Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 263: Shri Sarvavastha vivarjita (OM sarvAvasthAvivarjitAyai namaH)

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

The Divine Mother transcends in all soul’s states, namely: waking, dreaming, deep sleep and turiya. 

The Divine Mother is beyond all sufferings experienced by the embodied soul. People suffer due to their ignorance and weaker mind. The mind changes very easily and quickly. So the sufferings can be minimized or increased due to one’s thinking. The Divine Mother is Supreme Bliss eternally. She is beyond all these sufferings. 

The soul which had crossed three states is called turya. The one who goes beyond to fourth state is called “Turyatta”. There is no specified fifth state. So this Namam says that the Divine Mother has crossed beyond all four states. Sarvavasta represents crossing four stages and reaching Brahman (Lord Shiva). She helps the souls to merge with Lord Shiva. This matured soul may get engaged without attachment in worldly affairs. Then his speech becomes japa and all his bodily actions become the worship of Brahman. What he thinks and says will become mantra for worshipping the Almighty; here it is the Divine Mother. Soundarya Lahari by Acharya Adi Sahankra verse Twenty-seven says that the Divine Mother becomes Shiva in turiyatta state. 

There is a fifth state beyond the turiya. Only yogins who had transcended turiya are enjoying the Supreme Bliss. There is no special name assigned for this fifth state. Sruti says that “He is not born again on reaching the fifth state. 

The yogin who goes beyond turiya is called Mahayogin. Sivasutra describes such a man “His entire life is worship, all his conversations are japa and he gives out the knowledge of the Brahman. According to yogasutra “His soul revels in the state of non-differentiation (nirvikalpa); all his words become the mantra, his mind is pure”. Yogavasistha says” such great souls should always be approached because even when they are not instructing, their conversation itself is instruction” His every movement is a great worship; even his foolish talk at length is japa (Soundarya Lahari verse Twenty-seven). Varttika explains: “Thus, the yogin who constantly abides in his own Atman, always being equal to Shiva, is called Mahayogin. He imparts the knowledge of the self to his disciples.” Since the Divine Mother is within such yogins individually or in their aggregate, She is called “One who transcends in all states”. 

Tantra’s great teacher Varadaraja says “The seeker, through frequent abidance in fourth state turiya reaches the state beyond and becomes equal to Shiva, who is the soul of the Universe and who is pure bliss”. 

The concept of state beyond turiya is in independent and is original in Tantra. A major difference between Advaita (the concept of non-duality) and Trantra is that while everything other than Brahman is false in Advaita, it is nothing false in Tantra. Based on Trantra the knot of each state does not break and cease to exist but it simply gets loose and slips away. Adi Sankara says “The Rsis of Vedas and the great teachers of Tantra confirm that partial truth need not be left out in order to reach the full truth. In attaining God, one should avoid losing the world. The whole truth has to be realized. Partial truths are to be seen as perspective of the realization. The Parasakti (Brahman) in the Bindu does not negate other deities in the Sricakra. The separate rules of worship specified for these deities in Sricakra are the proof of the non-negation. In Namams 256 to 263 the five states of the soul have been detailed. Next up to Namam 274, five states of Isvara will be discussed. 

 

The Divine Mother is  ready to bless.    

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 14 October 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.