SAUNDARYA LAHARI

 

 

VERSE 100

ALL ACTION IS ABOLISHED IN FAVOUR OF UNITIVE UNDERSTANDING

 

प्रदीप ज्वालाभि-र्दिवसकर-नीराजनविधिः
सुधासूते-श्चन्द्रोपल-जललवै-रघ्यरचना ।
स्वकीयैरम्भोभिः सलिल-निधि-सौहित्यकरणं
त्वदीयाभि-र्वाग्भि-स्तव जननि वाचां स्तुतिरियम्

 

pradipa jvalabhir divasa kara nirajana vidhih
sudh sutes candropala jalavair arghya racana
svakiyair ambhorbhis salilanidhisauhitya karanam
tvadiya bhir vagbhis tavajanani visamsrutir iyam
 
To carry out the ritual propitiation of the sun by waving flames,
To offer oblations to the moon, the source of nectar, by particles of moonstone water,
To appease the deep with offerings of water its own,
Such, o Mother is this wordy praise with words Your own.
.
 
The sun, the moon and the sea are seen to figure here prominently in the final verse. We are born into a world presided over by these three items. When treated in the large, equating oneself correctly with one´s own natural environment is all that one can be expected to do, even if one should be wise or clever. When correctly equated with a one-to-one correspondence, in a spiritually or contemplatively revised orientation, these items cancel out against their counterparts. Even if the light of one candle flame cannot be correctly cancelled out against the bright sunlight, an infinite number of them could be thought of as establishing a correct cancellation of counterparts. The One and the Many could thus belong together to a supreme or absolute value. Nothing would then remain to be said, or all would have been said, when this much has been said. Thus we arrive at the grand terminating culmination of this work.
 
Watery oblations apply to the moon, while light flames apply to the sun, and the water of the ocean is returned by rains and rivers. Thus the overall situation remains as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, forever.

-

-

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS WITH STRUCTURAL DIAGRAMS RELATED TO THIS VERSE FROM SAUNDARYA LAHARI/NOTES.

In this final verse Sankara is saying: "With words your own.... I have tried to describe you with your own words. Do not say I have written anything."

 

(Editorial note: there are some problems with the images of this and the preceding verses, we are working to resolve them.)

 

  

 

 This verse corresponds to the description of the Devi's breasts in Verse 7.

 


(The above note by the Guru may seem enigmatic at first. It seems to the Editor that what is meant is that in Verse 100 there is a cancellation of the Devi by her own self  - the same as that which takes place  in Verse 7 between the two sides of the Devi - exemplified by her pert girlish breasts cancelled with the heavy breasts of motherhood.

For Advaita Vedanta there is no duality. Any duality that seems to exist is unreal, or Maya.

Who is there who can praise the Devi?

The wisdom-seeker trying to praise the Devi is only an illusion.

The wisdom-seeker says to the Devi "Let me become you!"

The apparent difference between the Devi and her worshipper is an illusion. The one Absolute alone exists and shines.

All that exists is what Shankara calls the Devi; she is kindness and beauty (aruna and karuna). She is our self.

Here are a few structural examples from Verse 7, but to fully grasp this correspondence between the two verses, Verse 7 itself should be studied carefully. ED)

 

 

 

 

 

This verse is the counterpart of Verse 1:

Shiva united with Shakti becomes able to manifest
If otherwise, this god knows not even how to pulsate.
How then could one of ungained merit be able to bow to, or even praise
One such as you, adored by
Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.

 

.