From Nama 684 to 741 the glories of the Divine Mother were discussed.
The Divine Mother is the guardian of all sacred traditions. Sampradaya are the guidelines that are given to the disciples in the proper manner, that is the traditional wisdom imparted to the disciples through Guru’s words. Sampradaya is also a family or community tradition and dharma handed down for generations to generations.
The Divine Mother is the Ishwari for all traditional sacred procedures and rites. The high-level divine concepts and traditions including family dharmas are all kept and guided well through Guru-disciple relationships. To the extent such traditions are upheld, society improves. If the heat disappears from fire, it will lose its effectiveness. For all creatures there are appropriate living procedures. For humans’ Gunas and status, there are said guidelines which mankind is responsible to upkeep. As humans mature, their responsibilities also increase, otherwise, they will move downwards in maturity. The Divine Mother guards all such traditions. Societies not following their dharma procedures will disappear quickly. humans get maturity and their status based on their upkeeping the set traditions. Ishwari, the Divine Mother, controls and guards the traditions. As such She is called the ‘Sampradayaesvari’.
Sampradam is what is given to the disciples by the Gurus, procedures, tradition, mantras etc. Such guidance helps the disciples to get divine grace. In turn, the disciple becomes a Guru in the future, he imparts such traditions to another set of new disciples. The Divine Mother is presiding in all these Guru-disciple traditions. Sampradaya yoginis are in the fourth level in Srichakra. The Divine Mother is in their form as well.
In Namam 709 Sadashiva Pativrata with the meaning that the Divine Mother is the devoted spouse of Shiva, we pray to both in Brahman where the spouse role for Shiva and the Divine Mother is just a formality. As in Nama 708 Sarvopadhi Vinir Mukta with the meaning that the Divine Mother does not have any limitations, She is the Shakti in Brahman.
Shiva has all the dharmas; the Divine Mother is in total dharma form. In Brahman, there is no distinction. In our imaginations, we visualize Her in many forms and names to help understand Her, even if it is a very small portion of Her total self. Shiva and the Divine Mother are one and the same; to separate them is like to separate heat and fire, which are the same. Each has a separate attribute without them being combined. So, for our understanding, Brahman is said to be Shiva and the Divine Mother together; such explanations establish that the Divine Mother is ‘Sampradayaesvari’.
The Divine Mother is the presiding deity (Goddess) for the wisdom being transferred through Guru-disciple relationships. The Divine Mother is also the one who is worshipped using the Panchadasi (15 syllables) mantra according to the prescribed rules.
Although the Divine Mother is without any attributes and without dependences on
anything, the traditional view is that She is having attributes and
dependences. Devotees invoke Her in images, Salagrama (sacred stones) and
worship Her through traditional Archana and mudras for getting both worldly and
spiritual gains. The Divine Mother is thus called the Ishwari of sacred traditional
rites or ’Sampraadyaeshvari’.
The Divine Mother is the guardian of all
sacred traditions.
C N Nachiappan
Singapore, 04 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.
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