana?
Which dhatu is in which part of the body?
What is their state?

Complete knowledge about all these one gets by the samyama. In fact, you can see the parts of the body inside you, as you the objects outside you in the world.

Refer sutra 25 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“Pravrityaa lokanyaasaal sookshma vyavahita viprakrishta jnaanam “

Three types of things in the world are not visible to the ordinary indriyaas of man.

They are the atisookshma paramaanu, mahattatwam, prakriti etc; Example – the pearls inside/ underneath the sea – The treasures inside / underneath the earth –
The things which are beyond our normal vision and are far off. But the yogi who does samyama on the “jyothis” can see all the three above, in pratyaksha.

Refer sutra 26 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“bhuvana jnaanam soorye samyamaal”

A yogi who does samyama on the sun god can get the vision of all the fourteen worlds.

Refer sutra 27 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“candre taaraa vyooha jnaanam”

Ordinary people cannot know the movements of the Planets and stars. But a yogi without studying ganita saastra Can visualize in pratyaksha the planets and star movements.

Refer sutra 28 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“Dhruve tat gatij-jnaanam”

Dhruva nakshatra is niscala or silent. But the movements of all the stars Are connected to the dhruva nakshatra. Hence, one can know By the samyama on the dhruva nakshatra, The movements of all the stars and planets.

Refer sutra 30 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“kanthakoope kshutpipaasaa nivrittih”

At the inner edge of the tongue, there is a tantu called “jihwaa moola” This is the pivot of the tongue. Behind this is the kantha and behind the kantha is the koopa. It is called kantha koopa. If a yogi does samyama on that – He gets the clutches of thirst and hunger. In fact, the praana calana starts from the kantha koopa. The hunger and thirst are produced due to praana calana only. Hence the result referred.

Refer sutra 31 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“koorma naadhyaam sthairyam”

There is a naadi below the above referred kantha koopa. If a yogi does samyama on that, he gets niscala sthirata on the body and the heart.

Refer sutra 32 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“moordhaa jyotishi siddha darsanam”

At the centre of the head top, there is a randhra called Brahma randhra. One who does samyama on the jyotis on that Brahma randhra, He gets the darsan of all the siddha purusha in the world and in heaven.

Refer sutra 33 of patanjali which refers like this :-
“praatibhaadwaa sarvam”

This is the jnaana called praatibhaa jnaanam. This is not the one available for a jnaani. But before the jnaana, one gets this. Just like we are able to see the world and things around just before the sun rise, One gets the jnaana before actually he gets moksha. Then one gets any knowledge without any samyama.

Soundarya lahari – anubandham - 1

2006-06-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

(Some books for reference to enrich or clarify the points so far referred)

The slokas in the soundarya lahari – aanandalahari portion from sloka 1 to sloka 41 include many tatwa which contain taantrika and daarsanika principles. No effort was made in the slokas we referred, to describe in detail about the taantrika secrets.

All bhaarateeya puraanaas, itihaasaas, stotra samhitaas, darsanaas, saastraas contain devee tantraas. It is necessary to have strong, continuous, long abhyaasa and guru kripa or help of guru to separate the goodha tantraas which are embedded in these slokaas, which are not directly available but in hidden form they are available.

Most of the upaasakaas who are loukeeka do not require at all these. Only for those who
are jijnaasu readers a list of books which will enrich the tantra and mantra rahasya are
given below. Many of these given below are available in shops where devotional books
are sold or in ashrams and which contain some details about these.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..
NAME OF BOOK AUTHOR/VYAAKHYAATAA
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Aarshajnaanam – naalappattu naaraayana menavan
Soundarya lahari of sankaracarya by Dr. B.C.Balakrishnan, Kottayam
Soundarya lahari bhaashaa bhaashyam by Kandiyoor Mahadeva saastri, Kodungallur
Soundarya lahari bhaashyam by Annaa [Sree Ramakrishnaa Math] Chennai
Lalitaa sahasra naama by Swami Cidbhavaananda, Ramakrishna
Tapovan, tiruchirappalli.
Lalitaa sahasra naama by Kandiyoor Mahadeva saastri, Kodungallur
Lalitaa sahasra naama by Dr. B.C.Balakrishnan, Kottayam
Kulaarnava tantram by Sri Ram Kumar Roy, vaaraanasi
Gaandharva tantram by Sri Ram Kumar Roy, Aacaarya Krishnadas
Academy,vaaraanasi
Daamara tantram by Sri Ram Kumar Roy, Aacaarya Krishnadas
Academy,vaaranaasi
Tantra raja tantram by Mahopaadhyaaya Lakshmana Saastri,
Delhi, Motilal banarasidas, Delhi
Tripuraa rahasyam by Sri A.U.Vaasudev, Vaaraanasi
Tripuraa rahasya kaa tatra viseshan by Sri Bhavani sankar upaadhyaaya, Vaaraanasi
Tripura saara samucchaya by Sri Praacya naaraayanan, Vaaraanasi
Devee maanasa poojaa stotram by Sankara translated into Malayalam by K.V.M.
poojaa pushpa manjari by Sri N.Easwaran Nambootiri, Mavelikkara

(Some books for reference to enrich or clarify the points so far referred)Pratyabhijnaa hridayam by Sri Jaydev singh, Delhi, motilal banarasidas, Delhi
Prapanca saara tantra by Sankara Vivaran by Sri Padmapaadaacaarya , Motilal banarasidas, Delhi
Barihat tantra saaram by Sri Ram kumar Roy, Aacaarya Krishnadas Academy,Vaaraanasi
Brihat tantra saara ,, Hindi translation
Mantra mahodadhi by Sri Sukdev caturvedi vaaraanasi.
Mantra mahaarnav by Sri Ram kumar Roy, Aacaarya Krishnadas Academy,Vaaraanasi
Mantraartha prakaasika by naaraayanan nambootirippaad, kunnamkulam
Maatrukaa bheda tantra by Praacya prakaasan, vaaraanasi
Maalinee vijayottara tantra by Sri ahandhaananda saagar mahaamandaleswar aacaarya krishnaanand, vaaraanasi.
Yajna samskaaram by Naaraayana bhattatiri, matrubhoomi publication.
Yoginee hridayam by Dr. Gopinath Kaviraaj, Sampoornaanand Samskrita vidyaalay, vaaraanasi.
Rudra yaamalam by Sri Ram kumar Roy, Aacaarya Krishnadas Academy,Vaaraanasi
Lalitaa sahasra naama by srimad bhaaskara rayar, samskrita [soubhaagya bhaaskaram] vyaakhyaan
Lalitaa sahasra naama by Sri Bhatta Naaraayana [jaya mangala vyaakhyaanam]
Lalitaa sahasra naama stotram by swami vimalaananda, Ramakrishna tapovanam , Tiruchirappalli.
Varivasyaa rahasyam by Sri Bhaaskara raayar [bhaasura nanda naathar
vyaakhyaanam], swami brahmaanandar, kaavum bhaagam, Talassery
Vijnaana bhairav by Jai dev singh, motilal banarasidas, Delhi
Sakti mahimna stotram by maharishi durvaasaa
Saaradaa tilakam by lakshmana desikendra, vaaraanasi.
Saaradaa tilaka tantra by sad guru publications, Delhi
Siva tatwa rahasyam by sree Neelakanta Deekshitar
Sree cakram by Sri S.Sankara naraayanan.
Sree cakra pooja by pancaangam pustaka saala, kunnamkulam
Sree devi maahaatmyam by pandit Ramanaraayana data saastri ‘ram’ Geeta press, gorakh pur
Sreemaddevee bhaagavatam by sree subrahmanyan tirumumbu, matrubhoomi prasiddheekaranam
Sree matrukaa pushpamaala by sankara vyaakhyaanam by sri udayavarma tambaan, vivekaananda Kendra, thiruvananthapuram.
Sree vidyaa mantra bhaashyam by swami brahmaananda teertha, talassery
Sreevidyaarnava tantram by sree vidyaaranya yati, vaaraanasi
Soundarya lahari tamil lakshmeedhara vyaakhyaanam by A.Kuppuswamy
Soundarya lahari aanandagiri vyaakhyaanam By A.Kuppuswamy
Soundarya lahari taatparya deepini-vaidya maadhava vyaakhyaanam By A.Kuppuswamy, T.R.Ramakrishna saastri
Soundarya lahari soubhaagya vardhinee-kaivalyaasrama vyaakhyaanam By Sri Radhakrishna saastri, sri candrasekharendra sevaa samaajam
Soundarya lahari padaartha candrikaa vyaakhyaanam With the help of bhaarata sarkaar in different languages.
Soundarya lahari arunaa modini vyaakhyaanam By kaameswara soori
Soundarya lahari aananda laharee teekaa – gowree kaanta saarva bhauma bhattaacaarya
Soundarya lahari stotram – lakshmeedhara kavi - sukha bodhini Malayalam vivartanam.
Tekke ambaadiyil meenaakshi amma

(Some books for reference to enrich or clarify the points so far referred)

Soundarya lahari English translation and vyaakhyaana by Nadaraaja guru, east west university of brahma vidya, varkala.
Soundarya lahari, goodhaartha deepikaa by E.P.Subrahmanya saastrikal
Spanda kaarikaa by jai dev singh, motilal banarasidas, delhi.
Hindi mantra mahaarnav by Moolam and hindi translation, praacya prakaasan, vaaraanasi
Hindu Goddesses by David Kinsley, motilal banarasidas, delhi.
Meditation and mantras by swami vishnudevaananda
More on tantras by M.P.Pandit
Prapanca saara tantra by Sir Arthur Avlon, motilal banarasidas, delhi,
English commentary by swami Tapasyaananda, sree Ramakrishna math, madras.
Sreecakra by Sankara naaraayanan, Aurobindo asram, Pondichery
The complete illustrated book of yoga by Swami Vishnudevaananda
The Garland of letters by Sir John Woodroff, Ganesh and co, madras.
Understanding mantras by Harvey Alpher pub. Motilal Banarasidas
Wisdom of yoga by Sri Krishna P. Bahadur
Patanjali yoga sutra by tapasyaamrita of Sri ramakrishnamath
Patanjala yoga darsanam by swami jnaanaananda saraswathy,
aanandakuteeram, kanyakumari
………………………………………………………………………………………..

Next, we will go through in some more detail about the Sree Cakra which is required for a saadhaka. Again, let us offer our pranaams to all those who are referred above and all those who have contributed for the vyaakhyaanas not given above but available in different other languages also and those who are all devotees of goddesses and gods and all who have blessed these children involved in this simple venture of going through the aanadanda lahari.
[Anubandham ends..]
now we will try to go in detail about the sree cakra in the next set of lessons called Sree-Cakra.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - 41 - 2

2006-05-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

[aananda taandava in moolaadhaara]
[devi saakshaatkaara – removal of dangerous diseases]

Here is a clue to some, who study this Soundarya Lahari [perhaps all readers in our group may know about this, in which case this is only a recalling or review.]

What are the sources of this aananda or self knowledge?-
Where can we find this?
People are highly [academic] qualified; people have all degrees, but when problem comes, they are flat; who am I facing this world?

Find some other source – traditional scriptural literature play a very important role – 4 layers of scriptures are there. The original layer is the Vedas or Srutis; heard in meditation by Rishis – and written; as revealed by Lord himself; attuned to lord’s teaching; eg- in TV , program, we tune to transmission centre to get a channel – receiving centre will not be available all the time - only when
tuned, it is available for us; similarly, Rishis have received this revelation or Vedas; source of knowledge – Vedas- this is first layer;

2nd is Smrithi- written by Rishi elaborating the content or principles in the Sruti; content is Sruti itself – but elaborated; Rishis are authors of the Smriti; Rishis are not the authors of Sruti – but receivers of sruti and are authors of Smriti; when they authored, they elaborated the content of Sruti;

3rd is Brahma sutraani – sutra literature- written by Rishis; Rishis are authors of sutra also- and in that, most important is Brahma Sutra; and this literature is unique, because, gives logical support to the teaching given in Sruti and Smriti; reinforce satisfying our reasoning intellect, scientific intellect-
buddhi understands reasoning only; with tarka or nyaya; and these 3 layers are most important and are the foundation pillars of our sastras; they together are called prasthana trayam; method of gaining knowledge; way of knowing; trayam means three – the 3- basic pillars – 4th is prakaranam – authored by various gurus – much much easier for one to follow than prastaana trayam generation after generation Upanishad still remain the same – all cannot understand that.just as pipe line- they cannot directly benefit me – I have pipe line to catch; this has come to us by the Guru sishya parampara tradition as referred by the sloka :-

sadaasiva samaarambhaam sankaraacaarya madhyamaam
asmadaacaarya paryantaam vante guru paramparaam.

Several works written by traditional acaryaas; Sankara; sureshwara; vidyaranya, etc; Works written by many acaryaas in many languages;

First two,Sruti and Smriti – given to us by great Rishis – 4th prakaranams given by aacaryas; 4th layer is prakarana; these are the 4 sources of self knowledge;

There are innumerable prakaranams; generally, we start study with prakaranam only; later only we study the original i.e., the Gita or the Upanishad or Brahma Sutra;

Some of the prakaranams are referred below:-

yoga vaasishtha
tatwa bodha
ashtaavakra gita
Ekasloki
Maneeshaa pancakam
Maayaa pancakam
Advaita pancaratnam
Nirvana shatkam
Swaroopa anusandhaana ashtakam
Sri dakshinaamoorthy ashtakam
Dasa sloki
Niravaana manjari
Proudhaanubhooti
Jeevanmuktaananda lahari
Brahma jnaanaavali maala
Bhaja govindam/moha mudgaram
Advaita anubhooti
Aparokshaanubhooti
Praatasmaran stotra [trisloki]
Viveka coodaamani
Sarva Vedanta siddhaanta saara sangraham
Aatmabodh
Panceekaranam
Upadesa saahasri
Upadesa panca ratnam
Vaakya vritti
Laghu vaakya vritti
Brahmaanucintanam Sadaacaara anusandhaanam
Kaupeena pancakam
Vairaagya pancakam
Dwaadasa pancarikaa stotram
Carpata pancarikaa stotram
Laghu vaasudeva mananam
Swapnoditam
Swaanubhootiprakaasikaa
Manoniyamanam Aatma vidyaa vilaasah
Aatmaanusandhaanam
Brahmaananda vilaasah
Vedapaadastava
Jeevanmukta lakshanam
Jeevanmukti vivekam
Pancadasee
Manolaya prakaranam
Brahmaniraamayaashtakam
Tatwa pancakam
Anubhava sopaanam
Vedaanta dindimah
Harinaama keertanam
Jnaanappaana Tirukkural
Amrita tarangini
Bhagavannaama kaumudi

And so many prakaranams given to us by so many aacaaryaas in different languages by different authors . Why we should choose, prakaranam first and not prasthaana trayam ?

Because, they are written by later aacaryas; They understand the mind of modern generation; The original work or prasthaana trayaas are in Sanskrit, and it does not give modern example directly; Now the prakaranams are available in local language- easy to follow;

Whatever be, we are aiming at 2 benefits which are:
Systematically acquire self knowledge which is the primary aim; then, the secondary aim is to achieve the 5 fold benefits; there are jargons in prastaana trayam; not easy to follow like legal, medical, engineering, music/dance, law jargons; every science has its own technical terms; it is impossible for us to translate; the best method is to understand the technical terms in Sanskrit and start using these slowly.

Success always depends on 2 factors –

first is our own effort – prayatnah;

2nd is - iswara anugraha – grace of the lord – all other factors should be favorable; I can sow seed – but rain must come in time- I can go out, but where traffic diversion – we don’t know- We plan at home to have some programmes in TV or so, but there may be power cut obstructing our work;

All these together is called Fate or daivam – or god. unpredictable, uncontrollable factors; Cyclone may be predictable – but not controllable; Maximum possible is to evacuate people; Earth quake is unpredictable and uncontrollable – fate or Deivam only decides it; That fate or deivam must be favourable – luck or good luck – but for us iswara anugraha is required;

Since both equally important – use both I take effort myself by prayers or surrender to god – to convert fate daivam favourable [vidhiyai matiyaal vellanum], [overcome fate by intellectual conviction] offer prayers; capacity to alter factors – has a capacity to alter fate / daivam or extraneous factors; guru and god are one, prayer to lord is prayer to guru; iswara prarthana is replaced by guru prarthana; both are one;
Knowledge of real self – tatwam – my real nature –
my Higher nature – my superior nature –
called in scripture as Bodhah – is the real knowledge;

What we see need not be real nature – Scientists say combination of elements – then elements made of molecules – then atoms – then electron and protons – then sub atomic particles – Energy in motion – For example – there is energy in wall – non tangible energy – but we are not able to see this energy – but wall we can see and touch – even then we don’t know until we go through the science.

Untouchable unbelievable energy is true nature-

Electricity we cant see directly, but we see through the fan and light or washing machine or motor or air conditioner etc. what is I [we think as the B M I complex ]– is not true nature of anything in the world consisting of panca bhoota - What sense organs perceive is not true – What I see, that you are, is not real you – it is different – Sense organs do not report real nature – For example, we see that the sun is rising in the east and setting in the west; but we know that sun does not rise or set, but is moving from one place to other which we call as rise or set.

Our eyes are dissuading us.

We see, a snake in a rope [rajju sarpavat]. But actually it is not there; what is available is only rope. We are dissuaded by the sense organs.

We see water in a desert [maru mareecika], if seen from a distance; but actually it is not there. Only desert alone is there.

We see ornaments but not there is no ornament without gold in gold ornament.
We see pot but not mud. Actually, there is mud only.
There is wood in table, chair, bench etc but we don’t see wood.

Knowledge of real nature – we get from Soundarya Lahari also. If we proceed gradually with full faith – we get the main benefit called -mokshah.

Conclusion of Aananda Lahari. [slokas - 1 to 41]

The first set of 41 slokaas described about three things in general :-

1. Mahaa-Tripura-Sundari
2. Sree cakra
3. Sree vidya

Sloka 1,2 refers
Mahaa Tripura Sundari is Brahma Sakti, Sarva deva vandhya, punya janopaasya, Cit-sakti Sree-cakra Sree-vidyaa roopini.

Sloka 3,4,5,6,7,8,22,30 refers
Devee sthoola roopa upaasana sampradaaya  Sagunopaasana

Sloka 27 refers
Nirgunopasa followed by great saints and devotees that paraasakti is not different from one’s self.

Sloka 11 refers
Cakropaasana

Sloka 31,32,33 refers
Mantropaasana
Sloka 9,10,14,21 refers
Kundalini dhyaana roopaantaropaasana

Sloka 12,24,25,26,28,29 refers
Sree Devee maahaatmya

Sloka 13,15,16,17,18,19,20,22,30 refers
Maadanaadi prayoga

Sloka 23,34, refers
Siva sakti aikyatwa roopa kaula siddhaanta

Sloka 35 refers
Ekatwa abheda-roopa parinaama-mata even during prapanca parinaama-avasthaa

Sloka 36,37,38,39,40,41 refers
Shadaadhaara pooja - Samayaacaara

Sri Gouda Paada Aacaarya [Sankara’s guru’s guru] has written a precious article called “Subhagodayam”. It refers about the most secret and sacred tatwaas called shad vidha aikya anusandhaanam, catur vidha aikya anusandhaanam, samayaacaaram, which enbles one to get liberation. The same is [hidden] available in this Aananda lahari also.

It is a treasure which is available very deep below. Those who dig with patience only can get this.

With this study of the Aanandalahari, with the grace of the Goddess Supreme, and grace of Guru, many great authors in different languages, and different cults and ashrams and others who have given guidance directly and indirectly at appropriate moments, and with the grace of Sadgurus like Amma, Baba, Guruji , Ramana, chinmaya, sankara and so on, [many - will not be able to restrict] who have written books giving invaluable guidance for the sake of devotees, last but not the least, each and every one of the participants - you, who have patiently heard this and taken in, what ever suited you, and discarded whatever did not suit you as a hamsadhwandhwa, we definitely feel elevated and are having a better mind which is spiritually oriented, and will be able to share the happiness we have with others as and when situation warrants.

Let us read, one song of Amma which depicts the blessings available for a upaasaka and the upaasana he undertakes.

Anpin vadivam amma tiru-
varulin iruppidam amma
vaareer vaareere jagatteere vaareere
[amma is snehaswaroopi, amma is anugraha pratiroopa, oh! people of the world, you please come, come]

ullattai kollai konda umaiyavale
paadipukazhttidum muraiariyen
vaadittudikkuminta kuzhanthaikalkku
neengatha nalam tarum iniyavale

[Oh! Hridaya haarini umaadevi! I dont know how to sing, and praise you. You are the one who comes to the rescue of the children who are tired and give good for them ]

vaazhkaiyin verumai akanratamma
aazhntanal amaiti niraintatamaa
chevadi cittattil patintatamaa
atai ennida kankal panittatammaa

[Ah! The soonyataa of the jeevita has gone off! And saanti has filled up everywhere. That divine lotus feet delves deep into my heart and that thinking makes tears in my mind.]

moovulakaalum amma
moovar pottidum amma
mutrum unarntaval amma
mutalum mudivum amma

[Oh! Goddess supreme who is all pervading all over the three worlds, you are being prostrated by the Ttrimoorthi even, you are the beginning and the end]

Let Goddess Supreme, bless all in the world to drink the nectar or amrita and be happy for ever.
At last asking for pardon for any errors or mistakes or pointing to others by wounding; this beginner of search of truth; the youngest ever child of the goddess mother shared with you the Aananda Lahari and places it at the Lotus Feet of the Goddess Supreme at this juncture.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - 41 - 1

2006-05-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

[aananda taandava in moolaadhaara]
[devi saakshaatkaara – removal of dangerous diseases]

Tavadhaare moole saha samayayaa laasya parayaa
Navatmaanam manye navarasa-mahaa taandava-natam
Ubhaabhyaa metaabhyaa-mudaya-vidhi muddhisya dayayaa
Sanaathaabhyaam jajne janakajananeemat jagadidam

Tava - your
moole aadhaare - in the moolaadhara cakra
saha - with
samayayaa - with you who is called Samaya
laasya-parayaa - interested in dancing
Navatmaanam - aananda bhairava
manye - I meditate on
navarasa-mahaa taandava-natam - dancing navarasa taandava nritya
Ubhaabhyaa metaabhyaam - by you two
udaya-vidhim - the creation of the world destroyed in pralaya
uddhisya - taking into consideration
dayayaa - with kindness
Sanaathaabhyaam - with the wife and husband
jajne - become
janakajananeemat - having father and mother
jagadidam - this world

In your moolaadhara cakra, I meditate on aananda bhairava, dancing the great navarasa taandava with you who is also interested in dancing and who is called by the name "samayaa". This world becomes great by having father and mother as aanandabhirava and samayaa respectively, both of you, by your kindness have taken steps to bring back the world which was destroyed in pralaya.

Adbhyah prithwee:-
From ‘appu’ i.e., water, has evolved the mother earth. The adhisthaana for the earth is moolaadhara. This is the position in the sushumnaa naadi with four petal lotus. Here, we have to meditate siva and sakti as aananda bhairava and aananda bhairavi surrounded by 56 prithwee mayookhaas. When the goddess "prakriti" dances the style "laasya nritya" and sadasiva dance the style of taandava nritya, and each have the vision of the other mutually, then, the shrishti takes place.

Ambaastavam says :-
"Aalokanena tava komalitaani maatah
Laasyaatmanaa parinamanti jagat vibhootyai"

Samayaah:-
Ambal is similar to siva and hence called by the name "samayaa". This equality is of five types – adhishthaana saamya, anushthaana saamya, avasthaana saamya, roopa saamya, naama saamya.

In aadhaara cakra, adhishthaana saamya
As jagat janani, anushthaana saamya
By laasya taandava, avasthaana saamya
By reddish colour, roopa saamya
By name bhaira and bhairavi, naama saamya

The people or devotees who do upaasanaa of the god and goddess as father and mother
are called as samayi. In the samayaacaara, there is no external pooja. What they do,
involve four aikya anusandhaana pooja.:-

the six aadhaara cakraas are one with the six angle of the sree cakra.
sahasraara is one with the caturasra in the bindu.
bindu is one with siva.
the mantra of devi is one with the sreecakra.

The goddess, devi is beyond the naada [of para, pasyanti, madhyama, vaikhari] and
beyond the shadcakra shape bindu and beyond the 360 kiranaas or rays.

The Lalitaa Sahasra Naama refers like this :-
"Akulaa samayaantasthaa samayaacaara tatparaa."

The slokaas referred from 1 to 41 so far are called aananda lahari and the rest from 42 onwards are called by the name soundarya lahari. The first set was available for Sri Sankara when he went on pilgrimage to kailaasa. But the rest were framed by Sankara.

We are very lucky to have this division, because if the complete set would have been
available to Sankara from kailaasa, then we would have been disappointed since now we got the divine slokaas by Sankara and we understand and appreciate and enjoy the
greatness of Sankara – so says Kaanci Kamakoti Sri Sankara.

Pooja method – aikya anusandhaana :-
Do the anusandhaana that the shadaadhaaraas and sahasraara and the kula cakra are of
Sree-Cakra shape.

(1) Va sa [sasi] sha sa [samsara] - 4 dalaas and the trikona roopa karnika moolaadhaara as sreecakra trikona.
Ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, la - 6 dalaas ashta kona roopa karinika swaadhishthaana as ashta kona of the sreecakra

Da, dha, na [guna] ta, tha, da [daanam], dha [dhanam], na [naama], pa, pha – 10 dalaas – dasa kona roopa karnika – manipooraka – dasaara of sree cakra

Ka, kha, ga, gha, nga, ca, cha, ja, jha, nja, ta, tha – 12 dalaas – dwiteeya dasaara karnika roopa anaahata cakra – dwiteeya dasaara of sri cakra

16 swaraas - A, aa, e, ee, u, oo, ye, yey, ru, lu, ai, o, oh, ou, am, ah – 16 dalaas - catur dasaara roopa karnika visuddhi cakra – catur dasara of sri cakra

Ha, ksha – 2 dalaas – on one side ashta dala roopa and on other side shodasa dala roopa- like this in two types of karnika – caturasra prakritika – moolaadhara swaadishthaana aatmaka aajnaa cakra – ashta dala, shodasa dala, vrittatraya, bhoopura trayaatmaka, siva cakra catushtaya.

Visuddhi cakra paryanta – from moolaadhaara to visuddhi – sakti cakra aikya

At aajnaa cakra – siva cakra aikya

In vritta traya – first - moolaadhaara and swaadhishthaana – rudra-granthyaatmaka
Second - manipooraka and anaahata - Vishnu-granthyatmaka
Third - visuddhi and aajnaa - brahma-granthyaatmaka

Above this, with sopaana, four dwaaraa and bhoopura tritaya. This is called sahasra dala kamala karnika. This has 1000 petals.

In the middle of this is the caturdwaaropeta baindava sthaana or bindu. This sreecakra shadaadhaara aikya anusandhaana is the first one of the four aikya anusandhaanaa. This is also called as naada bindu aikya.

(2). Sahasra dala kamala as sri cakra baindava sthaana or bindu –Sahasra dala kamala Madhya candra mandala as caturasra

(3) Candra mandala Madhya gata bindu as caturasya Madhya gata bindhu as panca vimsati tatwaateeta siva saktiaikya saadaa aikya kalaa roopena and as aatmaroopena.
aikya anusandhaana between sri cakra and sri vidya.

The above method is called caturvidha aikya anusandhaana.

Shadvidha aikya anusandhaanam:-
There are three things – naada, kalaa and bindu. These combine to form 5 sets
Bindu to Naada aikya , kalaa to bindu aikya, kalaa to naada aikya, Bindu to kalaa aikya, Naada to kalaa aikya

These five together has aikya with sree vidya and hence totally six aikya anusandhaana.

[aananda taandava in moolaadhaara]
[devi saakshaatkaara – removal of dangerous diseases]

The jagadamba is referred by :-
"Jagadamba shad vidha aikya anusandhaana para-cit vyomni samthitah"

Naada is of four types – paraa, pasyanti, madhyamaa, vaikharee
Paraa is trikonaatmika – trikona in sreecakra
Pasyanti ashtakona cakra roopini - ashta kona in sreecakra
Madhyamaa dwidasaara roopini - 2 nos of 10 konaas in sreecakra
Vaikharee caturdasaara roopini - 14 kona in sreecakra

The five Siva cakra has become embedded internally in these four sakti cakra.
Hence, Sree cakra is catuscakraatmaka and naada sabda vaacya.
Bindu is shadaadhaara cakra
Kala is pancaasad [15] varna or mantras.

Kala can also be considered as 360 divine rays as referred in
"kshitau shad pancaasat"
sloka no-14.

In these shad aadhaaraas moolaadhara, swaadhishthana, manipooraka, anaahata, visuddhi and aajnaa cakra, pancaasat kalaa is embedded inside as hidden treasure.

In Candra khanda, there are 16 swara letters starting from a to ah .
In Soorya khanda, there are 25 letters from ka to ma.
In agni khanda, there are 7 akshara from ya to sa.
In bindu sthaana, there are ha and la.
Sarvatra or all pervading the all aadhaaraa, there is ksha [kaara].

Thus in moolaadhaari dala contain the total letters or akshara.
Kalaa has nityaatmakatwa.
Kalaa has also, moolamantra, gata panca-dasa-akshara aatmakatwa.
Nitya has kalaatmakatwa.

Panca dasa akshara has tri khandatwa. [divided into 3 sets ]
Trikhanda has soma soorya anala aatmakatwa.
Also trikhanda has granthi traya aatmakatwa.
Granthi traya has mantra gata hreemkaara trayaatmakatwa.
Hreemkaara has bhuvaneswari mantratwa.
Bhuvaneswari mantra has moola mantra antargatatwa.
Moola mantra has aikya with Sree-cakra

This cakra navaka [5 + 4], has aikya with shadaadhaara, with granthi traya, with sahasra kamala karnika.

This is called kalaa naada aikyam.

Having referred about naada and kalaa, Now we will clarify the bindu swaroopa.

Bindu is shad aadhaara in sushumnaa naadi.
Bindu is a sakti visesha of Paramasiva, which is jagad utpatti hetuka.
This is yekam only.

This is referred as :-

"Sahasra kamala antargata, catur dwaraatmaka karnikaa Madhya gata,
catushkonaatmaka, sakti tatwa."

Tan Madhya gata Siva tatwa is the Naada.
We have referred earlier that naada is of four types.
Sakti and siva have ubhayatwa kalaatmakatwa because of sabda artha roopa.
Siva Sakti Sammelana is naada bindu kalaateeta.
This is the secret of samya mata.

Samay mata may be referred as beyond time, space, objects and hence any devotee can do at any time, any place, irrespective of any object with ease by pure mind, and does not require the help of any external poojaa draya or anything else.

This bindu referred above is divided into 10 types:-
In moolaadhara the four petal lotus – mind budhhi, citta and ahamkaara, and they become prakritiaatmaka jagannirmaana hetu and become 4 bindu aatmaka.
In swaadhishthaana, there is six petal lotus – kaama, krodha, lobha, moha, madha and maatsarya aatmaka form six bindu aatmaka. These are samhaara bindu says – yoga saastra – [you can refer Patanjali Yoga Sootra]
Bhagavaan Patanjali says –

"swaadishthaane samhaarah shad bindu kritah"

Thus the ten bindus are moolaadhaara swaadhisthaanaatmaka.
Dasa dala manipooraka [10 petal lotus] is moolaadhaara swaadhishthaana dalaatmaka.
Dwaadasa dala anaahata [12 petal lotus] is manipoora dasa dalaatmaka, and
moolaadhaara swaadhishthaana kamala-dwaya-atmaka.
Shodasa dala visuddhi cakra [16 petal lotus] is anaahata padma dwaadasa dalaatmaka, moolaadhaaraadi catuscakraatmaka.

Dwidala visuddhi cakra is moolaadhaara swaadhisthaanaatmaka.
Thus from manipooraka to aajnaa cakra, the four cakraas are of moolaadhaara
swaadhishthaana prakriti only.

Thus, since in moolaadhaara swaadhishthaana, all other four are hidden or embedded and hence, yeka bindu is said to have become 10.
For the samayi, the four kaarya bhoota cakraas are required for anusandhaana and hence the moolaadhara and swaadhishthaana are not required.

Moolaadhara and swaadhishthaana are kaarana bhoota
The other four are kaarya bhoota.
This shad vidha aikya anusandhaanam is the reason for mukti and the rest are all
Optional, not compulsory.

For a upaasaka, who has deeksha {or he is called ‘deekshitar’}, because of guru’s grace and by this aikya anusandhaana, sree devi the goddess supreme appears as kundalini in the manipooraka crossing over the moolaadhara and swaadhishthaana, and gives dharsan as the devotee wants either in form, name, or type of karma, or happiness, or strength as he meditates. There in the manipooraka, the upaasaka does the paadyaadi bhooshanaanta upacaara and propitiates the goddess and goddess comes to anaahata. [this need not be in form alone, may be your mind is fully covered by goddess and becomes full of unbounded happiness. Or your intellect may get it and you invent
something strange attracting many and get happiness.] in anaahata, you do the dhoopadi taamboolaa samarpana and goddess goes up to visuddhi
cakra, and goddess takes the position of simhaasana, and talks with her colleagues, devotee has to do the upaasana of devi with different shodasa dalagata shodasa candra kalaa ratnaa [divine ornaments and stones], and devi goes to aajnaa cakra. There the devotee has to do the neeraajana and please her. Then suddenly devi enters sahasraara, like a lightning strike, wherein devi starts sitting comfortably with Sadaa siva in the saraghaamadhya or manidweepa, in the panca kalpa taruccyaaya in the sudhaabdhi in the sahasra kamala. Then the devotee has to surrender with complete body doing the prostration to the goddess and Sadaa Siva. Till Bhagavathi, the goddess, returns back to moolaadhara, the devotee has to remain with complete surrender. This is called "samaya mata rahasya ". Th sloka number 7, starting with "kwanat kaanceedaamaa" is the description of the devi appearing in the Manipooraka.
From sloka 36 onwards, the avarohana pooja method from aajnaa cakra to moolaadhaarais referred. From aatman - aakaasa has evolved, from aakaasa has evolved vaayu; from vaayu has evolved agni; from agni has evolved water; from water has evolved earth. This is sruti words.

Also sruti says –
"oordhwamoola madhasaakha vriksham yo veda"
The reason or moola for the deva roopa vriksha is siras or head.
"Mayi yeva sakalam jaatam mayi sarvam pratishthitam mayiyeva vilayam yaati tat brahmaadwayamasmyaham"

this sarvaatmanaa sarva roopena avasthaa is called mukti.
"Tacchaalabhyamanaaraadhyatripuraamit hetutah"

[aananda taandava in moolaadhaara]
[devi saakshaatkaara – removal of dangerous diseases]

This mukti will not be available without doing the pooja of saakshaat para devata or pure consciousness. Simply by chanting "brahmaahamasmi" words one cannot become mukta. This is to be enjoyed as anubhooti. This is to be obtained by sadaacaaraas like jitendriyatwa, satyam, jeeva kaarunya etc., and by jnaana and teevra bhakti upaasana of the devi.

"Jnaadaad eva hi kaivalyam"

This whole universe starting from brahmaadi trina-paryanta is paraa-sakti swaroopa. Sree cakra is devi roopa or the devi aavaasa mandira or abode and upaasanaa sthaana of Sree devi the goddess supreme for the sake of upaasanaa of the upaasaka who is
bhaktaanujighrikshayaa bhakta.

Sree cakra is siva sakti aatmaka, siva sakti swaroopa and siva sakti aavaasa mandira. This world also is siva sakti aatmaka, siva sakti parinaama and siva sakti aavaasa mandira and sreecakraatmaka.

Smriti says :-

"Cakram Tripura sundaryaa brahmaandaakaarameeswaree"

Samaya pooja is the aikya anusandhaana with such a divine Sree cakra.

But this pooja is to be performed in Turiyaavasthaa. Crossing over, sushupti, forgetting prapanca and one’s lower self consisting of body, mind, intellect, ego, and knowing only Cit sakti is the Turiyaavasthaa. Forgetting sareera and prapanca in the shadaadhaara pooja by the inner eye of consciousness, or divya cakshus, seeing only devi directly the upaasaka has to remain in still state.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi says :-

"Be still and aware."
During sleep you are still but not aware.
In waking and dreaming state, you are aware, but not still.

Amma says :-

"Urangumbol, bodham undu but arivilla.
ippol, arivundu bodham illa".

The meaning is the same as referred by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi.

The position of the manas in this state is above the aajnaa cakra. There the mind,
transforms into some other form which we normally do not experience. This is called as "unmanaavasthaa".But turiyaateeta avasthaa is different one. Aanandaika Ghana, anirvaacya and anubhavaikavedya and is beyond turiya, forgetting Cit also and having no knowledge at all. [don’t confuse with sleep or abodhavasthaa – here you have ignorance]. This is called "nirvikalpsamaadhi". This itself is called "videhamukti". In this condition, there is no question of any state, and hence no pooja or karma at all. Samaya pooja is nothing but nirvikalpam. The steps below this are ways to reach this step.

Para sambhu with the Paracit kalaa posited in Aajnaacakra or bhroomadhya Siva cakra
Catushtaya, is the reflection of the Saadaakhya kalaa which is the tawa roopa,
sivasaktiaikya roopa, which is the 26th tatwa roopa in the candra mandala baindava
sthaana in the sahasraara kamala. Sevya sevaka bhaava aaraadhana is only upto the
aajnaa cakra. In the swaprakaasa jyotsnaamaya sahasradala kamala, there is only yekatwa saayooja and nothing else. This is the result of shadaadhaara aaraadhana and is of nirvikalpaasamaadhi roopa.

Thus with the strong intellectual conviction that :-

Sri tripura sundari
Sree vidyaa mantra
Sree cakra
Maatrukaakshara
Prapanca
Sree Guru
Shadaadhaara
Saadaakhya kalaa
Kundalini sakti
And self are all one and one only.

Thinking of the goddess as sarvadaa avicchinna flow of oil, and do the sreevidyaa mantra Japa,is the main reason for a upaasaka to go to the place of aadhaara cakra
and this is sarva sreyaskaram and sarva sangalam.

[aananda taandava in moolaadhaara]
[devi saakshaatkaara – removal of dangerous diseases]

The study of the Aananda Lahari gives us the self knowledge if approached with sincere interest. But one may ask what is the benefit of studying soundarya lahari, particularly aananda lahari [sloka 1 to 41].
The answer to them is given by several prakarana granthaas. All prakarana granthaas
elucidate on this point and directs us to the happiness or aananda which we are and need not be searched anywhere.

Here are some clues to this. The ultimate benefit is moksha. What is moksha ?
Let us analyse this point – moksha –

we may take moksha to be of 5 specific advantages to man kind or human beings.
They are :-
1. Jijnaasaa nivrittihi
This is our natural quest or curiosity to know who we are.

Where do we come from?
Where are we getting towards?
Fundamental question - very natural to any intelligent human being;

If answered, total intellectual satisfaction results; Basic quest to know ourselves
is natural to each one of us. Soundarya lahari, like prasthaana traya or prakarana granthaas, is also able to get answer to this, if approached with reverence and faith.

2 – Vidyaananda praaptihi
Happiness or joy born out of discovery of our real nature which is so wonderful and unique, which we would not have imagined;Knowledge is permanent; it is never lost; perennially this aananda continues; Other knowledge or materials get exhausted in time; body gets exhausted; mind gets exhausted; money gets exhausted; everything in the world including the brahmaanda get exhausted, but this aananda obtained from the study and implementation of the Soundarya lahari gives ultimate happiness which never gets exhausted but increases even if we share it with others- as the
Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 sloka – 46 which refers like this :-

“Yaavaanaartha udapaane sarvatah samplutodake
Taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanatah”
“knowledge is never exhausted in time or when we share with others”

“na corahaaryam na ca raaja haaryam na bhraatrubhaajyaam yaye krite vardhana nityam
vidya dhanam sarva dhanaal pradhaanam”

knowledge cannot be stolen by thief, or government or by police, or by tax; not
taken away by relatives; knowledge is never a burden also.

ya ye krite vardhata eva nityam.
Vidyananda is a perennial source of ananda; This is second benefit we get by self
knowledge here by the study and implementation of the Soundarya lahari also.

3 - paara tantrya nivrittih or paaravasya nivrittihi;
I have always a source of happiness with me, which I need not search outside but is me; I don’t become a slave of worldly pleasures;
Some bank balance for emergency – example – for water storage, borewell as a standby; A perennial source- my dependence on dependent and unreliable worldly
pleasures comes down; Worldly pleasure do come, ok; if not, I can tap from
vidyaananda which is me itself;

3rd benefit is reduction of desperate dependence upon joy given by worldly people, government, relatives, thieves, etc; this is the 3rd benefit by the study of
Soundarya lahari too.

4 - Aaghaata Nivritthi –
serves as a wonderful shock absorber when facing adverse situation – challenging situation in life – but the study of Soundarya lahari as other scriptural studies too, acts as a cushion; when roads are not good – shock absorber helps; when roads are terrible, shock absorber helps to withstand shock; spondulisis or psychological spondulisis – depression, anxiety, fear, freedom - from that is the 4th benefit;
one who studies Soundarya lahari with devotion will also become wise; and he never gets shocked under any circumstance. and finally –

5. dakshataa praaptihi;
when my mind is well balanced – since I have a shock absorber- I do not go to turbulent condition- poised mind is a good mind- on the other hand emotionally
disturbed mind is very dangerous; if I don’t have emotional balance, mind becomes disturbed and hence, the output is affected and the environment also affected.
now psychologist say – emotional quotient [E Q] is more important than
intelligence quotient [I Q].

high knowledge with sharpness is intelligence quotient;
emotional quotient is - capacity to remain balanced when things go astray;

If you have low emotional quotient, the problem is depression, expectation, anger, fatigue, grief etc.; if one has high emotional quotient, what knowledge he has, he can tap fully and get full benefit; emotional disturbance is virus for brain computer;
virus - vital , information resources , under , siege ,
it means the knowledge is not available for our tapping; our intelligence then is hijacked by militant or terrorist called grief; the 4th benefit we get just as from the study of scriptures is available by the study of Soundarya Lahari also. When fully utilized, once handled, my intelligence quotient is fully available for my present performance; naturally a poised person is able to perform well; even from worldly angle, a person of self knowledge can accomplish better than others;
this is dakshataa praaptihi;

Aananda lahari gives aananda or vidyaananda – it is not ordinary happiness – but we get happiness devoid of any sorrow.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -40

2006-05-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

[in Manipooraka cakra Devi appears as stream of lighting in between clouds]
[good dream to come true, bad dream to off and to get blessings of Goddess Lakshmi]

Tatitwantam saktyaa timira-paripanthi-sphuranayaa
Sphura-nnaa naaratnaabharana-parinaddhendra-dhanusham
Tava syaamam megham kamapi manipooraika saranam
Nisheve varshantam haramihira-taptam tribhuvanam

Tava - your
Manipoora yeka saranam - with the manipooraka cakra as the adhishthaana
timira-paripanthi-sphuranayaa
- brilliant as the enemy of darkness
Saktyaa - sakti as
Tatitwantam - lightning group of garlands
Sphura-nnaa naaratnaabharana-parinaddhendra-dhanusham
- with bow of Lord Indra as the ornaments decorated with different divine Ratna stones.
syaamam - black
megham kamapi - your sadaasiva tatwa which is like strange cloud
Nisheve - I prostrate
varshantam - making cool by raining
haramihira-taptam - burnt by the Rudra who is the pralaya kaala soorya
tribhuvanam - the three worlds

I prostrate to the Sadaasiva tatwa,
which is like strange cloud,
which has the Manipooraka cakra as the adhishthaana,
which has Sakti, who is enemy of darkness, as lightning group of garlands,
which is black,
and with bow of Lord Indra as the ornaments decorated with different
divine Ratna stones,
and making cool by raining, and restoring the three worlds, burnt by the Rudra who is
the pralaya kaala soorya.

Tatitwantam :-
Siddhaghutikaa says –

"Manipooraika vasatih praavrishenyah
sadaasivah Ambudaatmatayaa bhaati
sthirasoudaaminee sivaa Kabaleekrita
nissesha tatvagraamaswarooni"

indhradhanusham :-
aarunam says :-

"dadindra tanurityajyam
abhra varneshu cakshate
yetad yeva samyor-baarhatpatyasya
yetad rudrasya dhanuh"

Lakshmidarar says –

"Yo’psu naavam pratishthitaam veda
Pratyeva tishthati
Apsu udakatatwaatmike manipoore pratishthitaam
Naavam sreecakraatimikaa"

[Meaning – the river which allows us to cross over the samsara bhava saagara is here]
Arunaamodini says –

"Anaahata cakropasthitaah
soorya kiranaa atah prasritaah
Swaadhishthaanaagninaa dagdham
Jagataaplavayanteetyaagamah"

[meaning – the soorya kirana in anaahata spreads below adds with the agni in
swaadhishtaana and then enters manipooraka and makes cloud and then making rain
shower and makes the taapa traya world to become cool.]

Agneraapah :-
Water appears from agni.
The position or abode of water is manipooraka cakra.

This is the location where there is the ten petal lotus situated in the sushumnaa naadi.
Here the devotee has to pray and do the upaasana of the god and goddess as maheswaran
and sthirasoudaamini.

The god and goddess here are called as amriteswaran and amriteswari.
The devotee has to do upaasanaa of amriteswaran and amriteswari as surrounded by 52
jala-mayookhaa goddesses.

The place or temple in India for this Manipooraka cakra is Tiruvaanaikkaval.
In the Manipooraka, which is blackish, to the Siva who is like the cloud mixed with
water, devi appears as the lighting of garlands.

Naraayana sookta says :-
"Neelatoyata - madhyasthaat - vidhyullekheva bhaasvaraa"

Aagama refers :-
The sun rays above the anaahata cakra joining with swaadhisthaana agni and become
water or jalatatwa and reach manipooraka do the aavaahana of the jagat which was burnt
down in the swaadhisthaana agni. The siva sakti swaroopa which produces that jala tatwa
is described in this sloka.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -39

2006-05-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

[Kaameswari in Swaadhishthaana-cakra]
[to see in dream what you have thought]

Tava swaadhishthaane hutavaha-madhishthaaya niratam
Tameede samvartam janani mahateem taam ca samayaam
Yadaaloke lokaan dahati mahasi krodha-kalite
Dayaardraa yaa drishtih sisira-mupacaaram racayati

Janani – Oh! Goddess!
Tava - your
swaadhishthaane - swaadhishthaana-cakra
hutavaham - agni-tatwa
adhishthaaya - meditating [on that]
niratam - shining with brilliance always
Tam samvartam - that kaalaagni roopa rudra also
eede - I pray to
taam mahateem - that great
samayaam ca - samayaa [or candrakalaa sakti] named you also
Yadaaloke - rudra’s which eye sight or look
lokaan - worlds
dahati - when burns to powder, then
mahasi - agni
krodha-kalite - growing due to anger
yaa dayaardraa drishtih - that, your kind karunaamaya dhrishti
sisira-mupacaaram - cool welcome
racayati - makes

Oh! Goddess! I meditate on the Swadishthaana cakra with Agni Tatwa or fire god, and in
that, the kaalaagni roopa Rudra with continuous brilliance, and you the great
samayaa or candra kalaa devi and bow to you. When Rudra’s look with the agni which
destroys the whole world, then your cool look gives great comfort to those, who are your
devotees.

Vaayoragnih:
From Vaayu, Agni appears. The abode of Agni is Swaadhisthaana Cakra. This is six petal lotus. Here, you have to meditate with Siva as ‘samvartakeswarar’ and Sakti as ‘Samayaa’ as surrounded by 62 taijasa mayookha, and do upaasana.

In India the place earmarked for this agni tatwa is Tiruvannamalai and the main deity is tejolinga.

When the kaalaagni rudra opens his third eye and burns the whole world, the devi called samayaa, offers her cool look on the world especially on those who are devoted. When Manmatha [or kaamadeva] was destroyed by rudra to ashes, devi gives him blessings and gets him the sookshma sareera which his counterpart Rati alone can see and interact with.

Lalita Sahasra Naama – 84 refers –
"Hara netraagni sandagdha kaama sanjeevanaudhaye namah"

The utpatti and destruction of the prapanca are only the two bhaavaas or like the two sides of a coin – such a knowledge the devotee is able to understand and assimilate and he knows that the destruction is not actually destruction of the materials but his own bad qualities of the mind and the evils in the world, retaining the good or converting the evil to good. And the devotee
understands that the destruction and generation are the continuous processes going on for ever and it is due to maayaa and he is lifted from his normal worldly thought to the divine jnaana. So far, the devotee was thinking that the happiness was available only from worldly material and things and now his vision is directed introvert and he understands that the real happiness is not at all available in the world and its objects but is his original form and he gets rid of the unhappiness and sorrow for ever and becomes yogya for getting divine knowledge is directed to change his mode of life in such a way that he increases his threshold value of the stress and strain and is able to bear the pin pricks of life and develops titikshaa and in due course he corrects his erroneous knowledge and thereby the ignorance veiling him vanishes and so knowledge comes as udayasoorya or the rising sun which removes the darkness all on a sudden and; and so is liberated and becomes a jnaani and he in turn can give happiness to the whole world – as referred by the Mundaka Upanishad :-

"Sa veda yetad paramam brahma dhaama
Yatra viswam nihitam bhaati subhram
Upaasate purusham ye hi akaamaah
Te sukram yetad ativartanti dheeraah"

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -38

2006-05-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jeeva-Brahma-aikam in Anaahata/heart cakra]
[Baalaarishta nivaaranam]

Samunmeelat samvitkamala-makarandaika-rasikam
Bhaje hamsadhwandhwam kimapi mahataam maanasacaram
Yadaalaapaa-dashtaadasa-gunita-vidhyaaparinatih
Yadaadatte doshaad guna-makhila-madbhyah paya iva

Samunmeelat samvitkamala-makarandaika-rasikam
- enjoying by one’s own wish only the aananda of the
makaranda of the fully blooming jnaana lotus

Bhaje - I do pooja
hamsadhwandhwam - the two hamsa or [divine] swans
kimapi - one cannot described how they are
mahataam - of the great devotees
maanasacaram - swimming in the heart which is the ocean of the mind
Yadaalaapaad - from the happy words of them [these swans]
ashtaadasa-gunita-vidhyaaparinatih
- the eighteen vidyaas get transformed
Yad - those
aadatte - separates
doshaad - from bad or adharma
akhilam gunam - only guna or good alone
adbhyah - from water
paya iva - like milk

Oh! Goddess! I prostrate or do pooja of the two hamsa or swans, which is anirvaacya,
which is specially interested in taking the aananda [paramaananda] of the makaranda
from the lotus of jnaana and which is having the regular habit of traveling or swimming
in the ocean of the hearts of the great poets or devotees. The aalaapa [the talk ] of the
hamsa has transformed into 18 vidyaas. These swans separate give only good to us and
remove all evils from us and the whole environment just like taking from the combination
of milk and water, only milk and discarding or leaving water.

"Poomprakrityaatma kohamsastadaatmakamidam jagat"
aakaasaat vaayuh:-
vaayu arises from aakaasa. The position of the vaayu tatwa in the sushumnaa naadi is
anaahata cakra. It is the 12 petal lotus.
[the aajnaa cakra is two petal lotus and the visuddhi cakra is 16 petal lotus.]

Here, siva who is represented by the mantra "ham" and sakti who is represented by the
mantra "sa" are to be propitiated as hamseswara and hamseswari surrounded by 54
vaayavya mayookha.

The eighteen vidyaas are nothing but the words/talk of the hamsaas.
Eighteen vidyaas:-
Vedas - 1 to 4
Siksha, Kalpam, Vyaakarana, Niruktam, Cchandas, Jothisham - 5 to 10
Meemaamsa, nyaaya, puraana, dharma saastra - 11 to 14
Aayurvedam,dhanurvedam, gaandharvavedam, neeti saastram - 15 to 18

"Angaani vedaancatwaaromeemaamsaa nyaayavistarah puraanam
dharmasaastramca vidyaa hyetaascacaturddasah"

Tetiyoor Subrahmania Saastrikal – a great devotee poet says –

"Vidyopaasaka, by antarmukha-dhyaana, when observe the sounds in the anaahata cakra,
the mantras (16) in the shodasaakshari mantra, vidyaa guru swaroopa, devi swaroopa
[total – 18], these appear directly as sabda moola and get the anubhooti. Hence, hamsa-
dwandhwa aalaapa is called "ashtaadasa-gunita-vidhyaaparinaamam".
One who does the hamsadwandwa dhyaana by chanting the ajapa vidyaa "hamsah
soham soham hamsah" get out of the paapa and punya and get liberated – means they
will not be afftected by the worries, anger, anxiety, sorrows, misery of the [bhava roga]
world."

The great saint Durvasa in his Sakti-Mahimnaa stotra sloka 20 says:-

"Geham naakati garvitah pranatati
stree sangamo mokshati
dweshee mitrati Paatakam
sukritati kshmaavallbho daasati
mrityur vaidyati dooshanam
sugunati twad paada samsevanaat
twaam vande
bhava bheeti bhanjanakareem
gowreem gireesapriyaam."

In India, the temple earmarked for the hamsadhwandhwa upaasana is Aavudaiyaar
temple in Tamilnadu.

Sri Sankara in Subhagodaya vyaakhyaana refers like this :-
In heart or anaahata cakra, meditate on the siva as sikhijwaalaa as the deepa or lamp and
sakti as sikhini as the rays of the [brilliance] from the lamp.
But a caution is given here:-

One has to see all good [dhaarmik] in everything and discard all [adhaarmik] bad.
When the kundalini sakti arises in the aarohana in the anaahata cakra, one gets the
‘sakalakalaavallabhatwa’ and ‘gunaikanilayatwa’ without anything uttering or studying
or reading. His words [even utterances ] will further turn out to be Upanishad words
which guides the whole beings in the world. The Siva and Sakti at the anaahata cakra are
called respectively by the names –
Hamswswara and hamseswari.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -37

2006-05-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

[Parvati-Parameswara dhyaanam in Visuddhi/throat cakra]
[brahma raakshasa bhoota-preta pisaaca nivaaranam]

Visuddhau te suddhasphatika-visadam vyoma-janakam
Sivam seve deveemapi sivasamaana-vyavasitaam
Yayoh kaantyaa yaantyaah sasikirana-saaroopyasaraneh
Vidhootaanta-rdhwaantaa vilasati cakoreeva jagatee

Visuddhau - in visuddhi cakra
te - your
suddhasphatika-visadam - clear crystal bimba shape
vyoma-janakam - he who starts the aakaasa tatwa
Sivam - Siva and
seve - I prostrate /I do pooja
deveemapi - and you devi
sivasamaana-vyavasitaam - having sankalpa equal to the sankalpa of Siva
Yayoh - whose
kaantyaa - due to the brilliance of
yaantyaah - outcoming
sasikirana-saaroopyasaraneh - just like blooming blossoming full moon
Vidhoota-antar-dhwaantaa - the ignorance - which is the inner darkness, being removed
vilasati - shine forth
cakoree - iva - like the cakora [vezhaambal] bird which dances on seeing the full moon
jagatee - the whole world

Oh! Goddess! On your visuddhi cakra, I meditate on Lord Parama-Siva [ who is of clear
crystal shape divine form and] who is creating the aakaasa tatwa in your visuddhi cakra,
and you who is having the sankalpa similar to that of the Lord Parama-Siva. I meditate on
you both, whose fragrance and brilliance makes the whole world jubilant with the
darkness of ignorance running away, like the cakora bird dancing, on seeing the full
moon. [the upaasakaa’s mind becomes because of getting the suddha-jnaanaa and amrita,
like a drunkard but here the drink is amrita or nectar which does only good to the whole
world and can never do any harm to any body or anything in the world].

Such a devotee, sees the world without the ignorance veil and without the baahyendriyaas
and gets the paramaananda lahari and gets anubhooti and gets happiness devoid of any
sorrow.

Vyoma janakam:-
"Aajnaa cakre aatmatwam niroopitam
Tasmaa-daatmatatwaa-daakaasa –tatwotpattih
Antaraatma sabdo manah paryaaya vaacakah"

In aajnaa cakra, the aatmatwam was proved. From that aatmatatwa, aakaasa appears.
Here, [in visuddhi cakra] aatmaa is manstatwam.

Taitiriya Upanishad 2-1 says –
"Tasmaadwaa yetasmaa-daatmana aakaasah sambhootah"
When the candra-sthaana Parvati and the Soorya-sthaana Paramasiva becomes visible in
the visuddhi cakra, low level sense pleasures vanish. Even the sixteen nityaa devi and
their siddhi disappear. The aananda-brilliance is the jeevaadhaara for all the jeevaas.

Taitiriya Upanishad 2-7 says –
"yeshahyevaanandayaati"

Is this not the one which gives happiness to the whole world!
[In the earlier sloka – sloka 36, we referred that the pooja of the aajnaa cakra is being
done in India in the Kaasi Viswanatha temple.]

The pooja of this visuddhi cakra is being done in the Cidambaram temple in south
India. Siva and Parvati in this temple are called by the name Vyomeswara and
Vyomeswari. The upaasana is being done for the Siva and Parvati surrounded by the 72
aakaasa mayookha. Some poets say that this sloka refers about the pooja for the ardha
naareeswara moorthy. A flower has with it its fragrant smell; amrita has with it its
sweetness; so too, with the swaroopa of siva, swaroopa of ambika also is embedded.
We cannot separate agni and its daahaka sakti as separate; so too, Parvati and Paramasiva
can never be separated. Hence, the dhyaana or meditation method [in which both are
being propitiated at the same time with equal importance] is given by Sankara in the
slokas 36 onwards till 40.

Visuddhau te :-
Arunaamodinee says :-
"Bhavatyaa visuddau twadeeya leela vigraha kantha – sthaansthite
bhavadaatmaakaasa tatwaroope vaa visuddhaakhye cakre"
in the visuddhi cakra of our sushumnaa naadi, there is the 16 petal-lotus.

[earlier sloka 36, we referred that in the aajnaa cakra, there is the 2 petal-lotus]

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -36

2006-05-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

[the parasambhu-swaroopa in aajnaa-cakra]
[sarva vyaadhi nivaaranam]

Tavaajnaacakrastham tapana-sasi koti-dhyutidharam
Param sambhum vande parimilita-paarswam paracitaa
Yamaaraadhyan bhaktyaa ravi sasi suseenaa-mavishaye
Niraaloke loke nivasatihi bhaaloka bhuvane

Tava - your
ajnaacakrastham - posited in the aajnaacakra
tapana-sasi koti-dhyutidharam - possessing the brilliance of crores of sun and moon
Param Sambhum - Lord Parama Siva
vande - [I] prostrate [to]
parimilita-paarswam - being embraced on both sides
paracitaa - by you, who is of the saguna and nirguna roopa
Yam - such a person like lord Parama siva
aaraadhyan - if one prays
bhaktyaa - with devotion
ravi sasi suseenaam - by the brilliance of the sun, moon and agni
avishaye - not able to be expressed [beyond words or expressions]
Niraaloke - not within the reach of the eyes [beyond the reach of vision
or sight]
aloke - different from the world seen with the eyes
nivasatihi - will definitely reside in
bhaaloka-bhuvane - your saayoojya abode which is paranjothi swaroopa

My salutations to Lord Parama Siva , who is having the brilliance of crores of suns and
moons, who is posited in your aajnaa cakra, and is embraced on both sides by you as the
saguna and nirguna swaroopa. If one does the or upaasana of such a Lord Parmasiva
with devotion, he will definitely attain moksha or the sayoojya which is beyond the
brilliance of crores of sun, moon and agni and beyond the reach of the normal eye or
vision and different from the world outside. This is sure!

Tava :- the divine poet Lakshmidharar says

"Tava sabdena saadhakasya bhroomadhyaantargatam
siva cakra catushtayam kathyate. Na tu dwitalam padam"

With the word ‘tava’, the four siva cakra in the broomadhya or at the middle of eyebrow
is referred and not the two petalled cakra.

Tavaajnaacakrastam:- Another divine poet Kaameswara Soori says :-
"Twadaajnaanuvarttinam"

This refers to the two petalled lotus or cakra between the eyes or bhroo-madhya. In the
same way this also refers to the corresponding cakra in the six aadhaaraas further above
also.

Bhalokabhuvane:-
"Yamaaraaddhum niraatange loko Bhaloka bhavane"

In the above sentence, referred by another great poet, niraatange – is opposite of aatanga.
Aatanga represents the worry or bhava roga of birth and death. Niraatange means a
devotee of goddess or paramasiva will get rid of the worries due to the blessings of the
god and goddess.

Aajnaacakra : why this name?
Eeswara’s aajnaa appears in this cakra to the jeeva and hence called aajnaa cakra.
At this cakra, great poets/saints say that Kaameswara is supported with alankaara on
both sides by Saguna Sakti and Nirguna Sakti.

In India, there is a temple identified specially for each of the cakra. For aajnaa cakra,
kaasi kshetra is referred. Durga and Visaalaakshi are the two important goddesses in
this temple.

Niraaloke :-
Kathopanishad chapter 5 sloka 15 says :-
"Na tatra sooryo bhaati na candra taarakam
Nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagnih
Tameva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam
Tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati."

There, the Sun does not shine;
the Moon and stars too do not shine;
Lightning also does not shine there.
Then how Agni will shine?
Everything else follows that pure consciousness
which is alone self luminous and illumines everything in the world.

Also refer Bhagavad Gita chapter 15 – sloka -6 says –
"Na tad bhaasayate suryo na sasaanko na paavakah
Yad gatwaa na nivartante taddhaama paramam mama"

[the supreme consciousness or pure consciousness which is referred as sadaa siva
is one which cannot be lit by the sun god or moon god or agni;
one who reaches that state will never come back to life of birth and death
which is a suffering. That abode is the purest one.]

Bhagavad Gita chapter 15 – sloka -12 says –
"Yad aaditya gatam tejo jagad bhaasayatekhilam
Yaccandramasi yaccaagnau tattejo viddhi maamakam"
[know the pure consciousness which is seen to exist
fully pervading in the sun, moon and agni
and the whole world.]

The 360 rays in the Agni-kantha, Soorya-kantha and Soma-kantha never cross over
Aajnaa cakra and go up.
Above that in the Sahasraara what is luminous with
indescribable brilliance is another imperishable, eternal candra kala.

From this sloka 36 onwards upto sloka 41 –
the description of the jnaanaswarupa
in the kundalini in the shadaadhaaraas of a true devotee

[who has got the blessing of Goddess Tripura Sundarai
due to hatha yoga or due to nidhidhyaasana of ahaitava bhakti]
whose kundalini has started awaking due to the blessings of the Devi is referred. In the aadhaara cakra, whatever experience one gets is not ordinary darshana, but is anubhooti.

[there are many examples to cite, but one with the name anubhooti is of that the great
abhiraama bhattar who wrote from his anubhooti level the abhiraami andaadi.

Yet another example is about the great Malayalam poet who is named as Ezhutthacchan
who got the glimpse of anubhooti and wrote harinaama keeratanam which refers as –

"Yaatonnu kaanmatatu naaraayana pratima
Yaatonnu ketpatatu naaraayanasrutikal
Yaatonnu ceyvatatu naaraayana archanakal
Yaatonnatokke hari naaraayanaaya nama"

Yet another example is that of kabir das who says –
"Guru kripaa anjan paayo more bhai
Raam binaa kuch jaanat naa hi
Raam binaa kuch dekhat naa hi
Antar raama baahir raama
Jahaam dekho vahaam sabhee
Raamaa hi raama
Jaagat raama sowat raama
Sapne me dekhat raama hi raama
Kahte kabir anubhava neekha
Jahaan dekho vahaam sabhee
Raamaa hee raama"

So many examples are there which covers so many bhaktaas in different states who got this anubhooti and wrote in their respective languages, about their experience in this anubhooti or samaadhi anubhava.]

The sahasraara padam is beyond the reach of agni – soorya and soma kantha
and is called "paraavastha".

The state of a person for whom this anubhooti happens is referred as niraaloke aloke bhaaloka bhuvane. It is the paramaananda or brahmaananda which is beyond words and mind and intellect even.
"yato vaaco nivartante apraapya manasaa saha"

In the aajnaa cakra, we have to propitiate the Lord Paramasiva [parasambhunaatha] and Goddess Parvati [cidambaraambaal] as surrounded by the 64 maanasa vyoohaa divine gods.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka - 35

2006-05-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

[the Devi who resides in the six aadhaara cakraas]
[Kshaya Roga Nivritti]

Manastwam vyoma twam marudasi marutsaarathi-rasi
Twamaapa-stwam bhoomi-stwayi parinataayaam na hi param
Twameva swaatmaanam parinamayitum viswa vapushaa
Cidaanandaakaaram sivayuvati-bhaavena bibhrushe

Manah - [as] mind [in aajnaacakra]
twam - you [shine]
vyoma - [in visuddhi cakra as] aakaasa tatwa
twam - you alone are there shining forth
marudasi - in anaahata as vaayu tatwa [you alone are there shining forth]
marutsaarathi-rasi - in swaadhisthaana you are shining forth as agni tatwa.
Twam - you [alone] are
aapah - the jalatatwa [in manipooraka]
twam - you [alone] are the
bhoomih - the earth tatwa [in moolaadhaara]
twayi parinataayaam - since you have got converted [vivarta] as the prapanca
na hi - there is not anything [other than]
param - you the paraasakti or the pure consciousness.
Twameva - you are alone
swaatmaanam - your shape
parinamayitum - for getting vivarta
viswa vapushaa- as the prapanca
Cidaanandaakaaram - the aananda roopa cit roopa
sivayuvati-bhaavena - due to the bhaavana as paramasiva’s partner
bibhrushe - accept

Oh! Chit Sakti Swarupi Goddess supreme!
Mind is yourself;
aakaasa is also yourself;
vaayu is also yourself;
agni is also yourself;
water is also yourself;
earth is also yourself;
you are appearing due to vivarta or parinaama as everything, and
there is nothing other than yourself;
you alone are appearing as prapanca and
as Paramasiva and Paramasiva bhattarika Paarvati.
Oh ! kundalini sakti devi! You are acting as the manastatwa in the aajnaa cakra;
You are acting as the vyomah or aakaasa in the visuddhi cakra;
You are acting as the air or vaayu-tatwa in the anaahata cakra;
You are acting as the water or jala-tatwa in the manipooraka cakra;
You are acting as the fire or agni-tatwa in the swaadhisthaana cakra;
You are acting as the earth or bhoomi-tatwa in the moolaadhaara cakra;
You are the causal paraa sakti and
you alone are the kaarya prapanca and
there is nothing other than you anywhere.
You, the brahma swaaroopa siva-tatwa are alone taking the form of sadaasiv mahishi.

Sruti says –
Patisca patnee scaabhavatamm

According to the pramaana -
Sarvatra pancabhootani shashtham kincana vidyate
The whole prapanca is panca-bhoota-atmaka.
The panca-bhoota sookshma roopa are the tanmaatraas of the prithivyaadi – i.e.,
of the earth, water, air, fire and aakaasa.

All these tanmaatraas are devi’s parinaama.

Tasyaam parinataayaam tu nakincidavasishyate
Tribhyah pureti vyutpatyaah

Tripura Sundari is the only one present before Triputi.

Vaamakeswari tantram says as –

Kabaleekrita nisseshatatwagraamaswaroopinee

Sruti says –
Parasya sakatirvividhaiva srooyate maayaa ca vidyaa ca swaameva bhavati.

Yoga vaasishtha says –
Chidvilaasah prapancoyam

Sruti says –
"Sarvam khalwidam brahma"
"Neha naanaasti kincana"
"Mayaa maatram idam dwaitam"
"Ekam eva adwiteeyam"

Brahma sootra says –
"Aatmakriteh parinaamaat"

Smriti says –
"Mithyaa jagat adhishthaanaah"

this sloka refers about the similarity between the andaanda and pindaanda
that is, the vyashti and samshti or the individual and the whole world.

Sivaroopi brahmatatwa and the kundalini are same. If vaasanaas are removed both
become one and is called as paraananda or paramaananda or brahmaananda.

Catussati says –
"Tripuraa paramaasaktiraadyaajaataa maheswaree
Sthoola sookshma swabhaavena trailokyotpatti maatrukaa
Kabaleekrita nisseshatatwa graamaswaroopini
Yasyaam parinataayaam to na kincidavasishyate"

Abhirami andaadi refers :-
"Paarum punalum kanalum vengaalum padar visumbum
oorum urugu chuvaioli ooroli onrupadac cerum
talaivi sivakaama sundari ceeradikke caaruntavamudai
yaarpadai yaata dhanamillaiye"

Mooka panca satee 1-18 says :-
dharanimayeem dharanimayeem bhavanamayeem
gagana dahana hotrumayeem
ambumayee-mindumayee-mampaa-
manukampamaadi-maameekshe

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -34

2006-04-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

[seshasesheebhaavam]
[mutual growth]

Sareeram twam sambho: sasi-mihira-vakshoruha-yugam
Tavaatmaanam manye bhagavati navaatmaana-managham
Atah seshah sesheetyaya-mubhaya-saadhaaranatayaa
Sthitah sambandho vaam samarasa-paraananda-parayoh

Sareeram - body
twam - your
sambhoh - to Lord Paramasiva
sasi-mihira-vakshoruha-yugam - having God Sun and God moon as divine breasts
[akhila bhuvana vyaapta devi – viraat roopa]
Tava - your
atmaanam - body or aatman
manye - think [see with my mind]
bhagavati - Oh! Goddess Supreme!
Navaatmaanam - siva who has nine vyooha samooha
Anagham - pure [devoid of evil]
Atah - hence
seshah seshee ity - feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’
ayam - this
ubhaya-saadhaaranatayaa - equal for both
Sthitah - stands good
Sambandhah - relationship
vaam - in you [both]
samarasa-paraananda-parayoh - equaling aanandabhairava, aanandabhairavi

Oh! Paraasakti!
You, who has the Sun and the Moon as the breasts, are the body of Paramasiva; and Paramasiva who has nine vyooha surrounding him is your body – like this I see with my mind. Hence, the I and mine are common for you both, who are aanandabhairavi and aanandabhairava, are equal, in all respects

Sambhoh :-
The aanandabhairava who is the rishi for the mantra referred in earlier two slokas is mentioned here.
Bhagavati:-
Utpatyaadi vetanam bhagam, tatwateeti bhagavati.
Bhagavaan:-
Utpattimca vinaasamca bhootaanaamaagatimgatim
Vettividyaamavidyaanca sa vaacyo bhagavaaniti
Navaatmaanam:-
Paramasiva is nine-vyooha swarooopa :-

Kaala - the time from nimesha [second] to kalpaanta; candra and soorya are also included in this as they are also kaalaatmaka. They are kaala vyooha
Kula - neelasuklaadi roopa are the kula vyooha
Naama - ghata pataadi samjnaa form the naama vyooha
Jnaana - savikalpa nirvikalpa roopa-jnaana form the jnaana vyooha
citta - ahamkaara, citta, buddhi, mahattatwa, mind are the citta vyooha
Naada - paraa, pasyantee, madhyamaa, vaikharee roopa sabdaa form naada vyooha
Bindu - moolaadhaaraadi shatcakra vyooha is called bindu vyooha
Kalaa - akaaraadi pancaasad varnaas form kalaa vyooha
jeevan - bhoktaa jeevaatmaas form jeeva vyooham

kaalavyooha-
closing/opening of the eyes, movement of the fingers, breathe, count the heart beats –the starting with this and then minute, ghati, yaama, day, night, date, week, month, year and such timings are made by man. Kaala is beyond these - Kaalaateeta. As far as we are concerned, sun and moon are the pratinidhi of the kaala sankalpa and the niyaamaka sakti. All the components that can be included in the anaadi kaala is called the kaala vyooha.

Kulavyooha –
This indriyagraahya prapanca is full of objects. Varna is the one which enables us to differentiate the khara, drava, and vaataka objects. White, black, blue, yellow are all the varnabheda components in the same prakaasa dhaara. The saajaatya and vaijaatya of all objects are in some respects depending on varna. Hence, the varnaas are called kula vyooha.

Naama vyooha –
Through the jnaanendriyaas man has intellectual understanding about the objects in the world and their functioning. He keeps it in mind and uses when necessary to teach others regarding the same. For this he forms certain words and sabdaas. When you say, pot, cloth, running etc – there is no connection between the pronouncing of the words and the shape or name or functioning of the objects. Instead of pot we can say, kuta or ghata also. Words are just the way – the prateekaa useful for remembering and recalling to others the prapanca objects or their pratibhaasaa. We give each object one name, that’s all. But when we discuss about those things, it may not be possible to handle them as we like or make them function compulsorily. Hence, this prapanca is naama roopaatmaka. The totality of the objects in the world is called naama vyooha.

Jnaana vyooha –
This is the aadhaara or jnaana for the first three vyooha referred above. The curiosity of the mind which starts with the enquiry of what, why when and how etc culminates first in vikalpa jnaana and ultimately leads man to nirvikalpa jnaana. Each human being is able to understand according to his mind and intellect strength –
The panca bhoota or elements join in different proportion to form different compounds or materials.

The bhoota sanghaata join with caitanya and bring forth jeevaas and objects
Limit or boundary of action environment karma bandha – these limit the man’s intellect and accordingly he gets jnaana. Different people have different knowledge or jaana and the totality is called jnaana vyooha.

Citta vyooha
All the above four vyooha act on the basis of the mind only.
Mind is not having any form. It is not also the sareeraantargata indriya visesha.
Inside all the jeevaas there is the same paraasakti which shines itself and makes the whole world shine. But, still, each individual is not like another. Then what is that "satta"which differentiates one individual from another? Even the great realized paramajnaani if he is a dehabimaani – will have hunger, thirst, pain, happiness etc. when one says I am hungry or when one says I am happy or when one says I am god , even in such cases, there is the consioucsness called I available with anybody. Even the jnaani’s mind may sometimes act in such a way that it will loose hold and act according to indriyaas. The mind which reacts with the ishtaanishta and sukha-dukha is called citta. That part of the citta which differentitates good from bad, wanted from unwanted, and leads the mind to the righteous path is called buddhi. The aarjita samskaara which leads the buddhi is daivopalabdha and hence it is called mahattatwa. Mind is that power which gets controlled by ahamkaara, citta, buddhi, and mahattatwa and controls them too. In one way, we can say the first four referred are the counterparts of the mind. The power of the mind is the caraacaravyaapta paramacaitanya sphurana. Cittavyooha is the combination of mind, ahamkaara, buddhi and mahattatwa.

Naada vyooha –
This whole world is of sabda roopa. Prapanca is the aavishkrita roopa of sabdaveeci. The aroopa-nirguna-nishkalanka brahma transforms [for jnaanis – seems to transform] into prapanca only in the form of sabda. The naadabrahma acts in four ways in the pindaanda [every person]. Individual starts speaking due to the divine power inside only. It is due to the shrishti abhivaanca of the iswara it is referred. In the form of kundalini roopa, from the moolaadharastha paraasakti, emerges the aavishkaranavaancaa sphurana. This is termed as "paraa" sabda. You can say either that this paraa sabda involves everything in itself or it does not involve anything. It is the tejoroopa which is undescribable and is of trememdous power as Bhagavad Gita chapter 11-sloka 18, which refers about the viswaroopa darsana therein as below :-

Twamaksharam paramam veditavyam
twamasya viswasya param nidhaanam
twamavyayah saaswata dharma goptaa
sanaatanastwam purusho mato me

anaadi madhyaantamananta veeryam
anantabaahum sasi soorya netram
pasyaami twaam deepta hutaasa vaktram
swatejasaa viswamidam tapantam

the paraa sabda gradually is taken from moolaadhara upwards. When it reaches the naabheesthana, i.e., the manipooraka cakra, it learns [by seeing] from individuals, circumstances and environment. Because it is said to see it is then referred by the name "pasyanti". Again, when it goes up and reaches the anaahata cakra in the heart, it merges close with the samskaara of the individual. How an individual wants to use his sabda power depend on his samskaara. The difference between the words of a yogya and ayogya is formed by the sabda brahma mingling with his samskaara. This sabda is almost moulded but still it is not fully formed and hence, called "madhyama". At this time, the sabda comes fully in control of the cittavyooha. When this sabda comes under the control of the breathing and through the swaasa kosa, it expands and contracts and comes out therein, the sabda combined with naadatantri sound and otherwise also, and and further through the combined effect of the sabda going through the kantha, taalu, danta and adharoshta the pronunciations are formed and due to the karanaas as tongue, lips the fully transformed bhaashana sabdaas are formed. Since these words formed of aksharaas, and akshara sanghaata padaas and the pada sanghaata words are capable to be heard and taken in to the mind and undergo vikharana process and hence called by the name "vaikharee". The sound which appears as different languages depending upon the time and space or country is this vaikhari only. The sabdaroopa consisting of paraa, pasyanti, madhyama and vaikharee together is called as naada vyooha.

Binduvyooha:-
The pindaandastha shadaadaara cakra is called as binduvyooha. This consists of the six cakraas called moolaadhaara cakra, swaadhishthaana cakra, manipooraka cakra, anaahata cakra, visuddhi cakra, aajnaa cakra.

Kalaavyooha:-
The varnaas or aksharaas starting from ‘a’kaara to ‘ksha’kaara is called kalaavyoohaa. This represents the samastaprapanca and also the objects, vikaaraa and the actions involved therein. We have to note clearly the difference of naadavyooha from kalaavyooha. Naadavyooha represents pindaandastha sabdabrahma vyaapaara. Individual is formed of two parts –
1. sareerastha jeevaatma, and
2. the sareera covering that the jeevaatma
Individual has jnaana [originally available in the first birth and before] and ajnaana [stored in so many janmaas] {these are all illusions and a person is not at all born and will never die – only the body undergoes change as per newton’s law}. Ajnaana consists of two parts – non-apprehension or ignorance or avidyaa and mis-apprehension or erroneous knowledge. Once this erroneous knowledge is removed, the ajnaana will automatically vanish and jnaana alone will remain and this state wherein only self in pureconscious form is there is called as realization. Actually, nothing is newly obtained, only Self or god or love or pure consciousness is available and is forgotten temporarily due to maayaa and is regained back when one gets out of the clutches of maaya. Kalaavyooha is anaadi and ananta and is sarvaadhaara for sarva vijnaana. And is also the prabhava for sarva pratibhaasa and all actions.

Jeeva vyooha:-
Prapanca is bhoota samghaata. Bhoota is that which is derived from the nirguna paraaasakti due to guna sannivesa earth and everything in the earth [caraas and acaraas] are formed of panca bhoota. Jeevavyooha is the group of jeevaatmaas who are bhokta.
The above nine vyooha called navavyooha is the body of sambhu. There is nothing different from sambhu.

The nine triangles in the sri cakra represent the nine vyooha.
these navavyooha can be grouped into three types – bhoktaah – bhogah – bhogyam
bhoktaah – aathma vyooha
bhogah - jnaana vyooha
bhogyam - kaala, kula, naama, citta, naada, bindu, kalaa
the prapaca vyaapta paramacaitanya has nine dharmaas. Prapanca is the pratibhaasa sankeernata of these dharmaas.

Seshah seshee :-
During the shrishti, sthiti, laya of the world there is equal part for both siva and sakti, but due to the fact that aanandabhairavi surrenders to aanandabhairava and hence both become sesha seshee. Sesha seshee bhaava is equal for both.

Samarasaparaananda parayoh:-
One who is enjoying samarasa and paraananda.
Samarasa means aiswarya ; paraananadah means the supreme happiness- sat chit aananda.
Since both Siva and Sakti are equal; Siva is called Samayah and Sakti is called Samayaa.

Samatwa is of five types:-
In the sreecakra pooja, samatwa is the first one-this is called Adhisthaana saamyam.
Srishti, sthiti, laya and in such actions anushthaana saamyam. This is second one.
Nritya and in such acts – avasthaana saamya – this is third one.
Siva-sivaa, bhairava-bhairavi and in such names – naama saamya – this is fourth one.
Red color, third eye – in these roopa saamya – this is the fifth one.
Aanandabhaira is bhoktru, bhoga and bhogya.
So too, aanandabhairavi also. Hence they both are equal.
Hence nava vidha aikya is also same for both.

In families, where chanting of this sloka with reverence is done, therein, mutual relationship between the partners will become full and they attain moksha and definitely the other purushaarthaas- so says the great Tetiyoor Subrahmania Saastri.
If the question arises, whether Siva is greater or Sakti is greater,
The possibilities are :-
Siva is great and sakti also;
Siva is not great and sakti too is not great;
Siva is great, but sakti is not;
Siva is not great but sakti is great;
There is no world without siva and sakti both and hence both are great is the correct version. All other possibilities are wrong.
There is no separate siva or sakti. This is the sankalpa of the kaula mataacaara.
You can compare this with the simple question in computer field :-
Whether software is great or hardware.
We know the answer.
But –
The upaasanaa in the form of naama rooopa becomes meaningless as far as sakaladharmasoonya nirvikalpa siva; because, he is withut karma or sakti. He is not capable of giving results.
"paro hi sakti rahitah kartum na kincana sivopi
savataam yaati kundalinyaa vivarjitah"
So says vaamakeswara tantram.

In the sreecakra pooja, the bindu is kaameswara swaroopa; there is no separate pooja for kaameswara, but you have to imagine the aavaahana of the devi in the bindu of kaameswara swaroopa.

For daahaka sakti, agni is the adhishthaana;
similarly, without a dharmi, the dharma roopa sakti cannot exist and hence,
only to establish the saktitwa,
dharmi roopa paramasiva is imagined.

This paramasiva saamarthya, paramasiva abhinna devi is the paraasakti and
her upaasana is paramasiva upaasana or brahmopaasana.
Devi bhagavatam says :-

"Yevam sarvagataa saktih saa brahmeti vivicyate
sopaasyaa vividhaih samyag vicaaryaa sudhiyaa sadaa"

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -33

2006-04-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

[sowbhagya mantram]
[sakala sowbhagyam]

Smaram yonim lakshmeem tritaya-mida-maadau tava mano
Nidhaayaike nitye niravadhi-mahabhoga-rasikaah
Bhajanti twaam cintaamani-gunanibaddhaaksha-valayaah
Sivaagnau juhvantah surabhigrita-dhaaraahuti-sataih

Smaram - "Kleem" the Kaama beeja mantra
yonim - "Hreem the Buvaneswari beeja mantra"
lakshmeem - "Sreem" the Lakshmi beeja mantra
idam tritayam - these three
aadau - in the beginning
tava - your
mano - of the panchadasaaksaree mantra [ the divine mind ]
Nidhaaya - combining
yeke - few persons
nitye - Oh! eternal! Goddess Supreme!
niravadhi-mahabhoga-rasikaah - knowing the aananda from the continuous unbroken japa
Bhajanti - do the aaraadhana or pooja
twaam - you
cintaamani-gunanibaddha aksha-valayaah - making the continuous stream of thoughts as the japamaala
Sivaagnau - in the agni in the sakti triangle in the Sri Cakra
juhvantah - doing [ offer ]
surabhigrita-dhaaraahuti-sataih - hundreds of aahutis by the aatmaananda obtained by the ghee given by kaamadhenu

Oh! eternal Goddess Supreme! few persons knowing the aananda obtained from the continuous unbroken japa, do the aaraadhana or pooja for you, making the continuous stream of thoughts as the japamaala, in the beginning of Your divine Panca Dasa Aksharee mantra, combining the three "Kleem" [ the Kaama beeja mantra ], "Hreem [ the Buvaneswari beeja mantra ], "Sreem" [the Lakshmi beeja mantra], offer hundreds of aahutis by the ghee given by Kaamadhenu in the Agni in the Sakti triangle in the Sri Cakra.

There is similarity between the Panca-Dasa-Aksharee mantra and Saavitree mantra.
In the Panca-Dasa-Aksharee mantra there are three kootaas whereas in the Savitree mantra, there are three paadaas.

If we add with the Savitree mantra, the three vyaahritees Bhoo, Bhuvah, Suvah, then the mantra gets converted to Gayatri mantra.
So too, in the Panca-Dasa-Aksharee mantra, if you add three of the five vimarsa pranava mantras called aim, hreem, sreem kleem, sowh, then the mantra gets converted to sowbhagya pancadasaaksharee.

In this sloka it is directed to add Sreem-Hreem-Kleem;
there is also another alternative mantra called sowbhagya mantra which is formed by adding aim-kleem-sow in the beginning of each koota.

Sivaagnih :-
In the triangular shaped kunda if you form the agni, it is called sivaagnih. Great devotees, offer pure ghee obtained from cow on this agni with the bhaavanaa "sivoham" and apply all their actions [manasaa, vaacaa, karmanaa] to the god.

Bhavanopanishad says :-
Aham twam asti naasti kartavyam akartavyam
upaasitavyamiti vikalpaanaa-maatmani vilaapanam homah.
Juhwantah – offer to agni the goddess – this is called antar yaaga.
Chintaamani guna nibaddhaakshavalayaa – the japamaalaa has fifty one akshara shape. In that the place for the letter "Khsa" is called "meru". It is the sacred stone in the centre of the japamaalaa. Once you do the japa with the maalaa- counting, you should not cross over the meru, but go in the reverse direction then on reaching the meru. You only touch the meru.
The devotees can do this offering in one of the three ways depending on their mental condition; if he is a beginner [not a spiritual one], then he can do the offering with the materials in the agni physically formed one.

Second case is, he can offer the mentally prepared aahuti in the mentally prepared agni.
The third case is [for a spiritual seeker] , he can offer the aahuti in the agni in his own heart of hearts.

This is referred by Bhagavaan Raman Maharishi thus in his "Upadesa Saaram" thus :-
Kaaya vaag mana kaaryamuttamam
poojanm japa cintanam kramaat

Smaram yonim lakshmeem :-
Smaram represent "ha"kaara
Yonim represent "sa"kaara
Lakshmeem represent "ka"kaara

In the sloka referred in sloka 32, in the mantra,
"ka ye ee la hreem ha sa ka ha la hreem sa ka la hreem"

Replace the first three letters by "ha sa ka", "haadi vidyaa" or "lopaamudraa vidyaa" is formed.
Aksha maalaa – is a prateeka of the sabda brahma which is imperishable which is also appearing as the destructive prapanca.

Antar nirantara nirindhanamedhamaane
Mohaandhakaara paripanthini samvidagnau
Kasmimcidadbhoota mareeci vikaasa bhoomau
Viswam juhomi vasudhaadi sivaavasaanam

In the inner heart of hearts, unbroken, but without indhana, lighting and destroying the mohaandhakaara and for the strange mareecis serve as vikaasa bhoomi – such a samvit shaped agni –
in this agni, I offer everything and anything in the world including Earth and Siva. [this is aatma samarpanam].

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -32

2006-04-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

[Sri Vidya, Panca-Dasa-Aksharee Mantra]
[sakala kaarya jayam, long life]

Sivah saktih kaamah kshiti-ratha ravih seetakiranah
Smaro hamsah scakra-stadanu ca paraa-maara-harayah
Amee hrillekhaabhi-stisrubhi-ravasaaneshu ghatitaa
Bhajante varnaaste tava janani naamaavayavataam

Janani - Oh! Goddess!
Sivah - siva beejaakshara mantra ‘ka’
saktih - sakti beejaakshara mantra ‘ye’
kaamah - manmatha beejaakshara mantra ‘ee’
kshitih - prithwi beejaakshara mantra ‘la’
athah - after that
ravih - surya beejaakshara mantra ‘ha’
seta-kiranah - cool candrakiranabeejaakshara mantra ‘sa’
Smarah - manmatha beejaakshara mantra ‘ka’
hamsah - hamsa mantra/aakaasa beeja mantra ‘ha’
cakrah - indra beeja mantra ‘la’
tadanu ca - after that
paraa- - paraa beeja mantra ‘sa’,
maara- - manmatha beejaakshara mantra ‘ka’
harayah - hari beejaakshara mantra ‘la’
Amee - this
te - your
Varnaah - aksharaas
Hrillekhaabhih - along with bhuvaneswari beeja akshara mantra ‘hreem’
Tisrubhih - three
avasaaneshu - at the end of each koota
ghatitaa - attached
Bhajante - is formed
tava - your
naama-avayavataam - as the parts of the mantraas

Oh! Goddess! Supreme!
The three sets of letters ka, ye, ee, la [first four]
Ha, sa, ka, ha, la [second five]
Sa, ka, la [third three]

Total 12 letters , with these, add in the end of each set hreem;

ka, ye, ee, la, hreem
Ha, sa, ka, ha, la, hreem
Sa, ka, la, hreem

Totally put together there are 15 letters which form your divine mantra.

The letters serve as part of your naama and avayava, Oh! Goddess! One who chants this mantra will definitely get the complete blessings of goddess and get moksha.

In this sloka, the Panca Dasa akshari maha-mantra called “kaadi vidya” for which the first letter is ‘ka’ is referred indirectly. There are three parts for this called ‘kootaas’.

The first is called vaaghbhava kootam for which the mantra is ka, ye, ee, la, hreem;
This shines with brilliance of the pralaya kaala agni, starts from mooladhaara and reaches anaahata.

The second is called kaamaraaja kootam for which the mantra is ha, sa, ka, ha, la, hreem;
This possesses the brilliance of crores of suns, starts from anaahata and reaches aajnaa-cakra.

The third is called sakti kootam for which the mantra is sa,ka, la, hreem;
This shines with crores of candraprakaasa, starts from aajnaa cakra and widens through to the middle of lalata or forehead.

The brialliant rays from the sacred stones of different colours from each of the koota overlap each other and form a tremendous indescribable divine brilliance, which is beyond the reach of anything else in the world. The ‘naada’ which starts from the moolaadhaara pass through these garlands of stones form a thread like structure. The bindu kala or part which falls on the hreem beeja in each koota is called by the respective names – vahni kundalini, soorya kundalini, and soma kundalini.

From the letters of the panca dasa akshari [15] mantra only the world has evolved, starting with the pancabhootaas - ether or sky or aakaasa, air, fire, water and earth.
The characteristic or guna of the aakaasa is only one – i.e.,the sabda or sound;
The characteristic of the air which has come from the aakaasa has two gunaas viz., sparsa or touch and sabda or sound.

The characteristic of the fire which has come from air is consisting of three gunaas – viz., sabda or sound, sparsa or touch and roopa or form.
The characteristic of the water which has come from fire is consisting of four gunaas – viz., sabda or sound, sparsa or touch, roopa or form and rasa or taste.
The characteristic of the earth which has come from water is consisting of five gunaas – viz., sabda or sound, sparsa or touch, roopa or form, rasa or taste and gandha or smell.

The five panca bhootaas and their characteristics are :-

aakaasa sound or sabda
air sound or sabda and sparsa or touch
fire sound or sabda , sparsa or touch and roopa or form
water sound or sabda , sparsa or touch , roopa or form and rasa or taste
earth sound or sabda , sparsa or touch , roopa or form, rasa or taste, and smell or gandha

The total characteristics of all the panca-bhootaas are 15 in number [1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 ] and the letters of the panca dasa akshari maha mantra are also 15 [ 5 + 6 + 4 ]; the chanting of these letters will give the effect of prostrating the panca-bhootaas or prostrating the whole world, since the whole world consists of nothing but the panca-bhootaas only.

This is referred by the great poet Bhaskara rayar in Vari Vasya Rahasyam .
The equivalent of the same sloka is contained in Lalitaa Sahasra Naama :-

Srimad vaaghbhava kootaika swaroopa mukha pankajaa
Kanthaadha katiparyanta Madhya koota swaroopini
Sakti kootaika taapanna katyadhobhaaga dhaarini

While meditating on the roopa or form of goddess, one has to do it with:-

The face of goddess as vaaghbhava kootam
The middle part from neck to hip as kaamaraaja kootam

The third / lowest part from the hip downwards as sakti kootam.

The first koota is comparable to jaagrat state
The second koota is comparable to swapna state
The third koota is comparable to deep sleep state

The great poet Lakshmidharar says that you have to add one more letter at the end to
complete the mantra as shodasaakshari [16 letters] instead of paca dasa akshari [ 15 letters] by adding the letter sreem in the beginning of the 15 letters. And hence the name "Sree Vidya".The fourth state so formed is equivalent to the turiya state.

Lalitaa Sahasra Naama refers like this :-
Aatmavidyaa mahaavidyaa sreevidyaa kaamasevitaa
Sree Shodasaakshari Vidyaa trikootaa kaamakotikaa.

Haadi vidyaa :-
Sowbhaagya vardhinee of the kaivalyaasrama refers like this –

This sloka also refers to lopaamudraa vidyaa called haadi vidyaa and And also to durvaasa vidyaa referred by the trayodasa akshari mantra.

Lopaamudraa vidyaa – or haadi vidyaa - Ha sa ka la hreem ha sa ka ha la hreem sa ka la hreem
Durvaasa vidyaa or trayodasa akshari [13 letters] mantra
Ha sa ka la ha sa ka ha la sa ka la hreem

This panca-dasa-akshari mantra is most sacred, most secret and most powerful one.

Refer Bhagavad Gita chapter 9 – sloka 1 wherein Lord Krishna tells Arjuna :-
"Idam to te guhyatamam pravakshyaamyanasooyave
Jnaanam vijnaanasahitam yat jnaatwaa mokshyase asubhaat"

This mantra also will lead us to the spiritual knowledge, in due course of time.
The parasakti has become by vivarta the 36 tatwamayi including the sivaadiparyanta
Paraadivaikharyanta sabdamayi
Binduadi bhoopuraanta cakramayi
Sthoolaadi kaarana paryanta dehamayi

To know which parasakti, four vedaas, six saastraas, eighteen puraanaas, meemaamsaa nyaayavistaara, dharmasaastra and so on the 14 vidya were formed.

Such a parasakti is definitely to be known. Then only spiritual knowledge also will be complete. We undergo physical and mental pain everyday, every moment, and it gets stored day by day and become dangerous which prevents us to do any constructive activity.
This mantra is aadhi – vyaadhi vinaasini [aadhi – for mind and vyaadhi for body]

All the factors become clear to us like
Srishti-sthiti-samhara, tirodhaana-anugraha, jnaataa-jnaanam-jneyam, tatsaamarasyam, sooryacakram, agnicakram, somacakram, brahmacakram, mitresanaathan, shashteesanaathan, jaagrat-swapna-susupti-turiya, vaama-jyeshtaa-raudree-saantaah, icchaa-jnaana-kriyaa,ambikaa-kaameswari-vajreswari-bhagamalini-mahaatripurasundari, aatma-vidyaa-siva-sarva tatwam, kaamagiripeetam-poornagiripeetam-jalaantarapeetam-odhyaanapeetam, praadakshina-uttara-pascima, swayambhoolinga-baanalinga-itaralinga-paralinga, pasyanti-madhyama-vaikhari-paraa,

by the chanting and knowing the meaning of the mantra. Totally, we can say, we will know the self and the jeeva-jagat-isawra secret and come to know ourselves in turn. We get self knowledge. [temporarily we have forgotten about the same].

The twelve great giant saints we see in puraanaas – viz.,
manu, candra, kubera, lopaamudraa, manmatha, agasthya, nandikeswara, surya, Vishnu, shanmukha, siva, durvaasaa have known this mantra and are examples for us to follow and get moksha in life, by knowing the self. {it is like, taking a thorn by another thorn; we have ignorance-non apprehension or "agrahana" and mis-apprehension or erroneous knowledge or "anyathaagrahana"; this can go only by turning our attention to right knowledge by removing our tamas and rajas qualities to satwa and then to get out of the satwa qualities also and becoming the real Self}.

Great saints refer about this Sree Vidyaa mantra thus :-
"sri vidya yasya jihwaagresa saakshaal paramassivah yasya no pascimam janma
swayam yo vaa na sankarah tenaiva labhyate vidyaa sreemal panca dasaakshari
mokshakaihetuvidyaa tu sri vidyaa naatra samsayah na silpaadijnaanayukte
vidwatsabdah prayujyate tasaadvidyaavi devaatra vidwaan vidwaaniteeryate "
Lalitaa trisati refers about Sri vidya like this :- (translated to Malayalam)
"sreevidya yaarkku naavinkal avan taan parameswaran aarkkillayo
punarjjanmamaar saakshaal sivanallayo avannu taan labhikkum sree vidyaa
pancadasaakshari mokshahetukavidyaa srividyaa taanilla samsayam kalaavidyaa
nipunane vidwaanennura ceykolaa sree vidyaavediye maatram vidwaanennu paranjidaam"

Rajarajeswari tantra refers like this :-
"shodasaarnam mahaamantram mantrarajottamottamam, sakrit sravanamaatrena
kotijanmaaghanaasanam mahaapaataka koteenaam bhanjanam smritimaatratah
upapaataka daurbhagyasamanam bhuktimuktidam visharogaadidaaridrya mrityusamhaarakaarakam saptakoti mahaamantra paaraayanaphalapradam catussamudraparyanta bhoodaanaphaladam sive sahasrakoti godaanaphaladam
dhyaanamaatratah kotyaswamedhaphaladam jaraamrityunivaaranam kim punarbahunoktena sivasayoojyadaayakam"

This mantra of Maha-tripurasundari represents the kundalini sakti which pervades through the shadaadhaara cakraas.

The 3 khandaas agni, soorya and soma represent the three sakti – icchaa- kriyaa-jnaana, the 3 states sushupti, swapna and jaagrat, the three bhoktas praajna, taijasa and viswa, the 3 gunaas satwa, rajas and tamas.

Aagneya khanda jnaana sakti jaagrat viswa tamas
Saura khanda icchaasakti swapnam taijasa rajas
Soma khanda kriyaa sakti sushupti praajna satwa
The hrillekha referred in the sloka or the manta "hreem" called as [bhuvaneswari beejam] at the end of three kootams and chant the mantra gives one moksha by giving viveka and thereby jnaana.

Hrillekheva jaagarti
Praanasaktiriyam paraa
Hrillekhaa kathyate tasmaa-
Maayaa caa cintya vaibhavaa
Anayaa rahitaa sarve
Nirjeevaa mantra raasayah
Atastu sarvavidyaanaam
Iyam utbodhinee mataa’

It is said that the [15 + 1 sreem] 16 letters of the shodasaksharee vidyaa refers to the 15 tithi-devataas like prathama, dwitiya, tritiya, caturthi, pancami, shashti, saptami, ashtami, navami, dasami, ekaadasi, dwaadasi, trayodasi, caturdasi and pournami or amaavaasyaa.
The sixteenth one [sreem] is the beejaakshara mantra of Baalaa Tripura Sundari the supreme power divine or the pure consciousness which is all pervading.
It is referred that the sixteen letters or mantras represent the sixteen lotus petals in the visuddhi cakra [at the throat].

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -31

2006-04-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

[64 tantraas and Sri-Vidya]
[sarva vaseekaram]

Catuh-shashtyaa tantraih sakala-matisandhaaya bhuvanam
Sthitastattat-siddhi prasava paratantraih pasupatih
Punastwa-nnirbandhaa dakhila-purushaarthaika ghatanaa-
Swatantram te tantram kshititala mavaateetara-didam

Catuh-shashtyaa tantraih - by 64 tantrasaastraas
Sakalam - all
atisandhaaya - after filling up
bhuvanam - world
Sthitah - kept quiet
Tat - tat - siddhi - prasava - bestowing that siddhi alone which one wants
paratantraih - other tantraas
Pasupatih - Lord Paramasiva
Punah - further
twat-nirbandhaad - by your compulsion
akhila-purushaartha-yeka ghatanaa - for giving all the four purushaarthas like dharma, artha, kaama and moksha
Swatantram - capable of
te tantram - your tantra
kshititalam - [in this] world
avaateetarat - brought to practical principle
idam - this srividya

People in the world of different types and different tastes wish different types of fruits of actions and they pray god for getting the results. Paramasiva gave them the concerned fruits according as the actions and correspondingly filled up the whole world with 64 different tantra saastraas for getting different types of results of actions, and kept quiet further. But on your [goddess’s]compelling, he gave further the srividya and the pancadasaakshari mantra which bestows the divine wealth or spiritual wealth for a person [along with the four purushaarthaas], who is deserved and a staunch devotee. Thus Sree Vidyaa and Panca – Dasa -Aakshari mantra came to the world. (Panca-Dasa-Akshari mantra and Sri Vidya will be covered in the next sloka - 32)

these 64 tantraas give siddhi for a person who uses the same. The method followed in these is the propitiation of the different devataas by yantra, mantra, homadravya, oushadhaas and get the corresponding [boon] siddhi from them. All these 64 tantraas are described in the scriptures as narration by Lord Paramasiva to his partner Parvati. They became famous in the world through the rishis who heard it directly on meditation and then from the gurus who got from the rishis. There is no mention in these that the person should use the siddhi for the welfare of the world only. Hence, the siddhaas who get the same may need fame and name; may use it for selfish purpose; and then for troubling others also; in such a case, it will lead him to trouble like the characters in puraanaas like hiranyaaksha, kamsa, raavana etc. he may lose it in that case; also he may forget his original goal of life and get permanently trapped in the chain of birth and death and get immersed in bhava saagara which is full of sorrows and travails. These are mainly for getting the kaama and artha and not moksha, especially for example, walk in the waters of the rivers and ocean, walk through the space or aakaasa, indrajaalavidya, parakaayapravesa, chiranjeevitwam, make the body strong or light, seeing the materials below the ground or far far away in some other place, controlling the flow of water, agni or air in the environment. These always give the corresponding results only and sometimes for this one has to apply different other tantraas also. That is why in the sloka it is referred as “tat tat siddhi prasava paratantraih”.

In this sloka, it is referred that Lord Paramasiva does the process of atisandhaanam of the whole world. Atisandhaanam means cheating or vengeance. This may seem to be yuktirahita. The devotee or bhakta who starts the saadhana with his mind on the god but on getting the tantravidya and the cheap results and gets trapped and forgets the ultimate goal of life and thereby gets total destruction as we see in puraanaa characters. Hence, the word is correct. Otherwise, the Bhagavad Gita quote –

“Ye yathaa maam prapadyante taanstathiva bhajaamyaham” goes wrong.
For the normal functioning of the prapanca, this is a must. In the prapanca, the sun rises every day in the morning and sets everyday in the evening following the correct cycle for millions and millions of years; all the others gods earth, air, fire, water, yama, indra, are all discharging their duties. The seven days in a week follow systematically; the 12 months follow every year systematically; the number of days in a year including the leap year follow systematically; the days in a month follow systematically including the correction to February for leap year. The four yugas follow correctly one after another. This normal functioning of the world will be affected by a saadhaka getting the siddhis and misusing the worldly powers like the pancabhootas, sun, moon, stars, etc and making the world malfunctioning is most dangerous and hence, Lord Parmasiva has done such a thing. Such a devotee who follows wrong principles, troubles insects, creatures, birds, animals unnecessarily and even men by nishiddha karama and tries to upset the balance of the world functioning, may land himself in trouble, unaware of what to do and face destruction.
These tantras are not to be abandoned; they can be used for good purpose instead of for destructive purposes. Weapons serve both good and bad purpose. Fire serves good and bad purpose. Atomic energy even is used for good and bad purposes. The tantraas should not reach the hands of terrorists or militants which may cause havoc; they themselves may find in trouble, even if they get it. Hence it is told that Lord Parama Siva did the same.

Siva Gita refers as –

kartaapi sarvalokaanaam akshaiyyaiswaryavaanapi
sivah sivohamasmeeti vaadinam yanca kancana
aatmanaa saha taadaatmya bhaaginam kurute brisam.

Swatantram te tantram –
This is named as samayaacaaram, [the first method]. The five great saints -

Vasishta, suka, sanaka, sanandana, sanatkumara together wrote five samhitas [each one
wrote one] called “Subhaagama Pancakam”

Vasishta samhita,
suka samhita,
sanaka samhita,
sanandana samhita,
sanatkumara samhita

In which this samayaacaaram is referred, which will be referred in the next sloka 32..

There is another method [second method] referred in “kaula maarga” using 64 tantraas.
1. mahaamaayaatantram
2. sambaratantram
3. yoginitantram
4. jaalasambaram
5. tatwasambarakam
6. bhairavaashtakam
7. braahmee
8. maheswari
9. kaumaari
10. vaishnavi
11. varaahi
12. indraani
13. caamundaa
14. sivadootee
15. brahma
16. Vishnu
17. rudra
18. lakshmee
19. umaa
20. skanda
21. ganesa
22. jayadratha
23. candrajnaanam
24. maalineetantram
25. mahaasammohanam
26. mahocchushyam
27. vaatulam
28. vaatulottaram
29. hrilbhedam
30. tantrabhedam
31. guhyatantram
32. kaamikam
33. kalaavaadam
34. kalaasaaram
35. kubjikaamatam
36. tantrokhyam
37. veenaakhyam
38. trotalam
39. trotalottaram
40. pancaamritam
41. roopabhedam
42. bhootoddhaamaram
43. kulasaaram
44. kuloddheesam
45. kulacoodaamani
46. sarvajnanottaram
47. mahaakaaleematam
48. mahaalakshmeematam
49. siddhayogeswareematam
50. kurupikamatam
51. devaroopikaamatam
52. sarvaveeramatam
53. vimalaamatam
54. poorvaamnaayatantram
55. pascimaamnaayatantram
56. dakshinaamnaayatantram
57. uttaraamnaayatantram
58. oorddhwaamnaayatantram
59. vaiseshikatantram
60. jnaanaarnavam
61. veeraavaleetantram
62. arunesam
63. mohineesam
64. visuddheswaratantram

There is yet another method [third method] called “misra maarga” which uses eight tantraas called candrakalaa vidhyaashtakam.

Candrakalaa
Jyotsnaavatee
Kalaanidhi
Kulaarnavam
Kuleswari
Bhuvaneswari
Baarhaspatyam
Durvaasamitam

Out of these three methods, samayaacaara is the best suited one for vaidikaas and capable of getting all the four purushaarthaas and will be referred in the next sloka 32.
The above sloka 31 has referred about the 64 tantraas which is unimportant for a real devotee whose goal is spiritual and can skip to sloka 32 and give more attention to that, where reference about Sri Cakra and Sri Vidya is referred.
Any devotee can adopt any of the three methods according to his taste and necessity.

All people of all groups accept that the whole prapanca is the work of sakti.

Even the saankhyaacaarya says “prakritih kartree” and accept thereby the kartritwa of the jagat for the prakriti.

The oupanishadaas who are vivartaas accept that prapanca is maayaa kaarya or sakti kaarya.

Taarkikaas say “eeswarecchayaa paramaanushu kriyaa jaayate” and thereby accept kriyaa sakti and icchaasakti.

The upaasana of the goddess who is :-

“Shrishti sthiti upasamhaara tirodhaana anugrahaika
rata sarva caitanya roopa
sarvatatwaswaroopini sarvatatwaateeta
paramaamritasakti roopini”

is done in 3 ways :-

baahya roopa pooja for those who are not having the intellectual strong conviction about the mind or intellect or aatman can make the sricakra in silver or gold or other metals and do the pooja of the same thinking it as the devi and do external pooja or baahya pooja.

the same baahya pooja referred in 1 done using madhu maamsaadi and is called kaula maarga. In this method or group of followers, there is no siva and sakti separate. Sivatatwa is antarbhoota in sakti tatwa. Sakti has transformed into jagat. The same is kundalini. Trikona is also the bindusthana. This bindu is to be worshipped. This itself is of two types :-

uttara kaula - pooja for sricakra trikona done
poorva kaula – pooja for the actual yoni of the goddess done.
One who follows this kaula maarga has to keep in mind and follow the three points –
one – nishkalanka sadaacaara nishta is required.

Bhavishyottaram says –

“Na kulam kulamityaahuraa caarah kulamucyate”
Paramasiva says to Parvati like this :-
“Kulamargarato devi na maayaa ninditah kwacit aacaara rahitaayetra
ninditaastena cetare”

two – atirahasyatwam :-

Sri Parasuraama says :-

“Gupto muktah prakato brishthah anyaastu sakalaa vidyaah prakataa
ganikaa iva iyantu saambhavee vidyaa gupta kula vadhooriva
praakatyaannirayah”
three – strong jitendriyatwam like hanuman :-

ajitendriya can not get into any one of these methods.
If the kaula maarga tat para is strong in these three – he gets kshana siddhi.

[Soutraamani, jyotishtomam, vaajapeyam are the yaagaas performed by the kaula maarga tatparas.]

the description of the method and the effects achieved can be seen particularly in the “Devi Bhagabvatam” in Suka Janaka Samvaadam. In this kaula marga method, all the four varnaasrama group can perform but should follow the method prescribed for each of them:_

“vipraa kshoni bhujovisastaditare kshee raajya madhwaasavaih
Twaam devih tripure paraaparamayeem santarpyapoojaavidau
Yam yam praarthayate manah sthiratayaa teshaam ta yevadhruvam
Taam taam siddhim avaapnuvanti tara saa vighnairavighneekritaah”

[ Brahmins should do pooja with ksheera [milk ] as offering to devi.
Kshatriyaa should do pooja with aajyam [ghee] as offering to devi.
Vaishyaa should do pooja with madhu [honey] as offering to devi.
Soodra should do pooja with madyam [drink] as offering to devi. ]

The third is the samayaacaara contained in the five samhitaas referred above and is the most simplest and safest one and supreme one and easiest to adopt and will be covered in the next sloka number 32.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -30

2006-04-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

[meditating on Goddess with the intellectual conviction that I the aatman am devi]
[para kaaya pravesah]

Swadehodbhootaabhi-rgrinibhi-ranimaadhyaabhi-rabhito
Nishevye nitye twaam ahamiti sadaa bhaavayatiyah
Kimaascaryam tasya trinayana-samriddhim trinayato
Mahaasamvartaagni-rviracayati neeraajanavidhim

Swadeha-udbhootaabhih - emerging from your own [goddess’s] body
grinibhi - similar to divine [cosmic] rays
animaadhyaabhih - by the devataas such as animaasiddhi
ashtamaa siddhi – the eight supernatural powers are :-

1. anima – reducing one’s body to the size of an atom.
2. mahima - expanding one’s body to an infinitely large size.
3. garimaa - becoming infinitely heavy
4. laghimaa - becoming infinitely light
5. Praapti - unrestricted access to all places
6. praakaamya - realizing whatever one desires
7. isitwa - absolute lordship
8. vasitwa - subjugating all

abhitah - surrounded by
Nishevye - worthy to be worshipped
nitye - [Oh! Supreme consciousness!] Eternal [Goddess!]
twaam - you
aham iti - as one’s own atman
sadaa - always
bhaavayati - thinks [meditates]
yah - who
Kim aascaryam ? - is this surprise?
tasya - his
trinayana-samriddhim - siva saayoojya wealth also
trinayatah - for him who thinks as a small piece of leaf
Mahaasamvartaagnih - mahaa pralaya agni
viracayati - follows [and teaches him- the devotee]
neeraajanavidhim - the method of worship by showing mangala aarati

Oh! Supreme consciousness! Eternal Goddess!

You deserve to be worshipped with yourself surrounded by the devataas (as anima-siddhi), who are the kiranaas came out from your body. One who worships you as his own ‘atman’ or inner self and is the pure consciousness devoid of any stint of unhappiness or worry or free of the shadoormis always and at all moments in his life, to him, who considers even the sivasaayoojya position as ‘trina’ or a dry grass, the mahaa-samvarta-agni teaches him the method of applying mangala aarati pooja. Is there any surprise in this?

Trinayana samriddhim –
Trinayanah –
Trinee nayanaani maargaah praapakaah
soorya candraagni roopaah
Yasya darsanaaya iti sa trinayanah
Yadwaa idaa pinkalaa sushumnaa maargaah
Trayah tad darsane upaayaa iti
Trinayanah sadaasivah yadwaa
Trinayanaani cakshumsi yasya sah

[Sadaa Siva is he, who is shown as he partner of the supreme power or the witness, by the gods Sun, Moon and Agni; else Sadaa Siva is the divine ultimate path shown by ida, pinkala, and sushumna naadi; or else Sadaa Siva is the one who has three eyes.]

Bhagavad Gita chapter 15 – sloka -6 says –

Na tad bhaasayate suryo na sasaanko na paavakah
Yad gatwaa na nivartante taddhaama paramam mama

[the supreme consciousness or pure consciousness which is referred as sadaa siva is one which cannot be lit by the sun god or moon god or agni; one who reaches that state will never come back to life of birth and death which is a suffering. That abode is the most purest one.]

Amma says :-

Arkannu kannu kandeeduvaan
Neittiri kaattendatundo?

[is there the necessity of a candle or light to be shown for the sun god ?]

Bhagavad Gita chapter 15 – sloka -12 says –

Yad aaditya gatam tejo jagad bhaasayatekhilam
Yaccandramasi yaccaagnau tattejo viddhi maamakam

[know the pure consciousness which is seen to exist fully pervading in the sun, moon and agni and the whole world.]

The pure consciousness is one which is the I – which is referred by the meaning of the sentences below:-

I am not part of the body;
I am not product of the body;
I am not property of the body;
I pervade all over the body and over the whole world;
But I am not at all affected by the conditions of the world and the bodies therein;
Even when the body perishes, I exist still in tact as pure consciousness – sat chit aananda.

Upanishad says
Na tatra suryo bhaati Na candra taarakam
nemaa vidyuto bhaanti Kutoyam agnih?
Tameva bhaantamanubhaati sarvam
tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati

[sun does not seem to rise there;
neither the moon nor the nakshatraas;
and not the lightning – then
where is the question of agni lighting the pure consciousness the I;
that alone is, self luminous and
everything else in the world gets brilliance from the self luminous pure consciousness the Sadaa Siva].

The three eyes of the supreme power are the sun, moon and the agni it is referred in puraanaas. We the humans have only two eyes, but the devotee of goddess will in turn get the third eye which is called the inner eye of consciousness which has to open to get the blessings of the goddess or Sadaa Siva.

Let us recall the song we referred in sloka 26 as given below:-

Kan turanneeduvor kandeela nin roopam
Kaatorttidunnavar ketteela nin naadam

One who sees this world of objects and gets erroneous knowledge or misapprehension,
[and thinks that he can correct the world], will not be able to see the goddess by the naked eyes [or sense objects, or by mind or even intellect];

Kannadacheedu kaatakakkeedu
Ullil teliyum hridaya nivaasini
Ullil teliyum hridaya nivaasini

[but he can get the vision of the goddess supreme or get ultimate happiness by turning his attention from worldly vision to inner vision] –

Yellaa bhaagyangalum maranjaal maatram kittunna sowbhagyame
[We get this sowbhagyam only when we discard by mind the egocentric “i” and “mine”]

Yella soundaryavum marannal maatram kittunna soundaryame
[We get this sounderyam only when we discard by mind the egocentric “i” and “mine”]

Ul kann turakkuvaan sakti yekeedane unmattanaakkeedane
Ullil teliyunna naal varakkum kannu neeril kulichcheedum jnaan
kannu neeril kulichcheedum jnaan”

{Oh! Goddess! Bestow me the pure mind so that my inner eye of consciousness will open and get me the unmattabhaava. Else I will go on calling you untiringly with tears shedding from my eyes continuously till you give this blessing.}

The devi dhyana sloka of Lalitaa sahasra naama refers like this –

Arunaam karunaa tarangita aksheem
drita paasa ankusa pushpa baana caapaam
Animaadibhiraavritaam mayookhai-
rahamityeva vibhaavaye bhavaaneem

if one does all work surrendering to the goddess who is imagined or meditated upon by him in his heart of hearts, and by his intellect tuned that the goddess is the aatman in him as “bhavaanyevaahamasmi”, will make him a great devotee, beyond comparison, similar to the level of hanuman, and definitely the whole world will do the pooja of such a person. Such a person will turn out to be a stiraprajna, or gunaateeta or bhakta or jnaani or sanyasi or yogi enjoying perfect happiness and thereby imparting the same to others too as referred by –
Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 – sloka -14 and 15 –

Raagadweshaviyuktaistu vishayaan indriyaiscaran
Aatmavasyairvidheyaata prasaadam adhigaccati
Prasaade sarva dukkhaanaam haanirasyopajaayate
Prasanna cetaso hyaasu buddhi paryavatisthate.

He gets the prasaada of bhagavaan which is the pure consciousness in his heart which in turn is the happiness ever and this prasaada is the medicine for sarva dukha or bhava roga. . [sarvadukkha harini or bhava roga nivarini]
This state of mind of a bhakta or yogi is also referred in the Upanishad by the words :-

Brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati.

What is the level of happiness he gets and gives to others ?
This is given by the sloka of Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 – sloka -46 –

Yaavaanaartha udapaane sarvatah samplutodake
Taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanatah

His happiness is like ever overflowing [noopura ganga] waters – amritadhaaraa or amritasudha. Any number of persons can take amrita from this and still the level of the amritadhaara will remain the same.

Let the almighty shower Her blessings on all to get this amrita sudha.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -29

2006-04-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

[ Devi welcomes Paramasiva ]
[ prasavaarishta nivritti-]
[ attracting even the deadly enemies ]

Kireetam vairaincam pariharapurah kaitabha bhidah
Kathore kotheere skalasi jahi jambhaari makutam
Pranamreshweteshu prasabhamupayaatasyabhavanam
Bhavasyaabhyuthaane tava parijanokti vijayate

Kireetam - crown
vairaincam - Lord Brahma’s
parihara - come off from [without hitting or hindering]
purah - appearing in front
kaitabha bhidah - Lord Vishnu’s [the killer of Kaitabhaasura]
one who removes the devilish qualities in us
Kathore - very strong
kotheere - on the crown
skalasi - you are going to hit against [but don’t do it]
jahi - come off [ from the crowns of Brahma, Vishnu, Indra ] so saying
jambhaari - Lord Indra’s
makutam - crown
Pranamreshu - while [ Brahma, Vishnu, Indra ] bowing to you
yeteshu - these people [ Brahma, Vishnu, Indra ]
prasabham - with anxiety
upayaatasya - coming
bhavanam - your house
Bhavasya - seeing Lord Parama - Siva
abhyutthaane - when you are approaching and going
tava - your
parijana uktih - the words uttered by your friends
vijayate - the ghosha or words of bravery comes

Oh ! SupremeGoddess ! Amma !

you come without hitting Lord Brahma’s crown who is prostrating in front of you;
you are going to hit against Lord Vishnu’s [the killer of Kaitabhaasura ] crown [ who is prostrating to you ].

You come away from Lord Indra’s crown [who is prostrating toyou ]-

so say your colleagues when Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Indra are praying you [ with danda namaskaara ] on seeing you welcoming Lord Sadaa-Siva who is approaching you, your friend’s words come as [bravery] ghosha.

[ this means that all the devaas are prostrating goddess with their head and crown touching devi’s ( akhila loka naayika – paraa bhattaarika ) divine lotus feet ].

In the picture we discussed earlier in one of the sloka of this Soundarya Lahari, we have referred about the picture called Sree Baalaa Tripura Sundari wherein we referred that the four legs of the manca [ cot ] of the goddess has four legs which are represented by
Lord Brahma,

LordVishnu, Lord Iswara and Lord Rudra. And the top of the cot is Sadaa-Siva.

{the same is also referred in the Lalita Sahasra Naama}

The five Lords are doing their duties –

Brahma does the creation process –
Vishnu does the maintenance process –
Rudra does the destruction process – and
iswara does the tirodhaana and
Sadaa Siva does the blessing [ anugraha ] process for the devotees.

All these devaas are acting according to your order only;

without you, they are inert or action-less.

The Goddess is described in the Lalitaa Sahasra Naama as –

Pancabrahma swaroopini
(who is acting with five specific different names and forms )
Brahma roopa
(acts as brahma)
Shrishti kartree
(does creation or generation)
Govinda roopini
(acts as Vishnu)
Goptri
(does organization or maintenance)
Samhaarini
(destroyer)
Rudra Roopaa
(acts as Rudra)
Iswari
(acts as eeswara or eesaana)
Tirodhaanakari
(who is not seen with our naked eyes or sense organs or mind or intellect )
Sadaa sivaa
(the supreme consciousness the total macro action form to bless devotees)
Anugrahadaa
(to bless devotees)
Panca kritya paraayanaa
(who does the five specific acts )
Panca preta mancaadisaayini
(possessing the manca of five bodies
(which are inactive without your presence)

as four legs and the top of cot )

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -28

2006-04-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

[devi’s taatanka mahimaa]
[visha bhayam-akaala mrityu nivaaranam]

Sudhaamapyaaswaadhya pratibha-bhaya-jaraamrityu-hraineem
Vipadhyante viswe vidhi-satamakhaadhyaa divishadah
Karaalam yat shwelam kabalitavatah kaalakalanaa
Na sambhostanmoolam tava janani taatanka-mahimaa

janani - Oh! Goddess!
pratibha-bhaya-jaraamrityu-hraineem - [capable of] removing the dangerous ageing and death
Sudhaam - amrita
Aaswaadhya apy - even after taking
vidhi-satamakha-aadhyaah - [including] Lords Brahma, Indra
viswe - all [other]
divishadah - devaas
Vipadhyante - get destroyed during mahaa-pralaya

[devaas are supposed to have no shadoormi including death
Shadoormi – birth – growth-development- decay-disease – death
Refer Tatwabodha of Sankara in the sareeratraya wherein it is referred as –
Asti jaayate vardhate viparinamate apaksheeyate vinasyateeti shadvikaaravat yetat sthoola sareeram]

Story :-

Once the devaas had the saapa of Durvaasa the great saint, who was a staunch devi bhakta. Hence, they were affected by the six changes. They bowed to the great maharishi who gave them the parihaara – let them take nectar from the churning of the paalaazhi, so that they can get back the nitya yauvana and can get rid of the death. This is in the paalaazhi mathana story which is very famous. Vaasuki the great serpent which was given the job of biting the great king pareekshit was now given the job of becoming the rope for churning the ocean. Mandara parvata or mountain was made the stick or ‘mattu’ with which the churning is to be done. On one side devaas and on the other side asuraas were there churning the ocean. But what appeared first from the churning process was kaalakoota visha which was sarva samhaaraka which may destroy the whole world. Hence to protect the world, Lord Paramasiva drank the poisonous kaalakoota visha. When it reached his neck or throat, goddess picked up his throat and hence it stayed there and hence Siva is called Neela kantha. It added to the beauty of Siva. Hence, Siva became Sreekantha, Neelakantha and Kaalakantha. But in the end of the churning process, nectar or amrita was obtained and by drinking it, devaas became deathless or amaraa and nirjjara. But even in spite of taking this nectar also, devaas die at the mahaapralaya kaala. But you alone are the witness, Oh! Goddess! Who witness the taandava of Sadaa Siva.

Karaalam - most dangerous
Shwelam - poison
Kabalitavatah - having swallowed
Sambhoh - to Lord Siva
Kaalakalanaa - the end of kaala or time
Na - [is] not
Yat - this means
Tanmoolam - the reason for that
Tava - [is] your
taatanka-mahimaa - divine ear ring in your ear

[according to haindavaacaara, widows wont wear ornaments specially ear ring. If Siva had to die, then Parvati the Goddess have to become widow and ear ring has to be removed from her ears, which is not right, because, actually parvati is referred as our pure consciousness which is ever there, witnessing even during the taandava of the Sadaa Siva. The pure consciousness or Brahman which is beyond time and space, which is eternal (beyond time) and all pervading (beyond space) was – it is – it will ever be.
It is told that the taatankaas are sun and moon for the ear rings of the goddess.]

Oh! Goddess! even after taking amrita [nectar] which is capable of removing the dangerous ageing and death (jaraanara and marana), all devaas including Lords Brahma, Indra get destroyed during mahaa-pralaya.

{laya – temporary death of the gross body everyday during sleep
pralaya – permanent death of the present gross body
mahaapralaya – permanent death of all bodies gross and subtle}

For Lord Siva, who consumed poison (aala kaala visha), there is no death or end and it is
because of your Taatanka mahima (divine ear ring), Oh! Janani!

Taatanka mahimaa- The great author Laksmidharar refers about this as –

Taatankasya karnaabharanasya saamartyam; taantanka-cchaayaavaatwam kaalasya naasti
kaalotpatti-sthiti-layaanaam taatankaika-niyatatwaatiti devyaah paativratya mahimaa
sarvaatisayee iti.

The famous sloka Rudram refers like this:-

Yaa te rudra sivaa tanooh sivaa viswaaha bheshajee
sivaa rudrasya bheshajee taya no mrida jeevase

[Oh! Lord Paramasiva! The goddess who is occupying half of your body is the [divine] medicine for the whole world. She is the medicine for you who is Rudra also. You are still alive even after consuming poison, because of her grace only.]
Kaalaswaroopi Lords Sun and Moon eat away the age of everybody in the world but they become your ornaments Oh! Goddess!

[during every day, everyone wakes up and during every night, everyone sleeps unaware of his own body and even the whole world]

Sowbhagya bhaaskaram refers as -

Soorya candrau sthanau devyaastaaveva nayane smrite
Ubhau taatankayugalam ityeshaa vaidikee srutih

Arunaamodini refers as :-

Ata yeva suvaasinyaa kadaacitapi karnabhooshanam na parityaajyam iti upadesah

Hence, pativrataas should never be without any ear ring in her ears.

Lalitaa Sahasranaama refers as –

Taatanka yugaleebhoota tapanotupamandalaa

Pancadaseestavam says –

Kalpopasamharana kalpita taandavasya devasya khandaparasoh
para bhairavasya paasaankusaikshava saraasana
pushpabaanaanaa saa saakshinee vijayate tava moortirekaa

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -27

2006-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

[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.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -26

2006-04-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

[Paativratya mahima of Parasakti Devi]
[Satrusamharam – internal and external]

Virincih pancatwam vrajati hariraapnoti viratim
Vinaasam keenaaso bhajati dhanado yaati nidhanam
Vitantdree maahendree-vitatirapi sammeelita-drisaa
Mahaasamhaare asmin viharati sati twatpati-rasau

Virincih - Lord Brahma
pancatwam - destruction
“pancabhootaanaam vyashti roopataam maranamiti yaavat”
vrajati - gets
harih - Lord Vishnu
aapnoti - gets
viratim - end
“uparatim maranamiti yaavat”
Vinaasam - destruction
Keenaasah - Yama [Lord Yamadharamaraja]
bhajati - gets
dhanadah - Lord Kubera
yaati - gets
nidhanam - destruction
Vitantdree - gets immersed in deep sleep
“veseshena tandree prameelanam jaadyam yasyaah saa - nidraanetyartthah”
maahendree-vitatih
api - the group of devas including Lord Indra who follow suit
“mahendrasyeyam mahendree caturdasaanaam manoonaam indraanaam vitatih api sankopi sammeelati samyangmeelitaa drisaa drishtir-yasyaas saa”
sammeelita-drisaa - closing the eyes
Mahaa-samhaare - at the mahapralaya kaala
asmin - [such as] this
viharati - plays with you
sati - Oh1 Pativrata Goddess!
Twatpatih - your husband Sadaa Siva
“sadaa sivah harah asau sahasratala-kamale paridrisyamaanah”
Asau - this

During the mahapralaya kaala, all tatwaas including goddess earth, merge in the one above that panca-bhoota and the last one gets immersed in infinity; only sakti and siva both remain. Then the goddess Sakti only witnesses the Samhaara [rudra] taandava of her partner Sadaa Siva.
Lord Brahma comes [assumes name and form] and goes [gets destruction of name and form]. Lord Vishnu comes [assumes name and form] and goes [gets destruction of name and form]. Lord Yama comes [assumes name and form] and goes [gets destruction of name and form]. Lord Kubera comes [assumes name and form] and goes [gets destruction of name and form]. The group of devaas including the head Devendra follow suit - come [assumes name and form] and go [gets destruction of name and form].

During the maha-pralaya kaala, Oh! Goddess Supreme! This Sadaa-Siva, your husband, dances, the samhaara taandava being witnessed by you alone.

Every day we assume name and form [during waking and dreaming state]; and lose our name and form temporarily [during deep sleep state]. But “I” the pure consciousness in us remain in tact without getting affected the least. This consciousness is our original character or swaroopa which is referred as sat – chit – aananda in scriptures.
In the “Advaita makaranda ” sloka 2 the great poet, describes this consciousness as

“ahamasmi sadaa bhaami
kadaacit naahamapriyaha
brahmaivaahamatassiddham
sat chid aananda lakshanam”

This consiousness is different from the jiva if we think multiple jeevaas in the following way :-
We can get any external knowledge such as physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics etc. but for this you have to put effort or karma –

Knowledge [external] + karma = happiness [unsteady] and sorrow mixed.
Knowledge [alone ] = self or pure consciousness or “I” or unbounded awareness or happiness devoid of any stint of sorrow.

Apraaptasya praaptah – one may want to get a new substantial thing or position or power or status newly in the world. This requires tremendous effort on one’s part.

Praaptasya praaptah – this does not require any effort or karma but one has just to recall his original memory which was lost temporarily due to ajnaana or ignorance and erroneous knowledge. We may refer the Bhagavad Gita chapter 18 sloka 73 where in you find the following quote from arjuna to Lord Krishna as –

“nashto mohah smritir labhdhaah twatprasaadaanmayaachyuta
Sthitosmi gatasandehah karishye vacanam tava”

the knowledge referred by arjuna here is the one of the praaptasya praaptah which enabled arjuna to overcome his grief, anger and all negative qualities thereby succeed further in the battlefield. No new knowledge was imparted by Lord Krishna to Arjuna; but on the removal of ignorance and erroneous knowledge, the right knowledge was clear to Arjuna as clear as the sun which was so far covered by the clouds, but now on removal of the clouds of ignorance and erroneous knowledge, the sun the aatman, was seen clearly without any new effort. Lord shri Krishna also refers in the Bhagavad Gita that he is not imparting anything newly found by him but what ever is referred is available readily in Upanishads as each chapter of Gita ends with the saying that

“iti srimad bhagavad gitaasu upanishatsu brahmavidyaayaam yogasaastre sri krishnaarjuna samvaade purushottamayogo naama pancadasoddhyaayah”
[this is for chapter 15].

This “I” is referred as witness the “Sadaa Siva” and in scriptures as Brahman.
This refers to - the knowledge we already have ever with us – but temporarily the jeeva has forgotten it – for getting back this knowledge, you need not put any effort but only you have to correct your intellect [intellectual conviction] which was so far either wrong or partial [alpa] or absent and no karma is required;
We may refer in this context, the poem referred by “Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi” called “Upadesa Saaram” sloka 1 in which he quotes like this –

“Karturaajnayaa prapyate phalam
karma kim param karma tajjadam
Kriti mahodadau patina kaaranam
phalamasaaswatam gati nirodakam”

Also, we may refer Sankara’s “Viveka Coodaamani” in which he refers –

“Avijnaate pare tatwe saastraadeetistu niscalaa
Vijnaate pi pare tatwe saastraadeetistu niscalaah”

For getting the knowledge about our own self, the pure consciousness, we need not search anywhere outside, but correct our erroneous knowledge thereby removing our non-apprehension and mis-apprehension.

Permanent happiness we search outside in the world of objects, emotions, thoughts but is not at all available in the world outside but is ourselves – the subject – the pure consciousness. World consisting of temporary status can give only temporary happiness that too only in the presence of myself or “I” or “consciousness” and in the absence of this consciousness as in sleep or moorcchaa or unconscious state, even we are not able to know that we are happy, though the world of objects disappear totally for some time and we are not having unhappiness but we are not aware. This is possible only in the waking state. Hence the Upanishad quote –

“uttishtata, jaagrata, praapyavaraan nibodhata.”

Hence, the correction of our erroneous knowledge has to take place in jaagrat avastha and not in sleep or dream.

{During sleep or laya [not pralaya or maha pralaya, but temporary pralaya], we are ignorant or the knowledge of our own self is absent temporarily, which is not harmful. But erroneous knowledge, which also is present during our waking and dreaming states, is most dangerous and is the cause of all our sorrows and miseries and not any time, space, object, or body or relation, or circumstance or the world outside.

During the time of so called death of a [body] person - pralaya happens – the body is destroyed but another body will follow, to satisfy our unfulfilled desires due to the vaasanaas remaining}.
Lalita-sahasra Naama refers like this –

“maheswara mahakalpa mahaataandava saakshinee”

The poem “Kalyana vrishtistavam” refers like this –

“Kalpopasamharana-kalpita-taandavasya
Devasyakandaparasoh para-bhairavasya
Paasaankusaikshava caraasana-pushpabaanaa
Saa saakshinee vijayate tava moortirekaah”

Soota samhitai also refers like this –

“Asankhyaavilayam yaanti brahmaanah panditottamaah
Asankhyaa vishnavo rudraa asankhyaa vaasavaadayah
Yeka yeva sivaha saakshaat srishtistityantahetavah”

Mundaka Upanishad one of the dasopanishads for which Sankara wrote commentaries is referring about this knowledge –
The disciples [who are grihastaas] who approach the guru ask the prime question {for which the whole world of scientists and so on are yet to get an answer unless they delve deep into the scriptures}. This is not to undermine any knowledge of science, but to indicate that for any knowledge, the consciousness is required.

The question goes like this –

“kasminnu bhagavo vijnaate sarvam idam vijnaatam bhavati iti”

Oh! Bhagavan! [guru] please show [tell] us about that one, by knowing which, the whole world [of objects, emotions, thoughts] becomes known.
There are two yuktis by which a thing or knowledge which is superior or not is found.
Anvaya yukti and vyatireka yukti.

If consciousness is there, there is the world of objects – anvaya yukti.

If consciousness is not there, there is no world of objects – vyatireka yukti.

But even if world of objects are not there, there is the consciousness [deep sleep state].
The same consciousness which is available all over [seems to be different in different persons] during sleep, is available now also and always – it was – it is – it will be for ever - everywhere; but due to our non apprehension of the same and due to misapprehension of the truth, we mistake it and possess erroneous knowledge and absence of right knowledge. For getting the right knowledge, we need not do any work but have to correct our erroneous knowledge thereby getting correct knowledge as referred in Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 sloka 41 as –

“Vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhirekeha kuru nandana”

This knowledge is not an object or even the whole world, but we ourselves who is the subject and happiness ever.

For knowing this, we have to study continuously under the guidance of a SadGuru, for a sufficiently long period of time. [which we don’t do [normally], which is the cause of our own sorrow or misery in life and anything in the world.]
Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 sloka 34 says –

“Tad viddhi pranipaatena pariprasnena sevayaa
Upadekshyanti te jnaanam jnaaninastatwa darshinah”

You can get this knowledge which due to anaadi maayaa was seen to be lost [actually it is not lost at all] back by approaching a guru and applying your whole hearted pranaams to him, by surrendering your heart at his holy feet, by doing service [without expectation] to him [though he may not need it at all] and after sufficient time by which your mind becomes calm and quiet, ask your questions frankly to the guru who will impart this knowledge to you.

You need not go in search of the guru, but guru will come in front of you in any form [not as desired by you] if you have the deepest desire as referred in the tatwa bodha –[saadhana catushtaya]

Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi says the quote often as –

“Eeswaro gururaatmeti “
[moorti bheda vibhaagine
Vyomavat vyaapta dehaaya dakshinaamoorthaye namaha]

Our atma is our guru and eeswara-
During waking state, we find we are jeevaas. But during sleep, we don’t find any jeeva, which means jeeva merges with eeswara enjoying perfect bliss, [though we are not aware of the same during sleep].

If one is able to succeed in finding the aatman by studying the saastraas or scriptures or from a sad guru, he will understand the meaning of this statement. But one must have complete faith for this.
Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 sloka 5 refers –

“Uddharedaatmanaatmaanam naatmaanamavasaadayet
Aatmaivahyaatmano bandhuraatmaiva ripuraatmanah”

[Paativratya mahima of Parasakti Devi]
[Satrusamharam – internal and external]

Refer the famous Mandukya Upanishad about which Sri Rama tells Aanjaneya to
get rid of the bandha or to get liberation or mukti as –

“Maandookyam evam evaalam
mumukshoonaam vimuchyate”

[mandukya alone will suffice for a mumukshu to get liberation]

This Upanishad says –
“samvisati aatmanaatmaanam ya evam veda”
[one atma who wants to get liberated, will get his true nature]

We have to turn our attention from external mode to internal mode as referred in”Lalita Sahasra Naama” as –

“antarmukha swabhaavaayai namaha
[by introspection it is possible to get liberation]
bahirmukha sudurlabhaayai namaha”
[by external sense organs or by the extroverted mind or extroverted intellect it is not possible to get liberation]

refer the Lord Ganapathi bhajan song which goes as this –

“tedi tedi engo odukinraar
[people are running here and there all over the world (to get happiness)]
ulle thedi kandukollallaame
[but happiness can be searched to be available inside our heart of hearts]
kodi kodi mada yaanaikal panicheyya
[crores and crores of egocentric elephants work]
kunrena vilangum pemmane
[you are the god of gods of the mountains ]
prabho ganapathe paripoorana vaazhvarulvaaye”
[Oh ! Prabhu! Lord Vigneswara! You will give me a life of fulfilment ]

No effort or karma required externally, you need not change your environment, people, place, circumstance, time, relation etc but correct your vision of wrong knowledge to right one.

We have so many erroneous knowledge about us, about our relatives, about our nation, about world and so on which needs to be corrected. Not the people place or thing to be changed outside. We may refer in this context about the poem Sankara’s “Viveka

Coodaamani” sloka number 254 in which he refers –

“Jaati neeti kula gotra dooragam
[I am away from jaati, neeti, kula and gotra]
Naama roopa guna dosha varjitam
[I am away from naama, roopa, guna and dosha]
Desa kaala vishayaati vartiyat
[I am away from desa, kaala, and vishaya]
Brahma tatwamasi bhaavayaatmani”
[I am that brahma tatwam – so meditate]

[Paativratya mahima of Parasakti Devi][Satrusamharam : internal and external]

In the “Advaita makaranda” the great poet says like this -
“mayiyevodeti chid vyomni
[in me the chidaabhaasa alone seem to appear ]
jagat gandharva pattanam
[this magic world which is like gandharva nagaram which is never steady which goes on ever changing and disappears later]
athoham na katham brahma
[then why am I not the Brahman?; I am Brahman alone]
sarvajnam sarva kaaranam”
[I am the cause of sarvam the whole world and I am sarvajna, I know everything.]

Also refer Maaya Pancakam which refers like this
“Nirupama nitya niramsake api akhande
[Uncomparable, eternal, having no component parts, still unbreakable]
mayi citi sarvavikalpanaadisoonye
[in me the pure mind devoid of the vikalpa sankalpa]
Ghatayati jagadeesajeevabhedam tu
[happens thus like isa jeeva difference]
aghatitaghatanaa pateeyasi maaya”
[this maayaa is playing the role of impossible but magic]

There is one song of amma which goes like this :
“aananda roopiniye tiranju
[I went in search of the person or goddess who gives aananda]
Amritaswaroopiniye tiranju
[I went in search of the amritaswrupini.]
Ajnaananaasini jnaanapravaahin
i[I came to know that she is the ajnaananaasini, jnaanapravaahini,]
Aatmaswaroopiniyennarinju
[Knew as aatmaswaroopini][who is posited inside our heart of hearts and also everywhere.]Aatmaswaroopiniyennarinju[aatmaswaroopini]Kan turanneeduvor kandeela nin roopam Kaatorttidunnavar ketteela nin naadam
[One who sees this world of objects and gets erroneous knowledge or misapprehension,][and thinks that he can correct the world], will not be able to see the goddess by the naked eyes [or sense objects, or by mind or even intellect];
Kannadacheedu kaatakakkeeduUllil teliyum hridaya nivaasiniUllil teliyum hridaya nivaasini
[but he can get the vision of the goddess supreme or get ultimate happiness by turning his attention from worldly vision to inner vision]
Yellaa bhaagyangalum maranjaal maatram kittunna sowbhagyame
[We get this sowbhagyam only when we discard by mind the egocentric “i” and “mine”]
Yella soundaryavum marannal maatram kittunna soundaryame
[We get this soundaryam only when we discard by mind the egocentric “i” and “mine”]
Ul kann turakkuvaan sakti yekeedane unmattanaakkeedaneUllil teliyunna naal varakkum kannu neeril kulichcheedum jnaankannu neeril kulichcheedum jnaan”

{Oh! Goddess! Bestow me the pure mind so that my inner eye of consciousness will open and get me the unmattabhaava. Else I will go on calling you untiringly with tears shedding from my eyes continuously till you give this blessing.}

as Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi says there are two methods of approach for anything.
1. loka drishtyaa
2. jnaana drishtyaa

The second is the correct and the first approach is erroneous for getting spiritual knowledge or knowledge about our own self.Guruji (Sri Sri Ravisankar) refers this as “You have to act locally but think globally”.
[but many of us who fail in life in the end is due not only to the complete neglect of this and also due to the wrong following- we think locally and act globally]

Amma says about the same in other words as-

“Hridayam vikasicchilla,pakshe budhdhi maatram vikasichhu”
[there is no co-operation between head and heart mind says another decision : but intellect says one]

what is the result of this ?the outcome is given by the Bhagavad Gita sloka chapter 2 sloka 62-63
dhyaayato vishayaan pumsah
[one who meditates on external world of objects]
Sangasteshoopajayate
[He gets his mind attached to the objects]
sangaatsan jaayate kaamah
[hence he picks up desire towards that object]
kaamaat krodhobhijaayate
[if not able to get the object, he gets anger
]krodhaadhbhavati sammohah
[anger leads to greed]
sammohaat smriti vibhrama
[his memory power weakens]
smriti bhramsaat buddhi naaso
[his intellect loses power of right decision]
budhdhi naasaat pranasyati
[every thing is lost if right intellect is lost]

[Paativratya mahima of Parasakti Devi]
[Satrusamharam internal and external]

For this (to overcome this sorry state of affairs of losing the right intellect or gaining the intellectual conviction) we need both chitta suddhi and chitta yekaagrata and then jnaana yogyataa, and then we have to proceed in the right direction.

Chitta suddhi can be gained only by (nishkaama) karma yoga; chitta yekaagrata can be attained only by bhakti yoga (unconditional) and only when we get both chitta suddhi and yekaagrata - we can proceed to gain this right knowledge about our own self.

For this, our mind is to be turned inwards and understand thoroughly by sravana, manana and nidhidhyaasana that the permanent happiness we search is not in world of objects but in ourselves, in our pure mind, in our pure intellect and that is the greatest achievement

we can get in life in many and many births. The treasure island is inside us - but we search it outside thinking it as an object; instead it is the subject and need not be sought for; only thing we have to do is not all to put any new effort to gain anything new, but to remove our wrong notions about ourselves and the world and the god and the guru. We have to remove our non apprehension and misapprehension and be at ease.

Refer Baba’s quotes often to his disciples:Why should you be diseased when you are already at ease.Why fear when I am here always?
What is the use of sitting in an air conditioned building without the conditioning of the-agitations of the desire in the mind.?

Refer Bhagavad Gita chapter which says :
Asaantasya kutah sukham?

Amma says repeated for the benefit of the devotees all over :
Paritasthitiye alla maatrendatumanasthitiye aanu maatrendatu.

The above referred state of mind is referred byBhagavan Ramana Maharishi in upadesa saaram as -“hrit sthale mana swastataa kriyaaBhakti yoga bodhaasca niscitam”

This is the state of mind referred to be that of a jnaani [in chapter 4 jnaana karma sanyasa yoga and in chapter 7 aatma samyama yoga and chapter 9 C raaja vidyaa raaja guhya yoga ] or bhakta [in chapter 12 bhakti yoga] or gunaateeta [in chapter 14 gunatraya vibhaga yoga] or stiraprajna or stitaprajna [in chapter 2 saankhya yoga] in gita

What have we to lose for this? money, material, position, status, power, house, relations, and what else - we need not lose anything - but correct our erroneous knowledge and act in the world as anybody acts in this world -as amma says in another song :

Kaarunya peeyoosha dhaamam
[the abode of ultimate unconditional overflowing kaarunya]
Amma kaanappedunnatma satyam
[amma is the aatma satyam which we can see directly with our inner eye ofconsciousness without any external karma or external effort]
Jnaanena bhaavam marannatma samtripti
[forgetting the thought of the ego centric small “i” and getting aatma samtripti]
Nedunnavar kaanmu satyam
[who gets this knows the truth]
Nedunnavar kaanmu satyam
[who gets this knows the truth]
Teerthangalil kulikkenda
[you need not bathe in holy waters]
Ghora ghoram tapam cheytidenda
[need not do hectic penance]
Ammayil maanasam chemme unarthichu
[apply your mind on your own self that is amma and be strengthened in mind]
Dhanyarai teerkkuvin janmam
[make your birth fulfilled ]
Dhanyarai teerkkuvin janmam
[make your birth fulfilled]

Refer in this context, the quote given by ashtaavakra to janaka in the ashtaavakra gita as:

“Antar vikalpa soonyasca
bahir swacchanda caarinaha”
Be calm in the mind internally and don’t show emotions outside; but externally act so that you have to work with different types of people under different circumstances at different times.
Let the almighty Goddess bestow Her blessings on each of us in the world, so as to enable us to succeed in our attempts.
Let us not be selfish in the mind C at least let us chant for a moment everyday within our heart of hearts.
“Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu”
[Let the whole world be happy.]
“Asato maa sat gamaya
[Let the untruth vanish giving way to truth]
Tamaso maa jyotir gamaya
[Let the darkness vanish giving way for light ]
mrityor maa amritam gamaya “
[let the fear of death vanish giving way to fearlessness.]
“sarveshaam swastir bhavatu
[Let every where be happiness or safety]
sarveshaam saantir bhavatu
[let everywhere be peace]
sarveshaam poornam bhavatu
[let everywhere be the fulness]
sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu”
[let everywhere be the good or divine]
aum saantih saantih saantih
[aum peace peace peace]
aum sri gurubhyo namah
[pranaams to the great guru]

harih om

[note : harih aum means hurry home C be your natural own self which is happiness ever devoid of even a stint of unhappiness or sorrow. we are already at home, but temporarily we have forgotten about it and we imagine so many things against our natural swaroopa. Hence have to come back to our original ]

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -25

2006-04-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -25
[the pooja of the three Gods(all gods) are contained in the Devi pooja itself]
[high level power, fame and name]

Trayaanaam devaanaam triguna-janitaanaam tava sive
Bhavet pooja pooja tava caranayo-ryaa viracitaa
Tathaa hi twat paadodvahana-manipeetasya nikate
Sthitaa hyete-saswanmukulita-karottamsa-makutaah

Trayaanaam devaanaam - the three gods [Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra]
triguna-janitaanaam - taken form possessing the three gunaas
tava - your
sive - Oh! Goddess! Who is the spouse of Lord Siva
Bhavet - become
pooja - pooja
pooja - pooja
tava caranayoh - on your holy feet
yaah - whichever
viracitaa - being performed
Tathaa hi - that is correct
twat paadodvahana-manipeetasya - of the ratna peeta of the goddess which carries the divine lotus feet of goddess
nikate - nearby
manipeetasya nikate –
the six aadhaara cakras [in the body] are the manipeeta. They are grouped into three sets –

agni kantha - position of brahma called Brahma granthi
soorya kantha - position of Vishnu called Vishnu granthi
soma kantha - position of Rudra called Rudra granthi

lalita sahasra nama refers as –

brahma granthi vibhedinyai namaha

Vishnu granthi vibhedinyai namaha

Rudra granthi vibhedinyai namaha

Moolaadharaambujaaroodhaayai namaha
Swaadhisthaanaambujagataayai namaha
Manipooraantaruditaayai namaha
Anaahataabja nilayaayai namaha
Visuddhi cakra nilayaayai namaha
Aajnaa cakraabja nilayaayai namaha
Sahasraaraambujaaroodhaayai namaha

when a devotee performs pooja as per the antar yaaga principle in the six aadhaara cakras, then it becomes the puja for all the gods [the three gods].

Sthitaah hi - are posited [or standing]
yete- - these [gods]
saswat - always
mukulita-karottamsa-makutaah - keeping the bowed hands on the crown

Oh! Goddess Supreme! What ever pooja is being performed on your holy lotus feet, that becomes automatically the pooja for the three gods; it is definite!.
These gods are always posited with their bowed hands on their divine crown which is in turn, placed on your abode [or the Ratna cot] offering their pranaams to you, asking your blessings, so that they can perform their duties according to their three natural gunas.

The maaya god [eeswara] when dominant with rajo guna, the god is referred as Brahma, the creator or generator or in Sanskrit the function is called as srishti.

The same maaya [eeswara] god when dominat with satwa guna is referred as Vishnu, the organisor or in Sanskrit the function is called as sthiti.

The same maaya god [eeswara] when dominant with the tamo guna is referred as Rudra, the destroyer or in Sanskrit the function is referred as samhara or laya.

The Durga Candra Kala Stuti written by the great spiritual poet, Appayya deekshitar refers as –
Yad poojanaha stuti namaskritibhir bhavanti
Preetaah pitaamaha ramesa haraas trayobhih
Teshaamapi sarva karunair dadhateem vapoomshi
Taam eeswarasya taruneem caranyam prapadye
[Puja to Goddess as per antaryaga is equal to pooja of all gods and goddesses].

Soundarya Lahari - Sloka 24

2006-04-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

The divine eye brows of Goddess
[Sarva Bhoota Pretha Pisaasa Bhaya Nivaaranam]
Soundarya Lahari - Sloka 24

Jagat soote dhaataa hariravati rudraha kshapayate
Tiraskurvannetat swamapi vapu-reesa-stirayati
Sadaa poorvaha sarvam tadida-manugrihnaati ca siva-
Stavaajnaa maalambya kshanacalitayorbhroolatikayoh

Jagat soote creates the world
dhaataa Lord Brahma, the creator [Generator]God
harihi Lord Vishnu, the Organisor God
avati maintains
rudraha Lord Rudra, the Destructor God
Kshapayate destroys
G O D - generation – organization – destruction
The whole world [of actions] or even the fourteen worlds consists of only these three functions.
Tiraskurvann making the whole universe immersed in him
etat these three
swam by his own
vapu api - body also
eesaha Maheswara [the avyakta god]
tirayati making it [the whole world] invisible
Sadaa-poorvaha sivaha Sada Siva who has the first name in front of Siva
sarvam tadidam such of these five Gods
anugrihnaati blesses the devotees
ca – and
tavaajnaam your order
aalambya obeying
kshana-calitayoh expressed by a [single] action of a minute
bhroolatikayoh of the eye brows

Brahma the creator, creates the world; hari the protector, maintains the world, rudra the destroyer destroys the world; iswara the unseen [invisible] God makes the world and the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra immerse in him and he also becomes invisible; but, Sada Siva, who is your partner, by your order of the [single] movement of eye-brows alone, blesses the devotees.
Goddess herself assumes the names/forms of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Iswara[or eesaana] and Sadaasiva and does the five fold functions respectively through these gods.
Hence, the goddess is referred by the name panca kritya paraayanaa in Lalita Sahasra Nama, which goes like this –

Srishti kartree Brahma roopaa
Goptri Govinda roopini
Samharini Rudra roopa
Tirodaana karee Iswari
Sadasivaa anugrahadaa
Panca kritya paraayanaa

Our three states of waking [jaagrat], dreaming [swapna], and sleeping [deep sleep or sushupti] can be compared to the three worlds consisting of Rajo guna, Satwa guna and Tamo guna.
The five Gods referred in the above sloka can be seen depicted in the Picture of Baala Tripura Sundari in which the abode or seat of the Goddess Supreme is shown as the cot which has four legs shown in each of which is respectively posited the four gods Brahma, Vishnu, rudra and iswara and the top plate of the cot is sadaa sivaa.
[This picture [sree cakra] is required for a deep devotee of goddess or “saakta” who worships devi or sreecakra-pooja].
“Saambhava Deepika” says as –

Srishti sthityupasamhaara
Tirodhaanaanugrahaatmakam
Krityam pancakritam yasmaa-
Ttannumaha saaswatam sivam

All the five karmas are of the same Siva as per the requirement of the universe.
A real devotee of god or goddess becomes equal to the Sadaa Siva, thereby capable of bestowing blessings on all his well-wishers, satisfying their day to day needs as referred in Bhagavad gita as below :-

Ananyaascintayanto maam ye janaa paryupaasate
Teshaam nityaabhiyuktaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham

The same principle is referred in one of the dasopanishads namely the mundaka Upanishad in the sloka as below-

Sa veda yetad paramam brahma dhaama
Yatra viswam nihitam bhaati subhram
Upaasate purusham ye hi akaamaah
Te sukram yetat ativartanti dheeraah

The same is the meaning of the Upanishad quote –
“Brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati”
The goddess can be understood as our own self – by the three triads yantra, mantra and tantra – yantra is the our body-mind-intellect complex when considered as micro and the universe when considered at the macro level, mantra is sloka; and tantra is the technique of sravana-manana-nidhidhyasana.
The devotee will have the divine powers whether he wants or not; he will possess divine creative powers; he will have the divine maintaining powers and the divine destructive powers; hence, he will do good to himself and the whole world and can never think of doing any evil.

Soundarya Lahari - Sloka 23

2006-03-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari - Sloka 23
Sivamsa hidden in dormant form in sakti
[Sarvasampat]

Twayaa hritwaa vaamam vapu-raparitriptena manasa
Sareeraardham sambho-raparamapi sanke hritamabhoot
Yadetat twadroopam sakalamarunaabham trinayanam
Kucaabhyaamaanamram kutila-sasicoodaala-makutam

Yad - Due to which reason
yetat - the one which is shining in my heart
twad-roopam - your [divine] form
sakalam arunaabham – fully reddish brilliance
trinayanam - with three eyes
Kucaabhyaam - By the two [divine] breasts
aanamram - slightly bent
kutila-sasi-coodaala-makutam - bearing the makuta decorated with the partial moon
sambho: - of the sambhu [lord sadasiva]
vaamam vapu - the left part of the body
Twayaa - By you
Hritwaa - Even after taking it [left part of the body]
Aparitriptena - Not fully satisfied
Manasaa - By the mind
Aparam Sareeraardham api -The second part of the body also
Hritam abhoot - Was snatched [orabducted or kidnapped]
Sanke - I doubt

Siva and Sakti are the two parts [left and right] of the same body.
[just like the two sides of a coin or like the hardware and software of the computer or like the chit and jada or like the soul and body]
The part of siva is white; and that of the Sakti is red. But, since, the complete part of the body of goddess Sakti is reddish, and since in the divine crown [makuta] of the goddess there is the partial moon, sakti is not satisfied with the half part, and hence goddess has taken the complete body. Siva is called as three eyed god, Candrasekhara. He becomes invisible gets merged in the Sakti swaroopa. Hence, if you do the worship of Sakti, it becomes equal to that of the god Sada Siva. There is a group of worshippers called “Uttara Kaula”, in which the devotees worship only Sakti and there is no pooja for Siva. Siva is merged fully in Sakti, they feel. There is no separate part of the duty for Siva.
The sloka 101 of “Aananda Saagara Stavam” written by great “Neelakanta deekshitar”, refers like this:-

Nirmaasi, samharasi, nirvhasi, trilokeem
vrittaanta metamapi vetti na vaa mahesa:
tasyaat manastu girije tava saahacaryaatjaata:
srutishwapi jagajjanakatwa-vaada:

Oh! Paarvati! You are only creating the three worlds; maintaining and destructing too; it is not known whether siva is aware of this vrittanta; but since, you are with him, sruti calls him as Pitaa or father.

The sloka 56 of “Aananda Saagara Stavam” written by great “Neelakanta deekshitar”, refers like this:-

Saadhaarane smarajaye nitilaakshi saadhye
bhaagee haro haratu naama yasa: samagram
vaamaangri-maatra-kalite janani twadeeye
kaa vaa prasakti-riha kaalajaye puraare:

Manmatha was destroyed by the Agni from the third eye of Siva; in that eye also you have part; hence, in that good deed or praise, Siva has only one half part; but let Siva keep fully the praise of that; the left foot which overtook kaala is yours and so what relation Siva has in this respect?

There is a saying as below:-
Na sivena vinaa saktir
Na saktyaa rahita: siva:
Taadaatmyamanayornityam
Vahnidaahakayoriva

There is no sakti without siva; there is no siva without sakti; the relationship between the two is like the agni and the heating effect of the agni.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -22

2006-03-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -22
Stotra mahimaa
[Sarva-siddhi]

Bhavani twam daase mayi vitara drishtim sa karunaam
Iti stotum vaanchan kathayati bhavani twamiti yaha
Tadaiva twam tasmai disasi nija saayujya-padaveem
Mukunda-brahmendra-sputa makuta-neeraajitapadaam

Bhavani – The spouse of paramasiva who is called by the name “Bhavani”
twam - you
daase mayi - to me who is a slave
vitara - will bestow on me
drishtim - your divine vision
sa karunaam - with full of kindness
stotum - to pray
vaanchan - desiring
iti - thus
kathayati - if told
bhavani twamiti – the two words “bhavani you”
yaha - whomsoever
Tadaiva - then [immediately]
twam - you
tasmai - to him
disasi - give
nija saayujya-padaveem - your abode of bliss [moksha or satchitaananda]
Mukunda-brahmendra-sputa makuta-neeraajitapadaam – Having the divine feet which is being worshipped with neeraajanam by the great gods, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra etc by the brilliant rays flowing from their kireetaas.

Oh! Bhavani! Who is partner of “Bhava”,

You will bestow on me, who is a slave [of your divine power], your divine vision with full of kindness. Thus, whomsoever desirous of praying you, chants the two words- “Bhavani you!”, then immediately, you, [who has the divine lotus feet , being worshipped with neeraajanam by the great Gods, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra etc by the brilliant rays flowing from their divine crown] will bestow him your abode of moksha or saayuja padavi.

There is a song in Malayalam of amma which goes as below:-

Sree paada maahaatmyam aarkkariyaam Gurupaadattin vaibhavam aarkkariyaam
Amriteswari amme aanandasaarame kaivalyadhaamame jnaan namikkaam

[who knows the greatness of sreepaada!
Who knows the greatness of gurupaada vaibhava!]
Sreepaada poojakku melilla poojakal Illa yogaadikal saadhanakal
Sadguru paadattil premavum bhaktiyum janma janmaantara punyamallo

[there is no pooja higher than sreepaada pooja; the yoga, saadhana are all not at all equal to the sreepaada pooja; if one has the sravan, manana, nidhidhyaasana on the sreepaada with prema and bhakti, it is the greatness due to the janma janmaantara punya!]

Trippadabhakti sadaakalpavrikshamaam premabhaktipradam jnaanamoolam
Bhakti muktipradam sarva siddhipradam sreepaada teerthame teerthasaaram

[trippada bhakti is always equal to kalpavriksha which will bestow whatever one wants; it will bestow prema, bhakti, jnaana for one thereby making him eligible for the saadhana catushtaya which is a compulsory requisite for the self knowledge, which will remove all his sorrows and unhappiness instantaneously; it bestows, bhakti, mukti, sarva siddhi; sree paada teertha is the saara of all the teerthaas (like ganges, yamuna, kaveri, saraswati, godavari, nile etc) of the three worlds]

Saakshaal anantanum moortitrayangalum vaakku kittate alanjidunnu
Pinnaru varnikkum sad guru paadatte veendum namikkam namiccidaam jnaan

[I bow to the Guru’s(Goddess) sreepaada or lotus feet, again and again, which is found to be undescribable to the Gods like ananta, and the trimoortis, (which is beyond words), as given by the Upanishad like this –
“yato vaaco nivartante apraapya manasaa saha”; Lalita Sahasra Nama refers as –
“Manovaacaamagocaraayai a”;
Also refer purusha sookta which refers as –
“sahasraseershaa purushah, sahasraakshassahasrapaad,
Sa bhoomim viswato vritwaa, atyatishtaddasaangulam,
……………….
Tripaadasyaamritam divi”]

Stotra mahimaa
[Sarva-siddhi]

“Bhavani twam” is equated by the great pandits with the Upanishad words –
“Brahmaivaahamasmi”
One who does chant this sloka with ekaagrata, becomes one with Brahman or Goddess Supreme. This is referred as saayujya padavi.
This sloka refers that there are many methods of praying Goddess, like, pooja, japa, homa etc; but ahead of all these, it is the highest devotion and is sufficient for one to pray with ekaagrata.

Devi Bhagavata refers as -

“aspashtamapi yannaama prasankenaapi bhaashitam
dadhaati vaancitaa-narthaan durllabhaanapi sarvadaa ”

even if goddess’s name is chanted or uttered along with other words or even unclearly, [even if it is extremely difficult to get the material, money or power], goddess will give him whatever he wants.
Bhavani twam also can be equated to tat twam asi.
Even if one utters this unknowingly, he gets the benefit by the blessings of Goddess. Even if one touches agni, knowingly, or unknowingly, it will burn. It is referred in Sanskrit as –
“Anicchayaapi samsprishto dahatyeva paavakaha”

You can recall the story of Sudarshana, [in Bhaagavata], who was a young boy, and was a fool in his childhood; his father was a king who was defeated by the enemies by treachery and he and his mother had to flee to forest; later, in a school in the forest he was admitted along with other children who were younger in age than him; he could not even pronounce words correctly and hence other children used to mock at him; one day the children were taken on a tour to another country and there this child sudarshana got stranded in a forest; other children were calling the name of a girl among them called “kleeba”; when this boy who was not even able to tell the name kleeba correctly, but when stranded in the forest, he had to call; he called klee klee only [which was being mocked at by others earlier]; but to his surprise, the goddess “Kaali”, who heard his call as “kleem” which is a beeja mantra of kaali appeared and confronted him and took him to his mother and he got back his kingdom, without fighting [goddess was fighting for him]. At last, he was blessed with the position of ciranjeevi with his presence in the finger of Lord Krishna always, and using him whenever required – for example, for killing evil minded sisupaala, jayadratha etc. God bestowed him this saayuja padavi.

The inner details of this sloka is available also in the stotras – “varivasyarahasyam”and “swacchandasangraham”.

This sloka also refers to the kshipraprasaaditwa of the Goddess.

Refer Lalita Sahasra naama which says –

“Kshipraprasaadini”.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -21

2006-03-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -21
[the brilliant shape similar to the lightning beam]
[Sarvavaseekaram – sarvaahlaadakaram]

Tatillekhaatanweem tapana-sasi vaiswaanaramayeem
Nishannaam shannaamapyupari kamalaanaam tava kalaam
Mahaa padmaatavyaam mridita-malamaayena manasaa
Mahaanta: pasyanto dadhati paramaahlaada-lahareem

Tatillekhaatanweem – Possessing the sookshma tejoroopa form equivalent to the lightning beam
tapana-sasi vaiswaanaramayeem – shining as brilliance in sun, moon and agni
Shannaam kamalaanaam apy – the six aadhaara cakraas
upari – above
Mahaa padma-atavyaam – In the sahasraara cakra similar to the lotus forest
Nishannaam – Posited
tava – your
kalaam – the art known as “saadaa”
mridita-malamaayena – devoid of the dirt, such as kaama, and, the maaya, such as avidya
manasaa – by the mind
Mahaanta: - The great rishis/poets
pasyantah – seen to be enjoying
paramaahlaada-lahareem – the bliss which is flowing like continuous waves
dadhati – possess

The great rishis/poets are seen to be enjoying and possessing the bliss which is flowing like continuous waves, by their mind, devoid of the dirt such as kaama, and, the maaya such as avidyaa, above the six aadhaara cakraas, where you [ who is shining as brilliance in sun, moon and agni] are posited in their sahasraara cakra similar to the the lotus forest, possessing the sookshma tejoroopa form equivalent to the lightning beam.

When the kundalini sakti rises from moolaadhara through its way to the sahasraara, in the aajnaa cakra between the eye-brows, it does not remain for long but as a lightning beam comes and goes up quickly to sahasraara and reaches paramasiva; in the sahasraara, it is seen to be brilliant and cool,
the sakti is called as “sthira soudaamini”, and
in aajnaa cakra she is referred as “kshana soudaamini”.

Those who do this type of upaasana, will get rid of

The avidyaa that ‘I am the body’,
the thinking that ‘I am great or powerful’,
likes and dislikes,
the deadly shameful desire that ‘I should not die’

and hence become great like Vyaasa, Suka, Soota, Dhruva, Kapila, Ambareesha, Vibheeshana, Prahlaada, Khatwaanga, Jada Bharata, Ashtaavakra, Janaka etc as referred in the puraana.

The upaasana they do with the “Saadaa Kalaa” or “Saadaakhyaa Baindhavee Kala”, will remove

The inner darkness of avidyaa like the rising sun which removes instantaneously the external darkness;
removes the taapa or heat like the full moon [a glance of which was seen on meditation by the abhiraama bhattar ];
compensates the karmas to give moksha quickly as referred in the Lalita Trisati – as “Kalmasha agnyai ”

this upaasana will, hence, make a upaasaka to get rid of sorrows and unhappiness fully, so as to enjoy the infinite bliss, quoted as sat chit aananda as referred by the aacaaryas in the Upanishads; hence they can attain this happiness, which is their original swaroopa, without any effort or karma.

Knowledge + karma or effort = worldly fulfillments
– consisting of happiness and sorrow, which are all impermanent.
–
Pure Knowledge alone
[pure knowledge, without any negative knowledge or wrong knowledge or partial knowledge or absence of knowledge] without any karma gives
permanent absolute bliss.

The upaasakaa who follow this method become one with Brahman as referred by the Upanishads as :-

“Brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati”

The great pandits who have written invaluable commentaries give a method to the staunch devotee upaasaka as referred below [to achieve the above referred result] :-

Draw a shad cakra, or six angle of the sree cakra.
inside the centre of it, draw a bindu.
in the centre of the cakra, in the bindu, place a lamp lit with five threads.
do the aavaahana of the devi as posited in their hearts or any cakras and also the same goddess in the lamp in the centre of the sree-cakra.
chant then this sloka 21 for at least 100 times on Fridays or full moon days or on a mandala 48 days with full concentration.

The Aavaahana mantra for the above upaasana is referred as :-

“Mahaa padma vanaantaste kaaranaananta vigrahe
Sarva bhoota hite maataha yehi yehi parameswari”

The great poem Ambaastavam says like this :-

“Moolaalavaala kuharaa duditaa
bhavanee nirbhitya sarasijaani tatillateva
Bhooyopi tat pravisasi dhruva mandalentu
nishyantamaana paramaamrita vrishti roopaa.”

Soundarya Lahari Sloka 20

2006-03-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka 20
The Bimba of Goddess which resembles the undescribable brilliance of that of the broken candrakaanda stone
[Sarvavisha sarva jwara nivaaranam]

Kiranteem angebhyaha kirana nikurumbaamritarasam
Hridi twaam aadhatte himakarasilaa moortimivayaha
Sa sarpaanaam darpam samayati sakuntaadipa iva
Jwaraplushtaan drishtyaa sukhayati sudhaadhaarasirayaa 20

Kiranteem - flowing
angebhyaha - from all parts of the body
kirana nikurumbaamritarasam - amrita rasa in the form group of kiranaas or rays
Hridi - in the heart
twaam - you
aadhatte - meditates with steadiness
himakara-silaa-moortim-iva - the similar to that the candrakaanta sculpture
yaha - whoever
Sa - he
sarpaanaam - of the serpents
darpam - ego
samayati - stops
sakuntaadipa iva - like the pakshiraaja - garuda
Jwaraplushtaan - those affected by fever
drishtyaa - on seeing
sukhayati - become happy[get the fever rectified]
sudhaadhaarasirayaa - with the amritanaadi
himakara silaamoorthy - the goddess named amriteswari.
This mantra in sloka – 20 will remove all sorts of poisons. The method of removing the poison is by the vision of God Garuda, hence this is called “gaaruda prayoga”. By meditating as referred in this sloka, one can remove the poisons inflicted on others, by his mere drishti on the affected person.
In this context, refer garudopanishad mantra, which says like this :-

“Candra mandala sankaasa Soorya mandala mushtika, Prithwee mandala mudraanga sri maha garudaaya visham hara hara hoom phat swaahaa.
Om kship swaahaa; omeem sa carati sa carati tatkaaree matkaaree
Vishaanaanca visha roopini; visha dhooshini, visha soshani, visha naasini visha haarini, hatam visham nashtam visham antah:praleenam visham, pranashatam visham, hatam te brahmanaa visham hatam, hatam indrasya vajrena swaahaa.”

The sloka Catussatee refers as below:-

“Shanmaasa dhyaanayogena jaayate garudopama
Drishtyaa karshayate lokam drishtayaiva kurute vasam;
Candrakaanta silaamoortim cintayitwaa vainaasayet
Taapajwaraan aseshaamsca seegram taarkshya ivaa paraha
Garudadhyanayogena smaranaat naasayet visham.”

By six months dhyaana, one becomes similar the garuda God. That is, he becomes capable of attracting the whole world by his mere dhrishti.
By meditating on the goddess amriteswari, who is the embodiment having the extraordinary brilliance of that of the broken candra kaanta stone, one gets the power to remove the fever and disease of others.
Meaning of the sloka 20 :-
One who meditates with you [amriteswari who resembles the broken candra kaanta stone sculpture] in the heart, with an unbroken devotion, he gets all parts of the body showered by the amrita kirana or rays flowing from all parts of your body, [in turn he is getting all parts of his body showered by amrita or nectar ]he is able to remove the ego and poison of the serpents just as the garuda god is able to; he is able to remove the poisonous fever and disease of others by his mere look on the affected person, so the affected person get rid of the fever, and disease and becomes perfectly right.
It is told in puraanaas that Lord Maha Vishna meditated on the Goddess Amriteswari in order to escape from the clutches of the haalaahala visha.
It is described as below :-
In the amrita praakaara kavaata of the cintaamanigriha of the Goddess, seated in the manimaya amrita peetha in the divine boat, amriteswari is protecting her devotees. Hence, amriteswari is also called by the name “Tara”.
The sloka “Neelakanta vijaya” refers like this :-

“Sincanteem paramaamritaani disi disi apraakritairamsubhi:
Khelanteem amritaarnave manimayeem aaruhya naukaam navaam
Snigdaapaanka taranga sikshita bhavakshwelaam mukundacciraat
Asmaarsheet amriteswareem bhagavateem ambaam aham bhaavata:”
This sloka also can be considered to contain the mrita sanjeevani prayoga which destroys the visha bhaya and roga bhaya.

In Sreemad Ramayan, there is an incident :-

Indrajit applies the naagaastra on Rama and Lakshmana; both become unconscious; the God Garuda, who is the worshipper of Lord Vishnu, appears there; on the winds blowing from the wings of the Garuda, snakes ran and escaped; Garuda was a staunch devotee of Lord and hence by his vision, Rama and Lakshmana got back their consciousness.

The great Pandit, Tetiyoor Subrahmanya Saastrigal says like this :-
The divine effect of this sloka can be tested by a sincere devotee, simply by chanting with one pointed devotion the mantra of sloka at least 16 times, with the vibhooti or teertha as the prasaad offering to the goddess, and then after the prayer, give this prasaad to the affected party or person – who will undoubtedly become alright.
Another stotra called “Jnaanaarnnava” refers like this :-

Shrishtisamhaaraparyantaam sareere cintyet paraam
Sravat peeyoosha dhaaraabhi varshanteem vishahaarineem
Hema prabhaa bhaasamaanaam vidyunnikarasuprabhaam
Spuratcandra kalaa pooranaam kalasaam varadaabhaye
Jnaanamudraam ca dadhateem sakshaat amrita roopineem
Shrishti samhaara paryantaam sareere paricintayet
Tato bhavati devesi vainateya ivapara:
Naagaanaam darshanaadeva jadeekarana karaka:
Deheenaam amrita saara dhaara dharopama:
Sthira kritrima sankhaadi vishopa visha naasana:
Dhrishta vyaadhi grihaaneekaa daakineeroopikaa ganai:
Bhoota preta pisaacaadyaistrinetre iva drisyate.

The same idea is also given in another great stotra called “Ambaastava”:-

“Ye cintayat amrita vaahibhiramsu jaalair
Aaplaavyamaana bhuvanaam amriteswari twaam
Te langhayanti nanu maatara langhaneeyaam
Brahmaadibhi: suravarairapi kaalakakshyaam”

The word “sudhaadhaara sirayaa” in the sloka 20 also represents a siddhi which is to be obtained by the abhyaasa or method of “Yoga Saastra Vidhi”.
In sloka 10, there was a reference about the kundalini sakti flowing through the naadis for a devotee due to the kataaksha of the Goddess Sakti or maaya and the God Sada Siva who is the pure consiousness. Sada siva is the pure consciousness who is all pervading, sarvajna, sarva saktimaan. He is the mere witness since he need not do anything, as he is of the form of Sat Chit Aananda, who is ever blissful. But when Goddess Sakti [mayaa Sakti], manifest with the blessings of the Sadasiva, then only creation starts and then the Iswara [maaya sakti] and Jiva[avidyaa], who become one and the same all pervading supreme power, the devotee, gets the amrita flow [from amritavarshini] from the sahasraara to the moolaadhaara and get this divine power referred in the sloka. The devotee can by dharsan , or sparsan or by upadesa words or even by sankalpa from a far away place cure the fever of the affected person.

Note:-
You might have heard about the treatment by Reiki or by Praanic healing – they also are similar wherein, the aura of the person who is affected is surrounded by negative type is removed and rectified thereby the divine aura [which is a part of the all pervading consiousness]is obtained.

Sudhaadaarasirayaa –

This can be taken as –
possessing the sira or nerve which has the divine nectar flow –
Sudhaa saara sira or sudhaa pravaaha sira.

The mahatmas or rishis who at all times remain at various parts of the country to give rescue to the devotees are possessing this divine power and able to give relief not only to a single affected person but to the whole mankind; this is clear from the Upanishad sloka from mundaka Upanishad :-

“Sa veda yetad paramam brahma dhaama
Yatra viswam nihitam bhaati subhram
Upaasate purusham ye hi akaamaa:
Te sukram etad ativartanti dheeraa:”

Let the whole humanity in the whole world be benefited as the quote says :-

“Lokaha samastaaha sukhino bhavantu”
“Sarveshaam swasthir bhavatu
sarveshaam saantir bhavatu
sarveshaam poornam bhavatu
sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu
Om saanti saanti saanti:”

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -19

2006-03-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -19
[Kaamakalaa dhyaanam /kaama-jayam]

Mukham bindum kritwaa kucayugamatastasyatadadho
Haraardham dhyayeddhyo haramahishi te manmathakalaam
Sa saddhyaha samkshobham nayati vanitaa ityatilaghu
Trilokeemapyaasu bhramayati raveendustanayugaam

Haramahishi - Oh! Goddess supreme, the partner of paramasiva
[Haramahishi – haro binduhu tasya mahishi tadaadhaara trikona roopini iti goodhaarthaha]
Mukham - your [kaamakalaaroopini] face
bindum - the sree-cakra bindu [sarvaanandamaya]
kritwaa - imagining [meditating]
kucayugam - your [divine] breasts
tasya ataha - below that
tad adhaha – ]even] below that
Haraardham - the half [divine] yoni of siva
[Hara or paramsiva is called as ardhanaareeswara and hence called haraadham.]
[also can be referred as hakaaraardham. Ha means hamsaha; half of this is ham; in this take am; in saha take aha; this represents three bindus which is referred as manmathakala. ]
[The Goddess, is to be meditated upon, with the whole world covered by the goddess, as viraat rupa.]
[in “kleem” beeja, the important part is “eee”. This is also consisting of three bindus. The bindu at top is moon; the bottom two bindus represent sun and agni.]

Dhyayeddh yaha - who meditates on these
haramahishi - the partner of paramasiva
te - your
manmathakalaam - the kaamakalaa “kleem” bheeja
Sa - he
saddhyaha - immediately
samkshobham nayati - attracts [by divine vasiya]
vanitaaha - the kaama sakti
iti - this
atilaghu - very easy
Trilokeem apy - the most divine women in the world
aasu - very easily
bhramayati - attracts
ravi-indu-stana-yugaam - sun and moon as sthanas or breasts

this sloka is also called vasiyakara.
One performs the “kaamakalaadhyaanam”, becomes the deviswarupa.
One who does meditation with yekaagrataa, without any other thinking, and concentrate on the 3 bindus with the breasts of devi and sivalinga half, with sun, moon, and agni on the three bindus and try to see the viraat roopa of goddess imagining it is his own aatma, gets immersed in paramaananda saagara, he will not take rebirth again.[his body may come and go, but he is becoming one with the supreme, becomes the only one; the normal rules of the asti, jaayate, vardhate, viparinamate, apaksheeyate and vinasyati does not apply to him. He becomes a jnaani.]
Refer the sloka in the kathopanishad which refers as below:-

Na tatra sooryo bhaati, na candra taarakam
Nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagnihi
Tameva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam
Tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati.

Refer also the sloka in chapter 15 of gita which refers:-

Na tad bhaasayate sooryo na sasaango na paavakaha
Yad gatwaa na nivartante taddhaama paramam mama.

If you consider the world, the greatest power is sun, in the absence of the sun, the world is not there.
The human beings get food from vegetables, which are available from trees which get their food from candra.
Inside each one of us, there is the jathara agni, which cooks the food you eat and converts it to the form required for your survival. Even if you take coca cola, which of colour, the waste given out by the paayu [secretary organ] as urine is only white; who changes it – only agni. That is why these three powers are referred as very salient.

The 3 bindus can be referred as :-
Sun, moon, and agni;
Jaagrat[waking state], swapna[dream state], sushupti[dreamless deep sleep state];
Satwam, rajas, tamas;
Brahma, Vishnu, siva;
Jiva, jagat, iswara;

Meaning of the sloka:-
Oh! Goddess Supreme!
Meditate with the bindu of the sreecakra with your kaamakalaa face, below that meditate with the divine form of your breasts and below that half of sivalinga, and apply the “kleem” beeja, which is your kaama kala, he immediately becomes capable to attract the kaama sakti. This is very easy to understand. He will even attract the most divine women [who have the sun god and the moon god as the breasts]in the three worlds.
In lalita sahasranama we find the following equivalent slokas :-

“Sreemaad vaagbhava kootaika swaroopa mukha pankaja
Kanthaadha: katiparyanta madhyakoota swaroopini
Sakti kootaika taapanna katyadhibhaaga dhaarini”

This is devi’s mantraroopa.
This sloka may be considered as all pervading [akhila-prapanca-vyaapta]devi’s viraat roopa.
There is a sloka in rudrayaamala which refers :-

“Nabho mahabindumukheem candra soorya sthanadwayaa
Sumeru haara valayaa sobhamaana maheepadaa
Paataala tala vinyaasaa trilokeeyam tavaambike
Kaamaraajakalaaroopaa jaagarti sa caraacaraa”
The goddess is being described as :-
Sky is the face of goddess; surya and candra are the sthana of devi; meru parvata is the haara or garland of the goddess; earth is the paada or feet of goddess; paataala is the place where the feet of devi is posited.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -18

2006-03-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -18
[Arunaroopadhyaanam- kaamajayam]

Tanuchchaayaabhiste tarunatarani sreesaranibhihi
Divam sarvaamurveem arunimanimagnaamsmaratiyaha
Bhavantyasya trasyadvanaharinasaaleenanayanaa
Sahorvasya vasya kati kati na geervaanaganikaa

Taruna tarani - that of the rising sun
Sreesaranibhihi - along with the beautiful-flow of water
Te - your
Tanuchchaayaabhihi - by the rays of the brilliance from your body
Sarvaam - all
Divam - devaloka
Urveem - bhoolaka [and]
Arunimani - light red color
Magnaam - flooded with
Yaha - who
Smarati - does the dhyaana
Asya - for him
Trasyad - fearful
Vana-harina-saaleena-nayanaa –
- beautiful eyes similar to the forest deers
Geervaanaganikaa - apsara women
Oorvasya saha - including oorvasi
Kati kati - how many, how many
Vasyaha - attracted
Na bhavanti - not become

Oh! Goddess! a devotee who meditates on you, with the imagination that the beautiful, brilliant rays coming out from your body makes the whole world and the aakaasa resemble continuous flowing water with beautiful reddish color similar to that of the rising sun, he is attracted by devastree women like urvasi who are having the beautiful fearful eyes similar to that of the forest deer; then what to talk of the ordinary women in this world? [such a devotee will see all women as goddess divine and the goddess will bestow on all his well-wishers whom he comes across, this divine power giving them all benefits they want].

In lalita-sahasra-nama the following lines appear which give the same meaning :-

Udyad bhaanu sahasraabhaa
Nijaaruna-prabhaapoora-majjad-brahmaanda-mandala
Padmaraaga-silaadharsa-paribhaavi-kapolabhoohu
Arunaaruna-kausumbhavastra-bhaaswat-kateetatee
Sarvaarunaa
Padmaraaga-samaprabhaa
Aarakta-varnaa
Rakta-varnaa
Japaa-pushpa-nibhaakriti
Tarunaaditya-paatala
Bandooka-kusuma-prakhyaa

This sloka is called as streevasiyahara.
But there is the divine quote :-
Striya samastaas tava devi bhedaaha
All women are the embodiments of para devata the supreme goddess. The devotee upaasaka will see and treat all women as para devata. He will not be affected by kaamini kaancana.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -17

2006-03-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -17
[Goddess surrounded by vaag devataas, Vaag vilaasa, Saastrajnaana]

Savitreebhirvaacaam sasimanisilaabhangarucibhih
Vasinyaadhyabhistwaam saha janani sancintayatiyah
Sa kartaa kaavyaanaam bhavati mahataam bhangirucibhi
Vacobhir vaagdevi vadana kamala moda madurai

Savitreebhirvaacaam - the actors of words
Savitreebhi:
In the sreecakra, in the ashtakona – eight angled divine abode, referred as sarva-roga-hara cakra, resides the vasini devatas.

Vasini vaag devata -
Kameswari vaag devata
Modini vaag devata
Vimala vaag devata
Aruna vaag devata
Jayini vaag devata
Srveswari vaag devata
Kaulini vaag devata

[method – 1 - bhooprasthara]

Sasimanisilaabhangarucibhih – having the brilliance equal to the broken candra kaanta stone

Vasinyaadhyabhi saha - alongwith vasini devatas
The above referred eight devatas of which vasini is the first and foremost ones. There are also eight vidya yogini devatas referred below:-

Vidya yogini
Recakaa yogini
Mocikaa yogini
Amrita yogini
Deepikaa yogini
Jnaana yogini
Aapyaayani yogini
Vyaapini yogini
Medhaa yogini
Vyomaroopaa yogini
Sidhdharoopaa yogini
Lakshmi yogini

Vidya yogini[12]and vaagdevataas[8] together are called as vimsati kala.
Tantrasaastra says like this:-

One who propitiates the suddhaspatika varna vaag -devatas and vidya-yoginis posited at the twenty corners of the two dasaara dwayaas of the sri-cakra become mahaakavi.

This is a method of pooja-krama in the sricakra-pooja bhoo-prasthara.
Eight vaag devataas represent the eight groups of the sabda-brahma.sabda-brahma is devi swarupa.
There are four branches of roopa-bheda for the sabda-brahma called as

Paraa - sookshma tama
Pasyanti - sookshma tara
Madhyama - sookshma
Vaikhari - sthoola

Of these, the sabdabrahmaroopa expressed as the letters/ words/ sentences is called as vaikhari.

In this vaikhariroopa, devi’s body is matruka-varnamaya.

Vaagdevataas represent the body of the matrukaatmikaa devi.

Akaaraadi swara form the first varga – letters a- aha
The chetana required for the expression of the other varga are available from this varga only.

The adidevata of this akaaraadi varga is called vasini, which is the first and foremost amongst vaag devataas.

Ka to nga form the second group of letters.
Ca to nja form the third group of letters.
Ta[tatkal] to na[money] form the fourth group of letters.
Ta[vikata] to na[gurunanak] form the fifth group of letters.
Pa to ma form the sixth group of letters.
Ya,ra,la,va form the seventh group of letters.
Sa[sasi],sha,sa[sanskrit],ha,ksha form the eight group of letters.

Yogasaastra [kailasa-prasthara method]gives the method of worshipping the goddess as the matrukavarna rupini called lalitambika as formed of –

1. vaag devatas [8]
2. vidya yoginis [12]
3. adhishtaana devata [4] of gandha,rasa, rupa and sparsa called by the respective names – gandhaakarshini, rasaakarshini, rupakarshini and sparakarshini. [method - 2]
4. The four adhishthaana devata are located in the four gates of the four dwaraas.

The sloka refers like this :-

Matrukaam vasineeyuktaam
yogineebhihi samanwitaam
Gandhaadi-aakarshinee-yuktaam
samsmaret tripuraambikaam.
Refer Sreesookta which is given below:-

Gandhadwaraam duraadharshaam nityapushtaam kareeshineem
Eeswareem sarvabhootaanaam taamihopahwahe sriyam

Yet another method is given below :-
In bindu and trikona – propitiate the four devatas –
Vasini, kameswari, modini and vimala;
In eight-angle, inner ten-angle, outer ten-angle, and fourteen-angle – propitiate the devatas –
Aruna,jayini,sarveswari,kaulini
This is to be done along with the bhuvaneswari jaganmata. [method - 3]

twaam - you
janani - Oh!goddess Supreme
sancintayati - thinks or imagines
yah - whoever
Sa - he
kartaa - creator
kaavyaanaam - divine poems
bhavati - become
mahataam - great people
bhangirucibhi - shines as the divine poems
Vacobhi: - by words
vaagdevi - saraswati the goddess of words
vadana kamala - lotus face of
moda madurai - sweet as the parimalam

Oh! Supreme Goddess!
One who propitiates you as surrounded and being propitiated by the vasini-vaag devatas [who are the creator of the words and having the brilliance of the broken candra-kaanta stone], he becomes the kaavya karta of the divine poems of sweet words [as if coming from the mouth of Goddess saraswati devi] {like the valmiki,vedavyaasa, kaalidaasa etc.}
The different cakras in the sree-cakra are given below:-
1. Sarvaanandamaya [innermost - bindu]
2. Sarva-siddhiprada
[triangle outside the innermost bindu]
3. sarva-roga-hara
[eight angle outside the triangle and bindu]
4. sarva-rakshaa-kara
[antardasaara cakra -outside the bindu, triangle and eight angle]
5. Sarvaartha-saadhaka
[bahirdasaara cakra – outside the bindu,triangle, eight and inner angle]
6. Sarva-sowbhagya-daayaka
[fourteen angle outside the bindu, triangle, eight angle, two dasaaraas]
7. Sarva-samkshobhana
[8 petalled lotus]
8. Sarva-aasaa-paripooraka
[16 petalled lotus]
9. trailokya-mohana
[between the gopura and bhoopura]

we will have a detailed study of the various 9 sub-cakras in the sree-cakra and the details of the devatas residing therein later, which is a must for the completion of the study of the Soundarya-Lahari.

We see that the great rishis or mahatmas act at different levels according to the requirement of the human mankind, like Mata Amritaanandamayi devi, Sai Baba, Guruji {sri Sri} {Jesus, Raama Krishna and so many others in earlier days} who act at different levels at different times. These mahatmas can work at different times according to the needs of the devotees and change their levels as and when required. It is beyond the reach of our normal intellect to find out the secret or truth about this.
For example, at the first and most sacred level is sarvaanandamaya, at which the rishi may give unbounded awareness to a devotee who is fully surrendered by mind and heart to the guru, on whom he has full faith.
At the second level, the guru may bestow the blessings on the devotee to get sarva siddhi, what all the pure satwik devotee wants.
At the third level, sarva roga hara, the rishi may remove simply by touch, the diseases like cancer etc which could not have been removed for a long period of time.
At the fourth level, sarvarakshaakara, the rishi will protect the devotee, irrespective of where the devotee is, bestowing him full kataksha.
At the fifth level, sarvaarthasaadhaka, the rishi will give boon to the saadhaka devotee to get whatever artha he wants.
At the sixth level, sarvasowbhagyadaayaka, the guru will shower his blessings on the devotee so that he gets all the sowbhagya beyond what he wants.
At the seventh level, the rishi will give boon to the devotee so that whatever vigna the devotee faces will be turned down to ashes thereby giving easy success to the devotee.
At the eight level, sarva aasaa paripooraka, the guru will bless the devotee so as to enable him to complete all his satwik desires.
At the last but least the ninth level, trailokya mohana, the guru will give the capacity to the devotee which will make the devotee to the level of attracting the three worlds.
For example, when you recall your memory about Jesus, Krishna etc, you get the idea of the sarva roga hara.
Perhaps you may recall your memory about some avadhootaas whose behaviour seem to be strange; but if you understand the various levels of the cakras at which they act- the doubt can be clarified; some avadhootaas act from the sarvasamkshobhana cakra – they destroy evil people coming near them with wrong intentions.
The great rishis or mahatmas can act at different levels bestowing the devotees the requisite benefits according to their needs. They can at any time switch over from any level to any other level. They even can make a devotee enter into any level by blessing them as referred in the yoga vaasishtha –
Vasishtha tells Raama like this :-
“Oh! Raama!
Sat Guru is one who by dharshan, sparshan, upadesa words instill the confidence and courage to do good [only] to the world and themselves by kaarunya, instill the godly power given above in the heart of the devotee and make it expressed according to the need of the situation for the good of the lower level devotees all around the world.”
The subject is vast and vicious and require deep study and keeping in mind, the fact that the upanishadik words –
Brahma satyam, jagan mithya is not to be forgotten.
This may help one to get out of the maaya cakra very easily with the blessings of the goddess or guru –
Iswaro gururaatmeti.
There is a proverb –
‘You get the good result of the sri-cakra pooja simply by the darshan of the sricakra which is equivalent to the performance of hundreds of mahaa yajnaas’.
Our body is containing the sri-cakra in micro [pinda] form.
The world is containing Sri-Cakra in macro [anda] form.
The aura which is very divine and possessing tremendous powers is produced where Sri-Cakra pooja is being performed for a continuously long period of time or where Lalita Sahasra Nama is being chanted with Omkar for thousand naamaas – this is being taken by photography today.
This will definitely do good for the welfare of the world.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -16

2006-03-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -16
[Arunaamoorthy, Vedaagamajnaanam]

Kaveendraanaam cetah kamalavana baalaataparucim
Bhajante ye santah kadicit arunaameva bhavateem
Virincihpreyasyaat tarunatara sringaaralaharee
Gabheeraabhirvaagbhir vidadatisataam ranjanamameem

Kaveendraanaam - of the poets’
cetah - chitta
kamalavana - for the forest of lotus
baala aataparucim - shining with brilliance of the rising sun
Bhajante - worship
ye santah - those satwic great devotees
kadicit - some
arunaameva - the goddess called as aruna
bhavateem - you
Virincihpreyasyaa: - of the goddess saraswati who is the partner of creator brahma
Tarunatara - of the most beautiful sringaaralaharee - of the sringaarapravaaha
Gabheeraabhi: -
Vaagbhi: Vidadati - praise with divine words
sataam ranjanam - happiness of the good people
amee - these good people

Oh! Goddess Supreme! Oh! Parameswari!
You are known as ‘Aruna’ the reddish coloured Goddess, [indicating full of activity]; you are the baalasooryakaanti, which is the lotus bouquet, posited in the mind or heart of the great devotee-poets; whomsoever worships you, you expand the awareness of the devotees to the original unbounded state of awareness, [which is beyond time, space and objects]; you expand the heart of the great devotee poets, just as the baala soorya kirana expands the group of lotus flowers; [expand here means that goddess gives them the capacity to write devotional poems in praise of gods which will attract many other devotees who want to get liberated and show them a way out. The intellectual conviction of these devotees will become clear day by day and they will reach back the state of liberation. There are plenty of examples we know – some are
Sankara
Ramanuja
Maadhwa
Madhusoodanasaraswati
prabhulinga
Kaalidaasa
Soordas
Tulsidas
Kabirdas
Vallalaar
Arunagirinaathar
Jayadeva
Purandaradasa
Raghavendra
Tiruvalluvar
Ezhuththacchan
Poontaanam
Syaamaasaastri
Muthuswami deekshithar
Swaati tirunaal
Appayya deekshitar
Tyagaraja
Naraayana bhattatiri
Bharatiyaar
John Milton
[john Milton says –
how far that little candle throws its beams, so shines a good deed in a naughty world]
William wordsworth
[daffodils is one best example to prove]
lord Tennyson
[about whom all other poets in the world say that he has the strength of ten – ten nison]

Of course, there is no question of reaching the state of liberation; only thing is we are not aware of it – but aware of the duality of the world or the delusion of maaya. Devotees of goddess supreme will get out of the maaya-fold just as the sun becomes clear on the cloud getting off.
Amma –Sadguru mata amritaanandamayi devi used to say –
During sleep, you are having bodha or consciousness, but not aware of it; now during jaagrat and dream states, you are aware but not not conscious about.
Be aware and conscious – this is possible only in waking state.

Amma says in a song like this –

Theerthangalil kulikkenda
Ghoraghoram tapam cheytidenda
Ammayil maanasam chemme unarthichhu
Dhanyamai theerkkuvin janmam
Dhanyamai theerkkuvin janmam
Kaarunya peeyoosha dhaamam
amma kaanappedunnatma satyam
Jnanenna bhaavam vedinjaatma samtripti
Nedunnavar kaanmu satyam
Nedunnavar kaanmu satyam

You need not go to ganges or haridwar or rameswaram paying money and struggling to get liberation; you need not spend a pie even; you need not change your mode of living by the least minimum; but you correct your wrong knowledge of delusion and get the knowledge of the consciousness which is ever there always unbounded.
The great kavi of the article or prakarana called advaita makaranda [the honey of advaita, once you start tasting, it will remain for ever in blissful state, your vaasanaas will get off quickly]says –

Aham asmi sadaa bhaami
kadaacit naaham apriyaha
Brahmaivaaham ata siddham
Sad chit aananda lakshanam

I am; always I am there; I am self luminous and illuminating the whole world of beings; I am ever dear to me, than anythingelse; I am of the state of consciousness, bliss, and aananda.
Refer vaamakeswara tantra –
Which refers like this –

Arunaakhyam bhagavatheem arunaabhaam vicintayet
Paasaankusadharaam deveem dhaanurbhaanadharaam sivaam
Varadabhayahastaam ca pustakaakshasraganwitaam
Ashtabaahum trinayanaa khelanteemamritamambudhau

Refer advaita makaranda – the sloka –

Mayiyevodeti chit vyomni
Jagat gandharva pattanam
Athoham na katham brahma
Sarvanjam sarva kaaranam

The Goddess enters the heart of the devotee and remain there as full unbounded awareness and makes the devotee feel the presence of it without any effort just by meek surrender mentally in any situation.
Also refer the bhagavad gita chapter 2 the sloka –

Yaavaanaartha udapaane sarvathaha samplutodake
Taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanata

The happiness you derive out the bliss of the aananda is just like an everflowing reservoir in full bloom, whereas whatever happiness you get from this worldly objects is just like that of the water you get from a small pond.

The devotee gets the sabha ranjana[divine] capacity, which will enable another devotee who comes across him to get out of the ignorance.
In this sloka the method of worshipping goddess in the aruna red colour form in the heart with eight hands – wearing paasa[rope], ankusa, sugarcane arrow, the flower bows, book and spatika garland, and the two hands depicting abhaya and vara mudra.
The goddess is having three eyes – the normal two eyes and the third one called inner eye of consciousness which opens the door of consciousness removing the dirt of kaama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada ana maatsarya of the devotee.
One song of amma goes like this in tamil –

Munnaalil yennenna paapankal cheyteno
Mukkanni yenai kaakka ododi varuvaye
Un vaasal tedi vanten karpagame
Yen vaasal naadi vantiduvaayamma
Yen vaasal naadi vantiduvaayamma

The goddess’s flow of kataaksha unaffected by any stint of sorrow or unhappiness is available for the devotee which is shown best by an example given below of kaalidaasa.

Once in the kingdom of bhojaraja, who was a great king who gave due respect to the divinity, was conducting a open session; bhojaraja told that he will tell the first line of a poem and any poet can try to fill in the second line of the poem suitably and get rewards.
The first line is =
Kusume kusumotpattihi srooyate na ca drisyate
Meaning that in the flower, its utpatti is heard and not seen.
The king asked the poets present in the kingdom to fill up the second line –
All tried except kaalidas and miserably failed in the attempt;
Kaalidaasa came near a daasi present in the sabha and smilingly told like this –

Bale tava mukhaamboje
Drishtam indeevaradwayam

Oh! Girl! In your lotus face, two neelotpala [eyes]are seen.

Hearing this, the king and other devoted people got the glimpse of happiness of aananda and were surprised, at the poetic capacity of kaalidasa.
God’s grace gives such an unstinted capacity to bestow happiness to other devoid of sorrow.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -15

2006-03-25T10:42:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -15
[The Satwa Form of Goddess, Poetic Nature and Fame]

Sarajjyotsnaasuddhaam sasiyuta jadaajoodamakutaam
Vara traasa traana spatika ghutikaa pustakakaraam
Sakrinnatwaa natwaa kathamiva sataam sannidadhate
Madhukseeeradraakshaa madhurimadhureenaa phanitayah

Madhukseeeradraakshaa - honey,milk,grapes
madhurimadhureenaa - carrying the sweetness of
Sarajjyotsnaasuddhaam - pure like the sarat ritu candra
In the sarad ritu, which is following the rainy season, when the clouds are all off, and the sky becomes extremely clear, when the clear moon’s light will fall on the mother-earth, thereby makes the earth cool. This is for a meditator to have the saguna roopa of the goddess.
sasiyuta jadaajoodamakutaam
- wearing the kireeta and jataajoota decorated with the moon
since, the goddess has makuta wearing candra, this is an indication of the goddess supreme para-sakti only in saguna form. This is the shape of the aadi-mahaa-saraswati.
Brahma’s wife saraswati has emerged from this only later.
This is referred in the rahasya-traya of the devi bhaagavatam like this –
The goddess aadi sakti made three forms to appear for the devotees to see and worship in the beginning –
Mahaalakshmi
Mahaasaraswati
Mahaakaali
Then she brought two forms from each of the above as below:-
Brahma and laksmi having red color appeared from the mahaalakshmi.
Vishnu and parvati having blue color appeared from mahasaraswati.
Siva and saraswati having white color appeared from mahakaali.
There is a famous picture available in some devotional book shops in Madras which gives the deities – eight in number totally; all other deities are sub-deities under any one of these eight.the eight include brahma, Vishnu, iswara, parvati, saraswati, lakshmi, [sadasiva-part of supreme goddess], and two children of sada-siva family namely., Lord Ganapathy and Lord Subrahmanya.

Vara traasa traana spatika ghutikaa pustakakaraam
- possessing four hands wearing varadamudra, abhayamudra, spatika-japamaala, and book
by doing japa, one can see me in divine form, and by my kataaksha one can attain all the four purushaarthaas- dharma, artha, kaama and moksha, as per one’s wish.
Gita says –
Ye yatha maam prapadyante taam stathaiva bhajaamyaham.
This is the indication of the four things on the hands of the devi.

on the right top hand – akshamaala
on the left top hand - pustaka [book]- represents the sabdaprapanca of the artha prapanca, represent the different saastraas and the darsanaas.
on right bottom hand – varadamudra – gives materials sought – [vaancitaarthapradaayini]
on the left bottom hand – abhayamudra,[removes fear]

one who prays goddess in the above said saroopa, just for one day, one time, gets the word power of honey, milk and draakshaa and get out of fear.
For one who prays goddess daily in this divine form will become a great poet, with mysterious word power, and become a jnaani.

This method is called kriyaasaktidhyana of goddess to be followed by a devotee.

Sakrinnatwaa - having bowed just once
twaa - you
kathamiva - how
sataam - for great people
na sannidadhate - not reaching the abode
phanitayah - words

Oh! Goddess supreme! Who is pure like the sarat ritu candra carrying the sweetness of honey, who is wearing the kireeta and jataajoota decorated with the divine moon, possessed of four hands wearing varamudra, abhayamurdra, spatikajapmaala and pustaka – how is it possible for those who bow to you once, not to reach your sacred divine abode, thereby achieving sweet word power which carry honey, milk and grape?
This sloka describes the vaagbhavakoota, [which is the first part of the pancadasa []15 letter], akshareemantra] satwaguna of the Goddess, which is to be meditated upon for a devotee who follows saroopa-dhyaana.

This sloka refers the method of praying the goddess almighty for getting materials, power, especially, word power. This sloka and the next three slokas together form the method of worship of goddess called saaraswataprayoga.

Kaanci aacaarya says often –
“in saraswati ashtotaarasata naama, there is the sloka brahma-vishnu-sivaatmikaayai a”;
“in lakshmi ashtotaarasata naama, there is the sloka -vishnu-brahma-sivaatmikaayai a”;
“in parvati ashtotaarasata naama, there is the sloka siva-vishnu-brahmaatmikaayai a”;
ambaal – devi herself appears as
srishtikartri brahmarupi
goptri govindarupini
samhaarini rudrarupa
tirodaanakari iswari
sadaasiva anugrahadaa
pancakrityaparaayana.

Soundarya lahari –sloka14

2006-03-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka14
The rays of the aadhaara cakra and beyond
[poverty, roga nivritti]

kshitau shatpancaasat-dwisamadhika-pancaasa-dudake
hutase dwaashashti-scaturadhika-pancaasa-danile
divi dwi:shattrimsat manasi ca catu:shashtiriti ye
mayookhaa;-stesha-mapyupari tava paadaambuja-yugam

kshitau - bhoomi-tatwa in moolaadhara cakra
shatpancaasat - fifty six
dwisamadhika pancaasat - fifty two
udake - in manipooraka cakra - jalatatwa
hutase - in agni-tatwa swadhisthana cakra
dwaashashti - sixty two
caturadhika-pancaasad - fifty four
anile - in vayu-tatwa anaahata cakra
divi - in aakaasa-tatwa visuddhi cakra
dwi:shattrimsat - seventy two
manasi ca - in the manas-tatwa aajnaacakra
catu:shashti - sixty four
iti - thus
ye - these
mayookhaa - rays
tesham api - for them
upari - above
tava - your
paadaambuja-yugam - your sacred lotus feet [abode shines thereforth]

Oh! Goddess Supreme! Your Divine Lotus Feet is above the rays or kiranas posited in the different aadhara cakra.
[fifty six in moolaadhara-cakra bhoomi-tatwa, fifty two in the manipooraka-cakra jala-tatwa, sixty two in the swaadhisthana-cakra agni-tatwa, fifty four in the anaahata-cakra vayu-tatwa, seventy two in the visuddhi-cakra aakaasa-tatwa, sixty four in the aajnaa-cakra manas-tatwa].
The six aadhaara cakra are bonded by the kaala cakra of time, space and objects, whereas the Goddess Supreme or Pure Consciousness is beyond the hold of the kaala cakra.
Moolaadhara represent the 55 days Vasanta rithu;
Manipooraka represent the 52 days Greeshma rithu;
Swadhisthaana represent 62 days Varsha rithu;
Anaahata represent 54 days Sarad rithu;
Visuddhi represent 72 days Hemanta rithu;
Aajnaa represent 64 days Sisira rithu.
With reference to Brahmaanda they are called as rithus; With reference to the pindaanda, they are called as rays or kiranaas.
Agni kanda contains 108 rays;
the Soorya kanda contains 116 kiranaas; and the
candra kanda contains 136 kiranaas.
The total number of rays is 360 which refers to the number of days in a year. The abode of Devi or Goddess is above these rays of surya, candra and agni kanda.
For a person who has the kundalini fully awoke, the place, time and objects do not have any binding as referred in the Khata Upanishad [II-ii-15]:-

Na tatra suryo bhaati; na candra taarakam;
nemaa vidyuto bhaanti; kutoyamagnihi;
Tameva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam;
tasya bhaasaa sarvam idam vibhaati.

There the Sun does not shine, neither do the moon and the stars; nor do these flashes of lightning shine. How can this fire, then? He shining, all these shine; through his luster, all these are variously illumined.

Agni-sthaana is brahma granthi;
Surya-sthaana is Vishnu-granthi;
Candra-sthaana is rudra-granthi.

In moolaadhra and swadhisthaana agni shines;
in manipooraka and anaahata surya shines;
in visudhdhi and aajnaa candra shines.

The kiranaa or rays are to be meditated upon as per the principle below:-

24 tatwaas + kalai + prakriti + purusha + mahat = 28; each is there for siva and sakti and hence total number of rays is 2 x 28 = 56.
Five pancabhootaas + 10 indriyaas [5 karma plus 5 jnaana] + the job of these = 10 + mind = 26; multiply by two for sakti and siva; total is 52.
The above two together 56 + 52 form 108. [agni kanda]
5 bhootaas + 5 tanmaatraas + 10 indriyaas + 10 jobs of these indriyaas + mind = 31; for siva and sakti – multiply by two and equal to 62.
Bhoomi tatwa minus mahat – 27- multiply by two we get 54.
The above two together form 62+ 54 = 116. [surya kanda]
Thirty six tatwaas – for siva and sakti each form 72; 36 minus the last four = 32 - double 64;
The above two together form 72 + 64 = 136. [soma kanda]

Soundarya lahari –sloka13

2006-03-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka13
Kadaikkan kripai – the grace of the angular vision of goddess’s eyes
[kaama jayam]

naram varsheeyaamsam nayanavirasam narmasujadam
tavaapaangaaloke patitam anudhaavanti satasa:
galadweneebandhaa: kucakalasavistrasta sicayaa:
hataat trutyat kaancyo vigalita dukoolaa yuvataya:

naram - the man
varsheeyaamsam - even if very old
nayanavirasam - even if ugly to look at
narmasu - in worldly pleasures
jadam - not interested
tava - your
apaangaaloke - in the angular, divine, graceful, look
patitam - one who has fallen in
anudhaavanti - follow
satasa: - hundreds of women
galadweneebandhaa: - their hairs unwound
kuca-kalasa-vistrasta sicayaa: - with the dress on the breasts unwound
hataat trutyat kaancya: - the odhyana unwound by their temperaments,
vigalita dukoolaa - dresses unwound
yuvataya: - young women/girls

Oh! Goddess Supreme! hundreds of women [young women/girls] with their hairs unwound, with the dress on the breasts unwound, with the odhyana unwound by their temperaments, with their dresses unwound, follow the man who is worshipping Goddess Para - Sakti, even if he is very old, even if ugly to look at, or even if he is not interested in worldly pleasures.

Refer Bhagavad Gita – chapter 10-34 which says –

Yuvataya: keerti: sreer-vaakca naareenaam smritir – medhaa dhriti kshamaa.
Among women, I am keerti – wealth – vag devata saraswati – memory power – intellectual power – intellectual conviction – patience – and such divine powers am I.
Whoever gets the kataaksha of devi, he becomes the possessor of kameswaraamsa and hence even divine girls like Menaka, Urvasi, Tillottama, Rampa [deva-stree], get attracted to such a person. All divine powers connected with girls come in search of him, instead of his searching for such powers.

In this context, refer another sloka of Bhagavad Gita - chapter 2 sloka – 70 – which says –
Aapooryamanam acalapratishtam
samudramaapa: pravisanti yadwat
Tadwat kamaa yam pravisanti sarve
Sa saantimaapnoti na kaamakaamee

As the waters of different rivers enter the ocean, which though full on all sides remains undisturbed, likewise, he, in whom, all enjoyments merge themselves attains peace; not he who hankers after such enjoyments.

Sivaanandalahari – 46 says like this:-
Nityam bhakti-vadhooganaisca rahasi swecchaa vihaaram kuru.
Amongst the group of women of bhakti, you play secretly and as you like; Oh! God Sadaasiva!
Refer in this context also - Sivaanandalahari – 64 says like this:-
Dhrishtwaa mukti vadhoos-tanoti nibhritaaslesham bhavaaneepate yaccetas-tava-paadapadma-bhajanam tasyeha kim durlabham

Oh! God! Parameswara, the husband of Goddess supreme!
On seeing your bhakta, the girl who is mukti, embraces him in full swing; what is there which he cannot get in this world?

Goddess holds in her hands the sugarcane bow and the flower bows for enabling us to overcome the passions, and thereby become dispassionate but become compassionate –
Passionate – you are attached to some few whom you like;
Compassionate – show passion for all including the animals, plants, insects etc.
The great mooka-kavi says that if we get this kripa-kataksha of Goddess, we get the drishti referred here, so that we are dispassionate towards any specific one, but compassionate to all.
The most important point is that, if one gets the kripa-kataksha of Goddess, one will get out from the clutches of the kaama-crocodile, in any situation.

Kadaikkan kripai – the grace of the angular vision of goddess’s eyes

[kaama jayam]

naram varsheeyaamsam nayanavirasam narmasujadam
tavaapaangaaloke patitam anudhaavanti satasa:
galadweneebandhaa: kucakalasavistrasta sicayaa:
hataat trutyat kaancyo vigalita dukoolaa yuvataya:

naram - the man
varsheeyaamsam - even if very old
nayanavirasam - even if ugly to look at
narmasu - in worldly pleasures
jadam - not interested
tava - your
apaangaaloke - in the angular, divine, graceful, look
patitam - one who has fallen in
anudhaavanti - follow
satasa: - hundreds of women
galadweneebandhaa: - their hairs unwound
kuca-kalasa-vistrasta sicayaa: - with the dress on the breasts unwound
hataat trutyat kaancya: - the odhyana unwound by their temperaments,
vigalita dukoolaa - dresses unwound
yuvataya: - young women/girls

Oh! Goddess Supreme! hundreds of women [young women/girls] with their hairs unwound, with the dress on the breasts unwound, with the odhyana unwound by their temperaments, with their dresses unwound, follow the man who is worshipping Goddess Para - Sakti, even if he is very old, even if ugly to look at, or even if he is not interested in worldly pleasures.

Refer Bhagavad Gita – chapter 10-34 which says –

Yuvataya: keerti: sreer-vaakca naareenaam smritir – medhaa dhriti kshamaa.
Among women, I am keerti – wealth – vag devata saraswati – memory power – intellectual power – intellectual conviction – patience – and such divine powers am I.
Whoever gets the kataaksha of devi, he becomes the possessor of kameswaraamsa and hence even divine girls like Menaka, Urvasi, Tillottama, Rampa [deva-stree], get attracted to such a person. All divine powers connected with girls come in search of him, instead of his searching for such powers.

In this context, refer another sloka of Bhagavad Gita - chapter 2 sloka – 70 – which says –
Aapooryamanam acalapratishtam
samudramaapa: pravisanti yadwat
Tadwat kamaa yam pravisanti sarve
Sa saantimaapnoti na kaamakaamee

As the waters of different rivers enter the ocean, which though full on all sides remains undisturbed, likewise, he, in whom, all enjoyments merge themselves attains peace; not he who hankers after such enjoyments.

Sivaanandalahari – 46 says like this:-
Nityam bhakti-vadhooganaisca rahasi swecchaa vihaaram kuru.
Amongst the group of women of bhakti, you play secretly and as you like; Oh! God Sadaasiva!
Refer in this context also - Sivaanandalahari – 64 says like this:-
Dhrishtwaa mukti vadhoos-tanoti nibhritaaslesham bhavaaneepate yaccetas-tava-paadapadma-bhajanam tasyeha kim durlabham

Oh! God! Parameswara, the husband of Goddess supreme!
On seeing your bhakta, the girl who is mukti, embraces him in full swing; what is there which he cannot get in this world?

Goddess holds in her hands the sugarcane bow and the flower bows for enabling us to overcome the passions, and thereby become dispassionate but become compassionate –
Passionate – you are attached to some few whom you like;
Compassionate – show passion for all including the animals, plants, insects etc.
The great mooka-kavi says that if we get this kripa-kataksha of Goddess, we get the drishti referred here, so that we are dispassionate towards any specific one, but compassionate to all.
The most important point is that, if one gets the kripa-kataksha of Goddess, one will get out from the clutches of the kaama-crocodile, in any situation.

Soundarya lahari –sloka12

2006-03-25T10:36:00.001-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka12
Uncomparable beauty of Goddess - Supreme
[Siva Saayujyam, a dumb person to speak]

Twadeeyam soundaryam tuhinagirikanye tulayitum
Kaveendraa: kalpante kathamapi virinci-prabhrutaya:
Yadaalokaustukyaa-damaralalana yaanti manasaa
Tapobhi rdushpraapaamapi girisa – saayujya – padaveem

Twadeeyam - your
soundaryam - beauty
tuhinagirikanye - the daughter of himavaan
tulayitum - to compare
Kaveendraa: - the great poets
kalpante - try to imagine – but not able to do so
kathamapi - somehow or other
virinci-prabhrutaya: - even the great gods saraswativallabha brahma etc
Yad aaloka austukyaa-d - decided to enjoy that beauty
amaralalana - even the deva-women wanted to see that beauty with the eye of Lord Paramasiva
yaanti - get
manasaa - by mind
Tapobhi: - by penance
Dush-praapaam api - even though impossible, but still
girisa – saayujya – padaveem - the abode of Parama Siva Saayujya [the Pure Consciousness]
Oh! Goddess Supreme! The Divine Daughter of Himavaan!

The great poets - the great gods including saraswativallabha brahma etc
try to imagine [but not able to do so] and to compare your beauty with anything and everything in the world; even the deva-women like Rampa, Urvasi, Tilottama, Menaka wanted to see that beauty with the eye of Lord Paramasiva; they decided to enjoy that beauty though impossible, but still try to do it by getting the mind purified by penance.
Since, it is possible to enjoy the beauty of Goddess, only with the eyes of Lord Parama –Siva, the divine women try to get that eye by prayers to Lord Paramasiva, to bless them with His eyes for enjoying the beauty of Goddess, and thereby get the saayujya position.
One can ask the Gods, by praying to bestow any one of the following four qualifications:-
Saarupya mukti (that mukthi in which a devotee gets the form of the Goddess), Saameepya mukti (here the devotee stays nearby with the Goddess), Saalokya mukti (here the devotee lives in the land where Goddess lives) and Saayujya mukti (this is real mukti where the devotee merges into the Goddess)
Refer in this context, the sloka in Lalita Sahasra Nama –
Om mahaa laavanya sevadhaye nama:

Soundarya lahari –sloka11

2006-03-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka11
Sri cakra varnanai
[Sad santaanam, janma saaphalya]

Caturbhi: sreekanthai: sivayuvatib: pancabhirabhi
Prabhinnabhi: sambhornavabhirabhi moolaprakritibhi:
Catuscatwaarimsad-vasudala-kalasra-trivalaya-
Tri-rekaabhi: saardham tava saranakona: parinataa:

Caturbhi: - four
sreekanthai: - by sivacakraas
sivayuvatibhi: - by sakticakraas
pancabhi - five
Prabhinnabhi: - different from
Sambho: - sivacakraas
Navabhi: - nine
api moolaprakritibhi: - with the moolatatwas which are the reasons for the pancaboothaprapanca
Catuscatwaarimsad - remains as forty four
vasudala- - eight [petalled] dala
kalasra- - sixteen [petalled] dala
trivalaya - three rounds
Tri-rekaabhi: - three lines
saardham - mixing
tava - your
saranakona: - the konaas of the sacred abode of SriCakra
parinataa - ending

Oh! Almighty Goddess!

The Sacred-Konaas of your Sacred abode of Sri-Cakra with four siva-cakraas and five sakti-cakraas [different from sivacakraas] there by forming nine cakraas, and also consisting of eight [petals] dala, sixteen [petals] dala, three rounds, three lines, remains totally as forty four, depicting the moolatatwas, are the reasons for the pancabootha-prapanca.

Sri-Cakra is the Sacred Yantra shape of the Goddess Almighty Paraa- Sakti.
This is being described in this sloka-11.
Srikanthai: -
srinaati hitasteeti sree: visham kanthe yasya asau srikantaha: hara: te konaa api srikantaa:
sri means – one endowed with the quality of killing [the negative qualities] and thereby showing one’s own self to the devotee. Sreekantha is one who had this poison in his kantha to save the devotees; the konaas of paramasiva are also called srikantha:
Sivayuvatibhi: -
this term refers to Goddess Para –Sakti, and so too sakti konaas also.
There are four siva cakraas and five sakti cakraas.

Trikona-mashtakonamca dasakonatwam tatha
Caturdasaarancaitaani sakti-cakraani panca ca
Binduc-saashtadalam padmam padmam shodasa-patrakam
Caturasramca catwaari siva-cakraanyanukramaat

Triangle, eight kona, 2 numbers of ten kona, fourteen kona – these are the five siva-cakraas.
Bindu, eight-petalled lotus, sixteen-petalled lotus, four corners – these are the four sakti - cakraas.

Sri - Cakra is of nine konaas – the five ones which face downwards are Siva - Cakraas and the four ones which face upwards are Sakti - Cakraas.
Thus says Varivasyaa rahasya – [2-42].
There are two methods followed by devotees of Sakti.
In the one which follow Samayaacaara method of Srishti karma cakra, the triangle is facing up. In the one which follow kaulaacaara method of Samhaara karma cakra, the triangle is facing down.
Moolaprakritibhi:-
The nine cakraas are called moola-prakriti or yoni as they indicate the tatwas which are the fundamental moola kaarana for the pinda [the micro – vyashti - body] and anda [the macro – samashti - world].
Case – 1:
In the case of the vyashti – pinda – body :-
Majja, sukla, praana, and jiva represent the four sakti cakraas forming the siva-amsa.
Twak [skin], asruk[blood], maamsa[flesh], medha [physical brain], asti [bone] - these five form the siva cakraas – sakti amsa.
Case – 2:
In the case of the samashti – anda – world :-
Maaya, Suddha-Vidya, Maheswara, and Sadasiva represent the four sakti cakraas forming the Siva-amsa.
Pritwi [earth], appu [water], teyu [fire], vaayu [air], aakaasa [ether] - these five form the siva cakraas – Sakti amsa.
Fourty four konaas:-
14 + 10 + 10 + 8 + 1 = 43.
The Bindu, which contains in itself the Siva-cakraas, is the 44th one.
The Goddess is referred by the words – Bindu mandala vaasini, in Lalitaa Sahasra Naama.
Vasudala: astavasu are eight in number, hence the name.
Kalasra: the kala are sixteen; hence the name.

Soundarya lahari –sloka10

2006-03-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka10
Sudhaadhaaraasaarai-scaranayugalaanta-rvigalitaih
Prapancam sincantee punarapi rasaamnaaya-mahasah
Avaapya swaam bhoomim bhujaganibha-madhyushta-valayam
Swamaatmaanam kritwaa swapishi kulakunde kuharini

Sudhaa-dhaara-asaaraih - by the flow of amritadhaaraa
Carana-yugala-antar-vigalitaih- flowing from [between] the two Divine Lotus Feet
prapancam - the naadi in the body formed of pancabhoota
sincantee - making wet [do abhisheka]
punarapi - again
rasa-amnaaya-mahasah - from the candramandala which showers amrita kirana
Avaapya - on reaching
Swaam - your
bhoomim - natural location - moolaadhara
bhujaganibham - like a snake
adhyushta-valayam - in the shape of a kundala
Swam - your
aatmaanam - shape
kritwaa - by making
swapishi - sleep
kulakunde - in the moolaadhara kunda
kuharini - possessing a very small hole

Oh! Goddess Supreme! the flow of amritadhaaraa flowing from [between] the two Divine Lotus Feet, you do abhisheka of all the naadis in the body, formed of pancabhoota; and from the candramandala which showers amrita kirana, you start your journey back to your natural, original location, the moolaadhara and assume the shape of a serpent in the form of a kundala remaining there, in the moolaadhara kunda which has a very small hole.

The sloka 9 referred the aarohana of kundalini sakti. This sloka -10 refers to avarohana of kundalini sakti. By remaining with Lord Sada siva in the sahasraara, making thereby the flow of aananda – bliss through the whole body and flowing through all the naadis of the body, Goddess reaches her original abode moolaadhara.

Kulakunda – ‘ku’ represent prithwi-tatwa. Since it gets laya at moolaadhara, moolaadhara cakra is called kula kunda. In the centre of that, there is a small root similar to that of a lotus; in the center of that there is a small hole, in which the kundalini sakti is sleeping occupying the shape of a serpent with three circled shape covered by an aura.

Sloka 9 refers to the six aadhaara cakras with kudalini sakti – aarohanam

But this sloka sloka - 10 refers to Kndalini Sakti – avarohanam.

Kundalini Sakti may get evoked; but may also get trapped with mystic powers at the different aadhaara cakras, getting locked up there with the divine powers.

In this case, only aarohana sakti is evoked but not avarohana, and hence, the final state is not reached, which happens to be our original, natural state – the pure consciousness.

That is why many among those who strive for liberation does not succeed, but get trapped in the mystic powers of maaya and remain there.-
just as we have already referred earlier the gita verse –

Daivee hyeshaa gunamayee mama maayaa duratyayaa
Maam eva ye prapadyante maayaam etaam taranti te.

‘ku’ represent prithwi tatwa; it gets laya in moolaadhara and hence moolaadhara is called kulakunda.
Aaroonam says like this –

Amritasya dhaaraa bahudhaa dhamaanam
Caranam no loke sudhitaam dadhaatu

Meaning –

Let the amritadhaara flowing from the lotus feet of the goddess, purify and cleanse our minds and give us the bhakti, so that we may remain always in our permanent state of happiness.

A devotee, by sitting in padmaasan, doing kumbaka praanaayaama and then do Sri Vidya Pooja by mentally remembering the Sri Vidyaa Beeja, gets Kundalini evoked; and then the Sakti flows from Moolaadhaara, goes upto Sahasraara and gives darshan to the devotee, according to his sankalpa.

Soundarya lahari –sloka - 9

2006-03-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Soundarya lahari –sloka - 9
[Aadhaara cakraas ]

Return of the one who has gone for Desaantara, Ashtaiswarya siddhi

Maheem moolaadhaare kamapi manipoore hutavaham
Sthitam swaadhishtaane hridi maruta-maakaasa-mupari
Manopi bhroomadhye sakalamapi bhitwaa kulapatham
Sahasraare padme saha rahasi patyaa viharase

Maheem - the bhootatwa – the earth
moolaadhaare - in moolaadhaara cakra – the secret part
kamapi - also the jalatatwa – the water
manipoore - in the manipooraka cakra – the navel
hutavaham - the agnitatwa – the fire
Sthitam - posited
swaadhishtaane - in the swadhishthaana cakra – between the navel and secret part
hridi - in the heart – in anaahata cakra
marutam - the vaayu tatwa – the air
aakaasam - aakaasa tatwa – the space or ether
upari - above – in visudhdhi cakra
Manopi - manastatwa – the mind
bhroomadhye - between the eyebrows – aajnaa cakra
sakalamapi kulapatham - thus covering all cakraas in sushumna
bhitwaa - intruding through
sahasraare padme - in the thousand petalled lotus in the head
rahasi - in the secret place
patyaa saha - along with your partner sadaasiva
viharase - you enjoy the bliss of aananda

Oh ! Goddess Supreme! in moolaadhaara cakra – the secret [private] part, you depict the bhoo-tatwa – the earth; in the manipooraka cakra – the navel, you depict the jala-tatwa – the water; in the swadhishthaana cakra – between the navel and secret part , you depict the agni-tatwa – the fire; in the heart – in anaahata cakra – you depict the vaayu-tatwa – the air; above that in the throat – the visudhdhi cakra – you depict the aakaasa-tatwa – the space or ether; between the eyebrows – in the aajnaa cakra, you depict the manah-tatwa – the mind; thus flowing through the various six cakraas in the sushumnaa naadi, you reach the thousand petalled lotus in the head called sahasraara cakra and remain their with your husband sadaasiva enjoying perfect bliss of aananda.

The above sloka describes the method of attaining samaadhi – called by the name – ‘shad-cakra vedanam’ or also called by the name ‘antaryaaga’, which involves the kundalini sakti starting from the moolaadhara cakra, flowing through the manipooraka, swaadhisthaana cakra, anaahata cakra, visudhdhi cakra, aajnaa cakra thereby reaching the sahasraara, and enjoying the bliss of samaadhi.
Moolaadhaara and swaadhishthaana together form ‘Agnikanda’.
Above this, there is a software granthi [knot] called ‘Brahma-granthi’.
[a person for whom the kundalini crosses this granthi, will possess enormous creative power – Brahma represent creative power]
Manipooraka and anaahata form together the ‘Surya kanda’.
Above this there is the software granthi called ‘Vishnu-granthi’.
[a person for whom the kundalini crosses this granthi, will possess enormous creative and maintaining power – Vishnu represent maintaining power]
Visudhdhi and aajnaa cakra form ‘Soma kanda’.
Above this there is the software granthi called ‘Rudra-granthi’.
[a person for whom the kundalini crosses this granthi, will possess enormous creative, maintaining and destructive power – Rudra represent destructive power]
The granthi represent the joining of the naadis [72000], the complications in the mind due to the vaasanaas flowing through these naadis due to poorva janma effects.
This sloka is similar to the slokas 99 to 104 in lalita-sahasra naama -

Moolaadhaaraika nilaya brahma-granthi vibhedini
Manipooraantaruditaa Vishnu-granthi vibhedini
Aajnaacakraantaraalasthaa rudra-ranthi vibhedini

The kundalini sakti [the paraa-sakti] who enters from the moolaadhaara cakra for a devotee on entering the manipooraka cakra gives darshan of the Goddess in the manipooraka, there, the devotee has to offer the various means of poojaas – like arghyam, paadyam to bhooshanam and bring the goddess to anaahata apply the poojas like dhoopa, taamboola and bring her to visudhdhi cakra and asking her to occupy her simhaasana seat there, then do pooja with the spatika mani called candra kalaa, bring her to ajnaa cakra then do the neeraajanam there, bring her to the the candramandala[near the sadaasiva] in the middle of the sahasraara cakra, asking both sadaasiva and goddess to be seated, then put the pardhaa, remain there alert waiting for goddess to return from there to the moolaadhaara cakra. This is called as antaryaaga or samayaacaara.
Kulapatham – called as raaja veethi or sushumnaa or kundalini. The kundalini sakti there is called as kulaangalanaa.
Moolaadhaara –
sarvaadhaaraa mahee yasmaat moolaadharayaa sthitaa
Tad abhaave tu dehasya paadah syaat udgamopi vaa

Since moolaadhaara is the first cakra and the basis of all tatwa, the name moolaadhaara is given. If this aadhaara is missing, the body will fall down or fly up.
Manipooraka – even though swaadhishthaana is next to moolaadhara, here manipooraka is referred after moolaadhaara and then only swaadhisthaana, since the order of the panca bhoota is earth, water, fire, air, space.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -8 (Lalita Tripura Sundari)

2006-03-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

In this context, it will helpful for us to study a picture available in some of our houses, of the deity called Lalita Tripura Sundari.

In this picture, you find the picture form of the goddess described above.
Lot and lots of principles are embedded in this, which will enable us to unfold our own divine part out into life and increase our output to the world, and to the society, and bestow us infinite happiness.

All the five gods are in the picture.

[Note -The picture is available in Giri Traders in Mylapore or in Nanganallur.]

Goddess is sitting in the lap of Sadasiva, who is seen lying on the cot or resting.

But in the picture, you see also some more gods/goddesses- who are they?

The three spouses of the Gods – brahma, Vishnu and Rudra viz.,
Saraswathy devi, Lakshmi devi and Parvati-devi are seen.

And two children are also seen in the picture – who are they?
Lord Vigneswar and Subrahmanya.

Let us come back to the meaning of the portion of the sloka – sudhasindhor madhye- in the middle of ocean of nectar or amrita.

Sudha means nectar or amrita which enables a devotee to get out of the janana-marana infinite loop, and also destroyer of ageing, disease, and decay.

This means, a devotee, if by upasana, able to lift his mind to this abode centre, he is no more affected by any of the bhava rogas. He gets self realization and enjoys the bliss of Pure consciousness. He will ever be helpful for all others in the world, since for him, no others, are there, or if at all available, all are his people only.

Manidweepa is the vaasagriha of devi – which implies that a devi bhakta will get all wealth, health and permanent happiness.
Devi bhakta can get purushaarthaas very easily.

This picture, we referred has below the picture, a Sricakra.

This Sricakra, has , in its centre, a bindu which is called sudhaasindu.

In the sadasivaatmaka bindu, is hidden the naada of paraa sakti, which is referred in the sloka as cidaananta lahari.

Our body-mind-intellect complex is Sricakra, and is most divine, not only ours, but everything in the world; because whatever we see as world of objects is nothing but consciousness or god only - since, if there is no consciousness, there is no world at all; that is why Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa refers as –
Amee yantra:
tumee yantri,

I am yantra and you are yantri – the BMI complex is yantra – Sricakra, and the one inside the heart of all is yantri – the atman or consciousness. The same factor is referred in gita chapter – kshetra kshetrajna yoga as –

idam sariram kaunteyakshetram ity abhidhiyateetad yo vetti tam prahuhkshetra-jna iti tad-vidah

this body is called kshetra or temple and one who resides inside this and knows this kshetra is called kshetrajna or god.

This sloka deserves a very deep study separately which we will see later, on a particular occasion.

Sudhasindhor madhye- cintaamani griha- the abode or seat of the goddess. This is posited not in this world, [the world seems to appear and disappear in this], it is beyond; it is in the middle of amrita saagara; in the island of precious jewels; This has 25 outer praakaaraas., just like for example., a big temple has got three prakaraas, outermost, innermost and middle. The praakaaraas are made of the following material and different gods/goddesses are seated in these praakaaraas:-

1. Iron,
2. steel,
3. tin,
4. combination of above,
5. brass,
6. pancaloha,
7. silver,
8. gold, - Kadambavana is there, Mantrini syamaladevi’s abode.
9. pushparagam,
10. padmaragam,
11. gomedakam,
12. vajram,
13. vaidooryam,
14. indraneelam,
15. pearl, - Ashtadikpaalakaas
16. marakatam, - Dandini or Varaahi, Senaanaayaki
17. pavizham, - Yogini
18. navaratnam, - Mahavishnu
19. naanaaratnam, - Eesaanan
20. mind, - Taradevi
21. buddhi, - Vaaruni
22. ahamkara, - Kurukulladevi
23. sun, - Martaandabhairava
24. moon, - Moon or Candra
25. manmatha - Sringaravana.

Inside this Sringara Vana is Mahapadmavanam and Karpaka forest and in the centre of that there is the cintamanigriha; in the agni-corner of that there is cidagnikunda, in the east of that on both sides, mantrini and dandini are seated; and on the four dwaaraas or gates, there are caturaamnaaya devataas; inside this there is the Sreecakra which has nana aavaranaa – 9 coverings.

In the centre of Sricakra, there is the bindupeetha called sarvaanandamaya; in that peetha, in the pancabrahmaasana, on the lap of Lord Paramasiva, Goddess Supreme, Tripura Sundari is seated.

The five parts of the mancha, four legs and the top plane of the cot – which forms the lap of Paramasiva, are referred by the Divine Omkara mancha representing the five component parts of the Pranava mantra – which are A, U, M, Bindu and naada.

In Lalitaasahasranaama, there is the sloka –

380. bindumaNDalavAsinyai

This Bindu which is in the central location of the Sricakra, which is the in the middle of the triangle, is also called as Sarva-aananda-maya, in which the jnaani is there, enjoying perfect aananda, without any upaadhi, and blessing the whole world of sthaavara and Jangama. All the enjoyments one gets from the external world of objects, which is never steady and which may vanish any time, is a dust compared to this amritaananda which never diminishes; not only that; it can shared by infinite number of devotees, which still remains the same, like a falls of amritasaagara.

When one chants Omkaar, the Pranava-Mantra, Bindu and Naada join just like the devotee who gets the blessings of anugraha of Sadasiva and goddess Paraasakti. i.e., Paraasakti is the divine Naadam hidden in the Sadaasivaatmaka Bindu. Few taste of this divine naadam, and get realized.
This is the Treasure island, wherein, there is the treasure, for which you need not take bath in any sacred river, you need not do any penance, just turn your vision from extroverted-ness to introverted-ness. Very simple, sitting where you are, without worrying about time, space, objects around the world, you get it; but total mental surrender is required for that. Proper study of Soundarya lahari, will take us to that stage, and make our life most successful.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -8

2006-03-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -8
[Devi’s cintaamanigriha , janana-marana-nivritti]

Sudhaasindhormadhye suravitapivaateeparivrite
Manidweepe neepopavanavati cintaamanigrihe
Sivaakaare mance paramasivaparyanka nilayaam
Bhajanti twaam dhanyaa katicana cidaananta laharim

Sudhaasindhormadhye – in the middle of the ocean of nectar
Suravitapivaateeparivrite - surrounded by gardens containing karpaka forest
Manidweepe - in the Ratna island [of precious jewels]
neepopavanavati - containing upavana with kadamba trees
cintaamanigrihe - in the house built with cintaamani jewels
Sivaakaare mance - in the divine throne[or seat],
paramasivaparyanka nilayaam posited in the seat of paramasiva
Bhajanti - pray
twaam - you
dhanyaa - blessed
katicana - some
cidaananta laharim - cid-aananda lahari

Oh! Goddess! you are the cid-aananda lahari. You are in the abode - in the middle of the ocean of nectar, surrounded by gardens, containing karpaka forest, in the Ratna island [of precious jewels], containing upavana with kadamba trees, in the house built with cintaamani jewels, in the divine throne[or seat], posited in the seat [Lap] of paramasiva. Some blessed devotees, pray you and get liberated.

In the previous sloka, the form of the Goddess was described; in this sloka, the place, the house, the seat of the Goddess is described;

The same principle covered in this sloka is shown in the Lalitasahasranama –

57. chintAmaNigR^ihAntasthAyai
58. pa~nchabrahmAsanasthitAyai
59. mahApadmATavIsa.nsthAyai
60. kadambavanavAsinyai
61. sudhAsAgaramadhyasthAyai
62. kAmAkShyai
63. kAmadAyinyai

The same idea is given in another stotra called Mantra Maatruka Pushpa Maalaa –

Kallolollasita amrita abdhi laharee madhye viraajan mani
dweepe Kalpaka vaatikaa parivrite kaadamba vaatyujjwale
ratna stambha sahasra nirmita sabhaa madhye vimaanottame
cintaaratna vinirmitam janani te simhaasanam bhaavaye

before further analysis of this sloka, one very important point we can note is that in the 4th line, there is the repetition of the sloka -1 in some other form –

sloka 1 – says Pranantu stotam vaa kathamakrutapunyaha prabhavati

Here this sloka line 4 says - Bhajanti tvaam dhanyaaha katichana chidanandalaharim

The above two represent the same idea. If one wants to worship devi, poorvapunya is required; in this world, we find many many crores of people are born; out of them, only a very few are able to worship devi in the said pattern .

sgivaakaare manje - the abode of Goddess; in lalitaa sahasra naama, this is referred by the words, the parts of the seat are given here; also their functions.

57. chintAmaNigR^ihAntasthAyai
58. pa~nchabrahmAsanasthitAyai
264. sR^iShThikartryai
265. brahmarUpAyai
266. goptryai
267. govindarUpiNyai
268. sa.nhAriNyai
269. rudrarUpAyai
270. tirodhAnakaryai
271. Ishvaryai
272. sadAshivAyai
273. anugrahadAyai
274. pa.nchakR^ityaparAyaNAyai

the seat of the Goddess is a divine cot, which has four legs just like other cots have; but, you see from the above cited lalitasahasranama slokas that the legs are the first four given below and the seat is the fifth one.
The four legs are :-
Brahma – brahmarupa - srishtikartri - creation
Vishnu – govindarupini - goptri - maintenance
Rudra – rudrarupa - samharini - destruction
Iswara – iswara - tirodhanakari- disappear
The seat of the cot is :-
Sadasiva - anugrahada - anugrahada - bless devotee

pa.nchakR^ityaparAyaNAyai this refers – five - fold function. The five functions are referred above.

We find that this lalitasahasranama is very popular and many are reciting this in temples in groups, which is highly appreciable; but most of the people are reciting without knowing or understanding the meaning of the stotra. Here lies the problem with people, who recite this for years, and then crave for money, material, power, and other things from god and propitiate different gods thinking that they are different and limited. But this is like the following -
A boy in 5th standard wants to remain in that standard, for so many years, which is detrimental to him and others; Similarly, it is detrimental to a person, if he recites any sahasranaama for years together, without knowing the meaning, but he asks the god to bestow him material,money, power, and everything else except moksha. Instead, he should ask goddess, at least that – Oh! Goddess! you please, help me to help others or otherwise help me to know my real self. Once, we know the fundamental principle behind these, there is nothing to cry or ask or worry about anything in the world; We will be able to live happily and help others as the proverb goes –
“Live and let live”

Let us try to peep into the meaning of the word panca-kritya-paraayana which is essential for us.

Five types of karmas or activities are going on in this world, any where and everywhere. They are given in the chart on the top of this page, from which, you find that - creation, maintenance, destruction, disappearance and anugraha.

The Gods involved for these are respectively – Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Iswara, and Sadasiva.
Brahma deals with creation – micro for individuals and macro – for the whole world.
Vishnu deals with maintenance - micro for individuals and macro – for the whole world.
Rudra deals with destruction [scrapping] - micro for individuals and macro – for the whole world.
But we are not able to find these Gods in form, normally. We can only imagine.
All the three of these, put together form Iswara, the fourth god and is all pervading, but you are not even able to imagine. But what we enjoy as bliss in deep sleep is nothing but this all pervading iswara’s aananda only.
Unfortunately, we are not aware at that time. Now we are not ready to get the correct idea also. If we are ready to turn our view or direction of sight to that of god, we will escape from the sorrows of life for ever.

Refer Ramana bhagavaan’s saying to the questioner when bhagavaan answers like this – everything depends on your vision –

Either lokadrishtya or jnaanadrishtya;

Lokadrishtya means you don’t want to get self realization, and will only remain in sorrow. Jnaana drishtya means you are already happy, the worry will never come to you.

[Lokadrishtya means you look at the world, get affected by that and try to correct and fail in the end and approach a guru; why not be it now itself ?

jnaanadrishtya means you try to understand at least theoretically that the world consists of only two things – only jada and bodha. Bodha is sentient and all pervading – which only appears as world; jada is insentient, and is really not there, but seems to be there. Without the sentient consciousness or god, jada is not at all there. ]

When a devotee, prays to god or goddess, asking him/her to show his/her form and bless him, on the request of Goddess, God comes in form to bless him; that is referred by the 5th god Sadasiva who is for blessing or bestowing anugraha; a person may get any god he wants to see, by propitiating this way his god [ishta devata], only thing is – he has to try to see the same god in everything in the world including in all other gods also.

(What is required is that, we have to ask god or our own soul or guru that our final aim is permanent happiness only – of course now for temporary purpose, we may ask for a job, promotion, marriage, children, house, property, vehicles etc.)

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -7

2006-03-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -7
[Devi – Swarupa - Devi-Sakshaatkaaram, Satrujayam]

Kwanat kaanceedaamaa karikalabha kumbhastananataa
Pariksheenaamadhye parinata sarat candravadana
Dhanurbhaanaan paasam srinum api dadaanaakaratalai
Purastaad aastaam nah puramatituraaho purushikaa

Kwanat - chilanka [the leg ornament] which makes divine sound

Kwanat – while devi travels through the susumnaa naadi from manipooraka to anaahata, bhaktas hear the divine sounds of the chilanka of the legs of devi.

kaanceedaamaa - wearing golden odhyaana

karikalabha kumbhastananataa – having the divine breast which
resembles the mastka of the elephant,
and hence, having a slight gentle bent
madhye - in the middle
Pariksheenaa - very slim [and so beautiful]
parinata sarat candra vadana – possessing the face similar to the sarat
season’s full moon –the beauty of which
can never be compared with anything
else in the world
Dhanu: - bow [sugarcane]
[mind which is sankalpa vikalpaatmaka]
Bhaanaan - arrow
[the panca tanmaatraas sabda, sparsa, rasa , rupa, gandha]
Paasam - rope [The mental state - raga]
srinum api - ankusa [The mental state - krodha]
dadaanaa - wearing
karatalai - in the [four] hands
Purastaad aastaam nah - let her appear in front [in our heart]
Puramatitu - of the tripuraantaka

Puramathitu: - tripura means – devi’s Beejaakshara mantra ‘aim-kleem-sow:’.

Paramasiva did the process of controlling it by the mind, and got [achieved] the powers of Devi-Paraasakti, and hence called by the name Puramathanan. This is referred in the sloka called RudraYaamala – that Siva got the powers of Sakti as – one gets curd while churning milk.

In Puraanas, there is a story about three asuraas called tripuras. Siva destroyed them and their puras, and hence the name puramathana.:

aaho purushikaa- ahamkaara roopini[the divine form]
[aaho represents the surprisingly divine]

Paramasiva has no ahamkaara as he is Gunaateeta, Nirgunabrahman, and is Suddha-brahman; but, Siva gets it from devi for blessing devotees.

In the sloka called naamaramaayana – the sloka starts –

Suddhabrahma paraatpara Ram
Kaalaatmaka parameswara Ram

Devi comes to the rescue of her devotees, to bless them.

aaho represents aham in us; while in sleep, it is only available in us – but we are not aware of it, if, by grace, we come to know of it, we get out of bondage. We have to become aware, in wakeful state only.

Ambaastavam refers like this :-

Carmaambaram ca sava bhasma vilepanam ca
Bhikshaadanam ca nadanam ca pareta bhoomau
Vetaala samhati parigrahataa ca sambho:
Sobhaam vahanti girije tava saahacaryaat

There are no vesha-bhooshaas for a yogya; wears skin [thol] dress; anga raga is not sugandhi – but sava bhasma; no sampat at all – called sudalai-aandi; upajeevanam is by bhikshaadan; the dancing is not in front of maanya-manushya, but in pareta bhoomi – smasaana; friends are vetala; all ayogyatas are available for siva; hence only one thing to be proud of – that is the bhartritwa of Goddess Girija; in front of the divine Goddess , all ayogyataas change as yogyata; hence, Devi is siva’s aaho purushikaa.

Saktimahimna stotra coined by the great Sage, Durvaasa refers :-
About the effects of the sloka, which is not part of the sloka but the uttara bhaga – effect of the same.

Caapadhyaanavasaat bhavodbhava mahaamoham mahaajrimbhanam
Prakhyaatam prasaveshu cintanavasaattattatcharavyam sudhee:
Paasadyaanavasaat samastajagataam mrityorvasitwam mahaa-
Durgastambha mahankusasya mananaanmaayaamameyaam taret

By meditating on the four weapons as caapa, you can get rid of the delusion of the prapanca-rupa maayaa; and thereby mrityu [death], and thereby the birth-death cycle and attain moksha.

The full meaning of the sloka is given in the paragraph below:-

The Goddess, Lord Paramasiva’s partner ahamkaara roopini, adorned with chilanka, and wearing golden odhyaana, Which makes divine sound, having the divine breast, which resembles to that of the mastaka of the elephant, and hence, having a slight gentle bent, in the middle, very slim [and so beautiful], and having the face blooming like the full moon of the sarat [rithu] season, and wearing in the four hands, bow, arrow, rope, and ankusa respectively, let Her, [the divine form] appear in front [in our heart].

Here, we find the full, complete, vision of the divine goddess, described in saamudrikaasaastra, is found.

The form referred in this sloka is that of the form of the goddess which is appearing with brilliance in the aadhaara-cakra, manipooraka, for the devotees who follow samayaacara thereby blessing them.

The Paradevata, [the Supreme power] has three types of forms prescribed for the sake of devotees of three levels – sthoola [gross], sookshma [subtle], and para [nirguna brahman].

Stoola [gross] form of goddess contains therein the upaadhis like kara-caranaadi, and accepting the mantrasiddhas to have darsan and sparsan which is described in rahasya namasahasra or Lalitasahasranama - slokas 13 to 46 – 33 slokas given below:-

13. champakAshokapunnAgasaugandhika-lasatkachAyai
14. kuruvindamaNishreNIkanatkoTIramaNDitAyai
15. OM aShTamIchandravibhrAjadalikasthalashobhitAyai
16. mukhachandrakala.nkAbhamR^iganAbhivisheShakAyai
17. vadanasmaramA.ngalyagR^ihatoraNachillikAyai
18. vaktralakShmIparIvAhachalanmInAbhalochanAyai
19. navachampakapuShpAbhanAsAdaNDavirAjitAyai
20. tArAkAntitiraskArinAsAbharaNabhAsurAyai
21. kadambama~njarIkL^iptakarNapUramanoharAyai
22. tATa.nkayugalIbhUtatapanoDupamaNDalAyai
23. padmarAgashilAdarshaparibhAvikapolabhuve
24. navavidrumabimbashrInyakkAriradanachchhadAyai
25. shuddhavidyAN^kurAkAradvijapaN^ktidvayojjvalAyai
26. karpUravITikAmodasamAkarShi digantarAyai
27. nijasallApamAdhurya vinirbhatsitakachchhapyai
28. mandasmitaprabhApUramajjatkAmeshamAnasAyai
29. anAkalitasAdR^ishyachibukashrIvirAjitAyai
30. kAmeshabaddhamAN^galyasUtrashobhitakandharAyai
31. kanakAN^gadakeyUrakamanIyamujAnvitAyai
32. ratnagraiveya cintAkalolamuktAphalAnvitAyai
33. kAmeshvArapremaratnamaNipratipaNastanyai
34. nAbhyAlavAlaromAlilatAphalakuchadvayyai
35. lakShyaromalatAdhAratAsamunneyamadhyamAyai
36. stanabhAradalanmadhyapaTTabandhavalitrayAyai
37. OM aruNAruNakausumbhavastrabhAsvatkaTItaTyai
38. ratnaki~NkiNikAramyarashanAdAmabhUShitAyai
39. kAmeshaj~nAtasaubhAgyamArdavorudvayAnvitAyai
40. mANikyamukuTAkArajAnudvayavirAjitAyai
41. indragopaparikShiptasmaratUNAbhaja~NghikAyai
42. gUDhagUlphAyai
43. kUrma pR^iShThajayiShNuprapadAnvitAyai
44. nakhadIdhitisa~nchhannanamajjanatamoguNAyai
45. padadvayaprabhAjAlaparAkR^itasaroruhAyai
46. shi~njAnamaNima~njIramaNDitashrIpadAmbujAyai

Sookshma [sutle] form of goddess is mantraatmaka and can be heard and can be recited by devotees, which is described in rahasya namasahasra or Lalitasahasranama 4 slokas given below:-

85. shrImadvAgbhavakUTaikasvarUpamukhapaN^kajAyai
86. kaNThAdhaH kaTiparyantamadhyakUTasvarUpiNyai
87. shaktikUTaikatApannakaTyadhobhAgadhAriNyai
88. OM mUlamantrAtmikAyai

Para [nirgunabrahman]is only for those punyatmaas, who wants to meditate on subtlest vaasanaas of goddess described in rahasya namasahasra or Lalitasahasranama slokas 13 slokas given below:-

99. mUlAdhAraikanilayAyai
100. brahmagranthivibhedinyai
101. maNipUrAntaruditAyai
102. viShNugranthivibhedinyai
103. Aj~nAchakrAntarAlasthAyai
104. rudragranthivibhedinyai
105. sahasrArAmbujArUDhAyai
106. sudhAsArAbhivarShiNyai
107. taTillatAsamaruchyai
108. ShaTchakroparisa.nsthitAyai
109. mahAsaktyai
110. OM kuNDalinyai
111. bisatantutanIyasyai

[moolaadhaaraikanilaya] to [bisatantutaneeyasi]. This is the Kundalini sakti of goddess, the counterpart is available in each one of us, which when propitiated exhibits as divine powers of human beings.

This is what is referred by Guru Vasishtha to Sri Lord Rama, in Yoga vaasishtha – Oh Rama! Sad Guru is one who blesses a devotee, by darsan, sparsan, upadesa words and by karunaa, instils iswara sakti in a devotee and thereby make it exhibit outside for the sake of other devotees who also get blessed, by this.
In fact, Amma does this, for many devotees, out of kaarunya, as referred by the Tamil song:-
Karunai deivame karpagame
Kaanavendum untan porpadame
Urutunaiyaga en ullattil amarntaai
Unaiyandri veru deivam yaaro
The same is referred by the vedic quote – often referred by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi –
‘’Iswaro Guru raatmeti’’
Guru comes and blesses you and your atman and yoga happens making this statement becoming true; you get all the three grace –
Self-grace, guru’s grace and iswara’s grace.
The above sloka 7 of soundarya lahari describe the sthoola form of goddess.
Also, the weapons of goddess Sri Devi [Tripura sundari] is also of three types – sthoola, sookshma, and subtlest.
Out of these,
sthoola weapons consist of sugarcane bow [left hand - down],
the five pushabaanaas – viz., lotus, rakta kaitavam, kalhaaram, indeevaram, sahakaaram [right hand - down],
pavizha kkodi – top - left hand [paasa-rope],
candrakkala – top – right hand [ankusa] –
these are stoola upaadhimaya.

Sooksha weapons consists of dhanus, ‘tham’, arrows, ‘draam’, ‘dreem’, ‘kleem’, ‘blumsa:’, paasam, ‘hreem’, ankusam, ‘krom’- which are mantramaya.
The subtlest weapons [para] consists of dhanus, mind, arrows, sabda – sparsa – rupa – rasa - gandha, raga, paasa, krodha, ankusa – vaasanaamaya.
There is a backbone structure available for every one of us, called ‘Merudanda’, in scriptures. In this merudanda, there is a sutle naadi called by the name ‘sushumnaa’.

At the base of this naadi, there is the ‘moolaadhaara’ cakra;
four fingers above this – there is the ‘swaadhisthaana’ cakra;
just in front of the navel, there is the ‘manipooraka’ cakra;
in front of the heart, there is the ‘anaahata’ cakra;
in front of the kantha or neck, there is the ‘vishuddhi’ cakra;
in front of the eyebrows, there is the ‘aajnaa’ cakra;
just above our head, there is the ‘sahasraara’ cakra.

The Cakras will be visible for a perfect yogi.

In ‘manipooraka’, Devi appears as the jeevanaadi of tripuraantaka kaameswara.
‘Ahamityeva vibhaavaye bhavaaneem’ –

I do the tatwa-bhaavana as aham - bhavaani.

Udaiyaal untan naduvirukkum
Udaiyaal naduvil nee irutti
Adiyen naduvil iruveerum – Tiruvaacakam.

The counterpart of this sloka in Lalitasahasranama is –

8. rAgasvarUpapAshADhyAyai
9. krodhAkArAN^akushojjvalAyai
10. manorUpekShukodaNDAyai
11. pa.nchatanmAtrasAyakAyai

The great Mahapurusha, Sri Kaanchi Kamakoti Sankara – Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal says like this –

Manmatha has sugarcane bow – which the devi also has ;
For him, 5 baanaas are of flower – which the devi also has.
For those people, who are immersed in kaama, to give control of this kaama, and also to control the mind, Devi holds these in her cotrolled -hands, thereby blessing the devotees.

About this, Mookakavi refers like this –

Oh! Divine Goddess! Your kataaksha or blessing makes Siva attracted towards you; but, it ends the delusion of a staunch or real devotee.

This is referred by Arjuna the surrendered devotee to Lord Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita chapter 18 – sloka 73 –

arjuna uvaca
nasto mohah smritir labdha
tvat-prasadan mayacyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehah
karisye vacanam tava

Oh lord! My delusion has gone off; I have got my original memory which is devoid of delusion now; Oh! Achyuta! The God infinite! This is due to your Grace only; Now, I remain where I am; [so far, I was wandering and therefore not able to understand you or me]; All my doubts have vanished; I will obey your order now.

Delusion which, Arjuna refers about consists of two parts –

Ignorance[agrahana – ajnaana – non-apprehension] and
Maayaa [anyathaagrahana - misapprehension]

Both are to be removed to get knowledge. We have to pray the Almighty to remove these two, [not kaamini – kaancana, externally from the world of objects], which will alone pave the way for removal of our sorrows.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -6

2006-03-25T09:35:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -6
[Birth of child – divine angular vision of goddess]

Dhanuppaushpam maurvee madhukaramayee pancavisikhaa
Vasanta ssaamanto malayamarudayodhanarathah
Tadapyekah sarvam himagiri sute kaamapikripaam
Apaangaatte labhdwaa jagadidamanango vijayate

Oh! Goddess! Himagirisute!
himagiri sute - daughter of Himavan
Dhanu: - [manmata’s] bow
Paushpam - [is] of flowers
Maurvee - the rope used to tie the bow
Madhukaramayee - [is also] of honey bees
Pancavisikhaa - five arrows [are also of flowers]
Saamanta: - minister
Vasanta - vasanta rithu
Aayodhanaratha: - the chariot used for war fight
Malayamarud - [is]the breeze from the himalaya
Tada api - even then
Te - your
yekah - single handed
sarvam - everything
Kaam api kripaam - some kripa
Apaangaat - by divine angular grace of the eye
labhdwaa - achieving
Jagad - world
Idam - this
anango - devoid of body
Vijayate - succeeds

Oh! Goddess! daughter of Himavan! manmata’s bow is of flowers;
the rope used to tie the bow is also of honey bees; five arrows are also of flowers; charioteer is the vasanta rithu; the chariot used for war fight is the breeze from the himalaya; even then, by divine angular grace of the eyes of Goddess, getting [some-unknown] kripa, though single handed, and devoid of body, succeeded in every step in this world.

The method of upasana referred in this sloka is called

‘ANANGA VIDYA’.
Manmata is Rishi for this.
Chandas is Avyakta Gayatri.
Devata is Raja Rajeswari.

Manmata is the best example to show that even though one may not possess anything, by the grace of the Goddess, he may even win over the whole world.
Manmata, even without body, with the bow and arrows of flowers, with chariot as the wind, without support from anybody else, single handed, fought with the world and won over even great.

Yajurveda – Aarunam – Anuvkam -50 says –

Acetaa yacca cetana:
Sa tam mani-mavindat
So nanguli-raavayat
So greeva: pratyamuncat
So jihvo asaccata
Naidam rishim viditwaa nagaram praviset

Because of having no body, he does not have any body feeling,
but due to mental feelings, manmata resides as chetana.
He got the famous Divine Sri Vidya Ratna.
Without hands, he was picking up the hands;
Without neck, he was wearing the garlands;
Without tongue, he was tasting food;

One should not enter in the Pooja or worship of the Sricakra Pooja without knowing such a wonderful Mantradrashta.

We may consider our mind as the manmatha ; one who does the matha of the mind, i.e., pressurizes or attracts the mind is manmatha.

The mind is the software; but without mind, even though we have body, you can do nothing;

If we have perfect control of the mind, we may become like manmatha and get the blessings of Goddess, Almighty and be able to get Self Realisation.

You know the Bhagavad Gita dhyaanasloka compiled by the great Saint, Madhusoodana Saraswati –

Mookam karoti vaacaalam pankum lankayate girim
Yat kripaa tamaham vande paramaanandamaadhavam

[Oh! God! You make a mooka – or dumb person by Your Grace as a vaacaala – expert orator. You make a lame man climb the hills, by Your Grace.
Oh! Paramaananda Maadhava! [maa – dhava – one who is with the divine Goddess in the heart of hearts], Due to your grace only, this happens]

Whenever we get success in anything, it is due to Almighty’s Grace only and not due to our own effort.

Our part is simply zero, without God’s Grace.

Our body (B-M-I Complex) is insentient and due to God’s part in us, the sentient aatman only, our body [also the whole world] seems to exist and function.

In this sloka, there is the implicit use of the kaamabeeja mantra – kleemkaara
Kaamapi – ka kaara
Malaya - la kaara
Maurvee – ee kara

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -5

2006-03-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -5
[The greatness of devi puja and stree-purusha vasya]

Hari: Stwaam Aaraaddhya pranatajana sowbhagyajananee
Puraa Naaree bhootwaa Puraripum api Kshobhamanayat
Smaropi Twaa natwaa rati nayana lehyenavapushaa
Muneenaamapyantah prabhavatihi mohaaya mahataam

Sowbhagyajananeem - bestowing all sowbhagyaas on
Pranatajana - those who pray her,

Puraa - one time earlier
Hari: - Lord Vishnu
Aaraaddhya - by praying
twaam - you
Naaree bhootwaa - took birth as a girl
Puraripum api - attracting even Siva who has
destroyed the three puraas
Anayat - attracted
Kshobham - [and] disturbed the mind of Lord Siva Smara: api - even manmata also
Natwaa - [by]praying
Twaam - you
rati nayana lehyena vapushaa - [by]possessing a body which serves as nectar for Rati devi’s eyes
prabhavatihi - became capable
mohaaya - attracting or deluding
Muneenaamapyantah - even the great rishis
mahataam -

Oh! Goddess-mother! Who bestows sowbhagyaa for those who pray you –
One time earlier, Lord Vishnu, by praying you, took birth as a girl(mohini), and attracted even Lord Siva, , who has destroyed the three puraas, disturbing his mind.
Manmatha also was blessed, and was bestowed with a special attractive body ( no hardware body but only software body or sookshma sareera) which, his wife Rati could only see and she could get nectar that way, by the blessings of the Goddess; even he was attracted the great sages, who were deluded by him.
Manmatha also was blessed; he was burnt to ashes by the opening of the third eye of Lord Paramasiva, since manmatha disturbed the Lord; But as manmatha was a staunch devotee of Goddess, he was bestowed with a special attractive body ( no hardware body but only software body or sookshma sareera) which, his wife Rati could only see and she could get nectar that way, by the blessings of the Goddess.
Pranatajana sowbhagya jananeem
There are famous 12 who were known as the staunch devotees of Goddess. They are, Maheswara, Maadhava, Brahama, Manmatha, Skanda, Nandikeswara, Indra, Manu, Candra, Kubera, Agasthya, Durvaasa.
There is a famous sloka in Bhagavad Gita which says –

Ye yatha maam prapadhyante taamstathaiva Bhajamyaham
Mama vartmaanuvartante manushyaa: paarta sarvasa:
As per the saying above, Vishnu, praying Goddess, became so immersed and wanted to get the shape of Goddess and got it, and then churned the amrita from the ocean of milk, and attracted the asuras while distributing the nectar. Lord Paramasiva wanted to see the mohini-form, hence once again took that form to please Lord Siva. Then Siva forgot himself and embraced the girl – it is so said in Bhaagavata puraana and other puraanas.
Ratinayana-lehyena-vapushaa
Manmata was burnt by the third eye of Lord Paramasiva, but due to devi’s blessings, he got back his sookshma sarira which could be seen only by his wife Rati.
Lalitha Sahasra Naama – sloka 84 – refers as
Hara netra agni santapta kaama sanjeevana oushadi.
Wherever there is attraction for others, there is the Grace of Goddess.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -4

2006-03-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -4
[The divine powers of the Lotus Feet of Goddess]
[Sakala bhaya nivritti, sakala roga nivritti]

Tvad anyah paanibhyam abhaya-varado daivataganah
Tvam eka n'aivasi prakatita-var'abhityabhinaya;
Bhayat tratum datum phalam api cha vancha samadhikam
Saranye lokanam tava hi charanaveva nipunav..

Oh! Goddess!
Lokaanaam Saranye who is the shelter for the world

[Saranye – one who has Sree Cakram as the abode of seat]
Daivataganah devaganaas
twad anya: other than you
abhayavarada: show mudraas bestowing abhaya and varada

Abhayamudra – removes the fear of samsara; this mudra is seen on the right hand of deities which is shown lifted above for blessing the devotees.

Vara mudra - bestows worldly pleasures is shown by the left hand of the deities which is shown held down near the feet.

But, since, Tripura Sundari holds, paasa, ankusa, pushpabaana and sugarcane dhanus in her hands, abhaya-varada mudraas are not shown by the hands of Goddess, devotee meditates with the feeling that they are included in the feet of the Goddess. All other deities who show abhaya varada blessing devotees, worship the divine Lotus Feet of the Goddess – Tripura Sundari.

This shows the Sree-Paada Maahaatmya of the Goddess.
Here is a song of amma – which helps us to reming of this grace of goddess –

Sreepaadamaahaatmyam aarkariyaam Gurupaadattin vaibhavamaarkkariyaam
Amriteswari amme aanandasaarame Kaivalyadhaamame jnaan namikkaam

Who knows the mahaatmya of the divine lotus feet of Goddess!
Who knows the vaibhava the invaluable infinitesimal omniscient, omnipotent, power of the divine lotus feet of Guru! Oh! Mother! Amriteswari! You are the aananda saara, the permanent happiness, and kaivalya dhaama; I bow to you

Sreepaadapoojakku melilla poojakal Illayogaadikal saadhanakal
Sadgurupaadattil premavum sraddhayum janmajanmaantara punyamallo

There is no pooja, yoga, or saadhana more valuable than that of the sree-paada-pooja. It is the janmajanmaantara punya that one gets prema and sraddha towards the sreepaada.

Trippaadabhakti sadaakalpavrikshamaam premabhatipradam jnaanamoolam
Bhaktimuktipradam sarvasiddhipradam sripaadateertame teerthasaaram

Trippadabhakti is always kalpavriksha, which give premabhakti and thereby jnaana or self-knowledge thereby removing all our sorrows. The sreepaada teertha is the saara of all the teerthaas like ganges etc which bestows bhakti, mukti, sarva siddhi.

Saakshaal anantanum moortitrayangalum vaakku kittate alanjidunnu
Pinnaru varnikkum sad guru paadatte veendum namikkaam namichidaam jnaan

Ananta, the great avatar of Vishnu, and all the trimurtis – Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra are not able to praise Goddess, because they become dumbfounded by the Divine power of the Goddess, then who else can describe the Goddess? Such a sree paada – I bow and I bow again.

One who has got the kataaksha of the Goddess, reaches such a state that for him, there is nothing which is wanted and which is not wanted; we may recall that - the great saint, Sadasiva Brahmendra was in this state only. Yet another example is that of the great king Ambareesha the story from Sreemad Bhaagavatam, which we will refer at the end of this lesson.

The poem Mooka-pancasati refers like this –

Siva siva pasyanti samam Sri Kamaksi kataakshitaa: purushaa:
Vipinam bhavanam amritam mitram loshtanca yuvati-bimboshtam

paanibhyaam by hands
twam eka only you alone
Na yeva asi are never like that
Prakatita Vara abheeti abhinayaa
acting showing vara and abhaya mudra
Hi because
Traatum to protect
Bhayaat from fear
Dhaatum api ca and even for giving
Phalam fruits
Vaancaa sanadhikam more than what is required
Tava your
Caranau yeva Lotus feet itself
Nipunau hi capable, for sure!

Oh! Goddess! who is the shelter for the world! all devaganaas other than you, show mudraas bestowing abhaya and varada by hands only;

Oh! Goddess! you alone are never acting, like that, showing vara and abhaya mudra, because to protect from fear, and even for giving more fruits than what is required, your Divine Lotus Feet itself is capable, for sure!

Let us recall the sloka –

Aapadi kim karaneeyam,
Smaraneeyam caranayugalam ambaayaa:
Tat smaranam kim kurute
Brahmaadeenapi ca kim karee kurute

When we land in any trouble, it is just sufficient to remember for a moment the sreepaada of the Goddess; to such a devotee or upaasaka, brahmaadi become kinkara; that is, all other gods come to our rescue.

The story of the great king Ambareesha [Srimad Bhaagavata]

Recall a glimpse of the punyakatha of the great king Ambareesha in Srimad Bhagavata, who was a perfect brahmanishta; Ambareesha was performing a yajna – one of the important requirement of the yajna is that one should take food only after performing it, but the yajna should compulsorily be completed before the prescribed time, before sunset;

In the evening, when the yajna was going on, the great powerful sage Durvasa, who was known for his anger, arrived; he was welcomed by the king with due respect; but the sage told that he will take bath and come back, and till then the yajna should not be finished;

But, to the surprise of all, the sage was not seen to come and sun was about to set; hence as per the advice of the guru and as per the code of conduct Aambareesha has to finsish yajna by taking food; but Ambareesha was not prepared to take food, as he wanted to give value to the words of the great sage. Somehow, the king had to finish the yajna, hence he consulted the guru Brihaspati and finished the yajna by taking a handful of water.

But then, arrived the sage to the stage, and problem started; the sage was not happy; he started abusing the king for not having protected his vow. He took a hair from his head and from that created a krittika, a beast like creature, which started to pounce upon the king. But the king was not taken aback or was not afraid; he was calm and quiet.

Due the nishkama – ananya - bhakti of Ambareesha, the Vishnu cakra appeared (Ambareesha was unaware of this) and powdered the krittika and put it to fire thereby destroying it, and then the cakra went towards the sage Durvasa to kill him. The sage ran here and there, but could not escape. Even, he went inside the sea to hide; but the cakra appeared there also.

At last he approached Brahma, who told that he and all his people are puppets in the hands of Lord Vishnu and so he asked him to go.

Then the sage reached Kailasa and approached Siva, when approached, told the sage that he and his people are all aajnaapaalakaas of Lord Vishnu, but Siva told him that if he wants to escape, he has to go to Lord Vishnu only.

Accordingly, the sage approached Lord Vishnu for protection, but Vishnu told him that he is not in Vaikunta, but is in the heart of the bhakta always and hence could not save him, and that only way to escape is to approach the bhakta and ask his pardon.

At last, the sage ran to Ambareesha and fell on his feet and asked pardon. But the king was smiling as ever before, and prayed to the cakra to protect the sage; then the cakra disappeared and the king asked the sage to proceed with the yajna to be completed.

Such is the greatness of a bhakta who has the goddess or Lord in his heart of hearts; he will ever be protected, wherever he is , or whatever he is.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -3

2006-03-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -3
[Paadadhooli gives mukti, Sarva-vidyaa-praapti]

Avidyanam antas-timira-mihira-dweeppa-nagari
Jadanam chaitanya-stabaka-makaranda-sruti jhari
Daridranam cinta-mani-gunanika janma-jaladhau
Nimadhanam damshtra mura-ripu-varahasya bhavati.

Avidyaanaam – For ignorant people
Antas-timira - for the darkness inside
which is due to ignorance
mihira dweepanagaree - is the town of sun’s rising place

[avidyaanaam – the ignorant are not ready to reconcile for anything, they are not open minded; these people fall in group -1].

Jadaanaam - for people like caarvaakaas
caitanya-stabaka-makaranda srutijharee
- flow of honey flowing from the fruit
- stem with fruits made of makaranda or
caitanya

[jadaanaam – Caarvaakaas, those, who have full faith in modern science, but no faith in Vedanta philosophy – they fall in group - 2].

Amma used to say – the problem with many is that their intellect or buddhi has developed too much [extrovert], but the heart is not developed;
Hanuman Calisa – a very popular sloka sung by the great poet Tulasidas,
says –
buddhi heena tanu jaanike, sumirau pavana kumara
bala buddhi viddhyaa dehu mohi harahu kalesa vikaara
meaning – budhdhi, intellect without intellectual conviction, is heena – destructive, hence to get rid of it, remember Pavana kumara or [Sri Rama Bhakta] Hanuman to get blessings of Lord Sri Ramacandra murthy – the pure consciousness in our heart of hearts, who will give Bala, Buddhi, Viddhya, who ever wants to get any of these.
a tamil song goes like this –
tuni velukka mannundu engal muthumari
manam velukka vazhiyillaiye engal muthumari
Even in spite of possessing the capability to analyze the mind properly, these people keep their minds shut, but will get the chance to open it by the Advaita Makaranda by the Grace of Goddess when they become deserved, in due course
of time.
Daridraanaam - for the poor
cintaamanigunanika - cintamani-garland which bestows all that you wants possessing the quality of that of the cintaamani

cintaamani is a jewel which like syamantaka mani which was possessed by Satraajit, the father of Sathyabhama; it is capable of giving money, materials and whatever is wanted. Goddess - devi’s mayabeeja is called HREEM also called cintamanibeejam, which will bestow blessings on a person unaware of, like Kaalidasa the great poet who was transformed from the level of a cowherd to that of a very famous poet, or like Sudarsana who has got the tremendous blessings of Lord Krishan so as to occupy Lord’s hands.
In the Stotra – Lalita Trisati, out of 300 lines, 60 lines start with letter hreem which is the secret behind that sloka which bestows for a person who chants it gets moksha even or the level of ciranjeevi like the great Sage Agasthya.

[daridraanaam - the poor people who are innocent and ignorant fall under
group – 3].

janmajaladau - in the ocean of samsara
Nimagnaanaam - for those who are immersed
muraripu-varaahasya - of that of the aadivarahamurthy who is avataara of Lord Vishnu

[muran was an asura who was killed by Vishnu, ripu means
killer].
damshtraa - the dreadful teeth
bhavati - become

[for those who are immersed in samsara saagara and not ready to give deaf ear to the rishis or mahatmas or avatars or scriptures, they fall under group – 4].

Oh! Goddess! The sacred dust from your Divine Lotus Feet for those [ajnaani] with avidya or ignorance, serves as the divine island of the Sun God who removes the darkness of night instantaneously. For them, it will remove their ignorance unawareof, and bestow infinite bliss.

For those, who are like caarvaakas, who trust in modern science but do not have faith in Vedanta philosophy, the sacred paadaa dhooli will serve as the flow of honey flowing from the fruit stem with fruits made of caitanya; For the poor, it serves as the chintamani-garland which bestows all that is wanted;

For those, who are immersed in the ocean of samsara, it becomes the dreadful teeth of that of the aadivarahamurthy who is avataara of Vishnu.

[All the groups are moving to the path of self-realization, since every one in the world is having the primary goal of permanent happiness, though he is not aware of the same, just like the deer which goes in search of the divine smell coming from its own comb goes on searching and searching or like the dog which happened to get a bone goes on biting it till it’s teeth starts bleeding only in the end it is able to find out the same; all other aims like getting married, getting children, getting a house, getting job, getting promotion etc are all only temporary goal].

Nobody can escape from the blessings [permanent happiness] of the ever merciful Goddess, though it may take many years or janmaas, for which the Goddess may to resort to the four steps of Saama,Daana,Bheda and Danda]. This is referred in Mundakopanishad mantra 3-2-8 like this -

Yatha nadya: syandamaanaa: samudre
astam gacchanti naamaroope vihaaya
tathaa vidwaan naamaroopaadvimukta:
paraatparam purushamupaiti divyam

When the rivers are reaching the sea, they lose name and form but become one with the sea. Similarly vidwaan reaches the state of Tripura Sundari, or Purushottama, when he leaves name and form, becomes full, in himself.

What Aacaarya Sri Aanandagiri has referred that Vaishnavi mantra and Nandikeswara mantra are included in this sloka.

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -2

2006-03-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -2
[The indescribable Trippada vibhooti of the lotus feet of Goddess ]

taneeyaamsam paamsum tava caranapankeruhabhavam
virincissancinvan viracayati lokaanavikalam
vahatyenam sowri: kathmapi sahasrena sirasaam
harassamkshuddhyainam bhajati bhasitoddhoolanavidhim

Virinci: - Lord Brahma
Tava - your
Carana pankeruha bhavam - pertaining to the lotus feet

[The Sacred Lotus Feet of the Goddess is lokaateetaa [beyond time, space, bjects]and manovacaamagocaraa- [beyond the reach of mind and words ]

Lalithasahasranama says –
lokaateetaayai namah, manovacaamagocaraayai namah]

Taneeyaamsam - very very subtle
Paamsum - sacred dhool or dust

[Just as the makaranda powders in the lotus, the dust from the Lotus Feet of Goddess is the reason for the whole world].

Sancinvan - collecting
Lokaan - worlds [the fourteen worlds]

[Bhoo,bhuva,suva,maha,jana,tapa,satyam –
Atala, vitala, sutala, talatala, rasatala, mahatala, patala].

In the bhooloka or in earth, one has to come as a normal simple human being and realize. The fruits of the karmas stored in bhooloka [earth] are to be enjoyed in the other worlds, and once the fruits are over, they are to come back to the bhooloka.

Avikalam - without any break

Viracayati - creates
Sauri: - aadiseshan [Lord vishnu]
Sirasaam sahasrena - by thousand heads
Yenam - this lotus feet dust of world
Kathamapi - somehow [with difficulty]
Vahati - bears
Hara: - Lord Rudra
Yenam - this
Samkshudya - powdering it well
Bhasita uddhoolana vidhim - method of applying vibhooti
Bhajati - follows

Oh! Goddess of the fourteen worlds!
Lord Brahma does the creation of this world unendingly by collecting one of the smallest and utmost subtle sacred dust [dhool] from your Divine Lotus Feet;
The follower Lord Vishnu by his thousand heads somehow bears it, with lot of difficulty; and
The follower Lord Rudra follows the method of powdering it and applying it as vibhooti and shows us the sacred bhasma-dhaarana method.
[The Trimurtis Brahma-Vishnu-Maheswara are able to perform their duties, only due to the Grace of the Supreme Power, the goddess Para-Sakti or Pure Consciousness. Hence, to think of the Divine Lotus Feet of Goddess or to do puja for that Lotus Feet or to chant prayer about the Lotus Feet is due to Her Grace only]

The srishti-sthiti-laya process continues, but Devi is ever there as Pure Consciousnes, inside and outside and throughout the whole world, and Devi does not, in fact undergo any change and she is the I, the Consciousness , the love devoid of any hatredness in every one of us.

A song from old Malayalam film goes like this –

Mannilum vinnilum toonilum turumbilum deivam irikkunnu
Avan karunaamayanaai kaaval vilakkai karalil irikkunnu

God resides in earth, sky, pillar, and fibre; he resides in the heart of the all as the lover devoid of hatredness removing our tamasic and rajasic qualitites like kama, krodha, lobha, moha,mada and maatsarya, just as a watchman keeps the office or a big bungalow and protect from thieves, and as a lamp gives light to the environment and people around, similarly God gives us the jnaanaprakasa, by which we get out of ignorance and come to know our own real nature and get out of the bhava saagara or sorrows.
Gita refers in chapter 15, sloka 15 like this which is the equivalent of the above –

Sarvasya caaham hridi sannivishto
Mattasmritirjnaanamapohanamca
Vedaiscasarvairahameva vedyo
Vedantakrit vedavidevacaaham

I am in the heart of every one as Pure consciousness in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping and always as turiya – the unstinted bliss always ; and as
smriti – remembrance – remember good deeds of others by reading scriptures and thereby getting Grace of Guru;
jnaanam – knowledge – get out of ignorance by acquiring self – knowledge and thereby acquiring Grace of God;
apohanam – forgetfulness – forget the bad deeds of others and cultivate love thereby towards all, thereby acquiring Self-Grace;
what is to be learnt from all the four Vedas is aham, the permanent happiness - (I – Pure Consciousness) only; I am the end of knowledge – (once a person knows me – there is nothing more for him to achieve), as we find a very strong reference in mundakopanishad (2-2-8) thus –

Bhidhyate hridayagranthi chidhyante sarvasamsaya:
Ksheeyante ca asya karmaani tasmin drishte paraavare

Once a person gets the drishti [vision] of the para and apara,
i.e.,the saguna and nirguna Brahman [siva-sakti], his heart – not the physical heart but the heart wherefrom knowledge starts to flow to brain and then get distributed breaks – means , it overflows with love; all his doubts get clarified beyond doubt, his karmas end – whether he works or not whether he acts or not is immaterial, there is nothing for him to do or to achieve. Of course, he will go on acting without selfishness for the sake of the world only further. This state of a person is only referred by the words in the Gita, as Sthitaprajna, Gunaateeta, Brahmanishta, Bhakta, jnaani, yogi, karmayogi etc.
His state is referred by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi in his Upadesa
saaram, as
Hrit sthale mana swasthataakriyaa
Bhaktiyogabodhaasca niscitam

He has God or love or consciousness always in his heart, his mind is poised, and one-pointed, towards Supreme Power; he goes on doing acts without any fear for the sake of the society and surroundings unselfishly, without expecting any result out of it. This is definitely bhakti yoga, karma yoga, and jnaana yoga.
I am the vedavid – the one who knows the Vedas.
This is referred by the vedic quote
[brihadaaranyaka Upanishad 5-1-1]–

Poornamada poornamidam poornaad poornamudacyate
Poornasya poornamaadaya poornamemaava sisyate

The goddess in our heart of hearts – not the physical heart but the divine heart, is karunaamayee –devoid of any sorrow or six demoniac qualities – kaama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, maatsarya. She is love and love only devoid of hatredness.
That is why Upanishads, at last, point to the Brahman as – you and you only [not any objects but the subject] – and hence no need of searching outside- that thou art – Tat Twam Asi.
Hence, to know ourselves, to get permanent happiness, we have to locate this divine heart, which alone is the way to success.
This is possible by offering every action [mind, word, deed – manasaa, vaacaa, karmanaa] of us unto the Divine Lotus Feet, and not by running away from life.

Abhirami andaati – 14

Vandip pavarunnai vaanavar daanava raanavarkal
Cindip pavarnar tisaimukar naaranar cintaiyulle
Pantip pavarazhi yaapparamaanandar paarilunnaic
Candip pavarkkeli taamempi raatinin rannaliye

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -1

2006-03-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

Soundarya Lahari Sloka -1
[Sakala kaarya sidhi and removal of all hurdles]

siva: saktya yukto yadi bhavati sakta: prabhavitum
na cedevam devo na khalu kusala: spanditumapi
atastwaamaaraadhyaam hariharavirincaadibhirapi
pranantum stotum vaa kathamakritapunya: prabhavati

Meaning –
Siva: – the divine
Parvati and parameswara are the two forms/bhaavaas of the same superpower – just like the two sides of a coin. If you remove from this word siva, the sakti beejakshara e, si becomes sa.
Deva: – Lord Mahadeva
[Devah means swayam jyothiswarupah and sarvasaktah]
Saktyaa – with you the Para-Sakti
[icchaasakti-kriyaa-sakti-jnaanasakti]
Yukta: – together with [you]
Bhavati yadi – only if so placed
Prabhavitum – to create the world
Sakta: – become capable
Evam – like that[thus]
Na cet – if not together with [you]
Spanditum api – even for movement
Kusala: – be capable
Na khalu – not becoming
Ata: – hence
Hari-hara-virincaadibhirapi –

even by brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and other gods

[virinca – a - kaar hari- u kaar hara – ma kaar together represent aum – which is Pranava mantra]

Aaraaddhyaam – worshipped by
Twaam – you
Akritapunyah – one who has not acquired blessings
Pranantum – to bow
[by body- kaayena, manasa and vacaa]
[bowing down with complete body flat on the earth like surya namaskara, folding both hands and applying prayer are all covered by the pranaamam]
Stotum va – or to pray
[by words - vaacaa]

stotras describing vibhooti, mantrarupa, sankalpita-sthoolarupa, chanting mantras, bhagavat-katha-kathana - pathanam descriprio-discussion - maanasika sankalpa [maanasa puja] are also included by the words pranantum stotum
Katham – how
Prabhavati – become fit or eligible

Oh! Goddess almighty! The divine, self luminous, avidyaanirmukta paramasiva, the prabhu, become capable to create the world only if with Tripura Sundarai[the pure consciousness], in the form of the supporter for the creation of the universe. If not associated with you, he doesn’t become like that; else, he is not even able to move, for sure.
Naan asaintaal asaiyum akhilamellame
Hence, Oh! Mother, how will a person who has not got janmaantara - punya be able to pray You, who is worshipped by the great Gods - Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Indra and others?

Other gods like Gandharva-Yaksha-Rakshaadi Devayonis, Devi upaasakaas, the Acaarya who applied the Devi tantras and put it into practice like Manu, Candra, Kubera, Manmatha, Agasthia, Lopaamudra, Skanda, Vishnu, Dattatreya, Durvaasa, Nandikeswara, Surya, Yama, and other manushyas also worship Devi and get happiness possessing the four puryshaarthas by Her Blessings.

Sankara prays with starting word Siva – asking the Goddess to bestow all sorts of blessings to all devotees, who prostrates to her.
Skaandapurana refers like this –

Yeshaa saa saakshinee sakti: sankarasyaapi sankaree
Sivaabhinnaa dayaaheena: siva:saakshaannirarthaka:

This sarvasaakshini sakti, who is the witness, bestows mangala for Sankara, who himself is the sarvamangala moorthy also. She never gets separated from Siva- like, fire and heat – or like guna and guni - or like sun and sun’s light - or like word and its meaning. If gets separated, then Siva becomes inactive or nirarthaka.

Devi bhagavatam says like this –

Sivobhisavataam yaati kundalinyaa vivarjita:
If Siva gets separated from Kundalini Sakti, he becomes inactive.

Abhirami andadi says in sloka 12 –

Kanniya tunpukazh karpatun naamang kasintupatti
Panniya tunnirupaadaam puyattir pakaliravaa
Nanniya tunnai nayantor vaiyattu naan mun cheyta
Punnia metennam mepuvi yezhaiyum poottavale

Poorvapunya
It is only due to the blessings of the almighty that we get a thought to study or chant or hear the slokas such as Soundarya Lahari.

Only those who have propitiated other gods earlier either now or in the previous janma, and acquired jnaana [knowledge theoretically], visited holy places and teerthas thereby following dharma-nishta only are becoming eligible to pray goddess Para Sakti.

Whenever Siva takes on different names and forms to bless people thereby accepting eesitritwatwam - like

Brahama, Vishnu, Rudra, SadaaSiva, Iswara, Hiranyagarbha, Sootratman,Virat,Swarat, Samrat in all these cases Devi takes the names and forms of Sakti appropriate to each Deva.

When Siva takes the shapes of indraadilokapaalaas, and also as various Devas, Manushyas, Tiryaks, Oushadhis, Vanaspathis,Bhakshya - Bhojyas, Nadeenada samudraadis, Parvatas, Vidyut, and such and such upaadhis, the Devi who is Siva and Para expresses herself as Sakti.

Preface - part - 6

2006-03-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

In the heart of the jnaani, Tripura Sundari rest always bestowing blessings to the good people around whom the jnaani comes across.

idam mameti sarveshu
drisyabhaaveshu abhaavanaa
jaagrad jaagrad iti praahur
mahaanto brahma vittamaah

viditwaa satchidaanante
mayi drisyaparamparaam
naama rupa parityaago
jaagrad swapnah sameeryate

meaning – the greatest among those great realized ones say thus – jagrat jagrat state is that in which a person – a jnaani who is in this state does never have the thinking that this BMI complex or any other objects or the world belongs to him. His intellectual conviction is very very strong. He has started enjoying the supreme bliss and nothing in this world gives happiness to him because, he is already happy. Jagrat swapna is that state in which a person or jnaani who is in this state, is mentally able to remove the delusory names and forms which are different and perishable and is able to enjoy the supreme bliss of aananda or consciousness; he knows for sure that only consciousness alone exist and that is his real nature and that all this delusory world of objects is only seeming to appear and disappear in this substratum of consciousness and that the aananda is in no way affected even by the seemingly appearing and disappearing of the world of objects [ like the example given below by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi ]– normally when the sun god appears on every morning, the moon and the stars disappear; on an evening, just before sunset, the sun is jubilant before setting in the west, and the moon and some of the stars are appearing in the sky in the opposite direction viz., the east. But the setting sun is in no way affected by the moon and the stars.

Similarly, when the jnaana surya is there, the world of objects [the moon and stars] will never stand in the way of the jnaana surya. The mind of such a person witnesses the worldly objects, but is not all affected in any way. Any object in the world consists of three things – consciousness, name and form. If you mentally try to remove the name and form which is already illusory, you succeed in getting back your consciousness [which was temporarily seeming to be hidden by the ignorance or avidya or maaya or ajnaana]. Two types of defects are to be corrected to get back this jnaana –
1. agrahanam - ignorance is to be removed; this is called non-apprehension of the reality.
2. anyathaagrahanam – wrong knowledge is to be corrected; this is called mis-apprehension of reality.

On getting the right knowledge, both the above will vanish. This knowledge is the prasada for removing the unhappiness for ever as Gita refers in chapter 2 – prasaade sarva dukhkhaanaam haani. A person who does get involved in everything, but having the feeling that this small I consisting of B-M-I and all other objects of the world are not mine, is a jnaani. Even though I see everything and act, I am the saakshee as the SunGod – who does not get affected by lighting of a lamp in his light or by the murder being committed by a person under his light. You can have the outlook that everything is controlled by Iswara or God, until you get intellectual conviction; but once your intellect is tuned properly, you will never be worried about anything; you will be able to mend your mind gradually towards this goal and get permanent happiness which is moksha. It may take some years, but don’t discard it thinking that it is difficult and impracticable, you will feel sorry later. Don’t postpone for tomorrow what you have to for today- you know. So, why not try now, to get out of the problems-

Actually, we know this consciousness principle Tripura Sundari already. But have temporarily forgotten, and we have to get back by the method given by the great Keralite poet Ezhuttacchan in his Harinama Keeratanam thus-
Aananda cinmaya hare gopikaa ramana
Jnaanenna bhaavamatu tonnayka venamiha
Tonnunnatakkil akhilam jnaan itenna vazhi
Tonnename varada naaraayanaaya nama

Aanand cinmaya – who reside the heart and bestow aananda
Hare – hare
Gopika Ramana – who is the lover of Gopikas
Jnaanenna bhaavamatu – the feeling of I – ness
Tonnaaika venamiha – should not come [to my mind]
Tonnunnataakil – if at all such a feeling comes [to me]
Akhilam jnaan – all the whole world is myself only
Itennavazhi – such a feeling
Tonnename – kindly let the feeling come
Varada – Oh! Bestower of vows
Narayanaaya namah – prostration to Sri Narayana

The meaning of the sloka is this- Oh! Lord Krishna! You are aananda giver; You are chinmaya; You are hare; You are gopika ramana; Oh! Varada! You please give me the state, in which I should never have the feeling that I do or I enjoy anything; If at all such a feeling come, you kindly be with me so that I should be able to see the whole world as mine; Prostrations to you Oh! Naraayana!

I don’t try to judge even myself because, without amma, the consciousness, the Tripura Sundari, nothing else is there.

How is this justified? I see with my eyes my body, other bodies and the sun, the moon and the sky, and all objects in the world. Hence all I see are mine only and I need not specially count my body alone – if so, all other bodies also have to be given the same importance – which is not practicable – [we may feel] – but we have to mentally and intellectually correct ourselves to remove our worries and no other way; if we are not ready for that, we have to go on worrying throughout life and again and again taking birth and death and suffer the pin-pricks of life repeatedly. But the Grace of God and Guru are always there; to know this for certain, is the only thing required for success. We can verify our status while practicing, whether we have achieved this state – [keep in mind, don’t judge others, but you judge yourselves as referred by the great Guruji Sri Sri Ravisankar].

During the 3 states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, Consciousness is there in tact, without undergoing any change, any time. This common state is called Turiya or Aananda devoid of sorrow which is represented by the Tripura Sundari. The Consciousness available in the Turiya state may be called as Tripura Sundari. In fact, only Turiya is there. All other three states sleeping, dreaming and waking states are superimpositions, which seem to appear, due to utter ignorance or maya or avidya, and vanish, the moment ignorance disappears.

In worldly life, We have 3 types of happiness, which are not permanent - Sukha – body, indriya pleasure; Santosha – mental pleasure; Aahlaada – intellectual pleasure; But really, there is the permanent happiness, aananda, which is inside us and not outside, as referred in one Tamil Bhajan song-
Tedi tedi engo odukinraar ulle thedi kandu kollalaame. Meaning – people are searching you in the whole world outside, But, you can be located inside our heart of hearts Aananda – the pleasure devoid of sorrow which remains for ever, is called Brahman or I or the pure consciousness, or purushottama. The study of Soundarya Lahari with proper attention will lift us to the level of a jnaani very easily, even if we are utmost bad now, as Bhagavat Gita says –

Api chetsuduracara: bhajate maam ananyabhaak
Saadhureva sa mantavya: samyag vyavasito hi sa:
Meaning – Even if a person has done the worst thing but still remembers Me while doing it, he is to be considered a sadhu or saint as he is established in me as the ultimate reality.

Let us enjoy this bliss contributed by Tripura Sundari, and part this, with those who are ready to take it, by immersing in the Soundarya Lahari and first understanding the Tripura Sundari theoretically, and then practically by sravana, by manana , and by nidhidhyasana as referred in Gita chapter 9 thus –
idam tu te guhyatamam pravakshyamyanasuyave
jnaanam vijnaanasahitam yad jnaatwaa mokshyase asubhaat
Meaning :–
Idam tu – this
Te - to you
Guhyatamam - most secret
Pravakshyaamy - reveal directly
Anasuyave - one who is devoid of jealousy
[One who gives an open mind to hear]

jnaanam vijnaanasahitam - with both theoretical and practical knowledge
yad jnaatwaa - by knowing which
mokshyase - liberated
asubhaat - from the bondage of sufferings

Let Almighty’s Grace be showered on all of us, to achieve this bliss. Let us surrender mentally all our
punya-paapa,
dharma-adharma,
sukha-dukha,
labha-nashta,
success-failure
all these to our own Divine Self which is also the Guru and Iswara, silently without wounding anybody, without hurting anybody, without troubling anybody, in our heart of hearts, without losing anything, which does not require any effort, any money, any environment, any power, any material, and thereby enjoy undivided bliss.

Let the Almighty’s Blessings be with all of us always.
Now, we will enter the sloka proper.

Preface - part - 5

2006-03-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

If we don’t have happiness, it is better for us to read the saastraas or at least sing devotional slokas and try to find out; [if we want permanent happiness – Tripura Sundari; let us not be taken aback, let us not get angry- if so, it shows our ego, which will prevent us from getting the permanent happiness and it is not all affected by any other factor in the world. This ego, we can test ourselves, is just like the cobra-snake [moorkan paambu], which prevents us from getting moksha or realization.

We should try to separate this ego and the watching aspect of the consciousness and identify ourselves with the saakshee or witness and not as the ego, which may take a few years for us to practice - when we undertake to have a continuous study of the scriptures under the guidance of a competent master for a sufficient period of study, this problem will be fully solved.

We get lot of opportunities in the various fields for this, wherever we are. Because, in this world, there are many, at least one out of 1000 who know this, at least theoretically, trying to put into practice,though he may not be practically a perfect jnaani, but only a mumukshu. But he will be able to guide others who need his help which will serve the purpose to lift others and himself also in getting the required good result. Let us make a start; if already started, share with others this unbounded awareness and get more and more happiness.

Don’t think that the progress in the field in which we are working, or the house environment or the society environment will be obstructed – never it will; instead, it will accelerate the good effects. Let us recall the story of the great king Solomon and seventeen elephants which you must have read in your school days. But the wonderful principle behind it will be clear, only after a long period of time, [only if our intellectual conviction is perfect].

A king was having 17 elephants; He had three sons and wanted to distribute the elephants to the 3 sons in the following manner –
The eldest must get half of the total no of elephants. The second son must get one third of the total no of elephants.
The third son must get one ninth of the total no of elephants.
The elephants should not be cut; but the conditions should be fulfilled.
King Solomon came to the rescue; He brought his elephant, and put it along with the seventeen in row;
He asked whether there is any objection in including it for calculation purpose.
The three sons who were clever and calculative but intellectual conviction was not there for them;
The eldest thought that 17 by 2 is only 8 and part thereof; if the added elephant is counted the half of total becomes 9 and he will get 9 and get benefited. He got his share the 9 numbers and left immediately. The second son thought that 17 by 3 is only 5 and part thereof; if the added elephant is counted his share will become 6 and he will be benefited. He got his share the 6 numbers and left immediately. The third son thought that 17 by 9 is only 1 and part thereof; if the added elephant is counted his share will become 2 and he will be benefited. He got his share the 2 numbers and left immediately. The added elephant was still in tact, and remained without any change.

Divide and be undivided. This has got a similarity with our three states.
During waking and dream states, we are divided, and during sleeping state, we are undivided; which out of these states is real?
If you are unhappy and worried any time and blame any other person or object or the environment or nature, or the world – then your knowledge about yourself is thoroughly wrong, and due to this wrong notion, you never get permanent happiness.

The happiness we get in waking, dreaming and sleeping states are all due to the common unchanging factor, the consciousness – the Tripura Sundari; When this consciousness is removed, what is available is sorrow or [zero] only. In waking and dream states we get happiness mixed with unhappiness. In sleep state we get perfect happiness without any unhappiness. But the fact remains that in sleep state, we are unaware of the happiness or aananda. If we are able to get this awareness, while in waking state, it will solve the problem of removing all our unhappiness. But it cannot be done during sleep, we know; Instead it should be done in waking state only.It cannot also be done in dream state as we have no control since this state is just like the replay of our mind by the tape recorder; In this case, our mind recordings during the waking state are replayed. And we do not have control, normally.

To get the happiness, [if you are not happy] is –

To add the Consciousness or Brahman with anything and everything all the time, mentally and turning your mind from the wrong direction to the right direction. Because, anything in the world of objects consist of Consciousness or Bodha or Brahman plus a name plus a form of which only Consciousness or Bodha is permanent and name and form are perishable.

If name and form are removed, Consciousness – love - alone remains – you attain realization.

Then we will see that there is no hatredness towards anything or anybody and you will love everything in the world. If you want to get permanent happiness, follow the principle given by Sankara in his Prakarana grantha called Sarva Vedanta Siddhaanta Saara Sangraham wherein the author refers about a person who has entered the state- [we too can identify when we reach this state and until then, go on practicing sravana–manana-nidhidhyasana with the guidance from known people]

In the heart of the jnaani, Tripura Sundari rest always bestowing blessings to the good people around whom the jnaani comes across.

Sankara thus says in Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Saara Sangraham

idam mameti sarveshu drisyabhaaveshu abhaavanaa
jaagrad jaagrad iti praahur mahaanto brahma vittamaah

viditwaa satchidaanante mayi drisyaparamparaam
naama rupa parityaago jaagrad swapnah sameeryate

meaning – the greatest among those great realized ones say thus – jagrat jagrat state is that in which a person – a jnaani who is in this state does never have the thinking that this BMI complex or any other objects or the world belongs to him. His intellectual conviction is very very strong. He has started enjoying the supreme bliss and nothing in this world gives happiness to him because, he is already happy. Jagrat swapna is that state in which a person or jnaani who is in this state, is mentally able to remove the delusory names and forms which are different and perishable and is able to enjoy the supreme bliss of aananda or consciousness; he knows for sure that only consciousness alone exist and that is his real nature and that all this delusory world of objects is only seeming to appear and disappear in this substratum of consciousness and that the aananda is in no way affected even by the seemingly appearing and disappearing of the world of objects

[ like the example given below by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi ]– normally when the sun god appears on every morning, the moon and the stars disappear; on an evening, just before sunset, the sun is jubilant before setting in the west, and the moon and some of the stars are appearing in the sky in the opposite direction viz., the east. But the setting sun is in no way affected by the moon and the stars. Similarly, when the jnaana surya is there, the world of objects [the moon and stars] will never stand in the way of the jnaana surya. The mind of such a person witnesses the worldly objects, but is not all affected in any way. Any object in the world consists of three things – consciousness, name and form. If you mentally try to remove the name and form which is already illusory, you succeed in getting back your consciousness [which temporarily seemed to be hidden by the ignorance or avidya or maaya or ajnaana].

Two types of defects are to be corrected to get back this jnaana –

1. agrahanam - ignorance is to be removed; this is called non- apprehension of the reality.
2. anyathaagrahanam – wrong knowledge is to be corrected; this is called mis-apprehension of reality.

On getting the right knowledge, both the above will vanish. This knowledge is the prasada for removing the unhappiness for ever as Gita refers in chapter 2 – prasaade sarva dukhkhaanaam haani. A person who does get involved in everything, but having the feeling that this small I consisting of B-M-I and all other objects of the world are not mine, is a jnaani. Eventhough I see everything and act, I am the saakshee as the SunGod – who does not get affected by lighting of a lamp in his light or by the murder being committed by a person under his light.

You can have the outlook that everything is controlled by Iswara or God, until you get intellectual conviction; but once your intellect is tuned properly, you will never be worried about anything; you will be able to mend your mind gradually towards this goal and get permanent happiness which is moksha. It may take some years, but don’t discard it thinking that it is difficult and impracticable, you will feel sorry later.

Don’t postpone for tomorrow what you have to for today- you know.
So, why not try now, to get out of the problems?