The Saundaryalahari has fascinated and puzzled generations of scholars and laypersons; subject to continuing study and debate, till today, such details as the authorship of the 100 verses named the Saundaryalahari remain a matter of contention, particularly among scholars. While some attribute it to Sankara, others argue that the Saundaryalahari’s verses in praise of the Devi cannot have been authored by this staunch Vedantin; Some argue that it’s value is essentially in the realm of what is loosely called "Tantra," while others extend the significance of the Saundaryalahari to include the preoccupations of Vedanta. Nataraja Guru is unequivocal in his belief that none other than Sankara could have composed this masterpiece of mystical poetry and identifies internal evidence in the verses themselves to support this view. The detailed commentary views the Saundaryalahari as Advaita Vedanta itself. The absolute joy of Advaita is presented in a pictorial language, subjectively as ananda, and objectively as saundarya.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nataraja Guru
Nataraja Guru was born in Bangalore in 1895. After graduation from the University of Madras he became a close disciple of the Guru Narayana (1854-1928). As the disciple-successor of Narayana Guru he is a representative of the same pure, direct vertical line of succession of philosophical revaluators extending back through time to the most ancient phase of the history of human thought. Nataraja Guru studied under Henri Bergson at the Sorbonne at Paris, where he took his Doctorate in Educational Psychology. In 1923 he founded the Narayana Gurukula Foundations, a Guru-disciple foundation for the preservation of the type of life and global attitude suggested in this book, and in line with the Advaita Vedanta Ashramas of India. In 1951, Nataraja Guru was himself publilcly acknowledged as a Guru uniquely qualified to present the teaching and attitude expressed by his Master. He has translated into English and commented on all the major works of Narayana Guru, and has written on a wide variety of subjects, employing throughout a protolinguistic or structural approach which could be said to be his unique contribution to the perennial wisdom-heritage of mankind.
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