Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 730: Shri Prema Rupa (ōṃ prēmarūpāyai namaḥ)

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

The Divine Mother is pure love.

The Divine Mother has great affection for Her devotees She shows Her love for all beings. Moon, Sun, and Earth have pulling forces which are the forms of love. Even animals and insects have affection. Only due to love human life is better. When such love turns into pure love, then the divinity aspect comes in. With pure love, there is no place for competition or jealousness. Love removes fear. The matured souls with their love fight against death. Love is sacrifice. The devotee submits all what he has to his deity of choice; he does not expect anything in return. Souls merge with the ultimate pureness of love Para-Brahman. It is like a doll made of salt taking a bath in the sea to become part of the sea. To remove the ignorance or Maya and to merge with the Para-Brahman is the goal for the souls. Due to pure love the devotee enjoys the Para-Brahma bliss. The Divine Mother is ‘Prema Rupa’.

When the bud of happiness blossoms, one of the end results is love. If we expect anything in return for our love, it is not pure love. We need to treat others’ welfare with our love, then it is our welfare as well.  Likewise, when we treat others’ sorrow with love, it is our sorrow also. To become another person, we need to love every aspect of him, with our love, then we are having pure love. The Divine Mother is seen in that form. Love, depending on the other person or place, will have different names. To our parents it is bhakti; for equal level people it is friendship; to youngers it is affection. There is no question as to what benefit I have in such situations. The Divine Mother is love, She can be attained with pure love.

In Siddhis, Ahimsha is the best, not harming others. We ought to have a good affectionate approach to all universal beings. Those with such good attributes follow Ahimsha siddhi. People will not reach us with negative feelings. With our love, we will create a kind lovely environment. The Divine Mother is in such “Prema Rupa’.

The devotion of worshipper for the Divine Mother and Her compassion for the devotee are both form of pure love and Prema love that is Her essence.

“She has taken the form entirely of love, affection and devotion”, says Bhaskaracarya. The Divine Mother exists as love in all universal beings. The mutual attraction is the nature of love. The Divine Mother is the power that directs that attraction. ‘Many salutations to the Divine Mother, who dwells in all beings in the form of Love.’ (Devi Mahatmya).  She grants what is dear to Her devotees. Her priyam (dear) means ‘fulfilment of desires.’ The Divine Mother fulfills the desires that are righteous and beneficial to Her devotees.

The Divine Mother is PURE LOVE.

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 24 January 2022; updated 4 April 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