Paramacharya on Soundarya-Lahari: A Recall of Century-Old Tamil Discourses

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Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamigal (born as Swaminatha Sharma 1894 - siddhi as Kanchi Paramacharya 1994) lectured on Soundaryalahari in the first quarter of the last century. Ra. Ganapathy, one of his ardent students, recorded and published them as a voluminous tome of 700 pages in the sixth volume of 'Deivathin Kural'. These Tamil lectures have now been condensed, translated into English and published herein. The exposition style here is one where it resembles a direct English lecture by Paramacharya himself. The subject has been dealt in great depth by the Paramacharya and thus requires the reader to approach this translation as a study book rather than one for light reading.

Prof V. Krishnamurthy, (born 1927) retired from BITS Pilani in 1988 and has been contributing on various aspects of Sanatana Dharma by writing books, the latest being Ramayana Trio.

This translation is a humble offering at the feet of Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal of the 20th century, also known as the Paramacharya of Kanchi. The content of this book is not for casual reading. It is derived from his discourses delivered in Tamil in the first quarter of the last century. My contribution is only the translation into English of the Tamil lectures. At one or two places I have added explanations of some shlokas on which he did not give a word by word meaning.

Sri Shankaracharya, one of the greatest philosophers of India, gave his masterpiece in devotional literature in the form of Soundarya Lahari - the wave of beauty. A philosopher par excellence, he was also a poet par excellence. His philosophical writings are for the learned students whereas his devotional hymns, called stotram-s, are for both the lay person and for the learned. The lay person would see the beauty of the god or goddess, but the learned person would find all material to meditate on the symbolic and philosophical meaning embedded in the hymn. Perhaps of all the works in this category, Soundaryalahari stands out as the most impressive, grand, eloquent, and exquisite piece of literature. It is also a highly inscrutable work, with an enormous network of symbolism, which is difficult to decode. We do definitely need a teacher to explain the symbolism in lay person's terms and who can do it better than the Paramacharya? **Contents and Sample Pages**