Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 114: Shri Bhavaranya Kutharika (OM bhavAraNyakuThArikAyai namaH)

From Namam 112 to 131, we will see the devotion aspects in the Divine Mother worship

The Divine Mother is an axe to cut and clear the Samasara jungle.

The Aranya or jungle called Samasara is not manmade one. It is created by the sins of previous births; sins of humans and their puniya vasanas.

Even if the jungle is cut down, the forest grows back again by the devotee’s vasana from earlier births. Samasara Aranya is thick, dark and may have cruel things meaning,  that accumulated sins of the devotee from many births may be very strong.

Through worship, japa and meditation the devotee attempts to reduce such Samsara jungle. The root cause of vasana is present to regrow this Samsara forest. Repeated birth, death and lying in mother’s womb is called Samsara cycle and it is not easy to cross.

Adi Sankara in Bhaja Govindam asks Lord Krsna’s grace to save human from the samsara cycle.

A story of a monk with a cat is narrated: A man renounced his family life and home to become a monk. He retired to a forest to lead a life in solitude. But, his peace of mind was disturbed by a mouse which ate his cloth spread outside. He kept a cat to catch the mice. The cat had to be fed. He went back to the village and got a cow to milk for the cat. Later, to take care of the cow, he sought the help of his wife and children. Then he built a house in the forest. He fed his family. Then a visiting monk’s friend later found that the monk had gone back deeper in his Samsara or worldly life. All because of his attachment.

Kutharika is a small handheld axe used for small cutting jobs. A quick and easy way is to seek the Divine Mother’s favour in cutting away the Samsara.

Bhava can mean Samsara or creation of life. Once the devotee enters the Samsara forest, he could not ascertain his exit out of it. For a devotee who wants to cut his Samsara forest, the Divine Mother’s axial action is useful. The Divine Mother’s help is to destroy the Samsara forest and to show the light at the end.

The devotees seek to reach the Sahasrara to stop the Samsara cycle for them. Like a child put in a school is taken away on reaching a standard level, the Divine Mother determines the progress of the devotees. It is Her kindness to stop the Samsara cycle for Her devotees.

C N Nachiappun           

Singapore, 16 May 2020.

References:

1.       The Thousand Names of the Divine Mother published in English by Mata Amritanandamayi Center, San Ramon, California, USA, with Commentary by T. V Narayana Menon

2.       Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam Stostrom published in Tamil by N. Ramaswami Iyer charities’ societies, Trichirapalli, India, with Commentary by C. V. Radhakrishna Sastry.

3.       The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai,Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India with commentary by Shrimath Swami Sithbavandar.