[ambaa-l] saundaryalaharI - 5 (fwd)

[Ravisankar S. Mayavaram]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 09:52:32 -0330 (NST)
From: Gummuluru Murthy <gmurthy at morgan.ucs.mun.ca>
To: ambaa-l at egroups.com
Subject: [ambaa-l] saundaryalaharI - 5



shrI lalitAyai namaH

haristvAmArAdhya praNatajanasaubhAgyajananIM
purA nArI bhUtvA puraripumapi kshobhamanayat.h
smaro.api tvAM natvA ratinayanalehyena vapuShA
munInAmapyantaH prabhavati hi mohAya mahatAm.h          5


jananIM:  Mother
saubhAgya:  (who causes) saubhAgyam (to)
praNata:  prostrating
jana:  people
tvAM:  You
ArAdhya:  having worshipped
hariH: vishNu
purA:  earlier, ancient (times)
nArI bhUtvA:  assuming the form of a woman
puraripuM api:  even to shiva who is the enemy of the three cities
ksobham anayat:  caused mental agitation (kAma vikAra)
smaraH api:  manmatha too
tvAM natvA:  having bowed to you
ratinayanalehyena vapuShA:  with a body seen only by ratI devI's eyes
mahatAM:  great
munInAM api:  sages even
antaH:  in their minds
mohAya:  of generating passion
prabhavati:  capable

O Mother, the bestower of saubhAgya to people who worship You:
vishNu, having worshipped You, assumed the form of a woman and caused
mental agitation even to shiva, the destroyer of the three purAs.
Likewise, having bowed to You, smara, with a personality pleasingly
attractive to ratIdevI, has become capable of generating passion even
in the minds of the great sages.


Commentary:

praNatajanasaubhAgyajananI: praNata means worship with trikaraNashuddhi,
by manasA, vAcA, kAyA. prakarShena nataH praNataH.

saubhAgyaM:  is a real poignant word in sanskrit with pregnant meaning,
and no single english word (or word in any language) can describe that
well.  aishwaryasya, samagrasya, vIryasya, yashasshriyaH, j~nAnavairAgya-
yoshcaiva ShaNNAM bhaga itIraNa

purA nArI bhUtvA:  This refers to the anecdote of the mohinI incarnation
of vishNu at the time when amR^itaM was obtained after churning of the
ocean of milk by the dAnavAs and the devatAs. This mohinI form was
repeated at the desire of shiva. shiva, the greatest of the yogis, who
had control of all the senses, and who burnt kAma (manmatha) to ashes,
was kindled by passion on seeing the mohinI form of vishNu and lost
himself. vishNu got this enticing form of mohinI because of his worship
of shrI devI.

tvAM ArAdhya: adored (worshipped) You. Another anecdote which need to
be mentioned in this context is as follows: shiva saved the world by
destroying tripurAsura. The other asurAs feared destruction of their
entire community by shiva. As a group, they prayed on vishNu to guard
them from shiva's wrath. vishNu promised to do so, and was thinking of
ways of appeasing shiva. Sage nArada came by and noticed the anxiety on
vishNu's face. On knowing the reason for his anxiety, nArada advised
vishNu to worship shrI devI in the form of shrIcakra and meditate upon
shrIdevI by repeating the devI mahAmantrA which would satisfy all
desires. vishNu went in search of a preceptor who could initiate him
in the devI mantrA. Not long after, devI parAshakti appeared before
vishNu and taught him the mantrA and the mode of worshipping shrIcakra.
By prolonged worship and meditation of shrIdevI, vishNu got the power
to assume any form that he wished for. He had the mohinI form and
deceived the dAnavAs while serving amR^itaM obtained during the
churning of the ocean. On a glance at mohinI, shiva's mind got
agitated and he lost control of his senses.

puraripu:  refers to shiva who killed tripurAsura. He is considered
(at that stage) to be very angry, and is not easily amenable to
kAmavikAra. To mentally agitate amorously such a person is indeed
difficult and mohinI was able to do it because of shrIdevI's grace.

Lakshmidhara's commentary on saundaryalaharI (considered the standard
in all commentaries) also narrates the incident where vishNu took the
form of a beautiful woman and killed the demon by name Kanakaswami.
When shiva requested him (vishNu) to appear before him, he did in that
damsel's form with the result stated in the verse.

vishNu was one of the great devI-upAsakAs.

smara api: manmatha, likewise, i.e., in the same manner as vishNu.
smara also worshipped shrIcakra, meditated on devI, chanting
pa~ncadashAksharI mantrA and thereby received the grace of shrI devI.

ratinayanalehyenavapuShA:  ratIdevI is said to be beauty par excellence
among ladies. The fact that she is attracted to smara, indicates that
smara must be unusually handsome. manmatha in physical form can be
seen only by ratIdevI's eyes. ratinayanalehyenavapuShA refers to this
fact and to the following anecdote. manmatha was burnt to ashes by the
fire of shiva's third eye. He got back to life by shrIdevI's grace and
ratIdevI was given the boon that manmatha will be visible in physical
form only to ratIdevI's eyes.

manmatha's prowess in agitating the minds of even the great sages with
kAmavikAra is due to shrIdevI's grace.

The implication of this verse is: Lord shiva, the supreme controller of
the senses, and also the great sages with many years of concentrated penance
to their credit, fell prey to the temptation of passion by vishNu in the
form of mohinI, and to manmatha's actions respectively. This is because
vishNu and manmatha are blessed by shrI devI's grace. Both vishNu and
manmatha are shricakra-upAsakAs and the verse indirectly tells about
the great power of shrIcakra upAsana.


Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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