किरीटं वैरिञ्चं परिहर पुरः कैटभभिदः
कठोरे कोटीरे स्खलसि जहि जम्भारिमकुटम्।
प्रणम्रेष्वेतेषु प्रसभमुपयातस्य भवनं
भवस्याभ्युत्थाने तव परिजनोक्तिर्विजयते॥
kirīṭaṁ vairiñcaṁ parihara puraḥ kaiṭabhabhidaḥ
kaṭhore koṭīre skhalasi jahi jambhārimakuṭam |
praṇamreṣveteṣu prasabhamupayātasya bhavanaṁ
bhavasyābhyutthāne tava parijanoktirvijayate ||
kirīṭaṁ vairiñcaṁ - Brahmā’s crown ; parihara puraḥ - clearing what is in front; kaiṭabhabhidaḥ - Viṣṇu’s; kaṭhore koṭīre – hard and rich crown; skhalasi jahi – beware of falling down; jambhāri makuṭam – Indra’s crown; praṇamreṣu eteṣu – these gods prostrating before You; prasabham upayātasya – unannounced visit; bhavanaṁ - Your abode; bhavasya – Śiva; abhyutthāne – politely getting up to welcome; tava – Your; parijanoktir vijayate – the sound of Your attendants.
“While Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra and other gods and goddesses are prostrating before you, Śiva arrived suddenly at Your Abode. In order to welcome Him, You rush towards Him and Your attendants caution You to keep away from the crowns of these gods who are prostrating before You, as You could stumble upon the hard crowns worn by them.”
Śaṁkarācārya could have seen this divine vision, hence this verse. All gods and goddesses right from Brahmā, the god in charge of creation, Viṣṇu, the god in charge of sustenance and Indra, the chief of all gods and goddesses attend to Her Royal Assembly and offer their respects to Her daily, by prostrating before Her. She is seated in Her Royal throne made up of glittering gold with precious gems embedded in it. This Royal assembly takes place in Her Abode (Lalitā Sahasranāma 775 meru nilayā) daily. One day, Her consort Śiva made an unannounced visit to Her Abode. In order to welcome Him, She rises from Her throne and moves towards Śiva in a hurry. As Her eyes are fixed on Śiva, Her attendants caution Her about the thick crowns on the ground while rushing towards Śiva. The crowns are on the ground as gods are prostrating before Her with their head on the ground. First, this establishes Her Supremacy and secondly, this verse reflects Her devotion and respect to Her Consort Śiva. This is the grosser meaning of this verse.
The subtle meaning conveyed in this verse is Her Kuṇḍalinī (Lalitā Sahasranāma 110) form, the subtlest of all Her forms. She has three forms and the commonly known form is Her physical form, which is worshiped. Her subtler form is Her kāmakalā form (Lalitā Sahasranāma 322) which consists of three bindu-s (dots) forming an upper triangle and placed above an inverted triangle, on whose three sides, three kūṭa-s Pañcadaśī mantra are placed. This verse talks about Her secretive worship known as samayācāra (Lalitā Sahasranāma 98).
Worshipping Parāśakti in the cakra-s of kuṇḍalinī, beginning from mūlādhāra cakra is called samayācāra. This is explained in Rudrayāmala, an ancient scripture, as told by Śiva Himself to Śaktī. This nāma means that She likes samayācāra worship. This worship can be done only mentally. Initiation from a Guru is the first step in this worship. This initiation will culminate in pūrṇa abhiṣeka (mantra bath) that will be performed by the guru to his disciple. The initiation by the guru will make the kuṇḍalinī ascend from the perineum to the six cakra-s. Guru will guide his disciple at each level and at each cakra. Guru will not perform the mantra bath on the disciple unless he is convinced that the disciple has attained a particular stage from where, the disciple could carryon on his own. Guru also will not perform this ritual unless the disciple pursues the right path of Self realisation. After this ritual of mantra bath, there is yet another ritual called mahā veda samskāra, a fire ritual. This mahā veda saṃskāra will be done only on the day of mahā navami (ninth day of navarātra celebrations) which occurs once in a year. (After completing all such formalities, the sādhaka (practitioner) will have to go to an isolated place and commences his samayācāra meditation, i.e. meditation on the six cakra-s and the sahasrāra. There is a prescribed procedure for this worship and this verse says that She is fond of this worship.
Kuṇḍalinī is aroused from the perineum and taken to mūlādhāra cakra. She is in Her subtle form viz. mantra form in this cakra. From mūlādhāra cakra, She is taken to the next higher cakra viz. svādhiṣṭhāna cakra. She has to be mentally worshipped in this cakra. She is in Her subtler form viz. kāmakalā form at this stage. After the worship at this cakra, She is adorned with rich clothes and ornaments. Remember that everything associated with Her is red in colour. She is then taken to maṇipūraka cakra. At this stage, changes occur in the gross body of the sādhaka. People around him start noticing these changes. In this cakra, She is offered arghya, pādya, etc (washing Her hands and feet) and She accepts the offerings made by the sādhaka. Then She is made to adorn the throne that has been discussed in nāma 3. In this cakra She is in Her subtlest form viz. Kuṇḍalinī. Kuṇḍalinī energy gets the name of Kuṇḍalinī only from the navel cakra. From this cakra onwards, She becomes very powerful. It is to be remembered that this is a mental worship that happens within.
Then she is taken to the heart cakra or anāhata cakra, where She is offered betel leaves. She is then taken to viśuddhi cakra where She is worshiped with ārati. Ārati means offering (showing) various types of lamps lit with pure ghee (clarified butter). Each such ārati has its own significance. For example pañca ārati means the five elements, ‘pūrṇa kumbha ārati’ signifies that everything was created out of totality and everything merges in totality. From viśuddhi cakra, she is then taken to ājñā cakra, where She is offered ‘karpūra ārati’. Karpūra ārati means ārati lit with camphor. Ārati with camphor has a lot of significance. She is adorned with garlands of fragrant flowers and perfumes. She is to be visualized as a bride at this stage. She is then taken to sahasrāra where Śiva is waiting for Her. When She enters sahasrāra, a veil is placed around them and the sādhaka awaits Her return. Once She returns from sahasrāra, She is taken back to mūlādhāra cakra.
The verse says that She rushes towards Śiva at sahasrāra. After their union at sahasrāra, the aspirant is liberated. The subtle meaning conveyed here is that Paramātman (Self) is realized suddenly (Śiva entering the Abode of Parāśakti) if the practitioner makes sincere attempts. Crowns, that are described in this verse as obstructions during Her movement towards Śiva are the gratnthi-s (knots) – Brahmā granthi, Viṣṇu granthi and Rudra granthi (which is described as the crown of Indra). These three are the major granthi-s and other minor granthi-s are also there, during his ascension towards sahasrāra.
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