Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 356: Shri Sadacara pravartika (OM sadAchArapravartikAyai namaH)

In Namams 275 to365, the Divine Mother’s  many forms providing benefits to Her devotees in great details are discussed. 

The Divine Mother is immersed in and inspires others to follow right conduct. 

There is a need to assist the people wanting to live righteously. Those people who go through non dharma ways get warnings in the form of sorrows. The Divine Mother gives sorrows to such people. Kali Devi has large knife in one of Her left hands and a saving sign in one of Her right hands. People following dharma ways do not have to “fear” anything as they get the Divine Mother’s support. In this universe, humans get support for their dharma actions and sorrow for non dharma actions. The Divine Mother’s rule is continuously happening. The dharma oriented people mature and get the Divine Mother’s blessings. This is implied in this Namam “Sadacara pravartika”. 

Sadacara is living by honest means; pravartika means the one who is making it happen. The Divine Mother inspires people who follow their dharma. Even with great difficulties, living by one’s dharma is Sadacara; this is what the Divine Mother wants from Her devotees; She supports such people always. There are four Vedas and their sublevel documents to help people wanting to follow their dharma. The Divine Mother helps them in this process. 

Truth, righteousness, love and ahimsa (non violence or injury) are the key values accorded and followed by the Divine Mother. She ensures such conducts in others by inspiring them to follow the rules laid down in the Karmakanda and the Jnanakanda of the Vedas.  These two Veda kandas are dealing with rituals and true spiritual knowledge respectively. 

In Kurma Purana the Divine Mother declares, “O King, according to my command, the eighteen Puranas was created by Vyasa; his disciples created the supplementary Puranas (Upapuranas). These Puranas establish dharma and righteous rules. This process is repeated in each age or yuga by Vyasa; he performs this task by knowing and by having full understanding of dharma needs. 

In essence, dharma principles are in four Vedas, in their supplementary Vedas, in six Veda auxiliaries (Vedangas), in the philosophical system of mimamsa in nyaya (logic), in dharma sastra (law) and the Puranas; all in total eighteen sources of knowledge. This dharma established by Brahma, Manu, Vyasa and other great sages at my command will last through dissolution of this universe”. 

The four supplementary Vedas are: Ayurveda dealing with medical science, Dhanurveda dealing with military science, Gandharvaveda dealing with music and Sthapatyaveda dealing with architectural science. 

The six auxiliaries to Vedas are: Siksa (the science of articulation and pronunciation or phonetics), Kalpa (the science of rituals or ceremonies), Vyakarana (grammar), Nirukta (the etymology of Vedic words), Chandas (prosody) and Jyotisa (astrology/astronomy).

 

The four Vedas

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 15 January 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 Chithbavandar