---
type: Reference
bundle: shakta-darshana
bundle_version: "0.8.0"
id: saundarya-lahari
title: "Saundarya Laharī — सौन्दर्यलहरी"
iast: "Saundarya Laharī"
devanagari: "सौन्दर्यलहरी"
description: "'The Wave of Beauty': 100 verses of Śākta devotional-metaphysical poetry, traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara (attribution contested in scholarship: both positions documented); opens with the bundle's most-cited theological verse (Śiva can act only united with Śakti) and carries Śrī Cakra and mantra-śāstra doctrine in poetic form."
text_type: "Stotra (100 verses; first 41 'Ānanda Laharī' doctrinally denser)"
period: "Attributed to Ādi Śaṅkara by tradition; scholarly dating and attribution contested"
tags: [saundarya-lahari, shankara, tripurasundari, shiva-shakti, sri-chakra, reference]
related:
  - /concepts/shiva-shakti.md
  - /concepts/shakti.md
  - /concepts/sri-chakra.md
  - /concepts/tripurasundari.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Saundarya Laharī -- सौन्दर्यलहरी

## Attribution Note (state both, adjudicate neither)

Tradition attributes the text to Ādi Śaṅkara, and the attribution matters theologically to the tradition (the great non-dualist singing Śakti's supremacy). Modern scholarship contests the attribution on stylistic and doctrinal-history grounds. Per bundle policy both positions are documented; neither is adjudicated. An AI citing this text should say "traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara" rather than either bare "by Śaṅkara" or bare "falsely attributed."

## Why This Text Is in the Bundle

Verse 1 is the bundle's single most-quoted theological statement: śivaḥ śaktyā yukto yadi bhavati śaktaḥ prabhavitum -- "Śiva, only when united with Śakti, has the power to act; without her, the god cannot even stir." It grounds [shiva-shakti.md](../concepts/shiva-shakti.md) and [shakti.md](../concepts/shakti.md). Verse 11 gives the classical verse-specification of the Śrī Cakra's geometry ([sri-chakra.md](../concepts/sri-chakra.md)). Throughout, the text demonstrates the register [tripurasundari.md](../concepts/tripurasundari.md) documents: beauty as metaphysics, devotional poetry carrying precise doctrine.

## Editions

Numerous editions and translations; the Kāñcī maṭha-associated publications (e.g., kamakoti.org's Quintessence of Soundarya Lahari) represent the living tradition's reading; academic editions discuss the attribution question.
