Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 462: Shri Sobhana (ōṃ śōbhanāyai namaḥ)

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

The Divine Mother is always radiant. 

Sobhana means beautiful and auspicious; with Her own radiance, She makes everything shine. She is ultra-beautiful. One of the key attributes of the Brahman is the beauty which is part of the form. The properly built form attracts the mind. This external beauty, though our eyes reach our mind. So, the human beings enjoy the external beautify of the things and that of the Divine Mother. 

What is not visible to our eyes, but when we pass the Sun’s rays through a lens, we get seven colours. Likewise, when these Sun’s rays pass through a (rainy) cloud in the sky, we see the rainbow with seven colours in the sky, which is very attractive and pleasing to our eyes. The Divine Mother’s beauty is beyond our senses. 

Lord Sundareswaran (Shiva) has many beautiful attributes. He is praised as Sundararajan. He gets such beauty due to the Divine Mother’s unison. 

When the un-manifested Brahman, turns, into a manifested state, it is called a Sahkti. The beauty is one of the many attributes of the Shakti or the Divine Mother. So, the Divine Mother is praised as “Sobhana”. For the learned or non-learned people, the external beauty reaches through their eyes to be enjoyed by the human beings. Such enjoyment of the Divine Mother’s beauty is also called as a form of worship of Her worship. 

Namams 683 and 972 to be seen later are like this Namam 462 “Sobhana”.

       Lord Sundareswaran (Shiva) gets such beauty, due to the Divine Mother’s unison. 

C N Nachiappun           

Singapore, 01 May 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.