image credit: Parul Jauhari
In the twenty-seventh verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda teaches about the inner nature of offering a mirror (darpaṇa) to the goddess as follows:
बिम्बितं स्फुरति यत्र संविदो रूपमान्तरमिदन्तया बहिः ।
विश्वमेतदखिलं चराचरं दर्पणं हृदयदर्पणं परम् ॥ २७ ॥
bimbitaṃ sphurati yatra saṃvido rūpam āntaram idantayā bahiḥ |
viśvam etad akhilaṃ carācaraṃ darpaṇaṃ hṛdayadarpaṇaṃ param || 27 ||
“The mirror [ritually presented to the Goddess] is the mirror of the Heart. In that [true mirror of the Heart] this entire universe of sentient beings and inanimate objects is reflected. [Although this mirror of the heart] is the innermost nature of consciousness, it radiantly manifests outwardly as the objective world.” (translation by Ben Williams)
