Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 708: Shri Sarvopadhi vinirmukta (ōṃ sarvōpādhivinirmuktāyai namaḥ)

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

The Divine Mother is free from all apparent and real limitations.

The Divine Mother stays beyond all limitations. when water turns into steam, there is no upadhi to explain the state of steam. Ice and snow are forms that have their own upadhi. Rainwater, river water, and tank water are other limitations of the water. The Divine Mother is in all universal creations’ forms is Her upadhi. She is taking the forms of living and non-living things.

There are as many billions of mindsets as there are universal creatures.  They all have their mindset as their limitation.  The human has reached the peak of all universal creatures; yet he cannot release himself from the limitations. He considers that these limitations are needed due to Maya (illusion). Thoughts like I am a learned person, and ‘I’ belong to high class in society are some of the limitations he creates for himself. With all these, the yogin status comes to him as a limitation. Ganga river water is higher than other waters is the limitation put on Ganga River water. With all these, humans must surmount all limitations; only then, they become eligible to seek Brahman. The Divine Mother stays beyond all these upadhis or limitations, She gives Her grace to the devotees.

Due to associations, things will look different and be hidden is one’s understanding of the word upadhi or limitation. A Red flower on a clear spadika Lingam (Lord Shiva) will show the Lingam as red color. When the red flower is removed, the Lingam gets its original appearance. Red flower is the upadhi here. Likewise, there are things that will temporarily show different form/color. The Divine Mother is beyond all these limitations, and She stays firm eternally. When the Upadhi hiding Her is removed, we can visualize Her as She comes out of the Guha or cave in our hearts.  Hiding is part of Divine Mother’s attributes. When upadhis such as I, mine, are removed, the soul merges with the Brahman. She is such unlimited state, in unison with Lord Shiva in Brahman.

Upadhi is limitation or conditioning and support. Everything we see has some upadhi. In the system of five great elements and their upadhi as discussed in Vedanta, akasa (ether) can be perceived through sound; akasa is where sound is. The hands that beat to the rhythm of music can produce sound because they enclose a part of akasa (ether). Akasa manifests only through the upadhi (conditioning) of sound. The Sun’s rays falling on the desert cause the illusion of a mirage. Sunlight is the upadhi that creates mirage. On the still water surface of a lake, trees appear upside down. The water surface is the upadhi here. All knowledge is associated with such a limitation (upadhi). Only the Divine Mother is beyond all upadhis.

Limitations or qualifications such as Mother of Skanda (Muruga), who is also the spouse of Lord Shiva or daughter of Himavat are upathi as well. Her identity is most secret, a non-dual aspect beyond all this. One may ask, how can we insist that non-duality is the only reality, when there are scriptures which admit duality and those which admit only non-duality. Duality is the truth of today’s existence, while non-duality is the ultimate truth. All the distinctions seen in the dual world arise from illusion. All the scriptural sayings directly or indirectly explain the non-dual nature of the Supreme Brahman. All other sciences deal with the practical day-to-day world. Therefore, it is enough if we ascribe a significance in the plane of common experience to those mantras exhibiting a dual aspect. This Namam also means that the limitations imposed by logicians do not affect the Divine Mother; She is beyond all the limitations.

The Divine Mother is beyond all limitations.

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 02 January 2022; 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