Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 613: Shri Kavyalapa vinodini (ōṃ kāvyālāpavimōdinyai namaḥ)

The Goddess Divine Mother is delighted to hear poetry. 

Kavya means epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Devi Mahamaya; there are various epics by others like Kalai Dasa. Vinodhini means delighted person. 

The Divine Mother gets extremely pleased to hear glories in epics, Puranas (Kavya). The full song-based epics are considered complete. Kavi also means the creator Brahma. The one who sets the words is a poet. This universe is an example of Brahma’s glorious epic in creating the universe under the Divine Mother’s instructions. 

Formation, words, music, and correct meaning matching are some of the attributes in glorious epic. Sage Valmiki’s epic had all the above attributes. Accomplished creators use words and sentences in very correct way to give happiness to the reader and to the people hearing them. Music ragas help in meanings of the epics, which is appealing to the feelings of the people hearing the epics, thereby increasing the happiness overall. The taste plays a role to the reader/hearer of the epics. Brahman is ultimately bigger than anything, like any superior epic available. 

While talking about speech, words and music, there was an incident happened; Sarasvati Devi was on Her Veena singing the glories of Lord Shiva in front of Shiva and the Divine Mother. At one point, the Divine Mother talked about Sarasvati’s performance. The Divine Mother’s voice /speech was so nice that Sarasvati Devi felt embarrassed by her performance and immediately folded up Her Veena to take leave from that place. 

Krishna’s flute gave out good music. The people who heard the music had their lower level gunas eliminated out of them. Only the souls looking to reach Brahman were left out.  Gopis, (the wife and daughters of cow herds) had much happiness which all came from the Divine Mother. 

In doing five functions, namely the creation, sustaining, dissolution, hiding and granting Liberation, the Divine Mother is creating a perfect Kavya, for the humans to hear and follow. 

As the Divine Mother likes and enjoys singing and hearing good kavyas (epics), She is called “Kavyalapa vinodini”.

                The Divine Mother is delighted to hear good kavyas.

C N Nachiappun

Singapore, 29 September 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