The Old Sanskrit Classic Saundarya Lahari Has Been Brought Back To Life For Contemporary Readers In A New Translation

Saundarya Lahari contains 100 verses, while some translations go as high as 103. Devi’s strength, her manifestations, and her embodied presence within the devotee are described in the first portion of the forty-one verses known as Ananda Lahari (Wave of Bliss). Saundarya Lahari is the title of the second section (Wave of Beauty). From head to toe, verses 42 to 91 depict Devi’s physical magnificence.

Verses 92 and the following are more like prayers:

Saundarya Lahari is written in quatrains with seventeen syllables in each quarter of the sikharint metre, which is a syllabic style (pada). A line must have ‘guru’ (heavy/long) second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, twelfth, thirteenth, and seventeenth syllables and ‘laghu’ (short/light) syllables to qualify as being in Sikharini. (Unlike English, which has long and short syllables, Sanskrit has guru and laghu syllables, and there are precise rules for distinguishing them.) Beyond the skillful use of metres, even the sounds inside the line interact, such as truita-tain and sadya svidya.

In a single stanza, the range of derived words is frequently explored. Examples include pada, prapada, apada, and vipad. Sometimes a word is employed in its numerous senses. For example, the word vaa is used in verse 61 to denote three different things: a nose ridge, a bamboo staff, and a lineage.

With its direct address to Dev and frequent use of the vocative case (such as O Dev), the hymn has a very intimate and personal feel to it.

Dev is referred to by any of her many titles, including Dev, Prvat, ivé (Ivé’s consort), ambho (Ivé’s spouse), arv (Ivé’s spouse), and frequently as janan (mother) and giri-tanay (daughter of the mountain).

I refer to her in the translation and notes as Dev, which is Sanskrit for goddess. The selection of Dev’s name is an excellent example of how carefully the words in this song appear to have been picked. For instance, Dev is referred to by her given name, Prvat, which is derived from the term parvata, which meaning mountain, in verse 81. His name in this verse, kitidharapati, literally translates to carrier of the soil. Himavn is Dev’s father. The primary idea of the verse—that Prvat’s hips are larger than the earth and render the earth light in comparison—is provided by this beautiful contrast. But when Dev is referred to as arv in verse 60, before the word rava, we know it’s not a coincidence and may admire the poet’s brilliance.

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