The 9 causative forces in Saundaryalahari

JyothiViswanadham · Jul 17, 2023

In soundarya lahari, shloka #11 , it says,
4 shiva triangles, 5 shakti triangles are - the 9 causative forces (mula prakriti)
(चतुर्भिः श्रीकण्ठैः शिवयुवतिभिः पञ्चभिरपि
प्रभिन्नाभिः शंभोर्नवभिरपि मूलप्रकृतिभिः)

Can some one share some light on these forces (mula prakriti)..

(best i could guess is to relate it to sankya philosophy.. congnition, action, tanmatra, bhuta each of 5 types.)

I see another reference of 5 mula prakriti's of Devi as Durga, Radha, Laxmi, Sarasvati and Savitri.
Ref: https://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/details/devibhagvatpurana65.html

admin · Jul 17, 2023

I looked at the three translations, namely from Norman Brown, Swami Tapasyananda and S.S.S. Sastri / T.R.S. Ayyangar

JyothiViswanadham · Jul 17, 2023

Many Thanks for replying <3

I am referring The nine mula prakruti as causative forces.. the 4 shiva chakra and 5 shakti chakra ... the ( 4 + 5 = 9) mulaprakriti..

Can you please share some light on what are those mula prakriti's?

admin · Jul 18, 2023

The commentary by S.S.S. Sastri / T.R.S. Ayyangar says the following:
https://archive.org/details/SaundaryaLahari/page/n85/mode/2up

The nine Mūla-prakṛi-s — the nine root-causes of the Śrī Cakra, i.e., the nine triangles having as their bases the nine horizontal lines drawn perpendicular to the diameter. They also signify the prime cause of Prapañca, i.e., primordial matter, and are also appropriately called the nine Yoni-s, which are said to be of the form of the nine Dhātu-s which go to make up the body of the Microcosm. The five Dhātu-s, humors: Tvac, Asṛj, Māṃsa, Medas and Asthi, originate from the Śakti; and Majjā, Śukla, Prāṇa and the Jīva of the Microcosm originate from Śiva; while the five Bhūtas, the five Tanmatra-s, the five Jñānendriya-s, the five Karmendriya-s and the Manas of the Macrocosm have their origin m the Śakti, and likewise Māyā, Śuddha-vidyā, Maheśvara and Sadasīva are from Śiva. Thus it will be seen that the nine basic triangles, involving the twenty-five Tattva-s, stand for the entire Microcosm and Macrocosm.