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॥ श्री ॥tantraFor reading

Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 11.105

Traditional

Ullāsas
14
Verses
2517
Minutes
1258
Level
advanced

Ullāsa 11 · Verse 105

सुरामाहात्म्यम्The greatness of wine

Verse 105

सुरा द्रवमयी तारा जीवनिस्तारकारिणी । जननी भोगमोक्षाणां नाशिनी विपदां रुजाम् ॥ १०५ ॥

surā dravamayī tārā jīvanistārakāriṇī | jananī bhōgamōkṣāṇāṁ nāśinī vipadāṁ rujām || 105 ||

Translation

Wine is Tārā in liquid form, who carries beings across; mother of enjoyment and liberation, destroyer of calamities and diseases,

Word by word

surā
wine
dravamayī
in liquid form
tārā
Tārā
jīva
beings
nistāra
across
kāriṇī
who carries
jananī
mother
bhōga
of enjoyment
mōkṣāṇāṁ
and liberation
nāśinī
destroyer
vipadāṁ
of calamities
rujām
(rujām) and diseases

Meaning

The praise of wine, verses 105-108, in the Tantra's own terms: consecrated wine (surā, kāraṇa) is the Goddess Tārā herself, "she who carries across". It is the first of the five tattvas of the kula worship, and the praise is immediately bounded by the warnings of verses 110-124. What the Tantra prescribes here is its own teaching, given as the text presents it; taking up any practice is a matter for one's tradition and teacher.

Commentary

Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated

Now he praises wine in three verses, "surā" and the rest. Surā, wine, is Tārā in liquid form, whose form is liquid; she who brings beings across (nistāra), who is the begetter, mother, of enjoyment and liberation, who destroys calamities and diseases;