Śrī Lalitā Sahasranāma — Article 14 of 20
Royal Refuge and the Teacher Who Teaches in Silence
Nāmas 649–700 · Ślokas 129–136
ॐ श्रीमात्रे नमः · oṃ śrīmātre namaḥ
Royal refuge, and the teacher who teaches in silence. She shelters all who come to her. She is also the young guru whose deepest teaching needs no words; the world rests on her as a dream rests on the dreamer.
Part XVI — Nāmas 590–688 (Ślokas 119–134): The Heart-Cave, the Triads, and the One Without a Second
In simple words. The heart-cave. The Highest dwells in the small space inside the heart — and that small space is vaster than the sky. The great triads appear, and the One without a second. Do not search far: the Infinite hides at the centre of your own chest.
(Part XVI began in Article 13; the names below continue it.)
Śloka 129
अदृश्या दृश्यरहिता विज्ञात्री वेद्यवर्जिता ।
योगिनी योगदा योग्या योगानन्दा युगन्धरा ॥ १२९॥
adṛśyā dṛśya-rahitā vijñātrī vedya-varjitā |
yoginī yoga-dā yogyā yogānandā yugandharā ǁ 129 ǁ
This śloka names the Goddess as the ultimate Subject — the Knower who can never be made an object. She is the unseen and devoid of the seen; the Knower, yet devoid of any knowable; she cannot be witnessed because she is the witness of all. Then the yoga-names: the Yoginī, the giver of yoga, the worthy, whose bliss is yoga's fruit, the bearer of the ages.
649. अदृश्या — Adṛśyā
Translation: Adṛśyā — the unseen, that which cannot be seen.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the unseen” — that which cannot be made an object of sight. The apavāda: she is the seer, never the seen (recall Svaprakāśā, self-luminous; Dṛk, the seeing principle); the eye cannot see her, for she is the seeing behind the eye — to look for her as an object is to overlook the looker, which is she. Unseen, because she is the one who sees. (As the Kena says: “that which the eye does not see, but by which the eye sees — know that alone as Brahman.”)
Śrī Vidyā: Adṛśyā is the unseen; the Goddess who is the seer never the seen — the seeing behind the eye, which no eye can make its object (cf. Kena Upaniṣad).
650. दृश्यरहिता — Dṛśya-rahitā
Translation: Dṛśya-rahitā — devoid of (rahita) the seen/the object (dṛśya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “devoid of the seen” — without any object. The apavāda: deepening Adṛśyā — not only unseen, she is free of the whole category of the “seen,” the object-world; for in her, the pure Subject, there is no object standing over against a subject (recall the witness beyond the three states, Turīyā). When the seer is known as the sole reality, the “seen” drops away as a separate thing — there is only the seeing. She is pure subjectivity, with no object to limit it. (The dissolution of the seer-seen duality in the one Seer.)
Śrī Vidyā: Dṛśya-rahitā is devoid of the seen; the Goddess as pure Subject, free of all object — in whom the seer-seen duality dissolves into the one seeing.
651. विज्ञात्री — Vijñātrī
Translation: Vijñātrī — the Knower, the conscious knowing subject.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the Knower” — the conscious subject that knows. The apavāda: she is the eternal vijñātṛ, the knower of all that is known (recall the Bṛhadāraṇyaka: “the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unthought thinker, the unknown knower — there is no other knower but he”); she is that knower, the witnessing consciousness present in all knowing. The one Knower in every act of knowledge, herself known by none — for who could stand outside her to know her? She is the knowing itself.
Śrī Vidyā: Vijñātrī is the Knower; the eternal knowing subject (the Bṛhadāraṇyaka's “unknown knower”) present in all knowledge, herself knowable by none.
652. वेद्यवर्जिता — Vedya-varjitā
Translation: Vedya-varjitā — devoid of (varjita) any knowable object (vedya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “devoid of the knowable” — without any object-to-be-known. The apavāda, parallel to Dṛśya-rahitā: as the pure Knower (Vijñātrī), she has no vedya, no object set over against her; for the supreme knowing is not knowledge of something but knowing itself, self-luminous, objectless (recall Prajñāna-ghana, the mass of consciousness without inner/outer). The duality of knower-and-known dissolves in her, the sole Knowing in which there is finally nothing other to know. Pure knowing, without a second. (She can be realised — as one's own Self — but never “known” as an object.)
Śrī Vidyā: Vedya-varjitā is devoid of the knowable object; the Goddess as objectless pure Knowing, in whom the knower-known duality dissolves — realised as the Self, never known as an object.
653. योगिनी — Yoginī
Translation: Yoginī — the Goddess as the supreme practitioner and embodiment of yoga (union).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Yoginī — the great yoginī, the embodiment of yoga, union. The apavāda: yoga is the joining of the individual with the supreme — and she is both the power that effects it and the union itself (recall the yoginīs of the cakras in Part XIV, all forms of her); she is the supreme Yoginī in whom the seeker's yoga is consummated, the union that is the goal. The one who unites, and the union.
Śrī Vidyā: Yoginī is the supreme practitioner and embodiment of yoga; the Goddess as both the power effecting union and the union itself (recall the cakra-yoginīs).
654. योगदा — Yoga-dā
Translation: Yoga-dā — the giver of yoga (union).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of yoga” — bestower of union with the supreme. The apavāda: as she gives knowledge (Jñāna-dā) and the state of aloneness (Kaivalya-pada-dāyinī), so she gives yoga — the actual joining of the self to its source; the seeker's effort opens the way, but the union itself is her gift of grace (recall Maitryādi-vāsanā-labhyā). She grants the very union she is.
Śrī Vidyā: Yoga-dā is the giver of yoga; the Goddess who bestows union with the supreme as grace, granting the very yoga she is.
655. योग्या — Yogyā
Translation: Yogyā — the worthy, the fit; she who is the proper object of yoga, and the capacity for it.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Yogyā — “the worthy / the fit.” The apavāda: she is the worthy one, the fitting goal of all yoga (the only object truly worth the union); and yogyā is also “capability, fitness” — she is the very capacity by which yoga becomes possible, the latent fitness for union present in all (recall Yogānandā, next). The worthy goal, and the worthiness for it — both are she. (She makes the seeker fit for the union she is.)
Śrī Vidyā: Yogyā is the worthy and the fit; the Goddess as the worthy goal of yoga and the very capacity for union present in the seeker.
656. योगानन्दा — Yogānandā
Translation: Yogānandā — whose bliss is yoga; the bliss that is yoga's fruit.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Yogānandā — “the bliss of yoga,” the joy that union yields. The apavāda: the fruit of yoga is ānanda, the bliss of the Self resting in itself (recall Satyānanda-svarūpiṇī, Paramānandā); she is that very bliss — not a reward given for union but the union experienced as bliss, awareness delighting in its own undivided being. The joy of yoga is herself, savoured. (Union and the bliss of union are not two: she is both.)
Śrī Vidyā: Yogānandā is the bliss of yoga; the Goddess as the ānanda that is union's fruit — awareness delighting in its own undivided being (recall Satyānanda-svarūpiṇī).
657. युगन्धरा — Yugandharā
Translation: Yugandharā — the bearer/upholder of the yugas (the world-ages).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the bearer of the yugas” — she who upholds and bears the ages of the world (the great cycles of time). The apavāda: as Kāla-hantrī (slayer of time) she is beyond time, yet as Yugandharā she bears time's vast cycles — holding the ages as their unmoving support, the timeless ground on which the procession of yugas turns (recall Mahā-pralaya-sākṣiṇī, witness of the dissolution that ends the cycles). She carries the ages without being carried by them; time rests on her, the timeless. (The unmoving axis around which the ages wheel.)
Śrī Vidyā: Yugandharā is the bearer of the world-ages; the timeless Goddess who upholds the cycles of the yugas as their unmoving ground (recall Kāla-hantrī, Mahā-pralaya-sākṣiṇī).
Śloka 130
इच्छाशक्ति-ज्ञानशक्ति-क्रियाशक्ति-स्वरूपिणी ।
सर्वाधारा सुप्रतिष्ठा सदसद्रूप-धारिणी ॥ १३०॥
icchā-śakti-jñāna-śakti-kriyā-śakti-svarūpiṇī |
sarvādhārā supratiṣṭhā sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī ǁ 130 ǁ
The śloka opens with one of the great Śrī-Vidyā and Śaiva names — she is of the form of the three śaktis: will (icchā), knowledge (jñāna), and action (kriyā). These are the three powers by which the supreme moves from pure being into manifestation: first the will to become, then the knowing of what is to be, then the act of making. They are the three corners of the central triangle of the Śrī Cakra, and the inner meaning of the triads. She is then the support of all, the firm foundation, and the bearer of both being and non-being.
658. इच्छाशक्तिज्ञानशक्तिक्रियाशक्तिस्वरूपिणी — Icchā-śakti-jñāna-śakti-kriyā-śakti-svarūpiṇī
Translation: Whose form is the three powers: will (icchā-śakti), knowledge (jñāna-śakti), and action (kriyā-śakti).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of the powers of will, knowledge, and action.” The apavāda: these three śaktis are the supreme's own movement from being into manifestation — icchā, the first stir of will-to-become; jñāna, the knowing of what is to be; kriyā, the act that makes it so (recall Vimarśa, the self-awareness, of which these are the unfolding; the three corners of the Śrī Cakra's central triangle). All willing, knowing, and acting anywhere — in gods, in beings, in oneself — are rays of these three, which are her single power in three motions. The inner truth of every triad named before (Tripurā, Tri-mūrti, Tryakṣarī) is here: the one Śakti as will, knowledge, and act. And these three, undivided in their source, are her very form. (In the Śrī Cakra, the three śaktis are the three lines of the innermost triangle around the bindu.)
Śrī Vidyā: Icchā-śakti-jñāna-śakti-kriyā-śakti-svarūpiṇī is of the form of the three powers — will, knowledge, action; the one Śakti's threefold movement from being into manifestation (the three corners of the Śrī Cakra's central triangle), the inner meaning of every triad.
659. सर्वाधारा — Sarvādhārā
Translation: Sarvādhārā — the support (ādhāra) of all (sarva); the substratum of everything.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the support of all” — the ground on which everything rests. The apavāda: every existing thing requires a substratum, and the final substratum of all is she (recall Adhāra-śakti; the support of the worlds) — not a support among things but the one ground in which all things inhere, as ornaments in their gold, waves in their water. The all rests on her; she rests on nothing, being the ground of grounds. The ultimate substratum, the bottom of all being. (The rope on which the snake-world is superimposed — the adhiṣṭhāna of the whole appearance.)
Śrī Vidyā: Sarvādhārā is the support of all; the Goddess as the one substratum (adhiṣṭhāna) in which all things inhere — the ground of grounds, herself groundless.
660. सुप्रतिष्ठा — Supratiṣṭhā
Translation: Supratiṣṭhā — the firm foundation, the well-established ground.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the firm foundation” — the secure, well-established base. The apavāda: deepening Sarvādhārā, she is not a precarious support but the utterly firm one — the unshakable ground (recall Niṣṭhā, Parā-niṣṭhā, the supreme ground); su-pratiṣṭhā, “well-established,” names the rock-firm stability of the Real beneath all the flux of the unreal. On her, all stands secure; she is the steadfast foundation that never gives way, the one stable amid all change. (The 660th name: the firm ground at the centre of the hundred.)
Śrī Vidyā: Supratiṣṭhā is the firm foundation; the unshakable, well-established ground (cf. Parā-niṣṭhā) — the steadfast Real beneath all flux, on which all stands secure.
661. सदसद्रूपधारिणी — Sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī
Translation: Bearer (dhāriṇī) of the forms (rūpa) of both being (sat) and non-being (asat).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She “bears the forms of both sat and asat” — of being and non-being, the manifest and the unmanifest, cause and effect. The apavāda: she holds both the real (sat, the existent, the manifest effect) and the “non-existent” (asat, the unmanifest cause, or the not-yet and no-longer); recall Vyaktāvyakta-svarūpiṇī, the manifest-and-unmanifest. In her, being and non-being are not two opposed realms but two aspects she bears — for the One is beyond the very distinction of existent and non-existent (the Nāsadīya hymn: “then was neither being nor non-being”). She bears both forms, herself beyond both — the reality in which the categories of is and is-not arise and are transcended.
Śrī Vidyā: Sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī bears the forms of both being and non-being (sat and asat, manifest and unmanifest); the Goddess holding both aspects, herself beyond the distinction of existent and non-existent (cf. the Nāsadīya hymn).
Śloka 131
अष्टमूर्तिर् अजाजैत्री लोकयात्रा-विधायिनी ।
एकाकिनी भूमरूपा निर्द्वैता द्वैतवर्जिता ॥ १३१॥
aṣṭa-mūrtir ajā-jaitrī loka-yātrā-vidhāyinī |
ekākinī bhūma-rūpā nirdvaitā dvaita-varjitā ǁ 131 ǁ
This śloka rises to the summit of the non-dual teaching. After the eight-formed Goddess, the conqueror of the unborn (or of ignorance), the ordainer of the world's course, comes a sequence that states non-duality four times over: she is the Alone (ekākinī); she is the Bhūman, the Chāndogya's Plenum-Vast, the Infinite in which alone is joy; she is the Non-dual (nirdvaitā); she is devoid of all duality (dvaita-varjitā). The hymn could hardly be more explicit: the supreme is one, without a second.
662. अष्टमूर्तिः — Aṣṭa-mūrtiḥ
Translation: Aṣṭa-mūrtiḥ — of eightfold form (the eight forms, as of Śiva: the five elements, sun, moon, and the sacrificer).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of eight forms.” The apavāda: the aṣṭa-mūrti is classically Śiva's eightfold form — the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether), the sun, the moon, and the sacrificing self (or yajamāna) — the whole visible and ritual cosmos in eight aspects; she, one with Śiva (Mṛḍānī, Ardha-nārī), is that eightfold form, the supreme appearing as the eight constituents of the manifest order. The one reality as the eight pillars of the cosmos. (The eight are also the eight matrikas, the eight Vasus, etc. — the manifold held in an eight.)
Śrī Vidyā: Aṣṭa-mūrtiḥ is of eightfold form; the Goddess (one with Śiva) as the eight aspects of the cosmos — the five elements, sun, moon, and sacrificer (the classic aṣṭa-mūrti).
663. अजाजैत्री — Aja-jaitrī
Translation: Aja-jaitrī — conqueror (jaitrī) of the unborn (ajā: the beginningless prakṛti / māyā); (or: the unconquered victorious one).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “conqueror of ajā.” The apavāda: ajā (“the unborn, the she-goat”) is, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, a figure for prakṛti / māyā — the beginningless principle of manifestation (red, white, and black, the three guṇas); she is its “conqueror,” the master of māyā who is not bound by what binds all else (recall Viṣṇu-māyā, Mohinī — she wields it, is not caught by it). To conquer ajā is to be the lord of the very power of illusion — and she gives that mastery to those who reach her. The wielder of māyā, unconquered by it. (Some read aja-jaitrī as “victorious over the unborn Brahmā” or simply “ever-victorious.”)
Śrī Vidyā: Aja-jaitrī is the conqueror of ajā (the beginningless prakṛti/māyā of the Śvetāśvatara); the Goddess as master of the power of illusion, wielding māyā unbound by it.
664. लोकयात्राविधायिनी — Loka-yātrā-vidhāyinī
Translation: The ordainer (vidhāyinī) of the course/procession (yātrā) of the world (loka).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She “ordains the course of the world” — the ongoing procession of worldly life. The apavāda: the loka-yātrā is the “journey of the world,” the continuous running of affairs — birth, livelihood, society, the whole movement of life; she ordains and sustains it (recall Niyantrī, Daṇḍa-nīti-sthā) — the same power that is beyond the world keeps its order running. She maintains the world's going-on even as she transcends it; the play (līlā) is also a lawful order, and she is its lawgiver. The world's procession is hers to direct.
Śrī Vidyā: Loka-yātrā-vidhāyinī ordains the course of the world; the Goddess who sustains and directs the ongoing procession of worldly life, its order and movement.
665. एकाकिनी — Ekākinī
Translation: Ekākinī — the Alone, the sole One (existing without a second).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Ekākinī — “the Alone,” the sole one (echoing Kevalā). The apavāda: she alone is, with no second beside her (recall the Chāndogya: “Being alone was this in the beginning, one only, without a second”); her aloneness is the fullness of the one reality, not a solitude within a crowd but the truth that there is, finally, only One. This name opens the fourfold declaration of non-duality that crowns the śloka. She is alone because she is all.
Śrī Vidyā: Ekākinī is the Alone, the sole One without a second (cf. Chāndogya “one only, without a second”); opening the fourfold non-dual declaration — alone because she is all.
666. भूमरूपा — Bhūma-rūpā
Translation: Bhūma-rūpā — whose form is the Bhūman, the Plenum-Vast, the Infinite (of the Chāndogya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of the bhūman” — the Plenum, the Infinite Vast. The apavāda quotes the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (VII.23–24): “The bhūman (the infinite, the plenum) alone is bliss; there is no bliss in the small (alpa). Where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, knows nothing else — that is the bhūman; where one sees, hears, knows another — that is the small.” The Bhūman is the Infinite in which there is no other, the fullness that alone is joy; she is that — the boundless Plenum where all otherness ceases, the only true happiness (recall Pūrṇā, the Full; Niḥsīma, boundless). Joy is only in the Infinite, and the Infinite is she. The most affirmative of the non-dual names: not bare negation of duality but the positive Vast-Fullness in which alone is bliss.
Śrī Vidyā: Bhūma-rūpā is of the form of the bhūman — the Chāndogya's Plenum-Vast (VII.23) in which one sees, hears, knows no other, and which alone is bliss; the Goddess as the Infinite Fullness where all otherness ceases.
667. निर्द्वैता — Nirdvaitā
Translation: Nirdvaitā — the Non-dual, without duality.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Nirdvaitā — “the non-dual,” free of all twoness. The apavāda: this is the word advaita in another form — she is the reality in which there is no second, no division into this-and-that, knower-and-known, self-and-other (recall Dṛśya-rahitā, Vedya-varjitā; Ekākinī, the Alone). The whole burden of the edition's reading is sounded plainly: she is non-dual, the One without a second. After the positive Bhūman, the precise term: nirdvaita.
Śrī Vidyā: Nirdvaitā is the Non-dual, without a second; the Goddess as advaita itself — the reality in which no duality (knower/known, self/other) stands.
668. द्वैतवर्जिता — Dvaita-varjitā
Translation: Dvaita-varjitā — devoid of (varjita) duality (dvaita).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “devoid of duality” — utterly free of all that is two. The apavāda: the fourth and clinching statement of non-duality (Ekākinī, Bhūma-rūpā, Nirdvaitā, and now Dvaita-varjitā) — lest there be any doubt, the hymn says it once more, from the side of negation: in her there is no duality whatsoever. Why the repetition? Because this is the heart of the matter, and the mind, habituated to twoness, must hear it again and again until it yields (this is the apavāda itself, the patient stripping-away of the superimposed second). She is the One; there is no other; and that truth, four times told, is the summit of the hymn's teaching. (Bhūman-affirmation and dvaita-negation together: the full adhyāropa-apavāda — the positive Infinite and the denied duality are one realisation.)
Śrī Vidyā: Dvaita-varjitā is devoid of duality; the fourth and clinching non-dual name (after Ekākinī, Bhūma-rūpā, Nirdvaitā) — the One without a second, the truth told fourfold so the dualistic mind may yield.
Śloka 132
अन्नदा वसुदा वृद्धा ब्रह्मात्मैक्य-स्वरूपिणी ।
बृहती ब्राह्मणी ब्राह्मी ब्रह्मानन्दा बलिप्रिया ॥ १३२॥
annadā vasudā vṛddhā brahmātmaikya-svarūpiṇī |
bṛhatī brāhmaṇī brāhmī brahmānandā bali-priyā ǁ 132 ǁ
At the centre of this śloka is the name that states the goal of the entire Vedānta and of this edition: Brahmātmaikya-svarūpiṇī, “whose very nature is the oneness (aikya) of Brahman and the Self (ātman).” This is the meaning of the great sayings — ayam ātmā brahma, “this Self is Brahman”; tat tvam asi, “that thou art.” Around it stand the giver of food and wealth, the Ancient, and a garland of Brahman-names: the Vast, the power of Brahman, the Brahmic, the bliss of Brahman, the lover of offerings.
669. अन्नदा — Annadā
Translation: Annadā — the giver of food (anna); she who bestows nourishment.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of food” — bestower of anna, nourishment (a great name, as of Annapūrṇā). The apavāda: anna, food, is in the Taittirīya the first and outermost sheath, the support of bodily life, and indeed “all this is food”; she gives it, the sustainer of all creatures' lives (recall Go-mātā, the nourishing cow; Vasudā, next). And inwardly, the true “food” she gives is herself, the nourishment of the Self that ends all hunger (recall the offering, the secret tarpaṇa). She feeds all beings, in body and in spirit.
Śrī Vidyā: Annadā is the giver of food; the Goddess as bestower of nourishment (Annapūrṇā), sustainer of all creatures' lives — and giver of the inner food, the Self that ends all hunger.
670. वसुदा — Vasudā
Translation: Vasudā — the giver of wealth (vasu); bestower of riches.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of wealth” — bestower of vasu, riches (recall the Lakṣmīs as her handmaids; Bhakta-nidhiḥ). The apavāda: she grants the legitimate wealth her devotees need (the Śrī-Vidyā fulfills the four aims, including artha) — and the supreme “wealth” is the Self, the treasure beyond loss (recall Mahā-sāmrājya, the great empire of inner sovereignty). She gives outer riches in grace, and the inner riches as the true gift.
Śrī Vidyā: Vasudā is the giver of wealth; the Goddess bestowing riches (the legitimate artha of the Śrī-Vidyā) — and the supreme wealth, the Self, the treasure beyond loss.
671. वृद्धा — Vṛddhā
Translation: Vṛddhā — the Ancient, the eldest; mature, full-grown, venerable.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Vṛddhā — “the Ancient,” the eldest and most mature. The apavāda: though ever-young (Nitya-yauvanā), she is also the most ancient — older than all, the beginningless (Anādi-nidhanā); vṛddhā is the eldest, the “grown,” the venerable in wisdom and being. The seeming paradox (ever-young yet most ancient) is the mark of the timeless: she is before all, yet never ages — the Ancient of Days who is forever fresh. Eldest and youngest at once, because beyond time. (And vṛddha is the “increased, full-grown” — she is the fully-grown plenitude.)
Śrī Vidyā: Vṛddhā is the Ancient, the eldest and most mature; the beginningless Goddess (Anādi-nidhanā) who is yet ever-young (Nitya-yauvanā) — eldest and youngest at once, beyond time.
672. ब्रह्मात्मैक्यस्वरूपिणी — Brahmātmaikya-svarūpiṇī
Translation: Whose essential nature (svarūpa) is the oneness (aikya) of Brahman and the Self (ātman).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the nature of the identity of Brahman and the Self.” The apavāda: here, plainly, is the goal of all Vedānta and the whole purport of this edition — the aikya, the absolute oneness, of brahman (the supreme Absolute) and ātman (the innermost Self), declared by the great sayings: ayam ātmā brahma (“this Self is Brahman”), tat tvam asi (“that thou art”), aham brahmāsmi (“I am Brahman”). She is not merely Brahman, nor merely the Self, but the very identity of the two — the truth that the Self one is, is the Absolute (recall Ātmā + Paramā = Paramātman; Tat-tvam-ayi; Sarva-vedānta-saṃvedyā). To realise her is to realise that one's own Self is the supreme reality, without difference. This is the summit toward which every name has pointed: the Goddess as the lived oneness of Self and Absolute. (The whole hymn, read as adhyāropa-apavāda, exists to bring the hearer to this single recognition.)
Śrī Vidyā: Brahmātmaikya-svarūpiṇī is the very nature of the oneness of Brahman and the Self; the Goddess as the identity declared by the mahāvākyas (ayam ātmā brahma, tat tvam asi) — the summit of Vedānta, that one's own Self is the Absolute.
673. बृहती — Bṛhatī
Translation: Bṛhatī — the Vast, the Great (the very root of the word brahman); also a Vedic metre.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Bṛhatī — “the Vast,” the Great. The apavāda: bṛhat, “vast, to grow great,” is the very root of the word brahman — that which is vast beyond all bound (recall the Bhūman, the Plenum; Niḥsīma); she is the Vastness that brahman names, the boundless greatness itself. (And bṛhatī is a Vedic metre, so she is also the sacred measure of the chant — the Vast as the rhythm of the Veda.) The Great, in whom the very word for the Absolute is rooted.
Śrī Vidyā: Bṛhatī is the Vast (the root bṛhat of the word brahman) and a Vedic metre; the Goddess as the boundless greatness that brahman names, and the sacred measure of the chant.
674. ब्राह्मणी — Brāhmaṇī
Translation: Brāhmaṇī — the power/consort of Brahmā; the energy of the creative principle.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Brāhmaṇī — the śakti of Brahmā, the creative principle (one of the Mātṛkās, the mother-energies). The apavāda: as the power of the creator, she is the creative energy itself (recall Sṛṣṭi-kartrī; Tri-mūrti, the trinity that is her threefold form) — Brahmā creates only by her, his consort-power. The creative function of the trinity, named as hers.
Śrī Vidyā: Brāhmaṇī is the power/consort of Brahmā (a Mātṛkā); the creative energy by which Brahmā creates — the Goddess as the creative function of the trinity.
675. ब्राह्मी — Brāhmī
Translation: Brāhmī — pertaining to Brahman/Brahmā; the sacred, the Brahmic; also Sarasvatī and the Brāhmī script.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Brāhmī — “the Brahmic,” pertaining to Brahman and to Brahmā; a name of Sarasvatī (goddess of the sacred word), and of the ancient Brāhmī script. The apavāda: brāhmī is the holy, that which belongs to the Absolute and to the sacred Word (recall Vāg-adhīśvarī, sovereign of speech; Brāhmī the script in which the Word is written); she is the sacredness of the Absolute and of its self-expression in holy speech and letter. The Brahmic power, in word and writ. (Brāhmī is also a healing/wisdom herb — she is the wisdom-bestowing.)
Śrī Vidyā: Brāhmī is the Brahmic, the sacred (a name of Sarasvatī and of the ancient script); the Goddess as the holiness of the Absolute and its expression in sacred word and letter.
676. ब्रह्मानन्दा — Brahmānandā
Translation: Brahmānandā — the bliss of Brahman (brahma-ānanda).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Brahmānandā — “the bliss of Brahman,” the supreme beatitude. The apavāda: the Taittirīya measures all joys and finds them fractions of the one brahmānanda, the bliss of the Absolute, which is infinite (recall the bliss-measure, Svātmānanda-lavī-bhūta…, Part XII; Yogānandā, Satyānanda); she is that bliss — not a happiness she has, but the beatitude she is, the ānanda of sat-cit-ānanda in its fullness. The supreme bliss of the Absolute is herself. To know her is to be that bliss.
Śrī Vidyā: Brahmānandā is the bliss of Brahman; the Goddess as the supreme beatitude (the ānanda of sat-cit-ānanda) which the Taittirīya measures as infinite — the bliss she is, not has.
677. बलिप्रिया — Bali-priyā
Translation: Bali-priyā — fond of offerings (bali); to whom oblations are dear.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “fond of bali” — of offerings, oblations. The apavāda: the bali she loves is, outwardly, the worshipper's offering — and inwardly, the supreme offering is the self, the surrender of the separate “I” (recall Rahas-tarpaṇa, the secret oblation; the self as the true sacrifice). What is “dear” to her is not the substance offered but the love and surrender it carries; the highest bali is the ego laid down. She delights in the gift of the heart, and most in the gift of the self. (Closing the Brahman-garland: the way to the bliss of Brahman is the offering of the self.)
Śrī Vidyā: Bali-priyā is fond of offerings; the Goddess to whom oblations are dear — most of all the supreme offering of the self (the surrendered “I,” recall Rahas-tarpaṇa), the way to the bliss of Brahman.
Śloka 133
भाषारूपा बृहत्सेना भावाभाव-विवर्जिता ।
सुखाराध्या शुभकरी शोभना सुलभा गतिः ॥ १३३॥
bhāṣā-rūpā bṛhat-senā bhāvābhāva-vivarjitā |
sukhārādhyā śubha-karī śobhanā sulabhā gatiḥ ǁ 133 ǁ
678. भाषारूपा — Bhāṣā-rūpā
Translation: Bhāṣā-rūpā — whose form is language/speech (bhāṣā); the form of all tongues.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of language” — all speech, all tongues, are her form. The apavāda: as Mātṛkā-varṇa-rūpiṇī (the letters) and Vāg-adhīśvarī (sovereign of speech), she is now named as bhāṣā itself, the living languages by which beings communicate (recall the four levels of speech, Part XII); every tongue spoken on earth or in heaven is her self-expression. The whole of language, in all its forms, is the Goddess as Word. She speaks in every speech.
Śrī Vidyā: Bhāṣā-rūpā is of the form of language; the Goddess as all speech and tongues (recall Mātṛkā-varṇa-rūpiṇī, Vāg-adhīśvarī) — every language her self-expression.
679. बृहत्सेना — Bṛhat-senā
Translation: Bṛhat-senā — of a vast army (bṛhat-senā); commander of mighty hosts.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the vast army” — possessed of a mighty host. The apavāda: recall the great war on Bhaṇḍāsura (Parts IV–V), where she commanded the armies of the Śaktis (Śakti-senā-samanvitā); her “vast army” is the totality of her powers, the innumerable Śaktis, Nityās, Yoginīs arrayed as her forces — all the energies of the cosmos are her legions. The supreme commands an endless host: every power that is, is a soldier in her army. (The same powers that war on the inner demons.)
Śrī Vidyā: Bṛhat-senā is of the vast army; the Goddess commanding the innumerable Śaktis, Nityās, and Yoginīs as her hosts (recall the war on Bhaṇḍāsura) — all cosmic powers her legions.
680. भावाभावविवर्जिता — Bhāvābhāva-vivarjitā
Translation: Free of (vivarjita) both existence (bhāva) and non-existence (abhāva).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “free of both existence and non-existence.” The apavāda, deepening Sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī: she bears both being and non-being, yet is herself beyond both — neither “existent” (as things are, finitely) nor “non-existent” (as the unreal is), but the reality that transcends the very pair (recall the Nāsadīya hymn: “then was neither sat nor asat”; Acintya, beyond thought). The categories of is and is-not apply to things within manifestation; she, the ground of manifestation, is beyond their reach. Not a third thing between being and non-being, but that which both presuppose. (This pairing — like Tat/Tvam, Vidyā/Avidyā — is one of the hymn's signature opposite-transcending names.)
Śrī Vidyā: Bhāvābhāva-vivarjitā is free of both existence and non-existence; the Goddess transcending the very pair bhāva/abhāva (cf. the Nāsadīya hymn, Acintya) — beyond the categories of is and is-not.
681. सुखाराध्या — Sukhārādhyā
Translation: Sukhārādhyā — easily worshipped (ārādhyā) with ease/happiness (sukha).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “easily worshipped” — her worship is full of ease and joy. The apavāda: though the supreme reality, she is not hard to approach — she is pleased by simple love, the offering of the heart (recall Dadhyannāsakta-hṛdayā, fond of curd-rice; the foods of devotion); her worship asks not great wealth or harsh austerity but sincere love, and is itself a joy (sukha). The highest is reached by the gentlest means: she is worshipped with ease, by whoever loves. A word of grace and reassurance.
Śrī Vidyā: Sukhārādhyā is easily worshipped, with joy; the Goddess approached not by harsh means but by sincere love — the supreme reached by the gentlest worship.
682. शुभकरी — Śubha-karī
Translation: Śubha-karī — the maker of good/auspiciousness (śubha).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the maker of good” — bringer of śubha, auspiciousness and welfare. The apavāda: she works the good of her devotees (recall Śivaṅkarī, the maker of good; Bhadra-mūrtiḥ); to turn to her is to have the auspicious set in motion in one's life, the inward and outward welfare that flows from alignment with the Real. She makes good; her presence is benediction. (The auspiciousness she makes is finally the supreme good — liberation.)
Śrī Vidyā: Śubha-karī is the maker of good and auspiciousness; the Goddess who works the welfare of her devotees (recall Śivaṅkarī), her presence a benediction.
683. शोभना सुलभा गतिः — Śobhanā-sulabhā-gatiḥ
Translation: The radiant (śobhanā), easily-attained (sulabhā) Goal/Refuge (gati); the auspicious and readily-reached supreme state.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the radiant, easily-attained Goal” — read as a single compound naming her as the supreme refuge, beautiful and readily reached. The apavāda: śobhanā is the shining-beautiful that is also the good (recall the same word at nāma 462; Sundarī, Kalyāṇī) — her radiance is the visible face of her benevolence; and sulabhā-gatiḥ is the “easily-attained Goal,” the gati (final refuge, destination) that is sulabha, near to hand. Together, the name declares: the supreme destination is at once the most beautiful and the most accessible — not because the goal is small, but because she is one's own Self, nearer than near (Guhyā, hidden by nearness), reached not by going far but by ceasing to overlook what one already is. The hardest-seeming goal is the easiest, being already attained — one need only recognise it. (A word of supreme reassurance, fittingly closing this stretch: the One without a second is the most accessible of all, being one's own being.)
Śrī Vidyā: Śobhanā-sulabhā-gatiḥ is the radiant, easily-attained Goal and Refuge (canonical Bhāskararāya compound); the Goddess as the supreme destination that is at once beautiful and sulabha — easy because she is one's own Self, reached not by going far but by recognising what one already is.
Śloka 134
राजराजेश्वरी राज्यदायिनी राज्यवल्लभा ।
राजत्कृपा राजपीठ-निवेशित-निजाश्रिता ॥ १३४॥
rāja-rājeśvarī rājya-dāyinī rājya-vallabhā |
rājat-kṛpā rāja-pīṭha-niveśita-nijāśritā ǁ 134 ǁ
The hundred-name movement closes in the royal names — the “Rā-” garland of sovereignty. She is the Empress of emperors, the giver of kingdoms, the beloved sovereign of the realm; her compassion shines forth, and she establishes her devotees upon the royal throne. The royalty is, at every level, hers and her gift: outer dominion in grace, and the inner sovereignty — self-rule, the kingdom of the Self — bestowed on those who take refuge in her.
684. राजराजेश्वरी — Rāja-rājeśvarī
Translation: Rāja-rājeśvarī — the supreme sovereign (īśvarī) of kings of kings (rāja-rāja); the Empress of emperors.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the sovereign of the king-of-kings” — Empress above all emperors (a supreme name, Rājarājeśvarī, by which she is widely worshipped). The apavāda: above every earthly and heavenly ruler stands one supreme sovereignty, and it is hers (recall Mahā-sāmrājya-śālinī, holder of the great empire; Sāmrājya-dāyinī); even Kubera (the king-of-kings of wealth) and Indra (king of the gods) are her subjects. The ultimate sovereignty, of which all rule is a faint reflection — the Empress whose realm is all that is. This is one of her highest and most worshipped names.
Śrī Vidyā: Rāja-rājeśvarī is the supreme sovereign of kings-of-kings, the Empress of emperors; the ultimate sovereignty of which all rule is a reflection — one of the Goddess's highest names.
685. राज्यदायिनी — Rājya-dāyinī
Translation: Rājya-dāyinī — the giver of kingdom/dominion (rājya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of kingdom” — bestower of dominion (echoing Sāmrājya-dāyinī). The apavāda: she grants sovereignty — outwardly the rule her devotees may receive in grace, and inwardly the true kingdom, the self-rule of the realised, mastery over one's own being (recall Mahā-sāmrājya, the inner empire). The supreme Empress gives kingdoms because all kingdoms are hers to give; and the kingdom worth having is the dominion of the Self over itself. She enthrones her own.
Śrī Vidyā: Rājya-dāyinī is the giver of kingdom and dominion; the Goddess who bestows sovereignty — outer rule in grace, and the inner kingdom of self-mastery (Mahā-sāmrājya).
686. राज्यवल्लभा — Rājya-vallabhā
Translation: Rājya-vallabhā — the beloved sovereign of the realm; she who is dear to / presides over the kingdom.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the beloved of the realm” — the cherished sovereign, dear to the kingdom and presiding over it. The apavāda: the true ruler is loved, not feared; she presides over her domain (all that is) as its beloved queen, holding it not by force but by love (recall Vandāru-jana-vatsalā, tender to her devotees). The realm of being is governed by a sovereign who is its very heart's-love; her rule is the rule of grace. The kingdom's beloved.
Śrī Vidyā: Rājya-vallabhā is the beloved sovereign of the realm; the Goddess who presides over her domain as its cherished queen, ruling by love (recall Vandāru-jana-vatsalā).
687. राजत्कृपा — Rājat-kṛpā
Translation: Rājat-kṛpā — whose compassion (kṛpā) shines forth (rājat); resplendent in mercy.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “shining with compassion” — her kṛpā, her grace, radiant and manifest. The apavāda: the sovereignty just named is no cold power but a throne of mercy — her rule shines with compassion (recall Dayā-mūrtiḥ, compassion embodied; Sāndra-karuṇā); the Empress of all reigns by grace, her majesty and her mercy one light. The resplendence of the sovereign is the shining of her compassion. Power and grace, in her, are the same radiance.
Śrī Vidyā: Rājat-kṛpā is resplendent in compassion; the Goddess whose sovereign majesty shines as grace (recall Dayā-mūrtiḥ) — her power and her mercy one light.
688. राजपीठनिवेशितनिजाश्रिता — Rāja-pīṭha-niveśita-nijāśritā
Translation: By whom those who take refuge in her (nija-āśrita) are established (niveśita) on the royal throne (rāja-pīṭha).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She “seats her own refuge-takers upon the royal throne.” The apavāda: those who take refuge in her (nijāśrita, “her own dependents”) she raises to royalty — establishes them on the very throne of kings; outwardly the grace that exalts her devotees, and inwardly the truth that the one who surrenders to her is enthroned in the kingdom of the Self, made sovereign over their own being (recall Rājya-dāyinī; Mahā-sāmrājya). The refuge offered to her is repaid with a crown — the seeker who lays down the small self is seated on the throne of the Self. Fittingly closing the hundred names: she who is the Empress of all makes emperors of those who take refuge in her. The way ends not in servitude but in sovereignty — the devotee enthroned in the kingdom that is the Self, which is she.
Śrī Vidyā: Rāja-pīṭha-niveśita-nijāśritā establishes her refuge-takers on the royal throne; the Goddess who enthrones those who surrender to her — outwardly exalting her devotees, inwardly seating them in the sovereignty of the Self (Mahā-sāmrājya), making emperors of her own.
Part XVII — Nāmas 689–741 (Ślokas 135–142): The Royal Refuge, the Silent Guru, and the Substratum of the Dream
In simple words. Royal refuge and the silent teacher. She is the empress who shelters all. She is also Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the young guru who teaches in silence. The world rests on her as a dream rests on the dreamer. The truest teaching needs no words.
Śloka 135
राज्यलक्ष्मीः कोशनाथा चतुरङ्ग-बलेश्वरी ।
साम्राज्य-दायिनी सत्यसन्धा सागरमेखला ॥ १३५॥
rājya-lakṣmīḥ kośa-nāthā catur-aṅga-baleśvarī |
sāmrājya-dāyinī satya-sandhā sāgara-mekhalā ǁ 135 ǁ
The royal “Rā-” garland continues from the close of Part XVI. She is the Lakṣmī of the kingdom, the Treasure-lord, the Empress of the fourfold army; she gives sovereign rule, is bound to truth, and wears the ocean as her girdle — the earth herself as goddess.
689. राज्यलक्ष्मीः — Rājya-lakṣmīḥ
Translation: The Lakṣmī (auspicious fortune) of the kingdom (rājya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is the “Lakṣmī of the realm.” The apavāda: as Rāja-rājeśvarī she is sovereign, and as Rājya-lakṣmīḥ she is the very prosperity by which the sovereign rules — the auspiciousness without which no kingdom flourishes (recall Vasudā). The fortune of every realm, outer and inner, is herself; the inner kingdom of the Self is sovereign by her grace, prosperous by her presence.
Śrī Vidyā: Rājya-lakṣmīḥ is the auspicious fortune of the kingdom; the outer realm's prosperity and the inner Self-kingdom's flourishing.
690. कोशनाथा — Kośa-nāthā
Translation: The lord (nāthā) of the treasury (kośa).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “lord of the treasury.” The apavāda: kośa is wealth-hoard outwardly, and (in the Taittirīya) the five kośas — the five sheaths of the self (annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya, ānandamaya); she is lord of both — the goddess of all stored wealth, and the indwelling Self of which the five sheaths are coverings (recall Pañca-kośāntara-sthitā). Lady of every treasury, body and goods alike.
Śrī Vidyā: Kośa-nāthā is the lord of treasuries; sovereign of outer wealth-hoards and of the five kośas — the indwelling Self within all sheaths.
691. चतुरङ्गबलेश्वरी — Catur-aṅga-baleśvarī
Translation: The Empress (īśvarī) of the fourfold army (elephants, chariots, cavalry, infantry).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “Empress of the four-limbed army.” The apavāda: as Bṛhat-senā commanded vast hosts, here she commands the classical fourfold force — outwardly the rightful war-power of the dharmic ruler, and inwardly the four powers of the seeker (the four antaḥkaraṇas — mind, intellect, ego, citta) marshalled in her service. Sovereign of every army worth commanding.
Śrī Vidyā: Catur-aṅga-baleśvarī is Empress of the fourfold army; sovereign of the classical war-host and of the inner four powers of the seeker.
692. साम्राज्यदायिनी — Sāmrājya-dāyinī
Translation: The giver (dāyinī) of empire (sāmrājya).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of empire” (recall Mahā-sāmrājya-śālinī). The apavāda: sāmrājya is rule not over one country but many; outwardly the grand dominion she may grant, and inwardly the supreme self-rule of the realised, sovereign over all the realms of one's own being. The Empress gives empires because empire is hers to give.
Śrī Vidyā: Sāmrājya-dāyinī is the giver of empire; outwardly grand dominion, inwardly the supreme self-rule of the realised.
693. सत्यसन्धा — Satya-sandhā
Translation: Satya-sandhā — true to her word, bound by truth.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “true-bound” — her word is truth, her promise unbreakable. The apavāda: satya-sandha is a great epithet (used also of Rāma and in the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma) — the unfailing pledge-keeper, whose word and being are one (recall Satyānanda-svarūpiṇī, Sarva-vedānta-saṃvedyā). For the supreme to be “bound by truth” is the meaning of truth itself: her word is what is. The pledge of grace to her devotee is unbreakable because she is truth itself.
Śrī Vidyā: Satya-sandhā is true to her word; the Goddess whose pledge is unbreakable — the great epithet shared with Rāma/Viṣṇu, truth itself.
694. सागरमेखला — Sāgara-mekhalā
Translation: Girdled by the ocean (sāgara); the earth-goddess wearing the seas as her belt.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “ocean-girdled” — wearing the seas as her girdle. The apavāda: an image of the earth as goddess — the cosmos as her body, with the seas as her decorative belt. As the Vedic Pṛthivī, she is the great earth, and her geography is her adornment; the oceans circle her as a girdle circles a queen.
Śrī Vidyā: Sāgara-mekhalā is girdled by the ocean; the Goddess as the great Earth herself (Pṛthivī), cosmos her body, seas her royal girdle.
Śloka 136
दीक्षिता दैत्यशमनी सर्वलोक-वशङ्करी ।
सर्वार्थदात्री सावित्री सच्चिदानन्द-रूपिणी ॥ १३६॥
dīkṣitā daitya-śamanī sarva-loka-vaśaṅkarī |
sarvārtha-dātrī sāvitrī sac-cid-ānanda-rūpiṇī ǁ 136 ǁ
This śloka rises from royal sovereignty to the Vedāntic summit. After the consecration-names, the demon-stilling, and the giver of all desired ends, the hymn names her in the three words the Vedānta uses for the Absolute itself: Sat-cit-ānanda-rūpiṇī — Being, Consciousness, Bliss. She is also Sāvitrī, the goddess of the Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī mantra and the creative power of the Veda.
695. दीक्षिता — Dīkṣitā
Translation: Dīkṣitā — initiated, consecrated; bound by holy vow.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “initiated,” consecrated. The apavāda: dīkṣā is the consecration that transforms the sacrificer into a being of the rite; she is herself consecrated — the paradigm of the sacred state, the Goddess in whom all dīkṣās find their meaning (recall Lopāmudrārcitā, the Śrī-Vidyā initiation). And as Guru-mūrtiḥ she bestows the dīkṣā she has taken.
Śrī Vidyā: Dīkṣitā is the initiated; the paradigm of the sacred state, and (as Guru-mūrtiḥ) the giver of dīkṣā in the Śrī-Vidyā parampara.
696. दैत्यशमनी — Daitya-śamanī
Translation: The stiller (śamanī) of the demons (daityas).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She “stills the demons.” The apavāda, deepening Daitya-hantrī: she quells the daitya-forces — outwardly the forces of unrighteousness, inwardly the disordered passions of the lower nature stilled by her grace into peace. She quiets, more than slays; pacification is her victory.
Śrī Vidyā: Daitya-śamanī is the stiller of the demons; pacifying both the daitya-hordes and the inner forces of unrighteousness, her victory peace.
697. सर्वलोकवशङ्करी — Sarva-loka-vaśaṅkarī
Translation: Who brings all worlds (sarva-loka) under her sway.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She brings every loka under sway. The apavāda: not by force but by the natural authority of the One — all worlds are already hers (recall Trijagad-vandyā), and to be “brought under sway” is to be brought into recognition of what is so. Inwardly, all the “worlds” of one's experience — waking, dream, sleep — come under the sway of her grace, ordered around her as their centre.
Śrī Vidyā: Sarva-loka-vaśaṅkarī brings all worlds under her sway; outwardly all lokas hers, inwardly all the worlds of experience ordered around her as centre.
698. सर्वार्थदात्री — Sarvārtha-dātrī
Translation: The giver of every desired end (sarva-artha) — of all the aims of life.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is the “giver of every artha.” The apavāda: artha is the four-fold human aim of life — dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa; she grants them all, the lower three by grace, and the fourth, mokṣa, by her own self-revealing. She withholds nothing the seeker truly needs; every artha reaches its giver in her.
Śrī Vidyā: Sarvārtha-dātrī is the giver of every desired end; granting the four aims of life — the lower three by grace, the fourth by self-revealing.
699. सावित्री — Sāvitrī
Translation: Sāvitrī — the goddess of the Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī) mantra; the daughter/consort of Savitṛ (the Sun).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Sāvitrī — the goddess of the Sāvitrī mantra (which is the Gāyatrī, recall Gāyatrī, Part XIII), the personified creative power of the Veda. The apavāda: as Vāg-adhīśvarī she is sovereign of speech; as Sāvitrī she is the supreme mantra of the Veda made deity — the primal solar-creative power; to chant the Gāyatrī is to invoke her. The Mother of the Veda, in her name as Mother of the Sun-mantra. (Sāvitrī is also the faithful wife of legend who won her husband back from Death.)
Śrī Vidyā: Sāvitrī is the goddess of the Gāyatrī (Sāvitrī) mantra; the supreme Vedic mantra personified, primal solar-creative power, Mother of the Veda.
700. सच्चिदानन्दरूपिणी — Sac-cid-ānanda-rūpiṇī
Translation: Whose form is sat-cit-ānanda — Being, Consciousness, Bliss; the very nature of the Absolute.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of Being-Consciousness-Bliss.” The apavāda: this is the supreme Vedāntic definition of Brahman, gathered in three words — sat (Being / Truth), cit (Consciousness / Knowing), ānanda (Bliss / Joy); the Taittirīya names brahman as satyaṃ jñānam anantam, and the chain of bliss-measurements rises to the unsurpassed joy of Brahman. She is named here, in a single word, as that entire Vedāntic Absolute — and, since she is also the Ātman (Part XVI, 617), this is to say one's own essential nature is Being-Consciousness-Bliss (recall Satyānanda-svarūpiṇī, Brahmātmaikya-svarūpiṇī, Brahmānandā). As the 700th name, this stands as a milestone summit-statement of the whole edition.
Śrī Vidyā: Sac-cid-ānanda-rūpiṇī is of the form of Being-Consciousness-Bliss; the supreme Vedāntic definition of Brahman (sat-cit-ānanda) gathered in one name — the Goddess as the Absolute, realisation of whom is realisation of one's own essential nature.
Part XVII continues in Article 15.
Śrī Lalitā Sahasranāma — Article 14 of 20 · Nāmas 649–700.
Devanagari per the sanskritdocuments.org recension (Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Uttarakhaṇḍa; Hayagrīva–Agastya saṃvāda); numbering per the Bhāskararāya canonical 1000-count. Transliteration, translation, and commentary original to this edition.
