Charana

“Soundarya Lahiri” is a sacred hymn composed by Adi Shankaracharya, intricately detailing the divine form of Devi, the Goddess. Shankaracharya’s verses vividly portray the beauty, grace, and symbolism of Devi’s manifestation, delving into the minutest details to express the profound aspects of her divine presence.

One such verse:

Sudha-dhara-sarais carana-yugalanta vigalitaih
Prapancham sinchanti punarapi ras’amnaya-mahasah;
Avapya svam bhumim bhujaga-nibham adhyusta-valayam
Svam atmanam krtva svapishi kulakunde kuharini

With streaks of ambrosial essence streaming from between your twin feet,
Sprinkling blessing over the worlds, and again from that point of high intelligible values,
Turning yourself into a snake-form of three coils and a half,
You sleep in the hollow of the Kulakunda, your proper ground attaining.

Yoga literature is familiar with what is called a Kundalini snake. It is said to be coiled and normally in a dormant, hibernating or sleeping state. By wilful disciplines, such as Hatha Yoga, yogis are supposed to rouse this sleeping snake, which is said to be present within the hollow of consciousness, having its reference at the base of the vertical axis. When thus aroused, it unfolds its coils and raises itself like a spiral spring, reaching higher and higher levels of consciousness, passing through the various Chakras where syndromes and synergisms, whether psychologically or physiologically understood, are to be schematically marked out by the yogi for his guidance in meditation.