Friday, October 23, 2026

What do Smartas say on Saundaryalaharī 99? I’m not asking this for controversy.

 सरस्वत्या लक्ष्म्या विधिहरिसपत्नो विहरते

रतेः पतिव्रत्यं शिथिलयति रम्येण वपुषा।
चिरं जीवन्नेव क्षपितपशुपाशव्यतिकरः
परानन्दभिख्यं रसयति रसं त्वद्भजनवान्॥

sarasvatyā lakṣmyā vidhiharisapatno viharate
rateḥ pativratyaṁ śithilayati ramyeṇa vapuṣā |
ciraṁ jīvanneeva kṣapitapaśupāśavyatikaraḥ
parānandabhikhyaṁ rasayati rasaṁ tvadbhajanavān ||

My literal translation:

“(Your devotee) takes Sarasvatī and Lakṣmī away from the company of their husbands. He draws Rati Devī away from fidelity to her husband by the extreme handsomeness of his body. Becoming an immortal being, his self freed from the bondage of ignorance, he enjoys the essence of the Supreme Bless.”

(The “your devotee” context carries over from the preceding verses.)

And here is what I as a Smārta say about it:

This is describing an advanced devotee of Tripurasundarī. The reference to him drawing various other Devīs away from their husbands is obviously a poetic turn of phrase rather than intended to be taken literally in a grossly personified sense. It means that one draws to oneself all the qualities of Sarasvatī (knowledge, wisdom etc.), Lakṣmī (all the various forms of prosperity), and Rati (attractiveness, vigor and so on). This enjoyment of all positive and auspicious qualities is the fruit at the culmination of the Śrī Vidyā Mārga which Saundaryalaharī extolls.