SAUNDARYA LAHARI - VERSE 84

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SAUNDARYA LAHARI

 

 

VERSE 84

THE CANCELLABILITY OF VERTICAL LIMITS
 
श्रुतीनां मूर्धानो दधति तव यौ शेखरतया
ममाप्येतौ मातः शेरसि दयया देहि चरणौ ।
यय‌ओः पाद्यं पाथः पशुपति जटाजूट तटिनी
ययो-र्लाक्षा-लक्ष्मी-ररुण हरिचूडामणि रुचिः
 
srutinam murdhano dadhati tava yau sekharataya
mamapyetau matah sirasi dayaya dhehi caranau
yayoh padyam pathah pasupati jata juta tatini
yayorlaksa laksmir arunahari cudamani rucih
 
Mother, Your twin feet, marking as they do the crest point of scriptural wisdom,
Wearable as head ornament by You as by me, kindly place both upon my head
Water for their ablution comes from the stream in Shiva's matted hair
And the red paste on their sole comes from the magenta glory of Vishnu´s crown
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In Verse 84 there is a verticalized transposition of points of value references, all placed in the vertical axis. The limbs of an equation can be transposed from the right to the left or vice-versa without changing the value of the truth involved in the equation. Here, the feet of the previous verse, which stopped short at the level of the nails within the circle forming the domain proper to Eros, are further viewed from the bottom and are meant to be transformed vertically upward. Lesser values are interposed, which necessarily must have a vertical dimension, however short, successively pushed and displaced upward, so as to make the soles of the feet correspond either to the top of the crown on the head or still further to an even higher level beyond the crown. In other words, the feet could be placed adjustably at whatever level one likes to put them in the vertical scale. In passing from the bottom-most limit of the Alpha Point, one could imagine the pair of feet with magenta paste on their soles being promoted to the O Point of the total situation, which belongs to the Vishnu context of preservation, as justified in the second verse. It is a magenta glory that represents the value pushed still higher toward the Omega Point and beyond the jeweled crown representing conventional theological values of the order of the world of Indra, still relativistic and hedonistic in status.
 
The crest-point of scriptural wisdom, referred to in the first line of this verse, is where those values terminate and truly absolutist values prevail. These values refer to the highest teachings of the Vedantic wisdom contained in the Upanishads, covering both Veda and Vedanta, here referred to as sruti (wisdom heard directly from a guru). The value of such wisdom is so high that it is considered worthy of being an ornament to any Goddess we could imagine, including the Goddess of this series of verses. Sankara seems to want to place his own head underneath this ornament representing the highest possible watermark of wisdom values. The crest-jewel of wisdom could be worn by any real aspirant for wisdom, to which context Sankara here implies that he himself belongs; as well as by any imaginable Goddess of a theological context. The short phrase “as by me” justifies our thinking that Sankara wishes to substitute himself for whatever Goddess has been dealt with so far in these verses, for purposes of discourse or discussion. This shows that a theological deity is not important for him.
 
The “both” here refers not to the crown but to the feet transposed in approximation to the Omega Point. These feet have to be washed by some kind of pure or sacred water that is placed still higher in the scale of values, which here are the little streams originating in the matted hair of Shiva, the source of the heavenly Ganges. From Sankara's use of such water in the present context could be seen, in our eyes, the need for linking together in a descending order the different levels of value through which the feet have been raised. The heavenly Ganges is a streak of value that descends to earth to benefit mortals situated horizontally here below. In mythology it is represented as a thin stream descending out of the matted hair of Shiva. Without the obstruction offered by the matted hair, the flood would be too powerful and would endanger the safety of the world itself. That is the idea under reference here.
 
Thus after passing the crest-jewel of wisdom, the ablution waters derived from the heavenly Ganges could continue to descend, washing against the ruby-coloured crest jewel of the lower, Vishnu, system of values, and finally benefiting mankind in a more humble and earthly sense. The prayer requesting both the feet to be placed on the head of the supplicant gives this verse a touch of realistic intimacy, and confers upon the Absolute, not an idealistic status, as some scholars tend to think, but one that respects ontological realism to its fullest extent.
 
If there is one doctrine which is dear to the teaching of Vedanta as authoritatively contained in the Brahma Sutras, it is this respect for the ontological concreteness of the Absolute, which is not to be mixed up with idealism such as that of Plato or of the Buddhist Vijnanavadins. Both of the feet are equally real, marking respectively the lower and the higher limits, where ontology begins and teleological axiology ends.
 
Our guess in the previous verse that the twin feet could be fused into one crown if necessary, seems to be confirmed by the indication here that the crown represents twin feet on the numerator side.
 
Twin-ness represents the last vestige of parity. It is a horizontal structural feature and, when transformed into its own verticalized version with an Omega Point for reference, it abolishes its own bilateral parity in terms of a higher form of axial symmetry. Right-handedness and left-handedness in this axial symmetry could be considered possible because it is no longer bilateral. From this verse onward we pass on to other subtler features of nominalism and structuralism treated together, the peculiarities of which we shall presently examine.

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

In this verse top and bottom are interchangeable.

 
WORD FOR WORD
Shrutinam murdhano - the crest point of scriptural wisdom
Dadhati - they indicate
Tava yau - those two of Yours
Shekha rataya mam api - by being crest jewels as for me also
Etau - such these (two)
Matah - o Mother
Shirasi dayaya dhehi - kindly place upon my head
Charanau yayoh - the feet for which
Padyam pathah - ablution water
Pashu pati jata juta tatini - is the brook in Shiva's matted hair
Yayoh laksha lakshmir - for which too, the red paste glory
Aruna hari chudamani ruchih - is the magenta glory of Vishnu's crown

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Another version:

WORD FOR WORD
Srutinam murdhano - the final parts of scripture
Dadhati - you wear
Tava yau - that which are thine (two) (twin feet)
Sekharataya mam api - as crest jewel also for me by way of head ornament are for me too
Etau - these (two)
Matah - o mother
Sirasi dayaya dhehi - place kindly on my head
Caranau yayoh - the feet which belong to thee
Padyam pathah - the water of word-value
Pasupati jata jutatani - the brook that is found in the matted hair of Shiva
Yayor laksa lakshmih - what lends the red glory of laksha rasa (hibiscus juice)
Aruna haricudamani rucih - the red brilliance of the crown of Vishnu.
This verse represents the Devi standing on the head of Shiva.
In the preceding Verse 83, unless you go outside the circle of relativity, i.e. eroticism, the Absolute is powerless.

In that verse Her arrowhead toenails are sharpened on the crowns of five gods, to injure Shiva.

In this verse, there is an inversion whereby the woman is given numerator status, standing on the crown of Vishnu and giving it colour.
 

Another version:

TRANSLATION
- The final or ultimate point (Vedanta means the end or final point of wisdom)
- You (the Devi) wear
- That which is thy twin feet - (your feet are like the ultimate point of the Upanishads)
- By way of head ornament (crowning decoration) for me too (me = the poet) (Vishnu is only conventional, your feet are more valuable)
(Orientation is not there - please stand on my head and give me orientation)
- These two
- Of the Mother
- By great mercy, on my head, O Goddess, put your feet
- Those feet which are thine
- Word water (like a baptism of words)
- The river which arises from Pasupati (the Lord of Beasts, Shiva)
- Of which the beauty of the red paint (The glow of the feet of the Devi is Numerator)
- Before the pink dawn comes (The sun is Denominator, the colour is Numerator)
- The red brilliance (pink dawn brilliance) of the crown of Vishnu
Sankara is saying: "At the end of my journey through the Upanishads, now I want You to give me ontological blessing by standing on my head".

All this intellectual knowledge and ritual is fine, but now give it some real meaning and colour by rising over the gods and standing on my head - I will become the Denominator by way of your blessing."
For example: a man reads and understands a road map, but can do nothing until he has related the map to his own position.
 
(The Numerator map - which is in the conceptual world of ideas - has to be related  to the physical position in the concrete world of roads and landscapes. ED)
He asks for the feet on his head and on the head of Vishnu, or on a book, a map or the Upanishads.
Compared to the previous verse, there is no opposition here - because everything is on the vertical axis.
(Opposition and contradiction belong to the horizontal world. Vertically, there is only cancellation. ED)

The colour between the rosy dawn and the white light of the sun is superior to sunlight in this context.

It is the value of the Ganges descending to earth, and the value of Aruna, the magenta pink of dawn.
"I want your feet, but not only on Vishnu, but more on my own head to give me the proper orientation."
In this verse there is less contradiction.
In the previous verse there is more contradiction.

Surplus Value = mauna (abstract noun relating to Muni, see Monier -Williams Sanskrit Dictionary)
(Mauna: silence. ED)

 

Many levels are cancelled out here, including the top of Shiva's own head.
In traditional idol-worshipping rituals, ablution water is poured over the head of the idol, down to the feet.
 
 
 
 
 The Ganges flows from Shiva's forehead.
 
 
Pouring water over an idol.
 
Here, the feet are to be placed on Sankara's head.
The feet are also placed on the place where Vedanta stops on the numerator side, marking the crest-point of scriptural wisdom.

All hypostatic and hierophantic factors are linked together by the vertical axis permeated completely by the magenta colour: all vestiges of difference are abolished.
 
Magenta paste, which is traditionally smeared upon the feet, is the participating medium.

Sankara inserts himself at the bottom of the vertical axis for the Devi to stand on his head.

He wants to go from the feet up to Tat Tvam Asi ("thou art that" (the Absolute)) by a certain verticality called humility.

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