Soundarya Lahari Series (Article 18) : Verse 16 – “Mastery of Vedas”

BENEFICIAL RESULTS: Erudition, knowledge of Vedas and Shastras, knowledge of various languages and immunity from evil effects of spirits.

WORD FOR WORD

kavindranam – in superior poets

cetah kamala vana balataparucim bhajante – who adore the sweetness of the mental lotus forest, when touched by the tender rays of sunlight

bhajante – ye santah katicit – such rare good souls

arunam eva – as magenta itself

bhavatim – you become

virinci preyasyas – as one dear to Brahma

tarunatara srngaralahari gabhira bhih – by profound words of most tender, yet overwhelming, erotic content

vagbhih vidadhati – by words he pleases

satam ranjanam ami – to those very good souls he affords pleasure

Dhayna sloka from Lalitha Sahasranama : Bhagavati! Arunaam Karunaatarangitaaksheem dhrita paashaankusha pushpa baana chaapaam, Animaadibhiraavritaam mayukhai rahamityeva vibhaavaye Maheesheem Dhyayet Padmaasananthaam Vikasita Vadanaam Padma Patraayataaksheem, Hemaabhaam Peeta Vastraam Karakalitalasaddhema Padmaam Varaangeem/

Shankara talks about Aruna and calls him a crimson gold color goddess like the rays of the rising sun on the pur minds of gifted poets OH AMBA! You have that crimson gold color devi, you are the grace of the rising sun . Those who adore you become capable of delighting the minds of good people but majestic flow of words that surge like waves of erotic emoptions emanating from the youthful Saraswati the goddess of speech. One mantra is not carried over but vak devata is being present in this mantra also. The word erotic is used here becasue, Shringara which is rasikathe, romance comes here. The goddess Saraswathi is full of plenty of life force, she is the guardian of thoughts. We are going towards the guardian of thoughts asking us to protect us. The thoughts become speech. She is the life force prana. We pray to her to make our vak pure, have good thoughts. We are praying to her to give us good speech and nothing else. She is the guardian of speech and life force. So we are praying for her to protect us, she is the life force and guardian of thoughts. Without the speech, shabda brahman cannot be created at muladhara. When she guards us from thoughts, we will have good speech. The children of universal mothers join today to worship her, praise her and know her to seek her grace and pray for and to be with her always. It gives the way to meditate on a beautiful form of devi bathed in the light of the Sun, cool rays of the moon and earth . It is difficult to imagine the devi. Devi emits the fire even that time we can picture these things. Only shankara can do it. That is why only those who adore her in this manner and we delite them, they will have majestic flow of words. When we grace them with all the compassion and love there will be flow if worlds not just flow of words but majestic flow of words, they surge like erotic emotions emanating from youthful goddess Saraswathi. The erotic emotions cannot be taken in Shringara. Simply he said that who is fortunate enough to be grace of Ambal, Saraswathi herself will flow in his words with erotic emotions. Shankara himself wrote that . Unless the vagdevi is there, the goddess of speech and words to explain her grace as goddess of speech. It just flows out. Whatever she gives we take it we cannot offer anything to her. Crimson gold red is the rajasic form which is arotic in nature on account of color. It is not mine where Shiva tells that one should meditate on Devi residing on lutus like the morning rays of the sun falling and like hibiscus flowers and red like ruby. When at her concert Shiva himself describes the complexion of devi. Shiva who is crystal complexion and when she sits by the side of him her red color gets reflected and makes them appear as Sun in the dawn. The sun in the dawn is conquered this way.Here the aspect of Saraswati the supreme shakti reveals in mantra 15 is replaced by the aspect of Aruna in which Rajas guna becomes supreme. The inherent traits that she is pervading as trigunatmak. Chetha vana Bala thapa ruchim. The rays of the rising sun signifies the blossoming awareness. It is advised by our ancestors to get up in the morning and have darshana of rising sun. The rays of the morning sun in the mind signifies the blossoming awareness that brings forth the sadhaka. Is it awareness and mind are the same? No, awareness is the seed of the mind without awareness, there cannot be a tree without seed. But there could be a seed without a tree. Awareness is present as a seed. Awareness is different from mins. The mind cannot exist without awareness but awareness can exist without mind. The mind perceives the awareness. When the awareness is linked with the mind, is a marvelous flow of erotic emotions in the form of words which delight us. If somebody’s words delights us then the awareness is linked to their minds and there is a surge of words coming out. The Saraswati speaks through that person, a marvelous flow of emotions are seen. We express emotions through crying, these emotions can also be expressed through words. Kaveendranam Chetha, when the great poet links his mind to the awareness then those words of the poet are divine expressions and that is Chankara. Otherwise the emotions cannot be in the form of the mantra verses. Shringara is the word commonly used to describe the decorations of a woman or young girl to attract her loved one or husband. This shringara has been profusely used in erotic imagery to convey very heightened emotional state which is so necessary if one wants to meditate on devi in her forms that a kind of heightened state can generate an environment for the higher experience or inner vision of devi to unfold. With such an emotion inner emotion of devi cannot unfold. That was the day with heightened experience in which an inner vision is to unfold. The rising sun in the forest . The forest of only lotuses embedded in the consciousness is the descriptive of awakening of Sahasrara which is the main center of samaya tantra. When this happened, the rising sun in the forest of lotuses, that lotuses are in the consciousness. Sahasra always is innumerable. How can Sahasra be innumerable? Sahasra sheersha purusha– is not 1000 but innumerable. The rising sun there in the first is the awakening of Sahasrara, that is the main center of samaya tantra. When this happens, whether we realise or not there is an awakening in the sahasrara. This is a minute spandana and cannot be explained and unless it becomes more bright. The rising sun in the forest of consciousness , the electromagnetic intensity of the awakened awareness or purushika subdues the mind and gives birth to completely new awareness. So electromagnetic is still there, when it is totally blooming with its full intensity that awareness is full of erotism, erotism means stimulating kavithva in sadhaka. That electromagnetic intensity is what happened to Shankara to create Soundarya Lahari. Ghabiram indicates — noble face, noble form, noble quality of erotism as opposed to its vulgar form. The eroticism in art can never be vulgar. If somebody looks at the art form in Belur, that means he is unfit to be a human being. Eroticism in art can never be vulgar, that is what is indicated in this mantra. There is an aspect of vak siddhi in Shankara. The eroticism is not vulgar, it is very divine. In kamakshi temple in Kanchi, they do abhishekam in morning and evening. A white kanchuka is tied. After the abisheka is done, the white is completely wet. One can see her uchonatha in a bright white, moonlight. Is it eroticism we are talking about, it is divinity we are talking about. That is the experience one needs to have when it comes to Devi. That is the Saraswati who has graced him so that flow is her grace and it is a noble quality of eroticism. It is the vak siddhi, vak shakti, poetry and possible only with her grace. Ghabiram , it is his own experience that is telling us nothing. In that state of Sahasrara and in that state of rising sun, let’s remain there in that. Something that fades away. We need to imagine the rising sun in Sahasrara.

It is the kavitha shakti. Both 15 and 16 speak about kavitha shakti. Then what is the difference, 15 is satvika shakti of Saraswathi, 16 talks about padaasara of shakti. The poetic talks about the form of 15 and he also talks about the 16th mantra, he is bringing Shringara into divine. That’s the difference. Whoever does dhayan on the 16th mantra the divinity comes out their mouth. Kanchi paramacharya do not speak much about the mantras.Mantra can be expressed in two different forms while it remains the same. The stotras are different but what they have derived is one and the same. Here Kanchi paramacharya talks about Saraswathi wearing red color blesses those who write poems in erotic way. Here erotism is not vulgar. It is Shringara, Kameshwara and kameshwari. From satvika or passionioless detachment and Gyana to rajo guna to the kind of sweetness of honey, milk and grapes compared to earlier stanza arerasikas. They are sadhu’s who have nayika bhava. They are becoming lovers of Ambal. They love her which contains the truths of getting the ultimate who listen in the right spirit and take delight in it, the words ranjanam denotes delights caused by mental redness. Kameshwari herself has the ame Aruna so what exactly the 16th mantra in nutshell is converting is that Shringara rasa is not prohibited. A true devotee who surrenders to her lotus feet, in shringara rasa he will open up his sahasrara as the innumerable lotus in sahasrara is called forest. In that forest the rising sun arises and that is called Aruna Kirana. Only Shankara can do it . Soundarya is divine, it is not vulgar had it not been bramhan . Devi is the embodiment of Brahman. If we cannot see brahman in shiva or satya, we are not prepared to have brahma sakshatkara.This is what the 16th mantra has revelved.

Chanting Procedure: Chant this sloka 1008 (1000) times daily for 44 (45,41) days. Cooked rice, curd, milk, honey and fruits.

Sri Gurubhyo Namah

Sri Matre Namah

Hema

Note: The articles written are the extracts from daily online Jnana Yajna conducted by ‘Atmanandanatha’ on Soundarya Lahari

Link to Article 1: Introduction to Soundarya Lahari

Link to Article 2: Synopsis of first 41 verse of Soundarya Lahari

Link to Article 3: Verse1 of Soundarya Lahari explanation

Link to Article 4: Verse 2 Soundarya Lahari explanation

Link to Article 5: Verse 3 Soundarya Lahari explanation

Link to Article 6: Verse 4 Soundarya Lahari explanation

Link to Article 7: Verse 5 Soundarya Lahari explanation