Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 571: Shri Maha pralaya sakshini (ōṃ mahāpralayasākṣiṇyai namaḥ)

The Divine Mother is the sole witness to the Great Dissolution or pralaya of the Universe. 

Through creation, the universe came into being and through pralaya, the universe will be coming to an end. This is happening naturally which is not time based. Something is like people dying while sleeping. That is dissolution for the human. When we get up in the morning, it is creation for us, within our own universe. Brahma and devas reach Brahman and get Liberation. Once the Brahma reaches the Brahman, whatever balance life he would have determines the timing for end of the universe and great Dissolution to take place. So, we cannot measure pralaya using our time scale; pralya is due to natural process. When the Great Dissolution happens, the Divine Mother does not perish. She is the sole witness to the Great Dissolution. 

Brahma and his group of people perished. As the Divine Mother stays as the witness the pralaya, She is called the Maha pralaya saksini. 

One becomes a witness when something happens in front of him. He is not taking part in that action and there is no end effect of that action on him. He then becomes the witness to that action. In this universe, creation and sustaining of beings are happening continuously. Destruction of the beings are also happening always. We cannot sense the destruction separately. During Great Dissolution or Maha pralaya, the creation and saving actions are stopped. Brahma and Vishnu reach the Divine Mother and disappear within Her. Rudran and Eswaran are doing the dissolution and hiding actions. Both are versions of Lord Shiva. All universal beings, Brahma, Vishnu and other devas are all reaching the Divine Mother and are hidden within Her. She is only one the witness to all these dissolution actions. 

During sleeping and dreaming, the body at subtle level reaches the other two stages. There is no subtle body feeling there. In deep sleep, all three levels of the body are not felt; only Anantha soul level is realized. The Divine Mother is in such realized form during Maha pralaya. 

Brahma, Vishnu and Indra all perish at the time of the Great Dissolution, meaning they are hidden within the Divine Mother. Only the Divine Mother remains as a sole witness; it is said that Lord Shiva’s “Tandava” dance creates the Great Dissolution. As a result, Brahma, Vishnu, and other devas come to an end; the Divine Mother is the Rudra’s shakti remains to witness the dance (Namam 232; “Maheavara mahakalpa Mahatandava Saksini” with the meaning that the Divine Mother is the witness of the great dance of Maheswara (Shiva) at end of the great cycle of creation). Such stories signify that only the Essence of Brahman is imperishable, and the Divine Mother is his spouse, stays without being destroyed. Saubhagyabhaskara says,” O Devi, you alone remain Victorious bearing the goad, the arrow of flowers and the sugarcane bow, witnessing the tandava dance of the Parabhairava.”

The Divine Mother is the Maha pralaya Saksini.

 

C N Nachiappun         

Singapore, 18 August 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 Sithbavandar