Saundarya Lahari

In the Mahābhārata, there is reference to Śakti worship in many contexts. Before entering the Matsya kingdom for spending the last year of exile incognito, Dharmaputra prays to Durgā. At the commencement of the battle of Kurukṣetra Srī Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to get down from the chariot and to pray to Durgā, and Arjuna does so.

The Śrī-Vidyā Upāsaka should follow certain disciplines. He should not find fault with other paths or criticize them while being steadfast in his own. The practice of Japa should go on as an under-current at all times. He should not ask for favours or accept them. He should do his duties in the world and the worship of the Deity without attachment

Śaṅkarācārya says in Saundaryalaharī: “O Parabrahmamahiṣī! The knowers of Veda call you Vāk-Devatā the consort of Brahmā, Lakṣmī the consort of Viṣṇu, and Pārvatī the consort of Śiva. But Thou art the Fourth (Turīya) of inconceivable and limitless majesties—the indeterminable Mahāmāyā who revolves the wheel of this world.”

The meaning of the dictum ‘Truth is Beauty and Beauty Truth’ is expounded in the hundred verses of the Saundaryalaharī. What is described as ‘Śāntam-Śivam-Advaitam’ in the Upaniṣad, is revealed here as the ultimate perfection of beauty and its adoration.

The origin of Śakti worship can be traced to such Vedic texts as Śri-Sūktam, Durgā-Sūktam, Bhū-Sūktam, Bahvrcopaniṣad, Tripuropaniṣad, Bhāvanopaniṣad and other Devī Upaniṣads. In Sandhyā Upāsanā, we think of Gāyatrī Devī in the solar orb and imagine that the sun shines by Her effulgence and that She is also the Truth which has kindled the light of

God is not only the Lord of creation but also the Lord of destruction.

In most of the Purāṇas, the importance of Śakti worship is alluded to. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, we see Rukmiṇī worshipping at the shrine of Ambikā before her marriage. The Devī Ḅhāgavatam deals entirely with the glory of the Divine Mother. The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa contains Lalitā Sahasranāma and Triśatī with detailed instructions regarding modes of De

Referring to the Śākta Tantras, which are sixtyfour in number; the Saundaryalaharī says that after Śiva had filled the world with the other Tantras, He gave out, at the request of Devī, the Śrī Tantra which fulfils the objects covered by all the other Tantras, and this is known as the worship of Tripurā or Śrī-Vidyā.

The first forty one are dealing with the Mantra, Yantra, and the other partly philosophical and partly ritualistic ideologies of the Śākta cult as also with the mysteries of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga. This portion is called Ānandalaharī, the Flood of Bliss. The fifty-nine verses that follow give a description of the form of the Devī utilising most of the figu