Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 379: Shri Odyana pita nilaya (OM oDyANapIThanilayAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing. 

The Divine Mother’s one of the abodes is known as Odyana. 

The Divine Mother lives in Odyana pita. Jalandhara and Odyana are key Kshetra names. They refer to and explain the chakras in human body. The ancient Hindus wanted to project the importance of human chakras by linking them to key Kshetra names. The matured devotees understand the importance of the human body chakras linking the key Kshetras wherein the Divine Mother’s presence is felt within the devotees.

Kshtram is place to take rest without being disturbed. The Divine Mother lives in Odyana pita which is Vishuddhi chakar also in the human body. 

The Divine Mother’s residence can be listed as follows:

·         At Kamarup as Santa Devi @ Muladhara

·         Purnagiri as Vama Devi @Anahata

·         Jalandhara as Jyesta Devi @Ajna

·         Odyana as Rudri Devi @ Vishuddhi 

Odyana is the name for Vishuddhi, one of the six chakras in human body. The Divine Mother resides in throat area, where the sandal wood paste or Kunkumam (red in colour) mark can also be applied. 

Additional Note: In his commentary on this Namam and human body chakaras, Shri Anna from Ramakrishna Mission had said the Jalandhara is associated with Vishuddhi chakar and Odyana is associated with Ajna chakar; where as in commentary by Shri C V Ramakrishan Sastry (Reference Book) had said Jalandhra is linked to Ajna chakar and Odyana is linked to Vishuddhi chakar. 

 

The Divine Mother as Rudri Devi residing in Odyana nilaya.

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 07 February 2021.

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 Chithbavandar 

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 378: Shri Jalandhara sthita (OM jAlandharasthitAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing.

The Divine Mother resides in the Jalandhara pita. 

The Divine Mother takes the Vishnumukhi rupa; She resides in Jalandhara. Each Kshetra gets its importance for three reasons; the Murthy or deity gives the Kshetra a key importance. Sri Ramakrishna explains this as follows: The cow’s blood is all over its body but we get the milk only at the right place. The Punya Kshetra is similar to the cow. Any Kshetra’s punya is due to many yogins doing the tapas there where ultimate Brahman’s presence is felt. The deity in that place gets the fame due to such prayers. The ancient elders had prayed into the statues made of stone or metals such as gold, the Brahma mantra to make it gain the Shakti. By praying to the deity in the key Kshetras, the devotee gets blessings and jnana knowledge. The devotees travel to different key Kshetras to accumulate their blessings and jnana knowledge. This Namam is to remind such actions needed by the devotees to gain the blessings and jnana knowledge. 

Yogashastra states that Jalandhara is the Vishuddhi chakar in the throat region in human body. The Divine Mother resides there as the embodiment of Brahma-as-sound.

Padma Purana says that the Divine Mother resides in Jalandhara and  it is called “Vishnumukhi”.

 

Additional Note: In his commentary on this Namam and human body chakaras, Shri Anna from Ramakrishna Mission had said the Jalandhara is associated with Vishuddhi chakar and Odyana is associated with Ajna chakar; where as in commentary by Shri C V Ramakrishan Sastry (Reference Book) had said Jalandhra is linked to Ajna chakar and Odyana is linked to Vishuddhi chakar.

 

     The Divine Mother as Vishnumukhi

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 06 February 2021.

 

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 Chithbavandar 

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 377: Shri Jaya (OM jayAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing. 

The Divine Mother is victorious always and everywhere. 

The Divine Mother is in Victory form. Various creatures have different goals; when their goals are met, they feel happy, being victorious. In general, the universal beings have more victory than defeats, which helps them in moving forward. These are the Divine Mother’s blessings to the universal creatures. As She is giving the victory to motivate Her devotees, all the victories in this universe are the graces from the Divine Mother. She is Jaya. 

The deity in Varaha Mountain is Jaya; the Divine Mother is in Varaha rupa to provide victory for all the universal beings. Jaya is also one of the eight yogins worshipping the Divine Mother. 

     Goddess Jaya Durgha

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 05 February 2021.

 

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 Chithbavandar

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 376: Shri Shruncara rasa sampurna (OM sha {} RRi ~ NgArarasasampUrNAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing.  

The Divine Mother is filled with essence of romantic Love. 

There is a close relationship between Kama and srungararasa. Kama is in human heart. Music helps in Kama emotions. This type of music is felt, when male and female creatures join in unison,. When there is beauty in human bodies, this Kamarasam is increased. At certain time period, the creatures get this type of beauty seeking unison. Dance is one art providing the Kamarasa. The Divine Mother is the source of Kamararasa and She is in purna (full) state.  Shri Ramakrishna realized this with the Divine Mother considering him to be a baby. 

The Divine Mother as Lalitha is beauty with srungararasa fully within Her. She is Kamapujitha. Manmathan encourages Kama by praying to the Divine Mother. There are nine rasas, eight are different than the srungarara rasam.

 

Srungara is the sentiment; the erotic sentiment is the king of the nine sentiments in poetry and art. This is the foundation of the union of hearts. It turns all human relations sweet and full of sentiment, not just the relation between a pair of lovers are. The Divine Mother is the embodiment of the love sentiment. She is, in short, the string of love that ties all beings. 

The Namam “Srungara rasa sampurna” can be split as: srunga (horn, usually two) plus ara (petals) plus rasa (flavor, usually six) plus sampurna (full). 

Srungara rasa means two times six or twelve petals equal to the twelve petaled lotus which is anahata chakra. The Divine Mother is in Her full form, inhabits in centre of the hearts. Anahata is the heart-lotus. “Arjuna, The Lord resides in the heart of all beings” says Lord Krishna in Gita. 

Srunga can also mean peak, principal (the highest thing); arara means covering; sa means with and sampurna means complete. From these we can interpret this Namam as the Divine Mother resides in this entire world, along with avidya (ignorance) the covering that hides the highest truth, Brahman. She resides everywhere accompanied by mukhyavidya. Further interpreted is that She is both the conditioned and unconditioned Brahman. 

There are four special Shakti peetas (centres of Shakti) are enlisted. They are the four chakras in human body, namely: Muladhara, Anahata, Vishukti and Ajna. One of the peeta, corresponding to Anahata is represented in this Namam. 

 

The  Kamakshi Devi at Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, India.

Kanchipuram is one of the key Shakti Peetams.

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 04 February 2021.

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 Chithbavandar

  

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 375: Shri Kama pujita (OM kAmapUjitAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing.

The Divine Mother is worshipped by Kama. 

The Divine Mother is worshipped by Manmathan, the Lord of Kama. He plays a key role in universal creation process. He needs the Divine Mother’s grace and worships Her all the times. Without the Divine Mother’s grace nothing in this universe moves. He gets his support for his work/duty from the Divine Mother. 

Due to Her fondness to Rathi, Kama’s spouse, the Divine Mother got Kama back to life; Earlier Lord Kameshvara had burnt Kama to ashes with his third eye for disturbing his meditation. Kama is said to be worshipping the Divine Mother at Kanchi Kamakodi peetam. The Devi Kamakshi’s grace is there for Kama.  Namam 62 “Kamakshi” says that the Divine Mother has beautiful eyes. Kama is one of the key worshippers of the Divine Mother. 

There are fifty-one Shakthi Peetams in Indian sub-continent.  This Kama peetam is in Kanchipuram, in Tamilnadu, India.  Namams 375, 376,378 and 379 talk about four key Shakti Peetdams. They represent four chakras in our human body. They are:

·         Kamapeetam represents Mualadharam with Para sound.

·         Puragiri represents Manipurakam with Pashyanti sound.

·         Jalandaram  represents Anagtam with Madhyama sound.

·         Audiyam represents Vishukti with Vaikhari sound

 

With worshipping and blessings from the Divine Mother, Narayana (Mahavishnu) took Mohini rupa and in disturbing Lord Shiva with his romantic plays. Manmathan is the son of Narayanan; he won over his father Lord Maha Vishnu with the Divine Mother’s worship (Soundarya Lahari verse 5 explains this). 

The Divine Mother realized that Manmathan tried to unite the Divine Mother and Lord Shiva; he got himself being burnt to ashes for disturbing the meditation of Kameshvara. The Divine Mother (Krtajna with Her gratitude), accepted Manmathan’s devotion and gave all the credit to him. She shows that She by using Manmathan’s bow and arrows in Her hand to announce to the world that She accepts his devotion to Her. 

Our mind produces the kama thoughts. Kama is Ananga, the one without a physical body and without a definite form. He has a bow made of flowers (Sugarcane blossom is a key component), with bow string made with a line of bees, the five arrows are made from five flowers namely, lotus, asoka, mango, jasmine and blue lotus; he has a deputy named Vasanta, the spring season; his battle-chariot is the wind from Malaya mountains (unlike other chariots which need roadways, this chariot can fly anywhere). As Kama has no body structure, his equipment conquers and subjugate the whole world with the grace of the Divine Mother’s glancing (Soundarya Lahari verse six). 

She is worshipped as Kamarupa; we will further see in Namam 379 “Odyana peeta nilaya” with the meaning that the Divine Mother’s abode is at Odyana also. 

This Namam Kamapujita coming immediately after Krtajna (374) is very apt in showing the Divine Mother’s gratitude to Kama for helping all Her universal creation process.

The  Kamakshi Devi at Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu,

India; Kanchipuram is a key Shakti Peetam.

 

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 03 February 2021.

 

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 Chithbavandar

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 374: Shri Krtajna (OM kRRitaj ~ nAyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti  Peetams where She is residing. 

The Divine Mother knows and is fully aware of all our actions as they happen; She shows Her gratitude with immense kindness to all Her created beings, who are performing their actions as directed by Her. 

The creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe and its beings are Her cosmic drama, as directed by Her.

The Divine Mother understands all the actions and movements in the universe. All creatures in this universe are karma based. The creatures without any feelings follow their karma. All universal cosmic planets also move smoothly without any pressure. These are all happening with the Divine Mother’s grace. She knows every move by the universal beings. 

There are nine witnesses for all actions. They are the Sun, the Moon, Time, Yama (the lord of death) and the five elements sky, wind, earth, fire and water and they witness every actions of humans. Essentially these are the Divine Mother’s vibhutis or grace or glories, through which She holds witness to everything in this universe. They calculate the effect of soul’s karmic actions and determine their benefits and results for the souls. The Divine Mother is in these nine witness forms watching all good and bad karmic actions of universal beings. She plans our future based on good or bad karma performed by the universal beings. She is Krtajna. 

The embodied souls try to understand their karma effect in their current life. Some do good karma and some do bad karma. Good and bad karmas for the universal creatures are part of their creation itself. Some karmas looking good to one group may be bad for another group of beings. The Divine Mother makes such good and bad for each and every universal creatures; She is called Krtajna. 

Repaying a kindness through a similar kind action is also meant as Krtajna; showing one’s gratitude. The matured devotees performing good karmas are pleasing the Divine Mother. She shows Her kindness by giving to them the Knowledge. This knowledge provision is basically the gratitude shown by the Divine Mother for the small positive actions done by Her devotees. We have to further judge Her total infinite Kindness. This is one of the key aspects of the Divine Mother’s kindness and compassion shown towards her loyal devotees. 

As part of witnessing our actions, She says.”Son, a thorn pricks your feet and it hurts instantly. One feels the pain because a message about the prick of the thorn arrives in one’s brain. Similarly, the Lord in your heart knows each of your good and bad actions then and there. This is not blind belief. It is the truth declared by ancient Hindu scriptures.” 

The Divine Mother knows all of the Yugas and also all of movements. Krta can mean Krta yuga, the first of four ages. In Krta yuga the dhrama (righteousness) was valued fully. In next Treta yuga, dharma declined to three fourth while adharma, which is unrighteousness, took one fourth, the balance. In next Dvapara yuga the dharma and adhrama were balance to be equal at half each. Finally, in present Kali yuga, dharama is said to be having one fourth only while adharma is taking the bulk of three fourth part. Krtajna means that the Divine Mother has the full knowledge of dharma taking full part in Krta yuga; She is implementing that level of dharama in subsequent Yugas. 

It is said that in the game of dice between Lord Sadashiva and the Divine Mother in their unison, there are four throws called Krta, Treta, Dvapara and Kali, with values four, three, two and one respectively. The one who makes the Krta throw, which has the highest value of four, wins the game. The Divine Mother always throws the Krta or four all the times in the game with Sadashiva and wins every time. She is so certain of the Krta in the dice game that She called Krtajna or the knower of Krta. 

Krtam is performance of actions; Jnana is knowledge. She ensures the actions are not stopped midway or left incomplete. She understands all that is needed to complete the all started actions. She is Krtajna.

 

Bhaskararaya who wrote the Bashyam for Shri Lalitha Shasranamam,   worshipped Lalitha Devi, in Thirumeeychur in Tamilnadu, India.

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 02 February 2021.

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 Chithbavandar

Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 373: Shri Kameshvara prana nadi (OM kAmeshvaraprANanADyai namaH)

Namams 373 to380 are describing, the Divine Mother’s Shakti Peetams where She is residing. 

The Divine Mother is the consort and very fond of Lord Kameshvara. 

The Divine Mother is the vital nerve (prana nadi) of Lord Kameshvara. So long as the prana nadi is ticking, the creatures are living; once it stops, the creatures die. The universal creatures’ prana nadi have start and end periods; whereas Lord Kameshvara is there eternally with no birth or death. He is non destroyable. 

The Divine Mother is Lord Kameshvara’s very life. The Devas face death during pralaya, even though they take the nectar.  When the Devas were looking for nectar in the ocean of milk, first worst poison came out. Lord Shiva drank that poison; the poison did not have any effect on Lord Shiva. She is in unison with Lord Kameshvara (Shiva), being the vital nerve (prana nadi) for Him. 

Sri Shankara in Soundarya Lahari (verse 22) says “Even the Devas who had taken the nectar (bliss) that removes the old age, perish (death), during pralaya, the great dissolution. However, Lord Shiva who consumed worst killing poison can defy death even at that time. The reason for this, O Mother is the power of Your ear ornaments.”  In such brilliance of the ornaments, the darkness of the poison taken by Lord Shiva fades and the poison ceases to be effective or loses it effect.

 

     The Divine Mother is wearing bright ear ornaments 

C  N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 01 February 2021.

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 Chithbavandar