Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 267: Shri Govinda rupini (OM govindarUpiNyai namaH)

In Namams 249 to 274, the Divine Mother’s Five functions and Her Five Isvara forms are described. 

The Divine Mother assumes Govinda (Vishnu’s) form in preserving the universe. 

We, in this universe are being created by Brahma. We will have to be in this life for the required period as determined by the Brahman. The Vishnu or Govindan is the male deity protecting us in this universe. The female rupam protecting us is Goptri or Vaishnavi. These names come about based on the preservation tasks done by the deities. If we assume it is male, then it is Govindan; if we assume it is female, then it is Vaishnavi. The Divine Mother is in all these forms; She is Govinda rupini. 

Isvara with his sattvic qualities does the protection job, at that stage, He is called Govinda, who is the leader of cows also. 

Lord Krishna (a form of Mahavishnu), stopped the worship or puja done for Indra at the Gokulam. In return, using the clouds, Indra tried to destroy the Gokulam with excessive rains. Krishna, in order to save the devotees and cows, used Govarthana Mountain as an umbrella to stop it. Indra failed in his attempt to destroy the Gokulam; he later surrendered to Krishna. Kamadenu, the sacred cow and other cows inside the Gokulam decided against Indra; they joined with Krishna. In this way, Mahavishnu or Narayana turns into Govindan and save the devotees. 

Go can mean word; Govindan is reached by word of praise to universal creatures. 

Go can mean earth; Govindan helps the devotees to get the earth to use. When Brahma’s creation started, the earth gets immersed in water. Under such conditions Govindan saves the earth from water. The Divine Mother, who takes Govinda rupam, is said to protect the earth (Vindana). The celebrated story in the Puranas tells how Hiranyaksa stole the earth and how Vishnu recovered the earth in His Varaha (Boar) form. The Divine Mother is in this process to save from evil forces.  

Govinda can mean also “Brahaspati” the Guru of Devas. The Divine mother attributed this position to Vishnu to be the Brahaspati. 

As we have seen earlier, Go has many meanings: cow (animals), earth, word, intelligence, and ray. 

Cow is a reflection of the Samsara bound soul. Such a soul, earth, words, intellect and rays of light are all the Divine Mother’s manifestation. Isvara is called Pasupathy for the same reason as saving the sacred cow and other sattivic beings in this universe. Lord Pasupathy has a special dedicated temple in Kathmandu, the Capital of Nepal. 

Govinda does his saving job very well. The Divine Mother is in Govinda’s rupam to save the universal creatures.

The Divine Mother as Govinda or Krishna.

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 18 October 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 Sahasranama Stostram 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.