Soundarya Lahari

:: Om-Shakthi ::

The most sacred and divine poem composed by His Holiness Sri Sri AdiShankana Bhagavatpada. This consists of 100 slokas of 4 verses each. Legend of this work is often substantiated by the distinct difference present in the two sets of poems "Aanandalahari" - the waves of bliss (verses 1 to 42) and "Soundaryalahari" - The waves ofbeauty (verses 43 to 100). The complete set is known asthe "Soundaryalahari".Aanandalahari deals with the Mantra, Yantra and the Tantra practicesof Shakthi cult. The Shakthi system is the system of ritualsaccompanied by meditation based on Advaita philosoophy. Shakthisect worships Devi through rituals and meditation and is based on anon-dual interpretation of reality. These verses are on ametaphysical plane, describing the philosophical and spiritualaspects of Shakti worship. A notable feature of this set of versesis that they are not interlinked in anyway; they stand apart. The language is also highly transcendental in nature. Soundaryalahari, the second part, is a description of the Supreme Mother from crown to feet, as a description of the vision that Shri Aadi Shankaracharya experienced.

Even though it's really the secondpart (verses 43 to 100) that is the real Soundaryalahari as writtenby Sri Aadi Shankaracharya, the term is now commonly applied to the entire hundred verses. The second part explains the beauty of thedivine mother. The story is like, when Shankaracharya was composing this divine poem, jaganmatha AdhiParasakthi, Lalitha Parameshwari gave him a divine darshan, there by enabling his holiness to compose the poem.

MESSAGE OF SOUNDARYA LAHARI

Drsaa draagheeyasyaa dara-dalita-neelotpala-ruchaa daveeyaamsamdeenam snapaya krpayaa maamapisive;

Anena-ayam dhanyo bhavanti nacha te haanir-iyataa Vane vaa harmye vaa samakara nipato himakarah

This verse is from Soundarya Lahari, composed by Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada. Addressing the Divine Mother, Shive, Sri Acharyarequests Her to bathe even him, who is helpless and standing at agreat distance, with the far-reaching glance of Her soothing blueeyes, beautiful as a half-blossomed blue lily. By this act, the Acharya says, the Mother stands to lose nothing while he, a deena,will be blessed and enabled to achieve the goal of life. The soothing cool moonlight falls equally on a forest and a beautiful mansion.

By this verse, Sri Adi Sankara seeks to convey the idea that the range of the benevolent look or kataaksha of the DivineMother is long enough to embrace everything and every one in this wide world.The Divine Mother is part of Isvara. Sri Adi Sankara, an incarnationof Isvara, is the embodiment of the Divine Mother also. Yet for the purpose of instilling bhakti in the minds of the people, he humbles himslef by describing himself as deena, or helpless, and considers himself as standing in the last place in the queue of people waitingto receive the grace of the Mother.

By invoking Her to bless "evenhim" (maamapi), he suggests, by inference, the existence of personsmore deserving than himself to receive Her grace. On the other hand,he describes the glance of the Mother as reaching the far ends ofthe Universe and embracing everything. It is in such a spirit ofhumility and intense devotion that Sri Adi Sankara has given to us arich devotional treasure in the form of Soundarya Lahari and it isup to us to benefit from it.

Pradeepa jvaalaabhir-divasakara neeraajana vidhih Sudhaa sootes-chandraopala jala lavair-arghya rachanaa;

Swakeeyair-ambhobhihsalila nidhi sauuhitya karanam Tvadeeyaabhir-vaagbhi stava jananivaachaam stutiriyam

Composing these verses in praise of You, O Mother, in wordsoriginating from You, is like worshipping the Sun by waving a light,offering arghya to the Moon with drops of water dripping from a moon-stone and bathing the ocean with its own water. This is the last verse in Soundarya Lahari composed by Sri AdiSankara. Through this verse, he brought home to us the truth thatall virtues and skills we claim to posses are derived from theSupreme Mother through Her grace. The Soundarya Lahari is acomposition, the beauty of which has not so far been surpassed. It is in praise of Ambika, Herself the embodiment and source of all beauty. The beautiful words in which Soundarya Lahari is composed are also derived through the grace of Ambika.

That is why Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada has expressed in this verse that singing the praise of Ambika in the composition, Soundarya Lahari, in words originating from Her, is very much like worshipping the Sun by waving a lighted camphor before him, or offering the Moon drops of nectar emitted by the Chandrakaanta stone under the influence of the Moon, or bathing the ocean with its own waters.

The lesson to be drawn is that whenever any honour is done to a person, the recipientmust remember the divine source from which he derived thequalifications to receive that honour, and feel humble and notelated with a feeling of self-importance.

The crux of this poem is that there is nothing in the universe that is beautiful beyond the beauty of Goddess Tripurasundari. Through this poem, His Holiness conveys the message that, dont go after the maya and think that whatever you see is the most beautiful thing, but the truth is the universal mother, the divine shakthi is most beautiful, seek refuge in her to enjoy the eternal bliss.

Lets all Seek refuge in Sri-Chakraraja Nilaye, Srimad TripuraSundaridevi, the universal mother. Lets pray to her to bless the entireuniverse.

Sarvam Srikrihsnaarpanamasthu