What is śṛńgāra?

108 words for Gurudev

śṛńgāra [love, pleasure or delight that emerges between lovers, ornamentation] 

In the poems and prayers of the Bhakti tradition, śṛńgāra leads a sweet yet mysterious double-life. 

On the one hand, in the spiritual tradition where jewels, trimmings, and decorations meet our eyes every day, śṛńgāra is ornamentation. On the other hand, through the Bhakti practice of serving and nurturing divine love (prema), śṛńgāra refers to the deepest and sweetest emotion experienced by the heart.   

How is this double-meaning possible? Only in the practice of Bhakti.

In the most evolved expressions of this practice, the two meanings of śṛńgāra shift seamlessly. The brilliant verses of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, for example, move quickly from one meaning to the other. 

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A taste for chanting

Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam

O Lord! You have given us many names of Yours to chant, investing them with all Your transcendental power, and there are no strict regulations as to when to chant or remember these names. Such is Your mercy, O Lord, but I am so unfortunate that I have not taste for this chanting.

Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam, Verse 2

The Vedic story of the cosmic birth tells that at its creation the universe takes the form of sound. The purest energy of sound was not created and will never perish. It is an eternal vibration. It precedes the creation and will forever outlast it. The Truth of the universe is this sound vibration. Not because it is a message of truth about what is already there. But because this sonic energy, this Truth, is reality itself. 

According to the Vedic story, the ancient ṛṣis, the enlightened seers and seekers of the Vedic tradition, entered into states of profound meditation, tuned their souls to the vibrations of the cosmos and heard these eternal sounds. 

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