Lalitarchana-Chandrika (An Old and Rare Book)

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This book Lalitaarchana– Chandrika describes the worship of Sri-Chakra which is well known for ensuring success, prosperity and emancipation for the devotees. It deals with the practical aspects of the worship of the Mothers in the form of Sri-Chakra. The Prayoga-vidhi has so far not been dealt with in any other book.

Vidyalankara, Sastra–Chudamini, Sangita-Kalaratna, Professor Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra Rao, was a well – known scholar who had combined tradition learning with modern research. Well versed in Sanskrit, Pali, Ardhmagadhi and several modern Indian languages and acquainted with Tibetan and some European languages, he had written extensively on Vedanta, Buddhism, Janism, Indian Culture, Art and Literature. He had written more than Sixty Books in Kannada, a Play in Sanskrit, and a Pali commentary on a Buddhist classic. One of his books on Iconography in Kannada has won the State Sahitya Academy Award, as also another of his Book on the Tirupati Temlpe.

The ‘Lalitarchana Chandrika’ was first published in 2004 by the Kalpatharu Academy. This book describes the worship of Sri-Chakra which is well known for ensuring success, prosperity and emancipation for the devotees. It deals with the Prayoga-vidhi has so far not been dealt with in any other book.

After Prof S. K. Ramachandra Rao passed away in 2006, his family established the Prof S. K. Ramachandra Rao Memorial Trust with the intention of reprinting all his books which are not currently available. This book has not been available for some years.

We thank Sri Sunil Gupta for reprinting this book. Our thanks are also due to Smt Shree Ramya for proof reading the manuscript.

Bhaskara-raya-makhin (between 1690 and 1785), who is the well known commentator on the celebrated text of the worship of the mother-goddess, Lalitasahasra-nama (Saubhagya-bhaskara by name), has also written a gloss on Tantrik Upanishad called Bhavanopanishad. This Upanishad is an important manual for the upasakas of Srividya. It explains the esoteric significance of well-known Sri-Chakra, and also the spiritual mode of worship of Samaya (Kadi) school. Bhaskara-raaya mankhin has also written a prayogavidhi to accompany his gloss on Bhavanopanishad. The Introduction provides details of what is known as “inner sacrifice” (antaryaga), which is the characteristic approach of the Samaya school.

This important but little known gloss (prayoga-vidhi along with the Bhavanopanishad) has been brought out here with elaborate introduction, comments and notes in English. Because this widom in hailed as chandra-jnana (knowledge of the luner phases and full moon, represented by the Panchadasi and Shodasi mantras), this research work dealing with it is called chandrika (moonlight). The deity adored by the Sri-vidya upasakas in Lalita (otherwise called Raja-rajesvari). Hence the book is described as Lalitarchana Chandrika.