अरालैः स्वाभाव्यादलिकलभसश्रीभिरलकैः
परीतं ते वक्त्रं परिहसति पङ्केरुहरुचिम्।
दरस्मेरे यस्मिन् दशनरुचिकिञ्जल्करुचिरे
सुगन्धौ माद्यन्ति स्मरदहनचक्षुर्मधुलिहः॥
arālaiḥ svābhāvyādalikalabhasaśrībhiralakaiḥ
parītaṁ te vaktraṁ parihasati paṅkeruharucim |
darasmere yasmin daśanarucikiñjalkarucire
sugandhau mādyanti smaradahanacakṣurmadhulihaḥ ||
arālaiḥ svābhāvyāt – naturally fragrant; ali kalabha saśrībhiḥ - beautiful like young bees (kalabha specifically refers to an young elephant or young camel and here it is used to mean young bees); alakaiḥ - curls; parītaṁ te vaktraṁ - surrounding Your face; parihasati – laughs at (mockery); paṅkeruha rucim – beautiful like lotus flowers; dara smere – soft smile; yasmin – on Your face; daśana ruci kiñjalka rucire – being lustrous because of Your teeth; sugandhau mādyanti – fragrance that gives joy; smara dahan acakṣur madhulihaḥ - bees resembling the eyes of Śiva, who burnt Manmatha.
“Your face is surrounded by Your curly hair, appearing beautiful like a swarm of young bees, making mockery of the beauty of lotus flowers. Soft smile on Your face, which appears lustrous because of Your gleaming teeth, which are so fragrant, due to which these bees swarm around Your face, like the eyes of Śiva.”
Parāśakti’s face, which is beyond any description, is compared to that of a lotus flower. Even then, this description only mocks at the lotus flowers, as Her face cannot be compared to any visual objects. She has curly hair that fall on Her forehead, which appear like a swarm of young bees, adding beauty to Her face. The verse, by referring to young bees, conveys the softness of Her hair. Bees in general are black in colour and by comparing Her hair to bees, Śaṁkarācārya indirectly refers to the glowing dark colour of Her hair. When She smiles, Her white teeth shines, enhancing the beauty of Her face. The young bees, which hover around Her beautiful face are compared to the eyes of Śiva. The verse says that even Śiva, who burnt Manmatha, is attracted by Her beautiful face.
Lotus has delicious nectar inside the pollen and bees naturally swarm lotus flowers to get the best quality of honey. When they swarm around a lotus, the scenic beauty appears like Her eyes. Bees are compared to eyelashes and the white stem within the lotus petals are compared to Her teeth. All the lotus flowers do not have white stigmas, but only rare species of lotus family. By saying so, Śaṁkarācārya has conveyed that the of beauty of Her face is unique.
Śrī Śakti mahimnaḥ (verse 39) also compares Her face to that of a fully blossomed lotus and Her teeth to that of jasmine flowers. Lalitā Sahasranāma 25 Śuddha-vidhyāṅkurākāra-dhvijapakṅti-dvayojvalā describes Her teeth thus:
Her teeth appear like Śuddha-vidyā, which means Śrī Vidyā. Śrī Vidyā is considered as the most secret and powerful ritual worship of Lalitāmbikā. This involves a lot of rituals and each ritual has its own meaning and interpretation. Śuddha means pure, vidyā means knowledge and Śuddha-vidyā means pure knowledge. This is considered pure because this upāsana mārg or the cult of Śrī Vidyā worship emphasizes the non-duality, ‘I am That’ concept.
The Ṣodaśī mantra is considered as the seed for Śrī Vidyā. It has sixteen bīja-s. When a seed grows into a sprout, it has two leaves. Therefore 16 x 2 gives 32, the number of teeth in human beings. Even though teeth have two rows placed in upper and lower jaws, the jaws are attached to each other internally. In the same way soul (jīva) and (Brahman) God are considered as different out of ignorance when both remain the same. Śrī Vidyā worship is to be done in seclusion, understanding the significance and meanings of the procedures. Then only the worship yields results.
In the mantra initiation procedures of Devi, there are thirty two types of dīkśa (types of initiation). Yet another interpretation is also possible. This Sahasranāma starts only with 32 letters out of the 51 alphabets in Sanskrit. This 32 represents Her teeth. This could also mean that the initiation into Śrī Vidyā cult is to be done verbally by Guru to his disciple.
{Further reading on Śuddha-vidyā: This is the fifteenth tattva, counting from Śiva. In this tattva, the consciousness of both “I” and “This” is equally predominant. Though the germinal universe is seen differently, yet identity runs through it as a thread. There is identity in diversity at this stage. Kriya is predominant tattva here. The consciousness of this state is ‘I am, I and also this’. Vidyā tattva consists of Śuddha-vidyā, sahaja vidyā and kañcuka (limited knowledge). Vidyātattva consists of śuddhavidyā, sahajavidyā and vidyākañcuka. Śuddhavidyā here is the same as sadvidyā (fifth tattva), while sahajavidyā is natural knowledge (not a tattva). Natural knowledge implies the emergence of His Freedom. As sahajavidyā (natural knowledge) is also known as śuddhavidyā (pure knowledge). }
These verses attempt to describe Her beauty, so that, aspirants can comfortably visualize Her form.
RECENT COMMENTS
Tīvra
Jayanth
Chaitra
Mahasvin
himay
View All Comments