| SLOKA -45
Blessing of Goddess of Wealth and Utterances becoming a Fact
अरालै स्वाभाव्या-दलिकलभ-सश्रीभि रलकैः
परीतं ते वक्त्रं परिहसति पङ्केरुहरुचिम् ।
दरस्मेरे यस्मिन् दशनरुचि किञ्जल्क-रुचिरे
सुगन्धौ माद्यन्ति स्मरदहन चक्षु-र्मधुलिहः aralais svabhavyad alikalabhasa sribhir alakaih
paritam te vaktram parihasati pankeruha rucim
darasmere yasmin dasana ruci kinjalka rucire
suganhau madyanti smaradahan caksur madhu lihah.
TRANSLATION
– thus the round face, surrounded by curls.
– By its own nature curly
– Like black bumblebees
– Curls
– Your face which is surrounded
– Mocks (puts into ridicule)
– The beauty of lotus flowers
– Slightly parted in a smile
– Of which (lotus face)
– Adorned by pollen (i.e. teeth representing pollen)
– Perfumed
– Attain to infatuation of joy
– Those bees which are the eyes of the burner of ErosThe meditation on the smile of the Devi.The experience of her smile. Curly hair is like a swarm of bees. An example can be given from Abigyana Shakuntala where Kalidasa explains when Shakuntala was there bee was swarming around her hair and that is where the love began. Everything is sacred. Ridicules the beauty of lotus flowers. In BharatanatyaIt is not mandahasa, it is kirunage. The smile is charming by the brilliance of the smile. O Amba! your face surrounded by a beautiful swarm of honey bees ridicules the beauty of the lotus flower. Lotus is the embodiment of beauty. The face of women can only be compared to the lotus flower. Beauty can only be experienced in the face, not in body parts. A little smile on your face that is rendered charming by the brilliance of bud-like teeth emerging a fragrance that gives great pleasure to the bees. The eyes are that of Shiva who is the destroyer of Kamadeva. The kama here is not the sexual desire it is a desire which is beyond sexual desire. It is not kama at all. Beauty has a smile. The beauty is expressed and experienced by others is by the face. Even what we presume with our little understanding of ugly and beauty is completely different. An ugly face would have a beautiful smile and that smile is the beauty and we presume as beautiful face and smile are gone there is no beauty at all. The beauty is a smile. Ambal’s beauty surpasses the lotus flower. The beauty is also expressed there. The lotus is not only the symbol of beauty, it is also the symbol of purity hence we see mentioning “Mukha Kamala”. There cannot be beauty unless there is purity. Without purity, beauty is not expressed or felt. It is born in the mud and we cannot trace the mud. The petals are always displaying beauty. All the energy centers are defined or explained with the number of Lotus flowers. Offering lotus to any Devi is very auspicious. “Kamala pushpam Samarpayami”, the loveliness of Kamala is so much that it ridicules the beauty. Revealing teeth not fully but part of teeth which are brilliant that surpasses the beauty of the lotus. Shiva, who was not ruffled by the arrows of Kamadeva, is enchanted by the beauty of the Devi. This means Shiva is nirguna (without) any qualities which are Tamasa, Rajasa, and Satva. Without gunas means there is no form. When there is a form gunas are present that is creation. The whole Bramhanda was formless. Once she inducts guna into that it can manifest. Such a nirguna Shiva is seen enjoying the beauty of Devi. It contains a sense of ultimate superiority but the moment something is ultimate superior it does not mean arrogance. It is an assertion of truth. In this mantra, Shankara is experiencing and revealing Devi’s mind and her beautiful bud-like teeth with that there is a desire to go on gazing upon her without taking away his eyes. This is precisely the state of Shiva. The concentrate consciousness ( Pragna). He also becomes enchanted with her smile. Though he is the controller of mind, the reference to Shiva and Kamadeva has been an impressive achievement of Shankara. Shiva and also Manmatha are disciples of the Shakti mantra to attain her grace. If we go further, it is the manmatha the original seer of the Srividya mantra ( Kamadevopasitha). It was practiced by other munis and Rishis according to their parampara, hence it starts with K. Kamadeva was born with her ichcha Shakti. Rati and Kama explain although invisible, he can create something out of nothing and he can change one’s life. Kamadeva is the Rajoguna and he becomes an obstruction on the path of Satva unless Devi’s grace is showered. Devi’s 32 teeth refer to the Sodashi mantra and also most of us are reciting the parayana of Lalitha Sahasranama, only 32 alphabets are used another 19 are not used representing her teeth. A smile adds beauty to the face. When we see an ugly face the smile is very mesmerizing but when we see a beautiful face, the smile might not be mesmerizing to others. Shankara has given a full stanza for a smile. Ambal’s face is impossible to describe because it is beyond comparison. This description can only be said about the lotus flower. Her face cannot be compared to anything. Her curly hair falls on her forehead and appears like a swarm of young bees which adds beauty to her face. One bhasyakara says that why he has referred to young bees to convey the softness of her hair. Softness is beyond explanation which refers to a darker color. With the glowing dark color hair when she gives a smile, it enhances the beauty. He compares the bees around her hair to the eyes of Shiva. Shiva is also attracted to her face. The nectar in Kamala is very sweet form around the lotus a scenic beauty appears like her eyes and these are compared to eyelashes. Lotus flowers do not have white stigmas, only rare species have the stigma. The beauty of her face is unique only to her which is incomparable. Shakti Mihimna stotra has been said to be composed by Dhurvasa. The 38th sloka from SHakti Mahimna stotra speaks about her face and teeth. “Shudha Vidhan Kura Kara Dwijapankti Dwayojwala”, her teeth appear like Shudha vidya which is nothing but Srividya. Srividya is considered the most powerful sadhana of Lalithambika or Rajarajeshwari.The purpose of Soundarya Lahari is to understand each verse, meditate upon it and enjoy the results of it. It is the experience of Soundarya Lahari that should be in our day-to-day life. Srividya sadhana involves mishrachara and kaulachara. Samayachara is internal. They involve a lot of rituals. Shidha means pure, Vidhya means knowledge which can be put as pure knowledge and this emphasizes non-duality. Tatvam Asi— I am that. Pragnam Bramha. Srividya Sampradaya emphasizes on Advaita and shudha vidya is pure knowledge. In that Shodashi mantra is considered as the seed of Srividya. It is called seed because it is a beeja that sprouts as a tree and gives fruits. There are 16 seeds, when a seed grows and sprouts, it will have two leaves. The sprout of 16 syllable mantra. The smile and teeth are not simple. That is why She is the embodiment of beauty. The beauty is experienced by her teeth and those teeth are Shodashi mantra sprouting. The jaws are attached internally, in the same way, Jovatma and Paramatma are considered separate out of ignorance but in reality, they are one. Srividya needs to be done with understanding procedures. By reciting mantra regularly with total devotion and trust in Guru, the significance and meanings open up. Guru takes to a point but after that, it is the experience that sadhaka has to experience. The experience of self by each one is different. Do not share the experience with others. A different experience of the same object. We want to experience the ananda and experience the Bramhan but the Bramhan is the same. There are 32 different types of initiations of Srividya in Tantra Shaashtra. Lalitha Sahasranama has only 32 alphabets and the rest 19 are leftover. Srividya Sampradaya or parampara initiation has to be given verbally. Shudha vidya is also one of the Tattwas among 36. Shudha vidya is was tattva and in this tattva, the consciousness of both I and this is equally predominant. The universe is seen differently. The identity is run through different. In shudha vidya kriya is predominant. The consciousness nature of I am or I also am this. I am this is a shudha vidya tattva. Vidya Tattva consists of Shudha vidya. Sahaja and kanchuka is limited. Sahaja vidya is not a tattva, it is natural knowledge. This was attempted to describe her beauty so that the sadhaka can comfortably visualize her. Visualizing the beauty is very pleasing especially since the mandahasa of Devi is very blissful. In kirunage, we can see the teeth also. Meditation on the smile of devi, the experience of his practice on Shodashi mahavidya gives us the experience of Devi’s smile and that is the aim of Srividya. She is nirakara and we can see her Shodashi mantra and Japa.
Chanting procedure and Nivedyam ( offerings to the Lord): If one chants this verse 1000 times a day for 45 days, offering trimadhuram as prasadam, it is believed that whatever one utters becomes a fact.
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Atmananda lahari 