Saundaryalahari

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Saundarya lahari is a famous literary work written by Adi Shankara. Its hundred shlokas (verses) eulogize the grace and munificance of Goddess Parvati / Dakshayani, consort of Shiva.

The Saundarya lahari actually contains 103 shlokas. It also gives many yantras, almost one to each shloka; describes tantric ways of performing devotion connected to each specific shloka; and details the results ensuing therefrom. There are many interpretations and commentaries but best of these are arguably those that provide word-to-word translations, as also the yantras, the devotion to be performed and the results of the devotion.

The Saundarya Lahari is often viewed as being composed of two parts. Verses 1 - 41 describe the mystical experience of the union of Shiva and Shakti and related phenomena. In fact, it opens with the assertion that Only when Shiva is united with Shakti does he have the power to create. This part of the text is often referred to, quite appropriately, as the Ananda Lahari, the wave of bliss. Verses 42 to 100 are more straightforward, they describe the physical beauty of the Goddess and are sometimes referred to as the Saundarya Lahari itself. However many scholars refer to the entire text with one common name, namely Saundarya Lahari.

Legend has it that while a pilgrimage to Kailasa in the Himalayas, Adi Shankara once began inscribing this work on the rocks lying on the slopes of that mountain, as an offering to the Goddess. Ganesha started hastily erasing the inscriptions since the verses dwell upon the beauty of His mother. It was later realised by Ganesha that Adi Shankara was an avatar of Lord Shiva himself. This legend is entirely apocryphal, finds mention in no existing text, and may be a local ploy to legitimise, for commercial purposes, the identification of a certain specific himalayan mountain as being Kailasa, the celestial abode of Shiva and his consort.