Religious discourse: Worship of Devi

Religious discourse: Worship of Devi: Adi Sankara’s Saundarya Lahari hails the Supreme power Sakti that is the cause of the entire creation and all the aspects and features in it, from the great Brahma to the smallest insect. The supremacy...

The Hindu: Faith

SAUNDARYALAHARI*: Shankaracharya

Adi Sankara’s Saundarya Lahari hails the Supreme power Sakti that is the cause of the entire creation and all the aspects and features in it, from the great Brahma to the smallest insect. The supremacy of Sakti is personified as the Devi, the consort of Siva, and Siva and Sakti are inseparable, asserts the acharya, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse. Worship of Sakti confers many benefits to the aspirant, from those that are necessary for worldly purposes as well as those for spiritual attainment.
Under the influence of Maya, an individual forgets the true nature of his self and believes in the reality of the apparent world. He yields to anger, desire, greed and other emotions and finds attainment of material prosperity as the goal of his life. It is true that by meditation on the divine mother one is sure to obtain whatever one desires in the pursuit of worldly goals for She is the mind that prompts one to believe in the reality of the external world. But She is also the one who can remove the screen of the mind to enable the crystal clear perception of one’s true nature in this world and of one’s right to attain eternal bliss.
Devi is so gracious to Her devotees who serve Her and surrender to Her in absolute devotion that She bestows on them much more than what they seek. Her divine grace is capable of bringing about the transcendental revelation of the highest truth and the individual realizes the ephemeral quality of these and seeks to be relieved from the clutches of materialism. She understands the inner longings in those who meditate on her and confers on them the spiritual bliss of moksha or liberation that is hard to attain in a unique manner.
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*Stanza 27 of Saundaryalahari reads:
"JAPO JALPAH SHILPAM SAKALAMAPI MUDRAA VIRACHANAA
GATI: PRAADAKSHINYAKRAMANAMASHANAADYAAHUTIVIDHI:
PRANAAMAH SAMVESAH SUKHAMAKHILAMAATMAARPANADISAA
SAPARYAA PARYAAYASTAVA BHAVATU YANME VILASITAM"

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