Soundarya Lahari - Part 33

 

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But, though the work begins with the name of Shiva, the shAkta school will still find in the very name of Shiva itself, the dominance of the feminine Shakti ! In the very word “Shiva” there is the vowel ‘i’ along with the consonant ‘sh’. The vowels ‘I’ (as in ‘feel’) and ‘I’  (as in ‘fit’) are themselves names of  ambaal. 

All consonants are letters pertaining to Shiva and all vowels pertain to Shakti. This is a general rule. In addition the letters ‘I’ and ‘I’ are supposed to be the very forms of ambaal. Just as the actionless immutable Brahman has a symbolic praNava or ‘Om’, so also  the  Brahman  coupled with  Shakti, the  kArya-brahman, has a symbolic seed letter called the praNava of Shiva-Shakti. And in that praNava, the letter corresponding to Shakti is ‘I’.

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