Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 441: Shri Kaula marga tatpara sevita (ōṃ kaulamarrowatparasēvitāyai namaḥ)

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

The Divine Mother is worshipped by kaula tradition people. 

Every human has to understand the things and life procedures from his own family traditions, which can be said as kaula marga. It may have very minute tattvas. The ahan-kara and sensory pleasures can bring down a devotee lower. Father to son and Guru to deciples-check information flows will convey such as family secrets and train the son and discipline respectively. The elders will stay with the younger persons until the younger ones gain sufficient improvement and mind control. Edibles such as meat, fish, honey and others such as sex and alcohol will pull the devotee lower. They need to be controlled to seek salvation from death and birth cycle. 

There are three traditional ways in the Divine Mother’s worship, namely: samaya, misra and kaula. Samaya path is explained in Vedas by people like Vasistha and others.. The misra path is explained in eight Tantras and Chandra kala. This method combines the rules of samaya and the rules from kaula path.  Kaula path is difficult and different than other two, samaya and misra paths. Kaula path is described in a set of sixty-four books or tantras. The Divine Mother is worshipped by Kaula marga people using kaula path. 

Shri Ramakrishna accepted his wife Bharani as his Guru and had followed the Kaula path in worshipping the Divine Mother. The sixty-four ways or means for worshipping the Divine Mother can be separated into three groups, namely Shantha Bhavam, Veera Bhavam and Diviya Bhavam. The last two belong to Kaula marga. Shantha Bhavam is for Samaya and Misra path of worshipping the Divine Mother. 

Shri Ramakrishna although he had completed kaula marga worshipping of the Divine Mother, he did not teach that path to his deciples -check. In a house there is a path through front door and an exit at the end or behind the house. The exit at the behind is similar to kaula path for people encouraged by their devotion to worship the Divine Mother. A lay man can follow this or any path. No need for him to understand vedanta principles. 

Kaula refers to kula, which we had defined in various ways. If we take kula as family, then this Namam indicates that the Divine Mother is worshipped by devotees following their family traditions. 

Tatpara means fully involved; marga means path.

 

The Divine Mother.

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 10 April 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.