Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 218: Shri Maha Ratih (OM mahAratyai namaH)

 In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described.

The Divine Mother has boundless beauty and delight, which She reflects on to Her devotees. 

The Divine Mother is creating the desire in the devotees to get the objects and to be involved in the object to get delight. Thus the Divine Mother provides all the pleasures and delights to all universal creatures. Every soul, irrespective of the body it takes, enjoys the delight at the Divine Mother’s kindness. This is to help the devotees to do away their attachments and other effects of Maya in their life. She is beyond all the creatures and their enjoyments. To praise Her kindness in such granting of the delights, in itself is worshipping Her. She is such a delight to everyone in this universe. 

Ratih can mean liking or delight. The interest and satisfaction on anything, causes the mind to like it. The Maya effect is creating the desires or wants in the devotee. If a devotee likes something, is it on the thing or it is a satisfaction of his mind it likes it? Essentially the thing that can give satisfaction to his mind will be to his liking. He can stop liking something now due to some reason, which he liked earlier. Here the self and or mind liking it is the key. If he can sense trouble coming to him, he may even stop liking his body, family, son, wife, assets, and his life. Saving oneself is critical to all the humans. When he (soul) realizes that his liking is towards the Supreme Being and liberation, he is nearing the Divine Mother. All these changes in him to like the Supreme Being are the working of the Divine Mother. 

The delights can be considered in two ways:

1.       Devotees using his sensory elements to have these worldly pleasures which will be sweet and wonderful in short term.

2.       Devotee aiming for spiritual eternal delight like a sage falling into the blossom of unbroken bliss and feeding himself the nectar therein. Undoubtedly, the Divine Mother is source of such an indescribable bliss in gaining the spiritual attainment.  So the people undertake the path of tapas and seek the liberation to be with the Supreme Being forever. 

Ratih is the beautiful wife of Manmathan (God of desire or kama). The Divine Mother is a greater beauty than Ratih. 

So the Divine Mother is Maha ratih.

 

Goddess Shri Durgha 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 29 August 2020.

 

 

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 Sithbavandar