Thursday 13 August 2009

Lalitha Sahasranamam (26-30)

26.KARPURAVITIKAMODHASAMAKARSHADIGANTARA
The fragrance from the Betel leaves she chews attarcts all the quarters.
The betel leaf enjoys the pride of place among all the accessories of a traditional Hindu pooja thali. It denotes freshness and prosperity. Betel leaves or the tambool, which comprises betel leaf, betel nut and lime, marks the beginnings of all auspicious events.The betel leaves is chewed by devi signifies the devotion of her subjects.If taken with araca nut gives a natural red colour to the mouth and the lips.betel leaves alone when taken does not have the colouring property but taken with araca nut and a little lime gives the effect.the subtle reference is that the betel leaf is the relationship between knowledge of God, Brahman, Atman.It is not someone knowing Brahman, someone knowing the Atman. This has become clear because there cannot be someone outside It. We cannot say that we are part of It, because It is partless. We cannot say we are outside It, as outside It nothing can be. We cannot say that we are inside It, for It has no such thing as inside in a spatial or temporal sense. What is our relationship with It?There cannot be any relationship ,similar to the betel leaf and the person eating it.When mixed together they give the fragrance and the colour but individually they cannot exist.So do the knowledge of god, the brahman and the atman.It is all interrelated,so devotion plays a part in bringing all this together making it ,which helps in self realisation,which ultimately leads to Her.The devotee then stands in front of her, with tears rolling down his eyes in joyous unison with the almighty.The same meaning is rendered in Abirami Anthadhi thus:

பவளக் கோடியில் பழுத்த செவ்வாயும்,

பணிமுருவல்தவலத் திரு நகையும் துணையா,

எண்கள் சந்கரனைத்துவலப் பொறுத்து,

துடியிடை சாய்க்கும் துணை முலையாள்--

அவளைப் பணிமின் கண்டீர்,

அமராவதி ஆளுகைக்கே

Coral red mouth of hers,
And pearl like teeth of hers,
That showers the ever-pretty smile,
Make our Lord weak in her love,
And so Worship of the Goddess with tiny hip that bends,
With her pretty heavy breasts,
Drives away your desire for heavens to rule .

This smile of hers is even mentioned in Mahishasuramardini

ayijagadamba madamba kadamba vanapriya vaasini haasarate

shikhari shiromani tunaga himaalaya shringa nijaalaya madhyagate

madhu madhure madhu kaltabha ganjini kaltabha bhanjini raasarate

jaya jaya he mahishhaasuramardini ramyakardini shailasute.

O mother of the world,my mother,

one who loves to dwell in a forest of kadamba trees,

one who keeps on smiling

one who is on her own dwelling on the tall peak of the Himalaya,

the greatest among the mountains

one who is very sweet,

one who has the treasure of demons madhu and kaitabha,

destroyer of the demon kaitabha,engaged in dancing.

27.NIJASALAPAMADHURYAVINIRBHARTHSITAKACCHAPI
The sweet melody of Devis words put to shame even the divine music emanting fom the vina of Saraswati called kachabi

Ishaavasyam idam sarvam
Yat kinha jagatyam jagat
Tena tyaktena bhujitha
Ma gridhah kasya svida dhanam

"Everything animate or inanimate, that is within the Universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore, accept only those things necessary for oneself, which are set aside as one's quota, and refrain from accepting other things, knowing full well to whom they truly belong.So, everything belongs to the all powerful HER including the music produced by the instruments,She is the natham and thalam,which is seen in nature,the singing of the cuckoo,the bamboos playing her tribute with the help of air,the splashing of water ,the gushing of the wind,the rising of the waves all play, the one song, the praises of her. See how soundarya lahiri describes this wave of words which is thought to be the origin of words

Kavindranam chetah-kamala-vana-baal’atapa-ruchim

Bhajante ye santah katichid arunameva bhavatim;

Virinchi-preyasyas tarunatara sringara-lahari-

Gabhirabhi vagbhir vidadhati satam ranjanamami.

She who is the powerful luster of the dawn

To the lotus forest like mind,

Of the kings of poets of the world,

And thus called Aruna-the purple coloured one,

28.MANDASSMITAPRABHAPURAMAJJATKAMESAMANASA
The Mind of Kamesa is drowned in the fulness of the glory of her sweet smile.The smile that escapes from the corner of her lips which is as gentle as the leaves falling during the Autumn season ,or the gentle touch of a baby's hand which assures the mother that she is there to take care,the breeze blowing gently reminding the lonely maiden that her wait for her lover is over,such gentleness could only mean her concern towards the troubling mind of mankind who say the world does not exist at all; only God exists in heaven. There are those who feel that God exists and the world also exists; and these people try to bring about an organic relationship between God and the world - making the world, as it were, the body of God Himself.Is it, what brings out the smile or is she telling the world look, the spiritual path is not a mere imaginary movement along some idealistic lines, with no consideration whatsoever in regard to, that which the consciousness still accepts as reality. Though ,you may deny the world idealistically, you will feel it just in front of you. You cannot disconnect the consciousness from its being aware of that thing which you reject as not being there at all. There is a conflict of consciousness in this process. There are circumstances which annoys you every day - like hunger and thirst, heat and cold, etc. Hunger and thirst, heat and cold, do not really exist as objects. They are certain circumstances created in our body due to the molecular structure of the body not being able to cope with the circumstances prevailing outside in the world. When the energy produced, by the molecular activity in the body, cannot harmonise itself with the energy, produced by the sun's heat, we feel that it is very hot. If the molecular ,in the body is more intense in the production of energy than the conditions prevailing outside in the atmosphere, we feel very cold. "It is chilly," we say. There is no heat and cold actually existing outside except the action and reaction taking place between outside conditions and the inner circumstantial structure of the body. So is the case with every kind of experience,be it spiritual or consciousness.The devi bhagavatam rightly points out that Maaya is her smile,and the Great Cause of this world. This Maya is divided into two, Vidya and Avidya. Avidya Maya hides her; whereas Vidya Maya does not. Avidya creates whereas Vidya Maya liberates. so the upper and lower lip twitching into a smile is the combination of these two mayas.

29. ANAKALIKASADRUSHYACHIBUKASRIVIRAJITA
There is no equal to the beauty of her chin .The chin represents the the janakaloga which tests ,on its self control and leads to the path of liberation.He who acts because it is his duty, not thinking of the consequences, is really spiritual and a true ascetic;so here the chin has a cleft representing the two views regarding the duties of mankind.his wordly duties on one hand and his spiritual duties on the other.These two have to be balanced, so the two lobes on the chin goes to say that one cannot disown one of his duties to raise his level of the other.So the level of realisation and ultimate truth, knowing one's duty leads him in the path of glory and he who attains this level would praise her thus:

Japo jalpah shilpam sakalam api mudra-virachana

Gatih pradaksinya-kramanam asanady’ahuti-vidhih;

Pranamah samvesah sukham akilam atmarpana-drsa

Saparya-paryayas tava bhavatu yan me vilasitam.
Let the mutterings that I do,

With the sacrifice in my soul.Become chanting of your name,

Let all my movements become thine Mudhras,

Let my travel become perambulations around thee,

Let the act of eating and drinking become fire sacrifice to thee,

Let my act of sleeping becomes salutations to you ,

And let all actions of pleasure of mine,Become parts of thine worship.

30.KAMESABADDHAMANGALYASUTRASHOBHITAKANTADHARA
She is adorned with the sacred marraige thread tied around her neck by Kamesa.The sacred thread around her neck symbolises her union with the parameshwara and thereby springing to life the oneness of man and woman and her womanhood, being acclaimed by one and all.The mangal sutra is the symbolic representation of the Muladhara Chakra. (Muladhara Chakra is the meeting place of the three main nadis: Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. The downward-pointing triangle indicates the downward movement of energy and the three main nadis).similarly the mangalsutra has the threads which represents the nadis in our body and the sign of the triangle represents the energy movement and that around her neck signifies the rising of the kundalini when the kundalini yoga could be practised even during samsara.this is rightly said in this sloga:

Mahim muladhare kamapi manipure huthavaham

Sthitham svadhistane hridi marutamakasam upari;

Mano’pi bhruu-madhye sakalamapi bhittva kula-patham

Sahasrare padme saha rahasi patyaa viharase.
Oh Goddess mine,

You live in seclusion with your consort,

In the lotus with thousand petals,

Reached after breaking through the micro ways,

Of the power of earth in Mooladhara,Of the power of water of Mani poora,

Of the power of fire of Swadhishtana,

Of the fire of air in the heart,

And of the power of ether in between the eyelids*
· The Devotees who use Raja yoga believe that right below the back bone there exists a very micro nerve called Sushmna. Below this is the mooladhara chakra(The wheel which is the ultimate basis),and two inches above is the Swadishtana (ego wishes wheel) chakra and above that and opposite to the belly button is mani pooraka(the complete gem wheel) chakra and above that opposite to the heart is Anahatha chakra(deathless wheel) and above that opposite to the throat is the Vishuddhi chaka(wheel of ultimate cleanliness) and above that in between the eyelids is the Agna chakra(Wheel of order ) and in the bottom of the brain is the Sahasrara chakra(the wheel of thousand lotus),They belive that the malefic bad thoughts of men sleeps in the mooladhara chakra in the form of a snake called Kundalini..If the devotee can wake up this snake and lead it through each of the above wheels, step by step and make it reach the Sahasrara, he attains ultimate redemption and sees the ultimate truth behind everything.