Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 918: Shri Caitanyarghya samaradhya (ōṃ caitanyārghasamārādhyāyai namaḥ)

The Divine Mother is worshipped with consciousness as an oblation (a religious offering for sacred use). This is offered by the devotee to the Divine Mother. She is worshipped by invoking Her within the devotee’s mind.

Jada objects graduating to higher (human) level are natural and it is part of the Divine Mother’s scheme of things. Micro beings graduating to higher maturity beings, change their bodies with the food they consume. Humans take in rice as main food, but the relative hay is a food for cows and other similar animals. The covering taken from the rice becomes the fertilizer in the earth. Humans achieve higher maturity, use extra means to worship divinity. He offers divinity Yentra, flowers, sandal wood and other nature’s pure things. As he matures, his worship ought to invoke the deity, here it is the Divine Mother within him and offer his consciousness to the deity. This will be a better way of worship than physical things being offered to the divinity. The yogis consider themselves same as Brahman. Their prayers are for attaining the Brahman. This should be the final goal for the souls.

The relationship between the child and the mother is equal to the relationship between the soul and Brahman. After getting the mother’s milk, the satisfaction the child gets is equal to physical things being offered to the divinity. As a child, it does not know that its body is Him/His and the mother is staying beyond her own body, feelings, cares for her child. The mother’s action is like soul being entrenched with the Divine Mother.

Humans offer clear consciousness to the divinity. This is considered the icon of worship, when one prays invoking the Divine Mother within himself. So, when he can offer his consciousness to the divinity, there is no need for physical things to offer. The river water reaching the sea has achieved its goal. This is like internal worship by invoking the Divine Mother within himself. Here, there is no difference between the soul and the Brahman. Devotee surrenders himself to the Divine Mother. She Is celebrated as ‘Caitanyarghya Samaradhya or is worshipped with consciousness as the offering.

Chaitanya is part of Chit, the knower, the known aspect, and the intellect are the three things. This intellect is achieved by internal understanding, self-feeling, and divine grace.

Arkham is the offering of such as washing the feet of the deity, offering water, Arugam Pul, lotus flower, sandal paste, rice, and other pure things. This is part of external worship. Better worship is to offer one’s consciousness to the deity, here it is the Divine Mother with one’s feelings. The Divine Mother is satisfied with such intelligence which was got from Her and is repaid.

Bhuvaneshwari mantra is called Chaitanya, which is a very valuable mantra. The Divine mother is prayed using that special mantra.

This is the worship of the Divine Mother not by using images or materials, but by invoking Her and the oblation is one’s mind.

The Divine Mother is worshipped with consciousness as an oblation. 

 

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 29 July 2022; updated 09 October 2025.

References:

1.The Thousand Names of the Divine Mother published by Mata Amritanandam in California, USA, with Commentary by T. V Narayana Menon

2, Shri Lalitha Sahasranama Stostram published in Tamil by N. Ramaswami Iyer charities’ societies, Tiruchirappalli, India, with Commentary by C. V. Radhakrishna Sastry.

3. The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu, India with commentary by Shrimath Swami Sith-bavandar.