Saundaryalahari (The Upsurging Billow of Beauty) of Sankaracarya

Contents: Foreword/Swami Muni Narayana Prasad. I. The structural secrets of the Saundaryalahari/Scott Teitsworth. II. Preliminaries. III. Generalities: 1. Inner space and structuralism. 2. Sankara's Saundaryalahari. 3. Sankara as a dialectical revaluator. 4. The nature of the text. 5. Further implications of structural language. 6. Yantra, Mantra and Tantra. 7. The meaning of Lahari. 8. The alphabet of the world of beauty. 9. Elements of the perceptual components of the world of beauty. 10. A word about Bindusthana. 11. Structural dynamism. 12. Other miscellaneous ideograms. 13. Functional monomarks of graded and duplicated divinities or presences. 14. A drama unfolding within the 'self' as in the 'non-self'. Part I. Anandalahari: Commentary (verses 1-41). Part II. Saundaryalahari: Commentary (verses 42-100). Appendices. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

"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." (jacket)