Author Description

The Saundaryalahari (the Wave of Beauty) is a popular devotional hymn ascribed to the great exponent of Advaita Vedanta, Sri sankaracarya. It deals with the forms of worship of Divine sakti. Saundaryalahari is written in praise of the Devi Tripurasundari in one hundred verses (with three more verses found in some editions) in the famous sikharini metre. This great Tantric text rightly elaborates the various aspects of worship of the Divine Mother. The first part contains forty-one verses which is known as Anandalahari. It mainly deals with the sricakra, which is called the abode of Siva-Sakti, and which forms the special symbol of worship for devotees of the Devi-Lalita, Tripura-sundari, etc. The second part contains a magnificent exposition of the beauties of the charming form of the great Divine Mother, from feet to crown with concluding prayer for her gracious generosity. No doubt, a Tantric worshipper or Sadhaka may get real peace of heart and attain liberation after following the esoteric practices enunciated therein. This new edition contains the original Sanskrit text along with the most famous commentary of Laksmidhara. Besides, the English translation, explanatory notes and transliteration of the verses are also added with it. A number of indices have been added in which yantras and the modes of their worship have been given. The chief peculiarity of this edition is that it contains all variant readings of the text & commentary found in different editions. The students of Indian Philosophy will be benefitted by this excellent scholarly work. However, this work will definitely cast a new light in a positive direction to the researchers and true lovers of Tantric and Agamic literature.