Deivathin Kural Series - 180

Om Namah Sivaya.

Deivathin Kural # 180 of 07 Apr 2007.

1. These e-mails, are chapter wise translations of the lectures given by, Sri Chandra Sekharendra Swamigal, of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. Every day, after the daily Puja, He used to talk, on various aspects concerning Hinduism. These are published, in Tamil, by Vanady Padippagam, T.Nagar, Chennai, as Deivathin Kural, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each. To-day's talk is titled, 'Vakku Vanmai Varshippal', that is, 'She Will Shower Excellence of Spoken and Written Expression', in pages 837 to 842, of Deivathin Kural, Volume 1.

2. Many poets and seers have written slokas about the World's Mother, Ambal. Out of them three are specially quoted. The first amongst them is, 'Soundarya Lahiri'. When Adi Sankara Bhagawath Padar, went to Kailasa, Parameswara gave him the bundle of palm-leafs, containing the 'Soundarya Lahiri' written by Himself. As Acaryal came out of the precincts, he was met by the gate-keeper Nandikeswara, who thought that Acharyal was taking away some property of Kailasa. He tried to grab the bundle. Acharyal noticed that he was left holding only 41 of the original 100 slokas. Later he sang the balance 59 slokas as it came to him, like a river in spate and wrote them down. The present 'Soundarya Lahiri' is thus made up 41 slokas by Parameswara Himself and balance 59 as sung by Adi Sankara.

3. In that the first 41 slokas are, containing esoteric subtleties of Sciptures, Kundalini Yoga Principles, and Secrets of Sri Vidya nuances. They contain materials much cherished by the Sri Vidya devotees. But the balance 59 slokas are so full of literary merit and beauty, that even now Adi Sankara can be given the Nobel Prize for literature in absentia. In those slokas, he describes Ambal's beauty and greatness, from head to foot, part by part. As the old times stone and metal statues are so intricate in beauty of craftmanship, that no iota of part can be replaced, if damaged; not a word of these slokas can be taken out and replaced. It seems that Nandikeswara's action of pulling out more than half of the original was, so as to make Adi Sankara's literary merit known to the world. Having given a treasure trove to the world, Adi Sankara had the humility to say, "Amma! What is my worth in all this? All that power of expression is Your blessings, by which, I could attempt to describe You!"

4. Out of the three works on Ambal, the second one is, 'Mooka Panchasathi'. This is devided into five parts of 100 slokas each. The first hundred poems are the general attributes of Kamakshi, called 'Arya'. The second lot are all about Her lotus feet. Third hundred are about Her adorable qualities. Next hundred are about the effect of Her side long glance. The last set is all about the beauty of Her smile. A set of 100 slokas is called, 'sadakam'. So the 500 slokas are, Arya Sadakam, Padaravinda Sadakam, Sthuthi Sadakam, Kataksha Sadakam and Mandasmitha Sadakam, respectively. All the five sadakams put together, is known as 'Mooka Pancha Sathi'. Anyone who becomes Amma's devotee get nectar like power and grace of expression.

5. The third important sthothras on Ambal, is known as, 'Lalitha Sthava Rathnam', containing 200 slokas. This was written by Durvasa Rishi, who had Ambal's complete grace. Just chanting this gives delectable power over language. He is the one to evolve the procedural rules of Kamakshi Aradhana. Ambal is known as 'Pattarikai'. Three main devotees of Amma, have the special title of 'Pattarikar'. They are namely, Parameswara Himself, Mahakavi Kalidasa and Rishi Durvasar. There is a seperate statue for Durvasar in the Kamakshi temple.

6. Thus, all the three Granthas, of Soundarya Lahiri, Mooka Pancha Sathi and Lalitha Sthava Rathnam, confirm the fact that, one of the main endowment of becoming Her devotee, is the clarity and beauty of thoughts and expression. Of course, eventually Her Grace grants the devotee, eternal Gnana.

7. Since Brhma, Vishnu and Rudra, are prostrating before Mother, when you do 'Archana' putting flowers on Her feet, it results in doing 'Archana' to their heads also, says Acharyal. A devotee simply starts, saying, 'Amma! I You..', and She grants that wish of becoming Herself, even before he could complete the sentence! Acharyal says elsewhere, that so many Devata's jeweled crowns are brilliantly enlightening Mother's feet all the time, it looks as though they are the lights of, 'Neerajanam by Karpoora Aarathi'. The idea is not to demean other devatas. It is a fact of science too that, energy appears in many forms. Going beyond particle and wave theory of matter, science holds that, you cannot increase or decrease, the total content of energy in the universe. You might have heard the Mantra that is chanted at the beginning and end of invocations. "Ohm! Poornamadah poornamidam poornath poornamudachyate l Poornasya poornamadaya poornameva vasishyathe ll". Meaning of the mantra is:- 'The infinite this and infinite that, proceed from the infinite, realizing the infinitude remains as the infinite.' That power is deified as Parashakthi, as the source and end of all powers that create, sustain, maintain and cancel out. So praying to that means, a prayer to all the other powers too. To do Pooja to Ambal is as good as pooja to all the 33 crores of devatas!

8. Prayer to Ambal means prayer to Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. You get, 'nalla buddhi', 'nalla manasu', balance and moderation, wealth and wisdom and gnanam, when you become a devotee of Mother. With all this the bonus is, mastery of the language and superlative capabilities of verbal and written expression. Mahakavi Kalidasa was known to be a dullard before he became a Kali Baktha in Ujjaini. Mookar was deaf and dumb from childhood. In a matter of seconds, he became a genius, by Mother's grace.

9. How do you pass on to others, the immence bliss you recieve by Her Grace? So Her devotees automatically become well versed in all the mediums of expression such as, written, spoken and arts and crafts. Poesy and music are considered as gifts from Saraswathi Devi. She is said to be ever present in Ambal's Sannidanam and singing melodiously while playing on the Veena. What would she be singing? Could it be Mother's varied delectable qualities? No. She being a 'Pathi vrata siromani', loves to hear songs in praise of Parameswara. That is what Vani keeps singing. A singers avidity and imagination are further prodded to greater efforts by the response of the audience. Is it not so? Here Ambal is encouraging Saraswathi, by keeping track of the beat and facial expressions and nodding of the head. Then She bursts out, "Bravo! Well done!! Encore!!!" On hearing that suddenly Saraswathi is shamed in to silence, by the enchanting quality of Mother's voice. 'What am I doing here, showing off my artistic talents, in front of Ambal, who can display such alluring sweetness, just in three spoken words!' So saying Vani puts Her Veena inside its cover and packs off. Acharyal depicts this scene in one of the slokas, as though he has taken an Audio-Video picture of the event, in the sloka starting with the words, "vipanchya gayanthi". Mother enables us to not only feel happy but also enables us to share it with others, through arts and crafts. Bakthi to Mother also increases Guru Bakthi and Pathi Bakthi!

Sambhomahadeva.