The word Guru has a very deep spiritual meaning. It is made of two syllables Gu and Ru. Gu denotes the spiritual ignorance that most of us have. Ru represents the spiritual knowledge which destroys the said ignorance. So a Guru is one who helps dispel the darkness of ignorance and bestows knowledge of self. Given this, it is very rare to find such a Guru who imparts this knowledge of self without any inhibitions. Sri Adi Shankaracharya was one such Guru and for many of us he is the crest-jewel. To help us in our quest for Self Realization he has given bhashyams [commentaries] on the foundational texts of Vedanta in the form of Prasthana Triam. Additionally, for those who haven’t reached the level of Prasthana Triam yet, he has written shlokas on various forms of the Supreme Being – Kanakadhara Stotram, Dakshinamurthy Stotram, Subrahmanya Bhujangam etc.

For the followers of Shakti – Soundaryalahari ranks as of the supreme verses in praise of Ammavaru. It is also a tantra book which gives instructions on worshipping the Sri Yantra in 100 different ways – one per each shloka. Lahari is literally waves. Soundaryalahari means “waves of beauty”.  It is not “Amba Soundaryalahari” or “Devi Soundaryalahari”. Soundarya itself means Ammavaru. Ammavaru is the root of all beauty. That which makes all beautiful things beautiful. That which is the be-all or end-all of everything – that is the beauty of Ammavaru which is described in Soundaryalahari. Just as a mother is the most beautiful for a child, so is Ammavaru for all her kids. So it follows that it is ONLY the beauty of Ammavaru which is beautiful!! Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said “I have had the vision of so many deities. But I have not seen anywhere a beautiful form like that of Sri Mahatripurasundari”.

It is said that once Adi Shankara visited Kailash to worship Shiva and Parvati. There, the Lord gave him a manuscript containing 100 verses which described the many facets of the Goddess, as a gift to him. Nandikeshwara interrupted him when he was bringing the entire hundred shlokas granted to him and in the scuffle, Adi Shankara managed to get the first 41 shlokas. Eswara then commanded him to write the extra 59 verses. Thus, verses 1 - 41 are the original work of Lord Shiva, shedding great light on the ancient rituals of Tantra, Yantra and various powerful Mantras. Verses 1 - 41 describe the mystical experience of the union of Shiva and Shakti and related phenomena and is called “Anandalahari”. The remaining verses, i.e. 42-100 are composed by Adi Shankara himself, which mainly focuses on the appearance of the Goddess. All the 100 verses are collectively known as 'Soundaryalahari'. The meter followed in Soundaryalahari is appropriately called “Shikarini” and it has seventeen syllables per line.

One of the uncommon features of Soundaryalahari is the fact that it has more names conveying the idea of Her being a daughter than of Her being a Mother. She’s the Mother of the entire world but is also the daughter of Himavanta. In one shloka She’s called “himagiri-vamsa-dhwaja-paTi” [the zenith of Himavanta’s dynasty]. When portraying the physical form there is a specific order that needs to be followed for male forms of Supreme Being and another for the female forms. For male deities they have to be described from feet-to-head – paadadi keshaantam, aapadamastakam etc. The reverse order has to be followed for Ammavaru – keeshadi paadaantam. This order is followed both in Lalitha Sahasrananam and Soundaryalahari.

Normally, it is customary to mention specific fruits or rewards that may be obtained by reading a particular devotional composition. But that is missing in Soundaryalahari. In fact, Adi Shankaracharya says in the 100^th shloka that these shlokas are nothing compared to Her leelas and it is like offering water to the sea or showing camphor to the Sun. Maybe the Acharya meant that if one reads the Soundaryalahari with utmost conviction and devotion they would not need to ask for anything or they would become One with Her!!

Given how powerful each word of this lahari is, I am undertaking a task for which I am obviously not qualified but for some reason I took it upon myself to do this. So hopefully I will be able to justify her faith in me.

I will try to give a 30,000 feet view of two shlokas from Soundaryalahari. The 1st shloka and the 22^nd one.

Shloka 1

Siva: SaktyA yukto yadi bhavati Sakta: prabhavituM
Na chet devam devo na khalu kusala: spanditu-mapi |

atastvAmArAdhyAM hari-hara-virincAdibhi-rapi

praNantuM stotuM vA katha-makRutapuNya: prabhavati ||

Lord Shiva is able to create this world only along with Shakti

Without her, even an inch he cannot move,

And so how can, one who does not do good deeds, or one who does not sing your praise,

Become adequate to worship you

Oh, Goddess, Who is worshipped by the trinity.

That is the literal translation of the shloka. If we venture into deeper meaning, “mAtrukA hRdayam” says that starting with “ka” to “ha” the 36 consonants are considered as “SivaH”. Whereas starting with “a” to “aH” the 16 vowels are considered as “Shakti”. A consonant cannot exist all by itself, i.e. it needs a vowel to be “complete”. Hence all the words in the universe are the embodiment of this shloka only!!

Another meaning is that Shiva is “purusha” and Shakti is “prakruti”. A man can have a progeny only with a woman. The sound “a” stands for Brahman (the all-pervading, omnipresent, omnipotent Brahman) and the sound “ha” stands for Shakti. The “aham” is born only when these two join together!!

The (Sanskrit) alphabet starts with “a” and ends with “ha”. The entire universe of words is but bounded within this “aham”. It is the sound which is the basis of all creation as the Veda states “vAgEga viSvA bhuvanAni jag~nE”. It is the sounds that manifested all the worlds. The Vedam also states that “vAchaiva vishvam bahurUpam nibaddham” – “Through word alone is this world divided into numerous forms; we take out a part of that and enjoy (use).” [Vakyapadiya 1.112]. It is this aham (ego) that is present in every soul. So the shloka implies that for the universe to be created Shiva needs Shakti.

“Saradatilakam” declares that one who worships Ammavaru this way – that is – considering Her as abedham (not different) from Shiva or vice versa will be as bestowed upon as Kubera and his/her keerti will shine through as the Sun. 

It is very interesting that Acharya (or Shiva Himself) ends this shloka with “katha-makrta puṇyaḥ prabhavati”. It means that - to worship or even think about this Shakti Swaroopam, the one without whom even Shiva cannot move or can the trimurthis do their functions, one needs to have accumulated enough punyam. This is the first shloka and there are 99 more.. so for anyone to read this or go on the journey of knowing Ammavaru (and by extension, Self) one needs to have already accumulated enough punyam without which one cannot even fathom this journey!! Amazing isn’t it? So does this mean that we all have accumulated enough punyam to start this journey? Or not? I leave it to individual interpretations and beliefs.

Shloka 22

 भवानि! त्वं दासे मयि वितर दृष्टिं सकरुणां

 इति स्तोतुं वाञ्छन् कथयति भवनि ! त्वमिति यः।

तदैव त्वं तस्मै दिशसि निजसायुज्यपदवीम्

 मुकुन्दब्रह्मेन्द्रस्फुटमकुटनीराजितपदाम्  

Bhavani Tvam daase mayi vitara dRushtim sakarunam
Iti sthotum vancan kathayati Bhavani Tvamiti ya: |
Tadaiva Tvam tasmai disasi nija-sayujya-padavim
Mukunda-Brahmendra-sphuta-makuta-nirajita-padam

If anyone has the conviction in his mind to pray thus

"O Bhavani, my Mother, please shower on me just a little part of your merciful look",

even before s/he says "O Bhavani",

You would have blessed him with Oneness with You,

my Goddess, whose feet are shining with the luster falling

from the crowns of Brahma, Vishnu, Indra!!

This is my Guruji’s favourite shloka and I can clearly see why. Adi Shankaracharya is asking Ammavaru to just “sprinkle” [vitara drishtim] Her karuna on him (us). And all that is needed for one to become One with Her is just that – sprinkling of Her dristhi on that person!! And how does one go about getting Ammavaru to shower Her blessings – by saying “bhavani twam..”. The moment someone starts to say bhavani twam daase… She grasps whatever else s/he is trying to say and gives them the ultimate – “Oneness with Supreme Soul” [saayujyam].

And what a saayujyam at that! Ammavaru’s feet are resplendent with the shine emanating from the crowns of Brahma, Vishnu, Indra et al who are worshipping her even after getting everything. It is such a Oneness that a saadhaka gets from just saying “bhavaani twam daase..” with utmost conviction. As the name for Her in Lalitha Sahasranaamam says “avyaaja-karuna-muurthi”. 

In Sanatana Dharma there are four types of mukti.

a.       Saalokyam [reaching the lokam of the Supreme Being]

b.      Saaroopam [obtaining the rupam – form of the Supreme Being]

c.       Saameepyam [reaching the abode of the Supreme Being]

d.      Saaujyam [becoming one with the Supreme Being]

For followers of “dvaitam” the ultimate mukti is Saameepyam. For “visisthadvaitam” followers it is Saaroopam. For followers of “advaitam” [like Adi Shankaracharya] it is Saaujyam. Hence it follows that Adi Shankaracharya talks about one getting Saaujyam with Ammavaru since for Advaitins it is THE Ultimate mukti.

An alternate meaning for bhavani is “let it so happen”. Looking at the shloka from that lense it’s now “I will become” and the meaning changes to “I will become you”. So the shloka is at the same time both a request and a desire of a saadhaka to reach the Supreme Being.