26-
(Digest of pp.887-892 of Deivathin Kural)
Let those who have the
capacity to go through the path of Kundalini yoga go
that way. For us,the easier bhakti path which holds
doggedly to The Mother is enough. What they can get, She
will give the same to us. Maybe She will take us also
to that path, after a certain stage and give us those experiences. Maybe She
will also tell some of them who have gone through that difficult terrain,
“Enough of this” and bring them back to stay quiet in a total attitude of surrender.
Right in the sloka
(No.10) where it talks about the flow of amrita in the nADis, let us see how
the sloka winds up. It does not wind up with the idea that the eternal flow of
nectar at the point where the prANa Shakti reaches the head, brings the
non-dual union of the jIva with the Absolute; but it ends up by saying: “the
Kundalini in the form of that prANa Shakti
descends through Chakra after Chakra and winds itself up in the mUlAdhAra Chakra, where
it again goes to sleep”.
It is the winding and
whirling up that gave it the name of ‘Kundalini’. When a snake sleeps it winds
and whirls up. In fact all animals do it. They don’t stretch their limbs and
sleep. Some winding up will be there. But it is the snake that winds up totally
in the form of a kunDala (ear ornament).The parAShakti
whose power is infinite, exhibits Herself in each of us only a fragment of a
fragment. All the remaining power of the parAShakti is the sleeping Kundalini.
Well. Instead of
continuing the talk of the flow of amrita and the blissful sensation of it, I
have now come down to the talk of the sleeping state of ambaal in us
commonfolk. What is the meaning of this kind of ending such a profound
discussion? Yes, there is a meaning. So long as the thought that ‘I have done a
great yoga-sAdhanA’ is there, even great yogis will have to tumble down to the
normal ground-level state. And so, mark it, even if one goes high up to the
kundalini yoga stage, the only key that will unlock the door is the attitude of
surrender which says: ‘It is not me; It is You, Oh Mother’!
In the next sloka (#
11), the Shri Chakram (also called the Shri Yantram) is described. The very mention of ‘ShrI VidyA
pUjA’ implies the pUjA of Shri Chakram. Every
deity has a Yantram exclusively associated with
it. But those who do Shiva pUjA and or VishNu pUjA do not usually keep the
corresponding Yantrams in the pUjA. Maybe in temples under the
various altars of the deities the corresponding Yantrams
would have been formally installed. But in households where Shiva or VishNu
pUja is done only the BANa lingam or the SalagrAmam is kept, but not the Yantram. In the panchAyatana pUjA which includes
worship of ambaaL one keeps the stone called ‘svarNa-rekhA-ShilA’.
But when you worship ambaal alone, you don’t keep that ‘ShilA’. Only Shri Chakram is kept.
In some places along with the Chakram, an image
with hands and feet may also be kept.
The regimen of worship
for any deity has both ‘mantra’ and ‘Yantra’ associated with it. A certain sequence of
sounds, repeated often and often gets the beatification of the presence of that
devatA (divinity) prescribed by it. Just as each devatA has a physical form
with limbs, so also each devatA has a form in a stringed sequence of sounds. It
is called the sound-form, just as the recitation of mantras aims at the
mantra-form.
In addition there is the Yantra-form for each devatA. The form has lines,
triangles, enclosures, circular or otherwise; these
are not just geometrical figures. Each of them has a meaning and significance.
They have extraordinary power. Each Yantram is
set to absorb and bring into focus the paramAtmA in the form of that devatA. In
addition to the repeated mental recitation of the mantra, one does pUja to the Yantram also. Within the triangles of the Yantras and other enclosures, the seed-syllables (bIja-aksharas) corresponding to the mantra pertaining
to the devata would be inscribed. The very devatA
that is the life of an
idol with arms and feet is also considered to be brought alive in the corresponding Yantram,
In fact the Yantram is even more comprehensive;
for it includes the native residence of the devatA and all its accessory
deities within itself.
The Mother Goddess, whom we call ambaal,
has many forms like Meenakshi, durgA, Bhuvaneshvari, ShAradAmbikA etc. Each of
these has its own Yantram. But it is very common
that even the worshippers of these forms do only the Shri
Chakra pUjA, rather than the pUjA of the particular mUrti (form). This is so not only in houses, but in
temples also. Famous durgA temples have only Shri
Chakra installed therein. Sringeri has ShAradAmbAl as the main mUrti;
however the Yantra PujA is for Shri Chakram. All this goes to show the importance of
the Shri Chakram.
Lines, circles, squares, figures formed by these – all
these configured into a Chakra along with a
centre point (madhya-bindu), is called a Yantram.
Only such a design has the power to bring into focus the power of the
particular devatA – in fact it is an infinite power –and so may be called (with
a smile) a ‘Divine Design’. (This is Paramacharya’s own word). These designs
collect and absorb divine energy and have the power to radiate that energy .
In the Shri Chakra,
the central portion is circular. There are nine triangles there. They criss
cross one another, thus producing forty-three triangles. The central dot is
also considered to be one triangle. Together the triangles number forty-four.
These forty-four triangles are classified into six AvaraNas.
The straightforward meaning of this word ‘AvaraNa’
is ‘what hides’. Here it should be taken
to mean track, corridor, row, or prAkAra in
Sanskrit. If several people crowd around one individual, the latter is
naturally ‘hidden’. So they form an AvaraNam
around him. The central dot is also taken as one AvaraNam
just as it is taken also as a triangle. In fact around it the other forty-three
triangles constitute five AvaraNas. Together with it we talk of six AvaraNas. Outside of these six AvaraNas annd forty-four triangles, there are three rounds or
corridors. They constitute three more AvaraNas and thus we have nine AvaraNas
in all. You would have heard of Dikshidar’s ‘nava-AvaraNa’
compositions in music. The ShAstras describe and enunciate who lives in what AvaraNa, what is the principle involved, who is the adhi-devatA, what kind
of anugraha (Grace) they can bestow, what mudrA is to be shown to them and so
on. The compositions of Dikshidar go
through all this in brief.
Out of the outermost three AvaraNas (rounds) of the total nine, the two inner are
made up of lotus
petals arranged in two circles. The ninth AvaraNa
is a design
looking like three compound walls; but
now it is not a circular structure but of square design. The whole thing is a
unique design with an infinite divine potential.
But beware. One has to be careful.
-27-
(Digest of pages 892-898, Deivathin Kural (in
Tamil), Vol.6, 4th imprn)
A Yantra
means that every bit of it whether a line or a circle or an angle, has to be of
the right size and proportioin as prescribed. It cannot err
even a little this way or that way. Just as a mantra, with a wrong incantation,
produces contrary effects, so also a small mistake in the design of the Yantra can cause havoc. In the Shri yantra again, if the apex of the central triangle faces west
instead of east, as it should, results can just be the opposite. So when you
sit opposite to it for the worship, the apex should be on the side nearer to
you and not on the farther side. One has to be really more careful with the
pUja of a Yantram than that of an idol (vigraha), in terms of the ritualistic do’s and don’ts.
In modern times many have turned over to Shri Cakra pUjA in their homes, a few
merely for the pride of it, another few because it is the fashion, and yet
another few out of ignorance. But the injunctions are not being followed
properly. Consequently, loss of peace is on the increase.
It is not enough to just wish for great observances. We should be able
to observe the shastraic injunctions correctly. We should be able to perform
exactly as was demonstrated to us and passed on to us by our elders. Only then
we will reap the right benefits. Certainly Shri Chakra
has been eulogised in the Shastras to the sky. But the very same ShAstras have
also prescribed a certain regimen for such pUjA. By taking the attitude ‘I will
do my personalized pUjA in my own way’ not only will you miss the promised or
expected results, but actually it will turn out to be counter-productive.
A Yantra is not just the residing seat of a
devatA; it is the devatA itself. It is not just a representation, or a copy. It
is not a substitute for the devatA. It is the devatA itself. It is the
presentation of the devatA and not a re-presentation. More so
in the case of ambaal. For, Her Divine Presence is very special in Her Yantra. It is because of this that ambaal-pUjA is
mostly done to Her Yantra than to Her most beautiful physical form.
[At this point, Ra Ganapathi,
(the Boswell of Paramacharya),
adds
the following note:
Usually we talk greatly of the ‘name’ and ‘form’ of devatAs.
But generally, in the case of feminine deities,
the ‘name’ takes a lesser role. And in the case of ShrI Vidya mantras,
the name is not there at all. Only the seed syllables are dominant.
Again, though the devatA of Shri Vidya, namely Tripurasundari,
is as shown by her name itself of very beautiful form,
instead of the worship of her form
This question was asked of the Paramacharya .
He expressed concurrence with the above statement
and joined in expressing his own astonishment that this is so.
But he did not choose to give any explanation. ]
In addition to the two natural locations for Her,
namely, the
When She is in the Meru peak, the AvaraNas are piled
up peak upon peak in a three-dimensional manner. It will be in the form of an
upright cone. Such a three dimensional configuration of Shri Chakra is called ‘Meru-prastAram’.
People call it just ‘Meru’ colloquially. When the Chakra
is two dimensional it is said to be ‘bhU-prastAram’. A mixture of the two,
where the beginning AvaraNas rise higher and higher, but later the latter
AvaraNas are all in the same plane, is called ‘ardha-Meru’
(ardha means ‘semi’). A pUrNa-Meru is that which
has all the AvaraNas in the Meru-prastara style. In our Mutt at Kanchipuram and
in Tiruvidaimarudur MukAmbal sannadhi, what you find is pUrNa-Meru. In Mangadu
it is ardha-meru. In the Kamakoshtam at Kanchipuram it is bhU-prastAram.
The Shri Chakra, ShrI
VidyA, ShrI MatA, ShrI puram all pertain to the devI, the
Mother Goddess, LalitA-tripurasundari. The prefix ShrI
is the prefix usually given for respect and has no extra connotation of
Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity and Wealth. The Chakras
and the mantras associated with other devatAs are distinguished by by their
name itself carrying the name of the devatA – as in, Shiva-Chakram, Sudarshana-Yantram,
ShhaDakshhara-Chakram, etc. Only in the case of
LalitA-tripurasundari, the Chakram, the Yantram are known as The Chakram,
The Yantram, The
Mantram.
The Shri Chakram depicts the advaitic identity
of Shiva and Shakti. That is why the two kinds of Chakras
of Shiva and Shakti are intertwined. The (four) triangles with the apex upward
are known as Shiva cakras and the (five) triangles with apex downward are known
as Shakti Chakras. The angles at which these
interesect, the lotus petals on the outer corridors, the circular lines, the
square design at the outermost, all have specific prescriptions; these are
given in Shloka 11.
All this is not to be read or studied like reading fiction or for acadmeic interest. They have to be seriously learnt straight from a Guru. They have to be preserved as such. I did not want to omit them completely and therefore I just touched upon these. But don’t take them lightly !
-28-
(Digest of pp.898-903 of Deivathin Kural, 6th
volume, 4th imprn.)
Shloka 12 talks about the extraordinary
beauty and charm of the Devi. With a poetic excellence it says: “Much has been
said in detail and with precision about Your Yantra
– the lines, the planes, the circles and the squares. But to describe You and Your physical feature excellences, it doesn’t seem
to be possible. No poet has ever succeeded in that task!”.
BrahmA is the Adi-kavi, the most ancient
poet. The Bhagavatam refers to him in this fashion in the very first Shloka.
The Goddess of Learning, Sarasvati, is his Shakti. Who can therefore be a
greater poet? He has composed stotras on every devatA you can imagine. All the
divines usually go to him for redress of their grievances. He takes them to the
concerned God, either Shiva, or Vishnu or Devi, etc. Every time he sings praise
of the particular God whom they are approaching for help. His stotra on ambaal
in the work called sapta-shati is famous. But even he could not describe the
beauty of ambaal as it is. The first half of Shloka 12 goes as follows:
tvadIyam soundaryam tuhina-giri-kanye tulayitum
kavIndrAH kalpante kathamapi virinchi-prabhRtayaH /
tuhina-giri-kanye: Oh Goddess, Daughter of the
tulayitum: to weigh (or assess)
tvadIyam: Your
soundaryam: beauty
kavIndrAH: great
poets
virinchi-prabhRtayaH: (like) Brahma and others
kalpante: (only) imagine
kathamapi: somehow (in feeble ways).
Virinchi means
BrahmA. prabHRtayaH:
and the others of the kind. They tried to describe Your
beauty ‘tvadIyam soundaryam’. The word ‘
So what the poets do is to imagine newer and
newer examples with great effort. This
effort of imagination by the poet is denoted by the word ‘kalpante’ in the Shloka. ‘kalpanA’ is imagination. They only imagine an example. They are not
able to arrive at the real thing, is what the Shloka says. The fact they are
not able to do it, is gracefully hinted at by the Shloka in the words
‘kathamapi kalpante’.
The Yantra-form
of the Goddess has been outlined with precision. But Her
physical form eludes imagination. Attempts by even the great Brahma and others
to find suitable examples have only failed.
To describe the form, somebody should have
seen it in full. Has anybody seen it? No. Of course it is not right to say that
She has never been seen at all. Because we have
several poet-devotees who have had a flash of Her and
in the wake of that flash have composed wonderful devotional poetry. Even in
the case of the greatest of devotees, to whom She might have given darshan,
maybe one got to see Her lotus feet, another the Graceful eyes, and another the
bewitching smile in the face. Like that some part of Her
may have caught the eyes of even these devotees; but never the full form!
Then
who has seen Her full beauty? Only
the Lord, Her husband, Lord Shiva. Indeed She
took this very beautiful form in order that He may be involved in the leelA of
Creation. And thus She became Tripura-sundari, the
beautiful. So Her physical form has been totally
dedicated to Him. Though Her full beauty is not
visible for our perception Her fullest Grace and Compassion are available for
every one of us.
That Her full
beauty is perceptible only to Her Lord is not said in so many blunt words. It
is nicely couched in a subtle poetic extravaganza which comes in the next two
lines of the same Shloka. (Shloka #12):
Yad-AlokautsukyAd-amara-lalanA yAnti manasA
tapobhir-dushhprApAm-api girisha-sAyujya-padavIm //12 //
yat : (of) which (beauty) (This goes
with ‘Your beauty’ in the first half).
amara-lalanAH : the divine damsels
Aloka-autsukyAt : because of their curiosity to
have a complete look
yAnti : reach
manasA : mentally
girisha-sAyujya-padavIm : the unity
status with Lord Shiva
dushhprApAm : that is inaccessible
tapobhir-api :
even by great penances.
The divine damsels who are particularly
thought of here are the famous quadret: RambhA, Urvashi, tilottamA and MenakA.
They are supposed to be superlatively beautiful. Even they, having seen a
little of the beauty of ambaaL, have considered themselves insignificant, in relation to
ambaal’s beauty. They are naturally curious to get a look at the complete
beauty of Mother Goddess. But they also know they cannot have that complete
picture, because the Goddess is totally dedicated to the Lord and Her complete
beauty is not perceptible to any one else. So what do they do? Only the Lord knows Her
fullest beauty. So they want to be one with Him, the Lord Shiva. This is the Shiva-sAyujya-padavI.
Then and only then, they can have an idea of the complete beauty of ambaaL.
But that Shiva-sAyujya status is not so
easy to obtain. And what exactly is this sAyujya?
-29-
(Digest of pp.903 - 909 of Deivathin Kural,
6th volume, 4th imprn.)
To reach the world of the ishhTa-devatA
(
There are devotees of Shiva who seek that sAyujya padavI
in their unquenchable thirst for becoming one with the Lord. In their case the sAyujyam
is an end in itself. On the other hand, the divine damsels (go back to Shloka
12) who are seeking that sAyujya status with Lord Shiva do not seek it as
an end, but as a means to be able to see the beauty of the Supreme Goddess. It
is an irony that in the hands of these damsels even the greatest goal (sAdhyam)
of shiva-sAyujya
status has become a sAdhanA (means) for the sadhyam (that is, that
which is sought, and therefore, a further goal), the darshan of the fullest
beauty of ambaal!
Well, just because these damsels have
sought that status is it going to be within their reach? It is something which
is inaccessible even for the hardest penance. These damsels know only to
disturb and destroy the penances of the rishis.
The sense-control needed for the hard penance is beyond their reach. So
what do they do? They only try to
achieve it mentally. But that status
indeed is not reachable even by the mind. ‘yan manasA
na manute’ says the Upanishad, meaning, ‘What cannot be thought of even by the
mind’. The bottomline therefore is, even they cannot ultimately know the beauty
of ambaal!
It is to be noted that this shloka, which elevates the beauty (soundaryam) of ambaal to its
apex, is actually in the midst of the first part, that is
Ananda-lahari.
Another shloka (#14) describes ambaal as
the personification of Time (kAlam).There are six seasons
in a year. These 360 days of the year are the 360 rays of light emanating from
the infinite Light of Shakti. Each of the Chakras
represents one of these seasons and there are as many rays there as there are
days in the corresponding season.For instance, in the mUlAdhAra Chakra, there are fifty-six rays, corresponding to the
fifty six days of vasanta-ritu (the spring season). She thus contracts Herself as a ritu in Time and stays as such in that Chakra. In reality She
transcends Time; She is kAlAtItA. It is in that transcendent state, She manifests as the divine Feet in the thousand-petalled Chakra, beyond the six Chakras.
The pair of Her lotus feet – ‘tava padAmbuja-yugam’ -- is there in that sahasrAra Chakram.
Amidst the Anandalahari shlokas I will now
pick up one shloka (#15) which depicts Her, not in Her
lalitA form, but in another form consistent with the ShrI VidyA tantra.
Sharat-jyotsnA shuddhAM shashi-yuta-jaTA-jUTA-makuTAM
vara-trAsa-trANa-sphaTika-ghuTikA-pustaka-karAM /
sakRn-na tvA natvA katham-iva satAM sannidadhate
madhu-kshhIra-drAkshhA-madhurima-dhurINAH paNitayaH//
satAM: For (those) noble ones,
sakRt : just once
natva: having prostrated
tva : to You
Sharat-jyotsnA-shuddhAM : who is
as pure and white as the autumnal moonlight
shashi-yuta-jaTA-jUTA-makuTAM: who has the crown of matted hair that
includes the moon, and
vara-trAsa-trANa-sphaTika-ghuTikA-pustaka-karAM: who holds in the (four) hands, the boon
mudrA, the fear-protection mudrA, the crystal bead necklace, and the book
Katham-iva : why (would)
paNitayaH : the speech capabilities
madhu-kshhIra-drAkshhA-madhurima-dhurINAH: which are pregnant with the sweetness of
honey, milk and grapes
na sannidadhate: not accrue?
Here the Goddess depicted is the the
Goddess of Speech, (vAg-devi or Sarasvati), but without Her usual VINA in Her hand.
The word ‘sharad’ becomes very apt when one
refers to Goddess Sarasvati. It is in sharad-ritu (the autumnal season) that we do pUjA
to Sarasvati. She is called ShAradA because of that. Our Acharya had a special
affinity to the ShAradA name. Sarasvati is very important to him because we
know he reached the peak of excellence in scholarship.
ShAradA is one of the more important names of
Sarasvati. It indicates simultaneously the perfect purity of whiteness and the
cool Grace that combines pleasantness and goodness. Very often ‘sha’ and
‘sa’
get interchanged in tradition. In north
The second line of the shloka talks about
the four hands. Two of the hands show the vara (boon) and abhaya (fearlessness) mudrAs.
Earlier it was said in shloka 4 that all others other thanLalitAmbAL show the
vara-abhaya mudrAs. So in this shloka he presents Saraswati with the
vara-abhaya mudrAs. The dual word ‘trAsa-trANa’ indicates the ‘abhaya’. For ‘trAsa’ means ‘fear’ and ‘trANa’ means protection. Protection
from fear is just ‘abhaya’, fearlessness.
SphaTika-ghuTikA is the crystal bead necklace. In
Sanskrit it is called ‘aksha-mAlA’. This is the same as ‘akshara-mAlA’. The akshharas are the alphabets. The 51 letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet from ‘a’ to ‘kshha’ correspond each by each to the beads in the
necklace; that is why it is called ‘akshara-mAlA’, also called ‘aksha-mAlA’. Here I have to tell you a very important
component of the ShAkta tradition and scriptures.
-30-
(Digest of pp.909 - 915 of Deivathin Kural,
6th volume, 4th imprn.)
The aksharas, alphabets, are very important for
ShAktam. Each letter has a basic sound principle associated with it. The very
creation is by the vibration of sound waves. The elemental principle of ‘AkAsha’
produces, through vibration, subtle sounds, and from these sounds creation
starts, from that the mantras, and the vedas that are full of mantras. The
subtle principle underlying AkAsha, that is, the tanmAtra associated with AkAsha,
is ‘sound’ . The key concept in ShAktam is the cycle
of evolution and involution and so, the sound principle runs as its life-line.
On one side Shaktam has the artha-prapancham, the universe of matter, where the
fundamental principles are Shiva-tattvam, Shakti-tattvam, sadAshiva-tattvam,
Ishvara-tattvam and shuddha-vidyA tattvam – which take you through
the evolutionary stage from the para-brahman to the universe of matter and
being. On the other side there is the sabda-prapancham, the unvierse of sound.
It starts from the most subtle one called ‘parA’. Including this there are five ‘sound’ (shabda)
principles. After ‘parA’ there is ‘pashyantI’, then ‘madhyamA’.
The subtle sound ‘parA’ cannot be heard by human ear and cannot
be vocalised by human voice. It is in fact the root source, the substratum, of all sounds. When
that gets a little focussed – just a little – and materialised, it becomes ‘pashyantI’. In other words, what was ‘without purpose’
and was just plain and simple sound-root, namely, ‘parA’ , became inclined towards
being heard and being spoken and so in that direction ‘solidified’ slightly and
thus ‘pashyantI’
arose. So ‘pashyantI’
has a purpose!. The very word itself means ‘seeing’,
‘looking forward’. ‘parA’ had no purpose; but when the
‘purpose’ arises, it becomes ‘pashyantI’.
Next comes the
actual subtle sound, called ‘madhyamA’. This is not produced by any human
voice. It arises by itself. This is therefore midway between the subtle sound of ‘pashyantI’
and the actual sound of the human voice, which is physical. Hence the name ‘madhyamA’,
which means ‘what is in the middle’. This is a self-generated sound. It is
therefore also called ‘anAhata’.
‘Ahata’ means ‘what is forced or externally generated’. That which is not
forced or not generated externally, is the ‘anAhata’ sound.
All that is externally generated is ‘Ahata’.
In this category come all sounds, that human voice produces, by the vibration
of air through the larynx, and all instrumental noises produced by the blow of
air or by beat of drum or by the friction of matter with matter, metal with
metal.
After parA, pashyantI, and ‘madhyamA’ comes the speech that man produces
with effort. This is called ‘vaikharI’.
This is classified into two: just mere noise is called ‘dhvani’
--- when a child cries, or when we just laaugh loudly or weep aloud; that which
is recognisable as ‘such and such a sound’ is called ‘
The five principles of the artha-prapancham
are usually equated with the five sound principles. In fact the latter are more
important, because it is by the vibration of these sounds that the
artha-universe began.
Now let us come to the five elemental principles
in which Ambaal manifests Herself in the kundalini
cakras. Starting from mulAdhAra, upwards to the vishuddhi Chakra,
the tattvas of earth, water, fire, air and AkAsha are proceeding from the concrete to the
subtle ones. This is the artha-prapancham. The five elemental sound principles
are also manifested in the kundalini Chakras,
but in the reverse order. It is in the mulAdhAra Chakra
that the most fundamental sound energy ‘parA’ is present. So from the mulAdhAra to vishuddhi,
they go from the subtle to the concrete, thus ending up with the most concrete
one of the human voice, namely, the ‘
The 51 sounds of the alphabet are called ‘mAtRkAs’.
The word ‘mAtRkA’
means ‘mother’. An young mother who moves and mingles
with us in our own childish world is called ‘mAtRkA’. A royal mother with a
higher status is called ‘mAtA’. She is the ‘mahA-rAjnI’ of
LalitA-sahsranAma. But She is also the ‘mAtRkA-varna-rUpiNI’,
meaning She is in the form of the varnas (=aksharas) or the mAtRkAs. In ShAkta scriptures the aksha-mAlA
and the book are indicative of the shabda-prapancham. That is why ambaal is holding
them in the other two hands.
The ShrI vidyA mantras are made up of pure aksharas
only. It is the Mother Goddess Herself who takes the forms of these sounds.
Those who do the mantra-japa are being blessed by Her
through these sounds. Her Grace makes even the kundalini yoga achievable by the
vibrations of the nADIs at the japa of the mantras. We, in addition, get many
of our other desires fulfilled. Not only this. By repeating these sound
vibrations we get even the darshan of Her physical
form.Thus Her entire leelA takes place in this universe of sounds and sound
vibrations. All that I said now is about the akshharas only.
When we combine these akshharas in various combinations we
get the various words and nAmas and also the stotras.
In fact even the Vedas arose like this.
In the ShrI vidyA mantra there are three ‘kUTas’,
spheres of influence. The first one is called ‘vAgbhava-kUTam’. It means that it
arises from ‘vAk’,
speech. The entire mantra is the form of ambaaL. And in that form, the face is
‘vAgbhava-kUTam’.
In the scriptures and stotras of ShAktam, it is very often said that She gives ‘excellence of speech’ to Her devotees. In this very sloka (#15) that is what it
says. Why all this importance to this Grace of the Goddess? Let me explain.
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DPDS
Acknowledgement of Source Material:
Ra. Ganapthy’s ‘Deivathin Kural’ (Vol.6) in Tamil published
by Vanathi Publishers, 4th edn. 1998
Copyright of English Summary © V. Krishnamurthy
Oct.27, 2003