Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 745: Shri Jara dhvanta ravi prabha (ōṃ jaādhvāntaraviprabhāyai namaḥ)

The Divine Mother is the sunlight that dispels the darkness in one’s old age.

The darkness that engulfs makes everything disappear completely. The emergence of the Sun and its light, a new burst of energy awakens in its place. Similarly, when exposed to the rays of the Divine Mother’s compassion, all mental fatigue and bodily ailments of old age disappear.

Jara means old age. Life at a young age is full of happiness. All surroundings provide short-term happiness. At old age the elderly fatigue sets in. All things which provided happiness at a young age start to appear as problems. Short-term happiness in life shows up as the sorrow for mankind in old age.  At old age only the Divine Mother’s blessings can remove the darkness of sorrow. So, the devotee worshipping Divine Mother saves himself from all the pains and sorrows in old age.

When evening arrives, we start to feel the darkness; since old age will lead to death, people fear old age the most. The only solution is to appreciate that old age is for the physical body and not for the soul. The darkness will disappear and the ray of hope (the Divine Mother’s ray of hope), will only eliminate the fear, although there may be trouble waiting for such hopes to materialize.

The Divine Mother’s kindness and grace help in this case. Once the devotee surrenders to Divine Mother, Her kindness, the brightness starts spreading to eliminate the darkness of old age darkness. The Divine Mothers’ kindness also increases knowledge. The soul (human) gets a new lease of hope that he will not suffer the fatigue of old age because of  Divine Mother’s compassion. This is one form of Divine Mother’s kindness to Her devotees.

 

The Divine Mother is the sunlight dispelling

darkness of devotees ‘old age.

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 08 February 2022, updated 26 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