Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 966: Shri Lila vinodini (ōṃ lilāvinōdinyai namaḥ

The Divine Mother delights in Her sport.

She is happy with Her sport activities. Lila is sports; the young girls play in sand to build a house, invite guests for dinner and offer drinks made of sand. Later they destroy the sand structures. So, the young girls use sand to create happiness for themselves. The Divine Mother is similarly forever happy with Her sporting activities. Her children, the universal living beings, are happy. Their universal lives lead to happiness for them,

The Divine Mother is forever engaged in Lila. The universal beings face in turn happiness and sorrow. The Divine Mother is happy to see the sufferings of the universal beings as it helps them to mature and move closer to Brahman. The biological mother looks out for the missing child and feels happy when she finds that missing child. No one can explain that happiness of the child’s mother. Likewise, Lilavinodini, the Divine Mother causes the sufferings for Her universal children and enjoys in that. She never allows that suffering to exceed the appropriate limit. Those who seek and reach out to Her comfort them; like a devotee’s cry gets the Lord’s attention and finally attains Him. Two thugs are fighting and biting each other is a big issue. A young girl who sees such fighting of the thugs, is a Lila Vinodini enjoying happiness through sports. In this world major kingdoms fight with each other. Such massive wars are simply sport for the Divine Mother. She does not see any differences between dog fighting and major kingdoms fighting. So, She is celebrated as Lila Vinodini.

She gets happiness in universal sport played by Her. From Universal creation to dissolution are happening as always for Her. She is making them as her sport and gets happiness.

The wise people say that creation of the universe is a Lila or sport for the Divine Mother; creation, preservation, and dissolution are all part of Her sport and Her pastime activities.

Bhaskaracarya quotes a story from the Yoga Vasistha. There was a king called Padma raja. His wife Lila was a great devotee of the Divine Mother. She prayed to the Divine Mother to bring Her dead husband back to life when he met with an untimely death. The Divine Mother gave her husband back to her and made her happy. Thus, the Divine Mother brought happiness to Lila; the Divine Mother is therefore known as Lila Vinodini.

Goddess Lakshmi has a name Lila; the Divine Mother is called Lila Vinodini because She amuses Lakshmi Devi too.

The Divine Mother delights in Her sport.

C N Nachiappan

Singapore, 16 September 2022; updated 02 November 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.