Lucid commentary on Sankara's hymn

This book on Adi Sankara's “Soundarya Lahari” carries a free translation of the Sanskrit hymn in Tamil, a detailed note on the significance of the verses, and finally the benefits that will accrue to the one who chants them. In addition, a picture drawn by the author accompanies every verse, conveying its import. Hence the prefix ‘Chitthra' in the title.

Esoteric

Quite illuminating are the explanatory notes provided for some of the verses, which bring out their esoteric and

tantric significance, the bedrock of

Devi Upasana . For example, in verse 51, Sankara refers to the eight

rasas that emerge from the Divine Mother and, out of them all, seeks compassion (

karuna ). Wherever the word

karuna or

karunya figures in the hymn, there is a suggestion of the threshold to

moksha and, perhaps, Sankara makes a subtle reference to it. Allusions and references to texts belonging to the Shakta tradition —

Devi Mahatmya ,

Lalitha Sahasranama ,

Lalitha Trisati ,

Lakshmi Ashtottara and

Saraswati Ashtottara — go to enhance the value of the analysis by enabling one to grasp the full import of the terms in proper perspective.

The verse that portrays the cosmic dance of Lord Siva at the time of the deluge that occurs anterior to the dissolution of the Universe (sloka 26) declares that the sole witness to this dance will be Goddess Parvati. This reminds one of the famous words of Mooka Kavi (

hara natana sakshi viharatat ).

The publication, however, is not without flaws, minor though. In Sloka 15, for instance, the author refers to the season as “winter”, whereas it should be “autumn”, because in Sanskrit literature poets invariably speak of the autumnal moon shining brilliantly, without any trace of the clouds. Again, while explaining Sloka 25, there is a mention about the rajo guna of Lord Vishnu. Most likely, this is an oversight, since the earlier paragraph correctly refers to the Divine Trinity as manifestations of the three gunas . Elsewhere, samvesa is translated as ‘sleeping', instead of ‘resting'.

In the texts related to

mantra saastra (or

vaidya saastra , for that matter), intonation of words is of paramount importance, and any error could have grave consequences. Where they are transliterated from Sanskrit into Tamil, for example, there is every risk of a person not familiar with Sanskrit failing to intonate the words correctly and the meaning getting distorted as a result. The failure to provide diacritical marks is a lapse in this volume and one hopes it will be rectified in subsequent editions.

The language used is simple and clear, facilitating a wider reach. The intricate Srividya concepts enshrined in the verses are lucidly explained and the author deserves to be commended for it.