SAUNDARYA LAHARI
VERSE 54
THE THREE GUNAS MERGE WHEN FOCUSED CENTRALLY
पवित्रीकर्तुं नः पशुपति-पराधीन-हृदये
दयामित्रै र्नेत्रै-ररुण-धवल-श्याम रुचिभिः ।
नदः शोणो गङ्गा तपनतनयेति ध्रुवमुम्
त्रयाणां तीर्थाना-मुपनयसि सम्भेद-मनघम् ॥
दयामित्रै र्नेत्रै-ररुण-धवल-श्याम रुचिभिः ।
नदः शोणो गङ्गा तपनतनयेति ध्रुवमुम्
त्रयाणां तीर्थाना-मुपनयसि सम्भेद-मनघम् ॥
pavitrikartum nah pasupati paradhina hrdaye
dayamitrair netrair aruna dhavala syamarucibhih
nadas sono ganga tapanatanayeti dhruvam amum
trayanam tirthanam upanayasi sambhedam anagham
dayamitrair netrair aruna dhavala syamarucibhih
nadas sono ganga tapanatanayeti dhruvam amum
trayanam tirthanam upanayasi sambhedam anagham
O one of kindly, sympathetic regard, Your heart being given over to the Lord of Beasts:
of rivers such as Shona, Ganga and Yamuna,
Coloured red, white and black:
Their sacred waters You do blend indeed into sinless confluence for our purification.
Coloured red, white and black:
Their sacred waters You do blend indeed into sinless confluence for our purification.
.
In Verse 54 we can at once recognize how the intensity of intentionality is further accentuated from the previous verse. The three colours of the eyes directed upward and concentrated between the eyebrows, where the third eye of Shiva or Parvati could be supposed to exist because of the high degree of sympathy developed between them, could mark also the point of confluence of the three rivers, each having different-coloured waters. This apt analogy suggests that the modalities mix and merge, one neutralizing the other by being inclusively comprised under the master modality that comes by affiliation to the Absolute. Just as rivers cross the bar of an estuary, losing their names and forms, the modalities can attain the Absolute. Attaining the Absolute is the same as salvation, which implies in turn the purification from all sin. It is not difficult to see how this complex metaphor, which is more than a mere figure of speech, is carried over with a high degree of suggestibility from Verse 53 to this verse. The way of transcending instinctive conditionings is the main theme here.
The reference to Shiva as the “Lord of Beasts” is apt. The transition from the inanimate status of the Himalaya as a mountain to his status as the father of Parvati, via the world of animals, respects the natural hierarchy of values. Shiva is the Lord of Beasts before becoming the City-Burner. The former implies ascent, while the latter implies descent.
.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS WITH STRUCTURAL DIAGRAMS RELATED TO THIS VERSE FROM SAUNDARYA LAHARI/NOTES.
The Triveni (meeting of three sacred rivers) at Allahabad happens here at the inner corner of the Devi´s eye.
(In Hindu tradition Triveni Sangam is the "confluence" of three rivers, two physical rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and the invisible or mythical Saraswati River, at Allahabad. The point of confluence is a sacred place for Hindus. A bath here is said to flush away all of one's sins and free one from the cycle of rebirth. ED)
(The eyes have three colours - the white of the eyeballs, the pink or red of the edge of the eyelids and the black of the makeup she applies to her eyes are compared to the three rivers and share their power of washing away sin. They are further compared, directly or implicitly, to the three Gunas or modalities of nature and to the three gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, with their functions of creation, preservation and destruction. ED)
The Devi's eyes are focused on the centre in meditation.
.
.
The three Gunas (horizontal modalities of Nature) are folded together vertically, like a closed fan.
.
.
When bathing in the Ganges You, the Devi, abstract and generalize the river and ourselves - cancellation occurs.
Your personality and the personality of all other bathers attains to homogeneity.
Your personality and the personality of all other bathers attains to homogeneity.
.
Bathing in the confluence of the three rivers at Allahabad is traditionally believed to wash away your sins.
It cancels Sattva, Rajas and Tamas (the 3 modalities of nature) and purifies you.
The use of the word "sinless" implies that, when the Gunas are divided, there is sin; when they are joined together, like the three rivers at the Triveni, the confluence of the three rivers, and verticalized, there is no sin.
So there is a structural secret to be brought out in this verse.
This all begins with the story of Shiva and Parvati - Shiva is meditating and She practices renunciation (tapas) in order to gain his favour. Her renunciation is a verticalization of Her personality; the three Gunas are verticalized within Herself as they are in this verse. This is an episode of Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava, also known as "The Birth of the War God".
In this poem, Shiva burns Eros with his third eye for distracting him from his meditation with his arrows of erotic attraction, causing his attention to be directed at Parvati.
In Kalidasa's works the structure of the Absolute is revealed through tragedy and comedy.
A minimum of horizontal love is retained through the slight magenta colour, which remains on the lips of Parvati as a normalizing factor.
Meditate on the middle part of the Devi, week by week.
The psyche is a woman.
PSYCHOLOGY IS SEX.
SEX HAS TO BE SOLVED IN AND THROUGH ITSELF.
All aesthetics is erotic.
That is the great secret of the Upanishads, crystallized by Sankara, who wants the feet of the Devi to be put on his head.
"Your heart is not in your possession - you have given it to Shiva.
Your eyes, which are full of kindness and friendship, are beauteous with shining red, black and white colours".
Your eyes, which are full of kindness and friendship, are beauteous with shining red, black and white colours".
"You create these three holy rivers: Shona, Ganga and Tapana-Tanayeti."
In India these are three sacred rivers, each with a distinct colour: the Ganges is white etc. These three put together give us absolute beauty, that is, a saving factor.
The Devi's eyes have a beauty which is black, white and red: sattva, rajas and tamas, the three modalities of nature, the value of which, when transcended, gives salvation, which is the same as what is obtained by bathing in the waters of the three rivers.
(The three colours of the Devi's eyes are black, red and white; the three sacred rivers at the confluence are black, red and white; the three Gunas have the same colours - these are obviously in a structural relationship.
Below is a possible structural diagram.
The proper placing of the counterparts may need revision, though it seems to us that the three rivers belong on the horizontal. ED)
Absolute Beauty has its value because it is cancelled out by its numerator counterpart, which is Shiva.
"A devotee like me, admiring the eyes, gets the same benefit as those who bathe in the three rivers".
One of these flows westwards and the other eastward, the Ganges flows north-south.
One of these flows westwards and the other eastward, the Ganges flows north-south.
-
.
Put the component parts of the structural whole together, with reciprocity, complementarity, compensation, etc.
- it will reveal the Absolute by virtue of its content.
- it will reveal the Absolute by virtue of its content.
A man who has faith in the Absolute rises from the level of necessity to the level of contingency by doing that which seems to be impossible.
Otherwise, he remains an ordinary man.
Impossible things become possible when you believe in them strongly enough - in accord with the Science of the Absolute.
Otherwise, he remains an ordinary man.
Impossible things become possible when you believe in them strongly enough - in accord with the Science of the Absolute.
Below is another, slightly different, structural diagram.
.