Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 234: Shri Maha Tripura sundari (OM mahAtripurasundaryai namaH)

 In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is the great Tripurasundari. 

The Divine Mother is in totally beautiful Soundariya form. To worship the beauty or the Divine Mother are the same. She is also in full universal form, which is considered as Tripurasundari. She has used all three attributes of the soul. She has created three cities; in Tripurasundari form. 

The knower, the knowledge and which is known are three cities. The devotee gets the wisdom to understand that, all three become as one. The Divine Mother has infinite wisdom; She does not treat anyone in the universe differently. This, in Her view becomes Mahatripuram, which is Her abode also. She is the beautiful Tripurasundari. 

Acharya Baskararaya considers “tripura’ as the city of three. The measurer, the measuring and the thing measured or in other words, the knower, knowledge and that is known. 

The Divine Mother the beautiful Sundari and Sakti who dwells in all three bodies; which are gross, subtle and causal. What can be more beautiful than this essence of life? The Sruti says that the self is dearer than the son; dearer than wealth; dearer than all other objects, being nearer than everything, being inside. One should meditate on the self as dear. 

This namam is for considering the three cities created by the Divine mother; She lives in all three cities. 

The question may be asked if three Devis namely Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Durgha are also termed as Tripurasundari; even though their individual strengths are needed for each of the three functions of creation, protection and dissolution of the universe at varying levels of their attributes. These three Devis are considered separately in other Namams. 

The Divine Mother is Maha Tripurasundari; She is great beauty to be worshipped.

Goddess Maha Tripursundari. 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 14 September 2020.

 

 

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.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 233: Shri Maha kamesa mahishi (OM mahAkAmeshamahiShyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described.

The Divine Mother is the great queen of Mahakamesvara. The Divine Mother is the consort of Mahakamesvara or the female part in Arthanarisvara. 

The desire or Kama is the ultimate cause of the creation of all actions in the universe. Therefore, Kamesvara is the Lord to be worshipped for fulfilling one’s desire and Kama. 

Kama or feeling of desires continues at times even in sleep. One can visualize in one’s night dreams worldly and other worldly desires. It is the Kamesvara is causing such visualizations. The Divine Mother is always with Kamesvara- in fact, in unison both are the same. 

Brahma, Visnu, Rudran and Isvara are doing their assigned tasks in running the universe. Once their tasks are over, they merge into the Maha-Kamesha, the Lord of all desire form. The Divine Mother is the consort or queen of Kamesvara. 

Mahishi means eye witness. The interpretation is that the Divine Mother is the sole eye witness to the Mahapralaya (the total destruction or dissolution of the universe) being performed by Lord Shiva or Maha-Kamesvara.

 

Lord Kamesvara and Goddess Kameswari

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 13 September 2020.

 

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.

The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India with commentary by Shrimath Swami Sithbavandar.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 232: Shri Mahesvara mahakalpa mahatandava saksini (OM maheshvaramahAkalpamahA tANDavasAkShiNyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is the witness of the great Tandava dance by Mahesvara (Shiva) at the end of great creation cycle. 

Maha pralaya (the great dissolution) is the destruction of the universe. Puranas states that, Lord Shiva the great destroyer, after absorbing the universe within Him, does the Tandava dance in great bliss. 

The Divine Mother is beyond everything; She is the sole witness of the pralaya and the Tandava dance by the Lord Shiva. Mahakalpa is the form of the Divine Mother being the sole witness to the Tandava dance by the Lord Shiva. 

Brahma has two states; one, being awake to do the creation and two, the sleeping state during the pralaya (great destruction of the universe).At the second state, everything in this universe goes back to starting point. That state is called kalpam. 

Mahesvara is awake during pralaya. The Divine Mother and Lord Shiva are unison at that point of time as Arthanarisvara; Lord Shiva then absorbs the universe within Him; the Divine Mother stands aside as the only witness to the pralaya Dance or Tandava. The Divine mother causes such great bliss in Lord Shiva. 

After the pralya, Universe gets back to its original state; only to emerge with life through re-creation. The universe at the starting point is called kalpam. Kalpam means creation. The bottom of the sea always has its own self. Likewise the Supreme Self is in its own self eternally. 

Upanishads state that even a spider spreads its web using the yarn from its own body and when needed pulls the whole web back into itself. The universe is created by the Lord Shiva together with the Divine Mother. During pralaya, then Lord Shiva absorbs back the whole universe within Him. 

Pra means great; layam is disappearing and pralayam therefore, implies great universe disappearance. A small thing losing its form but taking the larger object form disappears required a large object. 

Smaller universe is disappearing in much bigger Lord Shiva. It is called Mahapralaya. As this destruction is done properly by the Lord Shiva, it is termed as Mahakalpa. Nobody other than the Lord Shiva (Isvara) can do this massive destruction. After absorbing the whole universe, He is totally happy, which comes out in the form of dance called Tandavam. During pralaya only the Divine Mother and Lord Shiva stay alive eternally to control and witness the whole process. This is called “Tirodhana Kari”, the meaning of that is “total disappearance of all things”. We will discuss this concept in detail in future Namam 270 soon. 

Acarya Baskararaya shows evidence from Pancadasistava on the Divine Mother’s state during the pralaya: “Victory to your form, bearing the noose, goad, sugar-cane bow and the arrow of flowers, who is the only witness of the Tandava dance of the axe-bearing Parabhairava, at the time of His drawing the universe into Himself.” 

The Devi Bhagavata describes the Divine Mother at the time of Mahapralaya (the dissolution of the universe) as sporting, after absorbing of all beings into Herself and drawing in the entire universe. 

This is the beauty of the Arthanarisvara (half – female and half – male God) concept. Mahadevi (the Divine Mother) is the only witness to Mahadevas’s cosmic dance as They both are indeed ONE joined together as word and meaning; they are the parents of the whole universal creatures.  

Lord Shiva is dancing 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 12 September 2020.

 

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.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 231: Shri Maha bhairava pujita (OM mahAbhairavapUjitAyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is even worshipped by the Maha-bhairava (Lord Shiva). 

Maha-Bhairava or Shiva as a matter of fun is involved with three functions of creation, preserving and dissolution. Maha-Bhairava’s consort is Goddess Bhairavi. These three universal functions go on continuously. 

Bhairavar is in all creatures of the universe and also involved in all of their actions. But all the creatures think that they are the real doers and praise themselves as if, everything that they perform is their own actions. In fact, every human activity is to be considered as the worship of the Divine Mother. If anyone praises his or her own achievements, it ultimately represents the praise on the Divine Mother. 

The Divine Mother manifested Herself during a Yagam from the “Cid agni Kunadalam” which is the fire to safeguards the devas. It is said in Puranas that Lord Bhairava Himself supervised that yaga which was performed by devas. 

Though Lord Bhairava is continuously engaged with His three-fold functions of creation etc, in the universe, during the pralaya, He absorbs the whole universe within Him. He performs the all famous Tandava-Nritam or the Tandava Dance in order to consolidate the universal destruction.

The name Bhairava (a version of Lord Shiva) has special meaning; Bha denotes creation; ra means preservation and va indicates destruction. The Puranas say that Maha-Bhirava, who perfoms all above tasks on behalf of the Divine Mother, Himself worships the Divine Mother. The three syllables Bha, RA and Va stand for, bharana for protecting; Ramana for pleasing and Vamana for discarding. 

All things in creation are subjected to these three processes. We cannot, in the end, discard anything that we like and which makes us happy. All created things are called Maya (which literally means illusion). The Divine Mother says that “anything that is impermanent is Maya’. 

Lord Bhairava nourishes, pleasing and discarding everything in this universe. Padma Purana says “Shiva the source of universe is holding a rosary in His hand and performing Nyasa; He worships the Divine mother, who is the Sakti or potency of all the mantras.” Nyasa is explained as the ritualistic assignment of various parts of the body to different deities. It is done by prayer and corresponding gestures. 

Bhairava also means ‘to threaten’ or ‘to create fear’ in others, with his form, so that evil forces are afraid of him. He guards the assets of the temples or places of worships, after the days last prayers. 

Bhairavam is also a group of girls who have tender and self fearing character. They are worshipping the Divine Mother also for their welfare.

There is sufficient Purana evidence that Lord Bhairava (Shiva) worshipped the Divine Mother as He is helping Her in smooth running of the universe. 

She is Maha-bhairava Pujita.

Shri Kalabhiravar : He is handling the creation, preservation and destroying 

of the universe on the Divine Mother’s behalf.

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 11 September 2020.

 

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.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 230: Shri Maha yaga kramaradhya (OM mahAyAgakramArAdhyAyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is worshipped by the rituals of Maha-yaga. 

She is worshipped through properly performing what is known as Maha-yagam. Together with Devotion, the wisdom of intuition is used while worshipping the Divine Mother. She is the Mother for all creatures in this universe. A child needs no recommendation to reach its mother; so to the devotee to reach the Divine Mother. 

Yagam is a ritual where towards end of it, one’s wealthy belongings are partially given away willingly, in the form of Danam. The gesture of giving away one’s wealth to others without any attachment to them is Mah-yaga. Such worships are part of the Divine Mother’s schemes to uplift Her devotees. 

The Divine Mother lives in such selfless hearts of the devotees; She blesses them with Supreme bliss. 

Maha-yaga is one of the best worshipping method. The people who do the Maha-yaga in proper way are called Maha yogis, who reach the state of Isvara themselves. 

Unifying two separate things is what Yoga is. In creation, the Supreme Being had separated the souls from it. The Divine Mother’s worship through Maha-yaga is a means to unite the individual soul to the Supreme Being. With the Divine Mother’s grace, such Mah-yogis get Isvara state. 

A lot of preparations are prescribed by ancient documents for performing Maha-yaga to the Divine Mother. During the Maha-yaga, all the sixty four yogins who are part of the deities, such as Brhami are worshipped. 

Baskararaya refers Bhavanopanishad and says that Maha-yaga is a sacrifice performed by Shivayogis. 

The deeper meaning of this Maha-yaga is that the worshipper or seeker sacrifices his vasanas one by one in the fire of wisdom; whereby he becomes one with what he seeks, thus reaching the Ultimate Supreme Being for attaining his eternal bliss. 

Namam Four,” Cid agni kunda sambhuata” with the meaning She was born in the fire-pit of pure Consciousness to save devas and is seated on a Lion, as in Durgha rupam. Namam Five, “Deva karya samudyata” with the meaning that She came out of Agni Kundala with the intent on fulfilling the wishes of the devas. In effect She is answering the Maha-yaha done by devas to save them from evil forces.

Maha Nava Chandi Yaga done for Durga Devi; Nava Chandi Yaga gives victory over external and internal enemies and bestows fame, name, fame and remove all sort of dangers, negative energy and evil effects.

 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 10 September 2020.

 

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.

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 229: Shri Mahasana (OM mahAsanAyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is seated on glorious asana or great postures. 

The Divine Mother uses the much suited postures reflecting Her great status. Wise men as well as we know   depending up on the background, status and achievements one chooses one’s environment, enclosure and posture. The Divine Mother occupies Universe as Her preferred seat, as She Herself is the  universal form. 

Adi Sankara in Soundariya Lahari verse ninty-two states:

Gataaste manchatvam druhina-Hari-Rudreshavara bhrutah, Sivah svaccha cchaaya ghatita kapata pracchadapatah; Tvadhiyaanaam bhaasaam pratiphalana raagaarunatayaa Shareeree shringaaro rasa iva drisham dogdhi kuthukam/ Jagajjanani! Pancha Pretaasanaaseena Pancha Brahma Swarupini/ 

Wich means: Trimurtis Brahma-Vishnu-Rudra and Ishana have constituted your cot while Sadashiva is like your comfortable bed sheet thus converting your ‘ragaaruna shareera’ is reflecting on Parameshvara’s white body thus leading to mutual shringaara rasa! 

Her such a seat is shown in first page image; By Her such a position and seating, She rules the universe and all its smooth functioning. 

Namam Three, “Srimat simhasanesvari” which explains that She is the queen of the most glorious throne. 

Thirty-sx tattvas (principles) including five universal elements and Lord Shiva are Her seats; but the seats dearest to Her are the heart of Her devoted Baktas and great yogis. 

The Gita (XVIII.61) says “The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings, Arjuna”. 

She is having the best seats to use in performing Her normal affairs of the universe. She is Mahasana Herself. 

 

The Divine Mother is seated in Sri Cakra, as defined in Sri Vidya mantra; She is ready to bless Her devotees

 

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 09 September 2020.

 

 

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.

                     

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 228: Shri Maha yantra (OM mahAyantrAyai namaH)

In Namams 199 to 248, the Divine Mother’s  Saguna or infiniteness power and glory are described. 

The Divine Mother is in great or wonderful yantra forms. 

We have seen in earlier Namams’ discussions that yantras are figures of special powers; they are meant to achieve the result; here the result is to worship the Divine Mother in seeking Her grace. 

The human body is a yantra; which the devotee tries to use wisely to advance the soul towards the Supreme Being. The whole universe is the Divine Mother’s yantra body; She uses that universal yantra well to manage the creation, maintenance and dissolution; later She uses it to recreate the universal system. 

The Divine Mother is worshipped through the yantras; cakras, letters and inscriptions are all known yantras. MahaMeru is precious and great yantra to reach the Divine Mother. Mahameru yantra is shown below.  

All 100 verses in Soundarya Lahari  are mantras  have yantras and tantras  linked to each of them to give the desired result to the worshipper; this had been mentioned in various commentaries; the books like Kularnava explain these yantras in detail. 

Since the Divine Mother is worshipped through great yantras, She is Maha yantra Herself.

 

 The Divine Mother is worshipped in Sri Cakra yantra symbolizing Abundance And Prosperity.

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 08 September 2020.

 

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.