The Divine Mother is in the form
of sacrifice. yajma is sacrifice; also, it denotes Vishnu;
the Divine Mother is in the form of Vishnu also.
She is in the form of sacrifice and rites. The Divine Mother, Shiva and Vishnu are in Yajma rupa. Shiva created the sacrifice through rites for the souls when they separated from Brahman. Rites and sacrifices are ideal means for maturing souls to reach Brahman. When the fire is lit in the Yanja Kundams and rites performed in it, is the sacrifice. Those burnt in the fire are not destroyed but they reach the subtle level; they mix with the air to be the food for the plants nearby. Fire can bring the lower-level soul to high maturity.
Souls in human bodies, having been through several births, use their five senses to seek happiness in this world. Such happiness turns into sorrow soon. So, such soul is caught in samsara sagara or the birth and death life cycle. Souls can use the human body’s five senses for prayers to divinity. The bodily heat, when considered as jnana Agni and fed with sacrifice, soul becomes a good Yoga Murthi.
Souls realize and see part of the Lord due to the divine scheme. Souls mature and improve. Whatever is heard, felt and smelt can be helpful for the soul’s maturing process. The worldly system of rites is aimed towards souls achieving divinity. If somebody plucks the flower for prayer purposes, it becomes yajna. The Divine Mother, being yajna Herself; She converts the devotee’s prayers to yajna.
There are five types of sacrifices: 1) Deva sacrifice is to offer to divinity 2) Petru’s sacrifice is to offer to forefathers. 3) Brahma sacrifice to offer to Guru and teachers 4) Manusha Sacrifice is offered to other humans 5) Bootha sacrifice is offered to animals, trees etc. Through these sacrifices, we worship Devas, forefathers, gurus, humans, and animals. Those who get our offers or sacrifices are higher than us. Offering to crow and water the plant are Bootha sacrifices, which must be offered with sincerity. We should not think that we are just helping to quench their hunger but must consider that divinity has come in those forms to accept our sacrifices. Then it becomes yajna, which helps to eliminate ahankara within us. The Divine Mmother is involved in this whole yajna process.
In Harivamsa and Padma Purana, Vishnu’s sacrificial form is described. His feet are the Vedas; His hands, the materials of oblation; His face, the sacrificial firewood; His teeth, the posts to the sacrificial animals; His eyes are day and night; His ear ornaments are Vedanta and His mouth, the ladle for offering the oblations to the fire. His nose is the ghee, the melted butter; His voice, the sound of Samaveda; His head, the Brahmana conducting the sacrifice and His hair is the rules of sacrifices, which are countless. His nails are the austerities; His motions are countless; His knees the sacrificial animals. His organ of generation, the homa and dhatus; the elements of His body are fruits. His heart is gift and His blood, the soma, the ambrosial drink. His mental speed is the oblation to the gods and to ancestors, the mantras the rites. His gait, the different poetical meters. His seat, the Guhyopanisad and His shadow, the wife (to participate in the sacrificial ceremony). This is the form of Vishnu Sacrifice. This is truly the Divine Mother’s form.
The Purusha Skuta has a similar description of divine sacrifice.
The Divine Mother is in the form of
sacrifice.
C N Nachiappan
Singapore,
04 March 2022; updated 15 May 2025.
References:
1.
The
Thousand Names of the Divine Mother published in English by Mata Amritanandamis
AparnaSan 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
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