Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 250: Shri Panca brahma svarupini (OM pa ~ nchabrahmasvarUpiNyai namaH)

In Namams 249 to 274, the Divine Mother’s Five functions and Her Five Isvara forms are described. 

The Divine Mother’s form exists as five brahmas or made of the five Brahmas. 

Brahma, Visnu, Rudra, Isvara and Sadshiva are the deities doing their respective functions for smooth running of the universe. They will not become immobile or incapable of doing things as indicated in earlier Namam 249 “Panca Prethasanasina” when their sakis are with them; only when their saktis exit them during pralaya, they will become immobile something like a solid being but not exactly a corpse. Earlier the five divinities were called the five Brahmans, whereas the present Namam calls these five Brahmas are indeed the Divine Mother’s own form. For logical discussion, they were assumed to be immobile (corpses) in earlier Namam. We cannot separate them from their inner saktis. Heat cannot be separated from the fire. Likewise, these saktis cannot be separated from Bhraman. The Divine Mother is in all deities’ form. Each deity’s actions basically are actions of the Divine Mother’s. So She is Panca brahma svarupini. 

The Divine Mother is in all five Brahmas, who are holding Her seat in Sricakra. She holds in Herself all five brahmas. According to Garuda puranam, Narayanan, Vasudevan, Braitumnan, Aniruthran and Shankarson are said to be five forms of Vishnu doing the preservation or saving function. The Divine Mother is all those five deities’ forms of Vishnu also. 

These five Brahmas can also be considered to be different forms of Lord Shiva, namely, Isvara, Tatpurusa, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata. 

According to the Linga Puranam, the five Brahmas are the individual soul, existing nature from the beginning of the universe, intelligent, ego and mind. They also represent the five organs of perception; the five organs of action or the objects of the five senses. The universe consisting of five elements are to be suggested by Panca brahma. The sruti comments by saying “Everything, indeed is Brahma”. Hence this Namam implies that the Divine Mother‘s form is the total universe. Mother‘s form is the total universe.

The Divine Mother as Panca brahma svarupini

 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 30 September 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.

3.       The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India with commentary by Shrimath Swami Sithbavandar.

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3EoRFDzDoU&t=7s