Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 363 Shri Tat pada lakshyartha (OM tatpadalakShyArthAyai namaH)

In Namams 275 to365, the Divine Mother’s  many forms providing benefits to Her devotees in great details are discussed. 

The Divine Mother is the embodiment of truth; tat means truth or Brahman. 

Tattvam asi is That thou art; this is one of the four important statements (Maha Vakya). Tattvam asi can be interpreted in three ways. 

·         “You live for it” with the meaning that the embodied soul surrenders to Brahman, to get liberation from Samsara cycle.

·         “You are for it and part of it” with the meaning that the soul is part of the Brahman. Human body is just a storing place for the embodied soul.

·         “You are Brahman itself” with the meaning that the soul is same as Brahman.

 

The Divine Mother is “tat” the Brahman. This is the understanding of this Namam.

 

Tattvam asi means that the embodied soul and Brahman are the same. The soul due to its karmic effects will face ignorance, maya, lower knowledge etc. But the Brahman is true self with ultimate knowledge. It may seem that the embodied soul and the Brahman do not match. This can be interpreted other way; the soul due to its dharma and adharma ways is dharmi. Brahman due to its true knowledge and immense actions is dharma. As both are dharmi there by equating Brahman with the soul can be considered right. The Divine Mother will help the embodied soul to mature to reach the Brahman, as She is the “tat” or Brahman Herself.

 

If someone says that he is living in Teppakulam which we take to understand that he is not literally living in Teppakulam but near to it. Likewise, we discard the literal meaning of external appearance but take the inner meaning that the true form of the Divine Mother is total truth or She is Brahman Herself.

 

Tat being Brahman is described as conditioned (sakala) or unconditioned (niskala). The terms saguna and nirguna convey the same distinction.

 

The desires and Knowledge needed for creation of the universe occur in the conditioned (sakala) Brahman.” He desired to become manifold”. The unconditioned Brahman (niskala) is beyond the powers of will, knowledge and actions of the humans.

 

Bhaskararaya interpreted that the literal meaning of “tat” is the conditioned Brahman; it indicates indirectly (laksya) the unconditioned Brahman also. So “tat” is absolute Brahman with imaginable form.

 

The formless and un-manifested Divine Mother is imagined here again.

The Divine Mother is the embodiment of truth.

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 22 January 2021.

 

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 Chithbavandar