Saturday, August 25, 2012

Soundarya Lahari - Part 208


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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 India there is the custom of referring to ShAradA as SAradA. The latter word means, SAra-dA, the One who graces you with the essence (sAram) of Knowledge. 

This may be another reason why the Acharya had an affinity toward the name. The name of the deity he installed in Sringeri is ShAradAmbAL. In spite of the fact that he had a liking towards this name, just as he never mentioned either lalitA or Tripura-sundari in this stotra, he did not also mention ShAradA. Still, by the words ‘Sharad-jyotsnA’ in the beginning of this shloka, he reminds us of ShAradAmbAl.

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