Commentary on a devotional work
It is a rendering of Sankara’s hymn into metrical verses in English. Besides, it gives a free translation of the verses, word meaning, and commentary.
C. L. Ramakrishnan
SOUNDARYA LAHARI: Rendered in English by Dr. Lanka Siva Rama Prasad; Prashanti Hospital, Siva Nagar, Warangal. Rs. 500.
This is a rendering of Adi Sankara’s ‘Soundarya Lahari’ into metrical verses in English. The book gives the rendering of the original text in English with free translation, word meaning, and a commentary.
The book is divided into two parts — ‘ananda lahari’ (verses 1-41) and ‘soundarya lahari’ (verses 42-100). Three more verses are also found, which come under the popular description “prakshipta.”
One portion of the book contains serially the meaning of all the 100 verses, without the text, word meanings or commentary. The purpose of providing this addendum could perhaps have been made clear to the reader.
The translation is simple and straight forward. The word meanings and the detailed and illuminating notes under each verse have added value to the book. The text being considered as a tantra as well as a mantra sastra, the additional material given under each verse is of great help in capturing the intent of the verses.
Scientific link
In what is presumably an introduction, the author has given a lot of scientific correlations to the material incorporated in the text. The explanations regarding the six chakras in the body, their symbolism, and the scientific principles behind them are presented in a scholarly and convincing manner. And how modem science can look at it appears very interesting. Coming from the pen of a medical scientist, a vast range of material that has been brought out is worthy of research by a multi-disciplinary team of scholars well versed in medicine, tantra literature and Srividya cult.
References have been given to the Upanishads such as Darsanopanishad, while dealing with certain hidden meanings of verses in Soundarya Lahari. It is quite astonishing that a philosopher like Sankara should have condensed such scientific knowledge in an apparently devotional work.
Import
At the end of the book, certain important Sanskrit words are given, along with their English equivalents. Interesting information is given regarding how our ancestors calculated the time and the various divisions thereof, starting from “thruti” to the age of Brahma. There is a reference to modern scientific thought, philosophy, and ancient wisdom in all the hundred verses of the text.
The author should be commended for the hard work he has put in by way of research and analysis and bringing out the deeper import of the poem. The reader will also be benefited by the comments of renowned commentators like Lakshmidhara, Bhaskararaya, and Kaivalya Asrama cited by the author. Some printing errors are noticed and they need to be corrected when the book goes for a reprint.
Giving the text of the poem in Sanskrit as it is or at least in the transliterated form with diacritical marks will go to further enhance the value of the publication.
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