Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 412: Shri Shista pujita (ōṃ śiṣṭapūjitāyai namaḥ)

 In Namams 381 to 474, the Divine Mother’s Jnana Yoga worship methods are discussed in details.

The Divine Mother is always worshipped by the righteous people. 

The Divine Mother is worshipped by Shistesas. Every human being follows some form of worship. Some look for the Divine Mother. There are people who look for evil things. Some look for materialistic wealth; look for position and status. What a person is looking for can reveal his culture. People with evil thinking worship evil deities. Shistesas are supposedly the people who follow good behavior. They usually worship the Divine Mother and understand Her glories. 

Each one doing his stipulated karma is doing his form of worship. Shistesas are doing worthy things which are favoured by the Divine Mother. Their way of life is form of the Divine Mother worship. They bring out the glories of the Divine Mother through their prayers. 

Of those Shistesas who worship the Divine Mother and who get Her blessings, further get great respect from the society and other people. 

Righteous thoughts and sattvic attitudes drive away from the vasanas one has at birth. There are some devotees  who turn righteous due to sudden turn of events in life. In such cases, the samsara from previous births must be at work. Lord Krishna says, “Out of thousands of men only one strives for attaining the Self; and out of those who strive, only one perchance knows Me in essence.’ (Gita V11.3). Shistesas are those who proceed on the spiritual path in this manner. The Divine Mother is the one who is constantly worshipped by them.

 

Shista pujita, the  Divine Mother.

 C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 12 March 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.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 411: Shri Shisteshta (ōṃ śiṣṭēṣṭāyai namaḥ)

In Namams 381 to 474, the Divine Mother’s Jnana Yoga worship methods are discussed in details.

The Divine Mother is affectionate (like the mother's affection towards her children) to the righteous people; She is the chosen deity of the devotees. She is also affectionate to the righteous people. 

Shistesas are the disciples to a Guru. The Divine Mother is very good and Kind Guru for Her disciples who follow Her scheme of things to mature towards Brahman. The Divine Mother makes the Shistesas, Her own. Shistesas are the people who do not shift about from their good behavior. Others respect such Shistesas with good behavior. The Divine Mother is bent upon making everyone to have good behavior. Whoever gradually improves their good behavior becomes the preferred devotee for the Divine Mother. Shistesas also mean that the people do not drop from their own chosen good behavior, through which their soul matures. That becomes the good worship of the Brahman. So long as they fulfill their karmas, their maturity according to the scheme of the Divine Mother’s things is getting completed. Such an individual becomes special for the Divine Mother’s grace and kindness. 

Shistesas are the ones who live by divine defined procedure and control. She likes their worships of Her. They become Her favourable devotees, who seek Her blessings. Shistesas can mean also the rituals. She likes such rituals by Her preferred devotees. Those who follow the family tradition and doing rituals based on Vedas are also Shistesas. They become dear to the Divine Mother. 

Shistam can mean “prescribed ceremonies and rituals of worship.” Shistesas are those who perform such worships without any desire for the fruits. The Divine Mother is dear to them. 

Vasistha Sutra says. “Shistesas are those who control the organs of action and knowledge, who have learned the Vedas according to tradition and draw inspiration from them and who are worshippers of Brahman.”

 

The  Divine Mother as Shisteshta

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 11 March 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. 

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 410: Shri Shiva para (ōṃ śhivaparāyai namaḥ )

In Namams 381 to 474, the Divine Mother’s Jnana Yoga worship methods are discussed in details. 

The Divine Mother is solely devoted to Lord Shiva. 

Lord Shiva is Para showing that He is the Superior to anybody elese in this universe. Similarly, the Divine Mother is Superior than anyone in this universe; in fact without the shakati from the Divine Mother Lord Shiva cannot even move on His own. In the same way without Shiva, shakti's power cannot be felt or exposed. So the Divine Mother is equal to Lord Shiva. This can be explained as: Diamond and its brightness are incomparable to other things. With the brightness, the value of the diamond increases. Similar to that whatever the glories Lord Shiva has are due to unison with the Divine Mother. If Shakti leaves Him, then, Lord Shiva will be like a dead body. 

She does not focus on any other thing other than Lord Shiva. This is another explanation of this Namam. To reach the Divine Mother, the one of the best means will be to pray to Lord Shiva. She is forever truthful to Lord Shiva. This is similar to Rama-Seetha tattvam. On marrying Seetha Devi, Shri Rama’s glories increased multifold. On marrying Shri Rama,  Seetha Devi’s bhakti to Shri Rama exalted. Ravana took away Seetha Devi. As a result Shri Rama’s affection to Seetha Devi was also exalted. Seetha Devi’s jailed periods are the evidence of Her affection to Shri Rama. Similarly, the Divine Mother as a young girl meditated upon Lord Shiva and attained Him. She had no other goal or aim. This explains the Shiva para tattvam.

For the devotees, She shows that the Lord Shiva’s form  which is auspiciousness. KaIi Devi shows a dead man under Her feet to explain this Shiva tattvam. She grants Her devotees to attain Lord Shiva is another explanation of this Namam “Shiva para”. 

Para means elevated ness. She has Lord Shiva as elevated divinity to get married. She is beyond Lord Shiva. Soundarya Lahari verse one by Adi Shankara says, Lord Shiva gets His glories from the Divine Mother. When Shiva joins, “O shakti, He is able to engage in His cosmic tasks; otherwise He cannot even move about on His own without you Shakti.” It is in this sense the Divine Mother transcends Shiva, as in Ardhanarisvara.

    Lord Shiva with the  Divine Mother 

 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 10 March 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 

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 409: Shri Shiva priya (OM shivapriyAyai namaH)

In Namams 381 to 474, the Divine Mother’s Jnana Yoga worship methods are discussed in details. 

The Divine Mother is beloved very much by Lord Shiva. 

When we try to understand the Purusa Tattvam, we can understand the deeper meaning of this Namam, ‘Shiva priya’. For example, Radha Krishna rupam stands out. Female Tattvam is Radha and Purusa Tattvam is Krishna. Radha’s head is resting in Krishna’s body and Krishna’s head is resting in Radha’s body. This shows the affection between two divinities. 

The Divine Mother is dearer to Lord Shiva. She shows her affection to Lord Shiva. We cannot say if the love of Shiva to the Divine Mother is greater or vice versa. When there is sincere affection that ends up as Bhakti affection between them. For the devotee this philosophy is good example to follow. He has to surrender to Brahman; for such devotee, the Brahman becomes the ultimate place of rest. Similar to the affection of Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother, the devotee’s Bhakti to the Lord emerges to give the salvation (liberation) to the devotee. 

Shiva is affectionate to the Divine Mother; likewise the Divine Mother is affectionate to Lord Shiva, they both in unison are auspiciousness. The Divine Mother is attached to such auspiciousness Lord Shiva. 

The Divine Mother to whom Shiva is dear. With Her unison with Lord Shiva, She has been made of everything that is Shiva or auspicious which is dear to Herself; She grants that auspiciousness to her devotees to be liberated form samsara cycle.

    Lord Shiva with the  Divine Mother 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 09 March 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

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 408: Shri Shivam Kari (OM shiva ~ Nkaryai namaH)

In Namams 381 to 474, the Divine Mother’s Jnana Yoga worship methods are discussed in details. 

The Divine Mother confers prosperity (auspiciousness and happiness) to Her devotees; She from Her unison with Shiva, gives Moksha or Liberation to Her devotees. 

In this universe, there are more bad things than good. The Divine Mother is the universe. Then calling Her the auspiciousness and Shivankari does not fit in well. However, when we analyze the bad, they are there to cause auspiciousness later. Normal humans see them as bad but they turn into good later. 

Samsara cycle looks like a bad thing but only through this samsara, the souls mature to reach the Brahman. The Divine Mother plays a role to gradually improve the lower level souls to salvation. Due to this, She is called Shivamkari. 

The Divine Mother holds and grants the auspiciousness to Her devotees. The human body is dirty and inauspicious; the souls assume “I”. She is same as Shivam. She helps and removes the souls’ ”I” aham-kara and avidya (ignorance); She purifies them to attain Brahman or Shiva. So She is Shivamkari. 

Numerous souls like Vyasa, Jabali, Sabari, Kanakadasa and Kannappa through the path of karma, Bhakti and Jnana, became great souls by worshipping Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother.

    Lord Shiva with the  Divine Mother 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 08 March 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.

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