Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 706: Shri Guhamba (ōṃ guhāmbāyai namaḥ)

From Nama 684 to 741 the glories of the Divine Mother were discussed.

The Divine Mother is the Mother of Guha (Subrahmanya). Also, She dwells in the cave of the heart of Her devotee.

She is the Mother of Lord Muruga or Subrahmanya. This Nama is interpreted as “She resides in humans’ hearts. The devotee does not have to search for the Divine Mother elsewhere. She is seated in every being’s heart, Once the devotee realizes the Divine Mother within him, he gets Her blessings. Realizing that one’s body is Her temple is the best outcome for the devotee.

From within their hearts, She provides wisdom to Her devotees.  To streamline the devotee’s knowledge base, there are sastras. We can get all the needed knowledge, She is in our heart cave. We are used to outside things; it may be difficult to see things in the darkness of the caves. Once we are inside the cave and getting used to the darkness, then we can start to see the things inside the cave. Without looking at outside worldly things, one starts to learn to understand the Divine Mother being within him. She is the Mother of Lord Muruga; only people who look inside themselves can visualize Her.

The Puranas celebrate the of birth of Lord Muruga as the son of Lord Shiva and Shakti to lead the armies of the devas to kill the demons Taraka and liberate the devas from the scourge Lord Muruga is also called Guha (The in-dweller). He resides in the Gandhamadana Guga in Thiruchendur; where whip had been used as an instrument of punishment of the asuras.

The use of the term Guha (cave, cavity) for heart is well recognized in philosophy. Statements from the Sruti like ‘that which enters the cave and resides there’ (Katha Upanishad) referring to the soul in the cave of the heart are examples of this.                                                                                          

The Divine Mother is the Mother of Lord Subramanya

 

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 31 December 2021; updated 02 March 2025

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