SAUNDARYA LAHARI
VERSE 86
ONTOLOGY MEETS TELEOLOGY RATHER ABRUPTLY
CONCEPTUALISM REDUCED STILL FURTHER IS NOMINALISM
मृषा कृत्वा गोत्रस्खलन-मथ वैलक्ष्यनमितं
ललाटे भर्तारं चरणकमले ताडयति ते ।
चिरादन्तः शल्यं दहनकृत मुन्मूलितवता
तुलाकोटिक्वाणैः किलिकिलित मीशान रिपुणा
mrsa krtva gotra skhalanam atha vailaksya namitam
lalale bhartaram carana kamale tadayati te
cirad antas salyam dahana krtam unmilitavata
tulakoti kvanaih kilikilitam isana ripuna
lalale bhartaram carana kamale tadayati te
cirad antas salyam dahana krtam unmilitavata
tulakoti kvanaih kilikilitam isana ripuna
On having inadvertently defaulted in respect of Your family name,
While stooping in shame, Your husband's forehead as
You kicked with Your lotus feet,
That enemy of Shiva, wholly giving up his rancour, his victory
celebrates with clamour of many jingle bells.
While stooping in shame, Your husband's forehead as
You kicked with Your lotus feet,
That enemy of Shiva, wholly giving up his rancour, his victory
celebrates with clamour of many jingle bells.
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In Verse 86, the counterparts are the lotus feet, which are meant to be cancelled out against a mistake made by Shiva in referring to the name of the clan of Parvati´s father. In other words, name and form are meant to be cancelled out to help us to attain the Absolute. There is no Tantric secret at all here, as some would try to find in every one of these verses. It is not impossible, however, to see the verse in a Tantric perspective if we should so desire. The divinities Shiva, Parvati and Kama enter into the composition of this verse, which might remind us of the Tantric tradition. The picture of Shiva stooping in shame, also reminiscent of some structural features belonging to the Tantric context, has to be seen side by side with the lotus feet, which have to reach the forehead to be able to kick it.
This could happen only if the feet are placed in a bent position, corresponding to that of Shiva. They could be imagined to be in contiguity within a circle or better still within the figure-eight formation at the core of the total situation. There is a kind of second- or third-dimensional loop or circle to be understood here. As we have said in respect of Verse 7, solid geometry and conic sections of more than two or three dimensions could be pressed into the service of this structuralism. Pythagorean geometric or trigonometric and differential mathematical forms or calculations could be applied also.
The jingle bells have also to be located by us in the total structure, without violating conventions proper to the language of Tantra, Mantra or Yantra. Evidently, they must be treated as the same as the jingle bells of Verse 7 on the waist belt of the purushika, represented there in the full dynamism of all her possible motions put together into one living form. Here the negative or horizontal feeling, which is not a virtue at all and thus not ornamental even to the God of Love, is the element of long-standing rancour which Kama has been keeping repressed within himself against Shiva, whom he considers to be a rival obstructing his own intentions and free functioning. Shiva stands defeated in this verse, at least for a moment. How does this enhance the beauty of the Goddess to make it attain the Absolute? Here the same argument as in the previous verse should hold good. Every kick on the forehead of Shiva by Parvati makes the erotic sentiment circulate more freely. The God of Love thus feels that he is not fully useless. Shiva is against him normally, because he represents the heated or lighted side of reality, which has also a corresponding cold and dark side. The circulation of erotic values in the core of the Absolute, whether positive or negative, takes place because of a slight mistake in naming the clan to which Parvati belonged. This slight error has had the disastrous consequence of causing eroticism to begin to function, although indirectly, stimulating the sentiments that can bridge the gulf by cancellation of dark against bright instinctive dispositions. The victory belongs directly to the beauty of the Goddess, in whose borrowed light or glory the God of Love is also jubilant. It is again the occasionalism that justifies such a temporary defeat and humiliation of Shiva. The beauty of the total picture is not marred by this slight blemish; just as one can prove the opposite by the same token. This way of proving the opposite is a favourite method adopted by wives for arguing with their husbands. It is negative but not false. An awareness of such a possibility might avoid many quarrels in everyday life.
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS WITH STRUCTURAL DIAGRAMS RELATED TO THIS VERSE FROM SAUNDARYA LAHARI/NOTES.
WORD FOR WORD
Mrsha krtva gotra skhalanam - having inadvertently defaulted in respect of Your family name
Atha vailakshya namitam - then stooping in shame
Lalata bhartaram - on Your husband's forehead
Charana kamale tadayati te - when the two lotus feet are kicking
Chirat - what is long standing
Antah shalyam - rancour
Dahana krtam - caused by the burning of Shiva
Unmulita vata - having wholly abandoned (plucked out) his rancour
Tula koti kvanaih - by sound rising from the end of ankle
Kilikilitam - with jingle bells
Ishana ripuna - by the enemy of Shiva
Mrsha krtva gotra skhalanam - having inadvertently defaulted in respect of Your family name
Atha vailakshya namitam - then stooping in shame
Lalata bhartaram - on Your husband's forehead
Charana kamale tadayati te - when the two lotus feet are kicking
Chirat - what is long standing
Antah shalyam - rancour
Dahana krtam - caused by the burning of Shiva
Unmulita vata - having wholly abandoned (plucked out) his rancour
Tula koti kvanaih - by sound rising from the end of ankle
Kilikilitam - with jingle bells
Ishana ripuna - by the enemy of Shiva
This is an example of cancellation, i.e. the kick on the forehead.
The jingling bells are tied to the feet of Eros - his being burnt means that he was pushed to the negative side.
The Devi kicks Shiva and Eros dances happily because of it.
Shiva did not pronounce some other woman's name - it had something to do with pride in the origin of Her family (gotra skhalana).
The jingling bells are tied to the feet of Eros - his being burnt means that he was pushed to the negative side.
The Devi kicks Shiva and Eros dances happily because of it.
Shiva did not pronounce some other woman's name - it had something to do with pride in the origin of Her family (gotra skhalana).
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Another version:
WORD FOR WORD
Mrsa krtva gotra skhalanam - inadvertently having had a family-disrupting thought
Atha vailaksya namitam - then recumbent with lost face
Lalate bhartaram - on the forehead of the husband
Carana kamale tadayati - when he is being kicked by her lotus feet
Te cirat - your (feet), long prevailing (nourishing)
Antah salyam dahana krtam - the anger caused inside by the consuming fire (of Shiva)
Unmulita vata - by him who has awakened out of it
Tula koti kvanaih - by the sounds of many bells
Kili kilitam - is jingled (in triumph)
Isana ripuna - by the enemy of Isana (Shiva)
Atha vailaksya namitam - then recumbent with lost face
Lalate bhartaram - on the forehead of the husband
Carana kamale tadayati - when he is being kicked by her lotus feet
Te cirat - your (feet), long prevailing (nourishing)
Antah salyam dahana krtam - the anger caused inside by the consuming fire (of Shiva)
Unmulita vata - by him who has awakened out of it
Tula koti kvanaih - by the sounds of many bells
Kili kilitam - is jingled (in triumph)
Isana ripuna - by the enemy of Isana (Shiva)
The Alpha point of one - Her foot - touches the Omega point of the other - Shiva's head.
The family honour of Parvati is at stake here.
The kick is caused by the nominalistic indifference of Shiva.
The family honour of Parvati is at stake here.
The kick is caused by the nominalistic indifference of Shiva.
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Another version:
TRANSLATION
1) Shiva made a mistake in vertical reference to his wife (mistook another)
2) Becomes ashamed about the mistake about family descent
3) Is kicked on the forehead while he is bent over in shame
4) Absolute negative value of the lotus-coloured feet, she kicks
5) Refers to Eros hiding near the waist of the Devi
6) Long prevailing fire on the head of Eros, caused by Shiva's enmity
7) Eros wakes up and sees that Shiva is being kicked
8) Bells, and
9) jingling sounds occur when the Devi kicks, and when Eros realizes it (the bells could be around the Devi's ankles)
10) When the enemy of Eros is kicked
1) Shiva made a mistake in vertical reference to his wife (mistook another)
2) Becomes ashamed about the mistake about family descent
3) Is kicked on the forehead while he is bent over in shame
4) Absolute negative value of the lotus-coloured feet, she kicks
5) Refers to Eros hiding near the waist of the Devi
6) Long prevailing fire on the head of Eros, caused by Shiva's enmity
7) Eros wakes up and sees that Shiva is being kicked
8) Bells, and
9) jingling sounds occur when the Devi kicks, and when Eros realizes it (the bells could be around the Devi's ankles)
10) When the enemy of Eros is kicked
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Another version:
TRANSLATION
1) Inadvertently having had a family-disrupting thought
2) Then recumbent with lost face
3) On the forehead of the husband
4) With the lotus feet she kicked, your
5) Long prevailing
6) The anger caused inside by long prevailing fire
7) By him who awakened out of it
8) By the sound of jingling of many bells
9) Is jingled
10) By the enemy of Isana (Shiva)
1) Inadvertently having had a family-disrupting thought
2) Then recumbent with lost face
3) On the forehead of the husband
4) With the lotus feet she kicked, your
5) Long prevailing
6) The anger caused inside by long prevailing fire
7) By him who awakened out of it
8) By the sound of jingling of many bells
9) Is jingled
10) By the enemy of Isana (Shiva)
Shiva made a mistake, forgetting that the Devi is a daughter of the Himalayas and his proper wife, since he is also prone to horizontal errors.
The Devi is obliged to straighten him out with a kick in the forehead.
The Devi is obliged to straighten him out with a kick in the forehead.
SANKARA IS SAYING THAT THERE IS ALSO A VERTICAL NEGATIVE POWER
- NOT JUST A POSITIVE POWER.
THE NEGATIVE POWER IS REPRESENTED HERE BY THE DEVI KICKING SHIVA IN THE HEAD.
THE NEGATIVE POWER IS REPRESENTED HERE BY THE DEVI KICKING SHIVA IN THE HEAD.
Gotra skhalana (disrespect of Her family): the Devi kicks and Eros celebrates with the jingling of bells in a circle. The kicking also takes place in a circle.
Kicking is justified in the rarest of absolute circumstances: when the Numerator shows a lack of respect for the dignity of the Denominator.
It means that, for example, in the Bible, the son of David and the son of God are the same: it make no distinction - they are equally dignified.
Make it into a tambourine, in which circle the Devi kicks Shiva; Eros applauds with crescendo jingling and drumming.
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