Shivananda Lahari: ????? ??????? ??? (Shankaracharya's Works)

Shivananda Lahari literally means a torrential wave of Bliss (Ananda) from Shiva). It is a devotional hymn that consists of one hundred stanzas of poetry in various metres in Sanskrit. It was composed by Adi Shankaracharya, the greatest philosopher, saint and exponent of Advaita Vedanta. It is believed that this hymn was composed by Shankara while staying in Srisailam, a pilgrimage town, in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh.

Shankara packs the Shivananda Lahari with ardent emotional fervor of devotion together with a spontaneous poetic elegance. It is nothing but Shankara's experiences of Oneness with the Ultimate Reality passed on to us as a hymn. There is a Spirit who is hidden in all things, as cream is in milk and who is the source of all knowledge and self-sacrifice. This is Brahman, the spirit Supreme. This is exactly what Adi Shankara saw in the woods of SriSailam. He always felt that God resides in him and imagined that He is present wherever he went and in whatever actions he performed. He sees his mind as a monkey, a Swan, a peacock, a Jacobean Cuckoo, a ruddy goose, a pheasant etc and sees God in the blue sky, dark clouds, Sun, moon, rain, spring, autumn etc. He visualizes God as a thief, a hunter, a Lion, a flower, a bird, a Yogi and a friend etc.

Affectionate mental disposition, purity of thoughts, effective mind control and constant communication through meditation are the essence of devotion (Bhakti) that the great Acharya brings out in Shivananda Lahari for Seekers like us to understand and practice in our daily life..

This book is a humble attempt to provide the Slokas in Sanskrit, their transliterations in English, word by word meaning in English and the translations in English and Tamil. It should be noted that the translations are not in the same metre as the original and the translations are not in poetic form either. The Sanskrit words and their transliterations have not been standardised in this book; however the intended meaning has been kept intact.

Some pages have been left intentionally blank to enable readers to make notes if needed.