Essay name: Samrajya Lakshmi Pithika (Study)
Author:
Artatrana Sarangi
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages
This is a study in English of the Samrajya Lakshmi Pithika (written by Lolla Lakshmidhara) representing an encyclopedic manual for emperors. The Samrajyalaksmipithika encompasses about 3870 verses in addressing topics such as public festivals, governance, warfare (military strategy), and rituals associated with the Tantric worship for the deity Samrajya-Lakshmi.
Chapter 1 - Introduction
25 (of 56)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
24
throne etc., though in a nutshell, law and custom etc. Without
minting much, it also describes a king on the path of
pilgrimmage. Topics like creation and destruction of universe,
the hells, the spiritual centres of human body etc. are
not dealt by SLP. But not all the standard tantric texts
encompass all the topics and yet they are regarded as
Tantric texts. Satcakranirupa峁嘺m deals only with piercing
the six centres of human body by rousing Kundalini and yet
no one disputes its tantric character. Similar is the
case with Saparyarahasya of Bhaskararaya Makhin
which
expounds only the intricacies of the tantric mode of worship.
Thus, our
contention is that not all topics are to be dealt
by a text to enable it to be tantric.
The form in which SLP is expounded also accurately
conforms to the requirements of an Agama text.
Added to all these, we frequently come across references
to tantric formulae which are prescribed in the context of
rituals. The details of worship like nyvasa, pratistha etc.
(SLP 20.14, 21.15, 23.22) betray closer proximity to
tantric modes.
The description of the environs of goddess SL, the
milk-Ocean, the Sveta island and the abode of wish-gem
(Cintamani) - all these compare too well with those given
in context of Lalita (see Lalitasahasranama).
