Śrī Lalitā Sahasranāma — Article 16 of 20
The Fierce Forms and the Self Within
Nāmas 750–796 · Ślokas 145–151
ॐ श्रीमात्रे नमः · oṃ śrīmātre namaḥ
The fierce forms, and the Self within. She is the cosmos outside and the awareness inside — and these are not two. What looks terrifying is the same love, clearing the way.
Part XVIII — Nāmas 742–790 (Ślokas 143–150): The Healing Similes, the Great Devī, and the Supreme-and-Not-Supreme
In simple words. The healing similes — eight beloved images. She is rain of nectar on the forest-fire of worldly life. She is sunrise on the darkness of old age. She is the axe to the tree of death. Then the fierce forms appear, and a great pair: she is the cosmos outside and the Self inside. The power that heals is the power that awakens.
(Part XVIII began in Article 15; the names below continue it.)
Śloka 145
महेश्वरी महाकाली महाग्रासा महाशना ।
अपर्णा चण्डिका चण्डमुण्डासुर-निषूदिनी ॥ १४५॥
maheśvarī mahā-kālī mahā-grāsā mahāśanā |
aparṇā caṇḍikā caṇḍa-muṇḍāsura-niṣūdinī ǁ 145 ǁ
The hymn now rises to its Devī-Māhātmya register. She is the Great Lady, the Great Black One (Mahākālī of the Devī-Māhātmya's opening, who dispels Madhu and Kaiṭabha), the great Devourer, the great Eater (of the cosmos at dissolution), Aparṇā (Pārvatī who fasted from even a leaf), Caṇḍikā the fierce, slayer of the demons Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa — the famous episode of Devī-Māhātmya 7, from which Kālī's name Cāmuṇḍā derives.
750. महेश्वरी — Maheśvarī
Translation: Maheśvarī — the Great Lady (mahā-īśvarī); the consort/feminine of Maheśvara (Śiva); great Sovereign.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Maheśvarī — “the Great Sovereign,” the feminine of Maheśvara (a great name of Śiva); and one of the Sapta-Mātṛkās, the Seven Mothers, as the Śakti of Maheśvara. The apavāda: named again in her supreme sovereign aspect (recall Sarveśvarī, Parameśvarī, Nikhileśvarī); the Great Lady, sovereign above all sovereigns, named under the great Śaiva epithet. (Maheśvarī among the Mātṛkās rides Nandi; she is one of her own forms.)
Śrī Vidyā: Maheśvarī is the Great Sovereign (feminine of Maheśvara, Śiva); the Goddess as supreme sovereign and as one of the Sapta-Mātṛkās (the Śakti of Maheśvara, riding Nandi).
751. महाकाली — Mahā-kālī
Translation: Mahā-kālī — the Great Black One; the Goddess in her time-and-death-conquering form.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Mahā-kālī — “the Great Black One.” The apavāda: kāla is time/death, kālī is its feminine (the one who conquers time); Mahā-kālī is the supreme form of this. In the Devī-Māhātmya she is named in the opening (the form who dispels Madhu and Kaiṭabha from Viṣṇu's sleep), and she is the first of the Daśa-mahāvidyā. The Goddess in her fierce, time-conquering aspect — black not as darkness but as the colour beyond all colours, the absolute that takes in all (recall Kāla-hantrī, the slayer of time).
Śrī Vidyā: Mahā-kālī is the Great Black One; the Goddess in her time-and-death-conquering form (the first of the Daśa-mahāvidyā, the Devī-Māhātmya's opening form) — black as the colour beyond all colours, absolute that absorbs all.
752. महाग्रासा — Mahā-grāsā
Translation: Mahā-grāsā — the great Devourer; she who swallows the cosmos at dissolution.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the great Devourer” — she who, at the cosmic dissolution, swallows all that is. The apavāda: at pralaya, all the worlds are withdrawn into her — she “devours” the cosmos (recall Mahā-pralaya-sākṣiṇī, Laya-karī). The image is of Kālī's open mouth in which the worlds disappear; what was emitted as her self-display is taken back into her. Devouring is in-gathering: the cosmos returns to its source through her great mouth.
Śrī Vidyā: Mahā-grāsā is the great Devourer; the Goddess swallowing the cosmos at pralaya — the in-gathering of all her self-display into herself (cf. Laya-karī, Mahā-pralaya-sākṣiṇī).
753. महाशना — Mahāśanā
Translation: Mahāśanā — the great Eater; she who consumes all (the elements, the worlds).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the great Eater.” The apavāda: deepening Mahā-grāsā — she eats not only at pralaya but continuously; the Upaniṣad says “time eats all,” and as Mahākālī she is Time-the-eater; every moment, every form, every being is being eaten back into her unceasingly. The cosmos exists by being constantly emitted and constantly devoured — the great Eater is also the great Mother. (And in the deepest sense, she is the eater because every experience is finally taken into the awareness that she is — every sight, sound, thought is “eaten” by the awareness it discloses.)
Śrī Vidyā: Mahāśanā is the great Eater; the Goddess as Time-the-eater (deepening Mahā-grāsā) — every moment, form, and being constantly taken into the awareness she is.
754. अपर्णा — Aparṇā
Translation: Aparṇā — “without a leaf”; Pārvatī who, in her tapas to win Śiva, fasted from even a leaf.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Aparṇā — “without a leaf.” The apavāda: in the great story of Pārvatī's tapas, she performed austerities of increasing severity to win Śiva — fasting first on roots, then on fallen leaves, finally on no leaves at all; for this last she earned the name Aparṇā, “leafless,” and Śiva, moved by her love, accepted her (recall Śailendra-tanayā, Gaurī). The image of love stronger than fasting, of bhakti that gives up everything for its Lord — and is met by him. (Aparṇā is also a beloved name of Pārvatī in the Mahābhārata and the Skanda Purāṇa.)
Śrī Vidyā: Aparṇā is “without a leaf” (Pārvatī's name from her supreme tapas); the Goddess as love-stronger-than-fasting, won by Śiva when she gave up even the leaves — bhakti's ultimate offering.
755. चण्डिका — Caṇḍikā
Translation: Caṇḍikā — the fierce one; the wrathful Goddess of the Devī-Māhātmya.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Caṇḍikā — “the fierce,” the wrathful Goddess of the Devī-Māhātmya (which is itself often called the Caṇḍī by her name). The apavāda: caṇḍī is the fierce, the impetuous; Caṇḍikā is the form of the supreme Goddess that arose to slay Mahiṣa and the demon brothers, the protectress whose wrath is grace toward the world (recall Bhadra-kālī; Mahā-kālī). The fierce face of the Mother — fierceness toward the demons, tenderness toward her devotees.
Śrī Vidyā: Caṇḍikā is the fierce one (the Goddess of the Devī-Māhātmya / Caṇḍī); the wrathful form that slew Mahiṣa and the demon brothers — fierce toward demons, tender toward devotees.
756. चण्डमुण्डासुरनिषूदिनी — Caṇḍa-muṇḍāsura-niṣūdinī
Translation: The slayer (niṣūdinī) of the demons (asura) Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the slayer of the demons Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa.” The apavāda: in the Devī-Māhātmya (chapter 7), the demon-king Śumbha sent the brothers Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa to capture Devī; she emitted Kālī from her brow, who decapitated both — and brought their heads back to the Devī, who named her Cāmuṇḍā (“of Caṇḍa-Muṇḍa”), the famous name (one of the Sapta-Mātṛkās, and a great form of Kālī). The wrath of the Goddess against the wrong-doers, and the origin of the great Cāmuṇḍā name. (Inwardly, Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa are read as the fierce passions rāga and dveṣa, anger and aversion — slain by the rising of the Goddess in the heart.)
Śrī Vidyā: Caṇḍa-muṇḍāsura-niṣūdinī is the slayer of the demons Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa (Devī-Māhātmya 7, the origin of the name Cāmuṇḍā); inwardly the slayer of rāga and dveṣa (attachment and aversion) by the rising of the Goddess in the heart.
Śloka 146
क्षराक्षरात्मिका सर्वलोकेशी विश्वधारिणी ।
त्रिवर्गदात्री सुभगा त्र्यम्बका त्रिगुणात्मिका ॥ १४६॥
kṣarākṣarātmikā sarva-lokeśī viśva-dhāriṇī |
tri-varga-dātrī subhagā try-ambakā tri-guṇātmikā ǁ 146 ǁ
The opening name of this śloka quotes the Bhagavad-Gītā's Fifteenth Chapter directly: “There are two persons (puruṣas) in this world, the perishable (kṣara) and the imperishable (akṣara) … but the Highest Person (Puruṣottama) is other than these two, called the Supreme Self.” She is Kṣarākṣarātmikā — whose nature is both, the substratum of both, and the Highest Person beyond both. Then come the all-world names and the great triads (the three life-aims, three eyes, three guṇas).
757. क्षराक्षरात्मिका — Kṣarākṣarātmikā
Translation: Whose nature (ātmikā) is both the perishable (kṣara) and the imperishable (akṣara).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the nature of both the perishable and the imperishable.” The apavāda: this is a direct echo of the Bhagavad-Gītā's Fifteenth Chapter (XV.16-17): “there are two persons in this world, the perishable (kṣara) and the imperishable (akṣara); all beings are the perishable, the unchanging is called the imperishable; but other than these is the Highest Person, called the Supreme Self (Paramātman), who entering the three worlds sustains them as the eternal Lord.” She is both — the perishable (all beings as her self-display) and the imperishable (the unchanging Self) — and as the One who is both, she is also Puruṣottama, the Highest Person beyond both. The most concise statement of the immanent-transcendent God of the Gītā: she is the world's flux and its unchanging Self and the Lord who is both. (Recall Sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī; Vyaktāvyakta-svarūpiṇī.)
Śrī Vidyā: Kṣarākṣarātmikā is of the nature of both the perishable and the imperishable; the Goddess as the Bhagavad-Gītā's Puruṣottama (XV.16-17) — the world's flux and its unchanging Self and the Lord who is both.
758. सर्वलोकेशी — Sarva-lokeśī
Translation: Sarva-lokeśī — the sovereign (īśī) of all the worlds (sarva-loka).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “sovereign of all worlds” (echoing Nikhileśvarī, Trijagad-vandyā). The apavāda: every loka, on every level (the seven upper, the seven lower; or the three of heaven-earth-netherworld), is hers. The all-worlds sovereignty: not over an other, but as the reality of which all worlds are appearance. (Reaffirmation of universal sovereignty in plain words.)
Śrī Vidyā: Sarva-lokeśī is sovereign of all worlds; the all-worlds sovereignty, not over an other but as the reality of which all worlds are appearance.
759. विश्वधारिणी — Viśva-dhāriṇī
Translation: Viśva-dhāriṇī — the supporter/bearer (dhāriṇī) of the universe (viśva).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the supporter of the universe.” The apavāda: she upholds the worlds — as Sarvādhārā she is the substratum, as Viśva-dhāriṇī she actively bears (recall Yugandharā, bearer of the ages; Supratiṣṭhā, the firm foundation). The cosmos rests on her and is borne by her continuously; her bearing of it is her sustaining of it. (And the Gītā's Puruṣottama, just named, “sustains the three worlds, having entered them, as the eternal Lord.”)
Śrī Vidyā: Viśva-dhāriṇī is the supporter of the universe; the Goddess actively bearing the cosmos — the substratum-and-sustainer (cf. Sarvādhārā, Yugandharā), the Gītā's Puruṣottama sustaining the worlds.
760. त्रिवर्गदात्री — Tri-varga-dātrī
Translation: Tri-varga-dātrī — the giver (dātrī) of the three (tri) classes/aims (varga) — dharma, artha, kāma.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of the three-fold.” The apavāda: tri-varga is the three of the four puruṣārthas — dharma, artha, kāma — the worldly aims of life; she grants them (recall Sarvārtha-dātrī, giver of every aim; Muktidā gives the fourth, mokṣa). To give the three-varga is to grant the legitimate goods of worldly life; and these are given as preparation, the lower three serving the highest. (Together: she gives the tri-varga and crowns it with mokṣa.)
Śrī Vidyā: Tri-varga-dātrī is the giver of the three-fold (dharma, artha, kāma); the Goddess granting the three worldly puruṣārthas — preparation for the fourth, mokṣa (given as Muktidā).
761. सुभगा — Subhagā
Translation: Subhagā — of auspicious fortune; the truly auspicious one; the goddess of saubhāgya.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Subhagā — “of auspicious fortune,” the truly fortunate, the very Goddess of saubhāgya. The apavāda: su-bhaga is one possessed of perfect bhaga — perfect fortune, perfect auspiciousness; she is that, and the source of every saubhāgya (recall Saubhāgya-dāyinī, the giver of good fortune; Bhakta-saubhāgya-dāyinī). The deity to whom the Saubhāgya-vidyā is dedicated.
Śrī Vidyā: Subhagā is of auspicious fortune; the Goddess of saubhāgya, the deity of the Saubhāgya-vidyā — source of every auspicious good.
762. त्र्यम्बका — Try-ambakā
Translation: Tryambakā — the three-eyed (with eyes of Sun, Moon, and Fire); (also) the consort of the three-eyed Lord.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Tryambakā — “the three-eyed.” The apavāda: ambaka is “eye”; she has three eyes — the Sun (right), the Moon (left), and Fire (the central eye on the brow, the jñāna-cakṣus, the eye of knowledge that opens at the Ājñā). The three luminaries gathered in her face (recall the three orbs of the heart; Trinayanā; Bhālasthā). And tryambakā can read as “consort of the three-eyed” — Tryambaka being a great name of Śiva; in either reading, she is the three-eyed.
Śrī Vidyā: Tryambakā is the three-eyed (Sun, Moon, Fire — including the central jñāna-cakṣus); the Goddess as three-eyed, or as consort of the three-eyed Śiva (Tryambaka).
763. त्रिगुणात्मिका — Tri-guṇātmikā
Translation: Tri-guṇātmikā — of the nature of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the nature of the three guṇas” — sattva (clarity, light), rajas (activity, passion), tamas (inertia, darkness). The apavāda: the three guṇas of Sāṃkhya are the three strands of prakṛti, the three modes by which manifestation operates; she is their very nature — as prakṛti, she is the three (recall Mūla-prakṛtir); and as transcendent, she is beyond them (Nistraiguṇyā, śloka 150, to come). Both: she is the three, and beyond the three. The Goddess as cosmic prakṛti in her threefold modes.
Śrī Vidyā: Tri-guṇātmikā is of the nature of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas); the Goddess as prakṛti in her three modes (cf. Mūla-prakṛti) — and (Nistraiguṇyā, ahead) the One beyond them.
Śloka 147
स्वर्गापवर्गदा शुद्धा जपापुष्प-निभाकृतिः ।
ओजोवती द्युतिधरा यज्ञरूपा प्रियव्रता ॥ १४७॥
svargāpavargadā śuddhā japā-puṣpa-nibhākṛtiḥ |
ojo-vatī dyuti-dharā yajña-rūpā priya-vratā ǁ 147 ǁ
764. स्वर्गापवर्गदा — Svargāpavargadā
Translation: The giver (dā) of both heaven (svarga) and liberation (apavarga).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of heaven and of liberation.” The apavāda: svarga is heaven (the highest of the manifest worlds), apavarga is liberation (release from manifestation altogether); she gives both. The two aims of the religious life — outwardly heaven and finally mokṣa — are equally in her hand (recall Muktidā; Tri-varga-dātrī). Whatever level of fulfillment the devotee seeks, she grants; and finally she gives the supreme.
Śrī Vidyā: Svargāpavargadā is the giver of both heaven (svarga) and liberation (apavarga); the Goddess granting whichever level of fulfillment is sought — outwardly heaven, finally mokṣa.
765. शुद्धा — Śuddhā
Translation: Śuddhā — the Pure; unmixed, untainted, of pristine clarity.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Śuddhā — “the Pure” (recall Nityaśuddhā, ever-pure, śloka 45; Nirañjanā, stainless). The apavāda: purity is her very nature — unmixed with anything that is not herself, untainted by the manifold she contains. The supreme is pure not by cleansing but by nature: pure consciousness, pure being, pure bliss. (And she purifies — Pāvanākṛtiḥ, of purifying form.)
Śrī Vidyā: Śuddhā is the Pure; the Goddess unmixed and untainted by nature (cf. Nityaśuddhā, Nirañjanā) — pure consciousness, being, bliss, purifying all who turn to her.
766. जपापुष्पनिभाकृतिः — Japā-puṣpa-nibhākṛtiḥ
Translation: Whose form (ākṛti) resembles (nibhā) the hibiscus blossom (japā-puṣpa).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: Her form is “like the hibiscus.” The apavāda, as with Aruṇā, Sindūra-aruṇa, Bandhūka-kusuma-prakāśā: the colour of the Goddess is the red of the japā, the hibiscus — a deep, glowing red, the colour of the dawn and of kuṅkuma (recall the dhyāna verses, where the hibiscus is named). She is japā-red. The blood-red flower offered most to Kālī and to the Goddess in her potent forms.
Śrī Vidyā: Japā-puṣpa-nibhākṛtiḥ has a form like the hibiscus blossom; the deep glowing red of the Goddess (cf. Aruṇā, the dhyāna's hibiscus-radiance), the flower most offered in her worship.
767. ओजोवती — Ojo-vatī
Translation: Ojo-vatī — possessed of ojas (vital splendour, lustre, strength).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Ojo-vatī — “possessed of ojas.” The apavāda: ojas is the subtle vital splendour, the radiant essence of life-force in Āyurvedic theory (the refined essence of all the dhātus), and the “splendour” in the Vedic sense (the lustre of one whose inner being is full); she has it in fullness — she is the very Goddess of ojas, and the source of vital splendour in all who possess it (recall Mahāvīryā). Vital lustre is her gift.
Śrī Vidyā: Ojo-vatī is possessed of ojas (vital splendour, the refined essence of life-force in Āyurveda); the Goddess of vital lustre, source of the splendour in all who possess it.
768. द्युतिधरा — Dyuti-dharā
Translation: Dyuti-dharā — bearer (dharā) of radiance (dyuti).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the bearer of radiance.” The apavāda: dyuti is brilliance, the shining of the lustrous; she bears it, is its support (recall Prabhā-vatī, Prabhā-rūpā). All radiance — the sun's, the fire's, the gem's, the realised face's — is borne by her; she is its bearer because she is its source.
Śrī Vidyā: Dyuti-dharā is the bearer of radiance; the Goddess as the source and support of all dyuti — sun, fire, gem, the radiance on the realised face.
769. यज्ञरूपा — Yajña-rūpā
Translation: Yajña-rūpā — whose form is the sacrifice (yajña).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of the sacrifice” — yajña embodied. The apavāda: yajña is the central Vedic rite by which the cosmos is held in order (the Gītā: “from yajña, rain; from rain, food; from food, beings; thus the wheel turns”); she is its very form. And the Gītā goes further: every selfless action offered to the Lord is a yajña, and the supreme yajña is the offering of the self (recall Rahas-tarpaṇa, the secret oblation; Bali-priyā). She is the sacrifice and the goal of every sacrifice — the offering, the offerer, the offered-to, all one.
Śrī Vidyā: Yajña-rūpā is of the form of the sacrifice; the Goddess as yajña embodied (the Vedic rite and the Gītā's selfless action) — offering, offerer, and offered-to all one.
770. प्रियव्रता — Priya-vratā
Translation: Priya-vratā — of dear/cherished vows (priya-vrata); whose vratas are dear and observant.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Priya-vratā — “of dear vows.” The apavāda: vrata is religious vow or observance; priya-vratā can read as “whose vows are dear” (the vows undertaken for her are dear to her) or “of cherished observances” (she observes her own dharmic vow — recall Pati-vratā). Either reading: the Goddess is bound to her dharmic vows as the devotees are bound to theirs; the relation of vow and faithfulness governs the divine-human bond (and Priyavrata is also a great Vedic king, the eldest son of Manu).
Śrī Vidyā: Priya-vratā is of dear/cherished vows; the Goddess to whom vows are dear (and who is bound to her own dharmic vrata) — the vow-relation between Goddess and devotee.
Śloka 148
दुराराध्या दुराधर्षा पाटली-कुसुम-प्रिया ।
महती मेरुनिलया मन्दार-कुसुम-प्रिया ॥ १४८॥
dur-ārādhyā dur-ādharṣā pāṭalī-kusuma-priyā |
mahatī meru-nilayā mandāra-kusuma-priyā ǁ 148 ǁ
771. दुराराध्या — Dur-ārādhyā
Translation: Dur-ārādhyā — hard (dur) to worship (ārādhyā).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “hard to worship.” The apavāda: hard, because her worship in its fullness requires the offering of one's whole being — outer ritual is easy, but the inward worship (the offering of self, the cultivation of purity, the maintenance of true vidyā) is difficult. Yet she is at once Sukhārādhyā (śloka 133), easy to worship — the two readings together: easy by love, hard by depth. Easy to begin, hard to perfect.
Śrī Vidyā: Dur-ārādhyā is hard to worship; the Goddess whose full inner worship (the offering of the self, the cultivation of purity, the maintenance of true vidyā) is difficult — easy by love (Sukhārādhyā), hard by depth.
772. दुराधर्षा — Dur-ādharṣā
Translation: Dur-ādharṣā — hard to assail (dharṣ); unconquerable, unassailable.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “unassailable.” The apavāda: no enemy, no obstruction, no power can prevail against her (recall the war on Bhaṇḍāsura; Aja-jaitrī, conqueror of māyā); she is the unconquered, the unassailable, the inviolable. And she gives this unassailability to her devotees, who in her are safe from every assault.
Śrī Vidyā: Dur-ādharṣā is unassailable; the Goddess unconquered by any power, and the giver of this inviolability to her devotees.
773. पाटलीकुसुमप्रिया — Pāṭalī-kusuma-priyā
Translation: Fond (priyā) of the trumpet-flower (pāṭalī-kusuma, the rose-coloured Bignonia).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “fond of the pāṭalī flower” — the trumpet-flower (Bignonia suaveolens), of rosy hue and sweet scent. The apavāda, as with the kadamba, campaka, japā: each flower the Goddess loves is an act of devotion that pleases her; the trumpet-flower is here named as her favourite, fittingly rose-coloured to match her own complexion. Worship by flower; her form as the supreme flower-lover.
Śrī Vidyā: Pāṭalī-kusuma-priyā is fond of the trumpet-flower (Bignonia, rose-coloured and sweet-scented); the Goddess pleased by this flower-offering — rose-coloured to match her own complexion.
774. महती — Mahatī
Translation: Mahatī — the Great (feminine of mahat); also the name of Nārada's vīṇā.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Mahatī — “the Great” (echoing Bṛhatī). The apavāda: the simple grand name — she is great, vast, mighty (recall Mahā- as a prefix throughout, Niḥsīma-mahimā). And Mahatī is also the name of the great seven-stringed vīṇā of the sage Nārada — so she is also the divine instrument from whose strings the names of the Lord arise (recall Kāvyālāpa-vinodinī, delighting in poetic discourse).
Śrī Vidyā: Mahatī is the Great (feminine of mahat, the Sāṃkhya cosmic intelligence) and the name of Nārada's vīṇā; the Goddess as cosmic greatness and as the divine instrument from whose strings the Names of the Lord arise.
775. मेरुनिलया — Meru-nilayā
Translation: Meru-nilayā — abiding (nilayā) on Mount Meru.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She abides on Meru — the cosmic mountain at the centre of the world (recall Sumeru-madhya-śṛṅgasthā, śloka 22, on the central peak of Sumeru; Mahā-kailāsa-nilayā). The apavāda: as Mahā-Kailāsa is the supreme Śaiva summit, Meru is the central cosmic axis (and esoterically the Meru of the Śrī Cakra, the central bindu at the peak of the three-dimensional yantra). Her abode on Meru is her seat at the centre of the cosmos and at the apex of the Śrī Cakra.
Śrī Vidyā: Meru-nilayā abides on Mount Meru (the cosmic axis); the Goddess at the centre of the cosmos, and at the apex of the three-dimensional Meru-form of the Śrī Cakra (cf. Sumeru-madhya-śṛṅgasthā, śloka 22).
776. मन्दारकुसुमप्रिया — Mandāra-kusuma-priyā
Translation: Fond (priyā) of the mandāra (coral-tree) blossom.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “fond of the mandāra flower” — the coral-tree blossom (Erythrina). The apavāda, paired with Pāṭalī-kusuma-priyā: the mandāra is one of the five celestial trees of Indra's heaven, with brilliant red flowers (recall Kalpa-vṛkṣa, the wish-tree among her trees); she enjoys this divine flower as offering, her favourites including both earthly trumpet-flowers and heavenly coral-blossoms. The Goddess's bouquet has flowers from both worlds.
Śrī Vidyā: Mandāra-kusuma-priyā is fond of the coral-tree blossom (one of the five celestial trees of Indra's heaven); paired with the earthly trumpet-flower (Pāṭalī-kusuma-priyā), her bouquet drawn from both earth and heaven.
Śloka 149
वीराराध्या विराड्रूपा विरजा विश्वतोमुखी ।
प्रत्यग्रूपा पराकाशा प्राणदा प्राणरूपिणी ॥ १४९॥
vīrārādhyā virāḍ-rūpā virajā viśvato-mukhī |
pratyag-rūpā parākāśā prāṇadā prāṇa-rūpiṇī ǁ 149 ǁ
At the centre of this śloka stands one of the great Vedāntic pairs — Virāḍ-rūpā, “of cosmic body,” and Pratyag-rūpā, “of indwelling Subject-form.” The Virāḍ is the great cosmic Person of the Puruṣa-sūkta and of the Māṇḍūkya — Brahman in its outward, all-world body, with the universe as its limbs; the Pratyak is the Brahman turned inward — the indwelling Subject, the “I” at the root of every “I,” the pratyag-ātman. She is named as both: the cosmic outward Self and the innermost inward Self, two faces of the One. Around them stand the names of supreme Space and breath-as-her-form.
777. वीराराध्या — Vīrārādhyā
Translation: Worshipped (ārādhyā) by heroes (vīra); in Tantric usage, by the Vīra-class practitioner.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “worshipped by heroes.” The apavāda: outwardly, the vīra is the spiritual hero — the seeker of unusual courage and discrimination; she is honoured by such (the highest devotees are those who can withstand the trials of the inner path, recall Mahā-vīra). And in the Tantric ācāra-classification (paśu / vīra / divya), the Vīra is the middle class of practitioner — those qualified for certain rites the paśu cannot do and that the divya transcends; the precise distinctions belong to the parampara.
Śrī Vidyā: Vīrārādhyā is worshipped by heroes (vīras); the Goddess honoured by the spiritual hero — and (in the Tantric ācāra-classification of paśu/vīra/divya) by the Vīra-class practitioner, the precise distinctions held in the parampara.
778. विराड्रूपा — Virāḍ-rūpā
Translation: Virāḍ-rūpā — of the form of Virāj (the cosmic body of Brahman); the great cosmic Person.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of Virāj.” The apavāda: Virāj is the great cosmic Person of the Puruṣa-sūkta — “a thousand-headed, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed Puruṣa…” — and of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad's vaiśvānara, the cosmic Self whose body is the manifest universe; she is named here as that — Brahman in its outward, all-world body (recall Sahasra-śīrṣa-vadanā, thousand-headed; Viśvato-mukhī, next, all-faced). The cosmos itself, all that is, is her body.
Śrī Vidyā: Virāḍ-rūpā is of the form of Virāj (the cosmic Puruṣa of the Puruṣa-sūkta, the Māṇḍūkya's vaiśvānara); the Goddess as Brahman in its outward all-world body — the universe her limbs.
779. विरजा — Virajā
Translation: Virajā — “without rajas” (the passion-guṇa); free of all dust (rajas) of impurity.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “without rajas” — vi-raja, free of rajas. The apavāda: rajas reads two ways — the second of the three guṇas (passion, agitation), and “dust” (as in the menstrual “rajas”); she is free of both — pure of the agitating guṇa, and pure of every taint (recall Niṣkalaṅkā, stainless; Śuddhā). The supreme is in sattva-purity, beyond all rajas. (And as Virajā she is also the celestial river that the jīva crosses on the way to liberation — beyond the Virajā there is no return.)
Śrī Vidyā: Virajā is without rajas; the Goddess pure of the agitation-guṇa and of every taint — and (Virajā the celestial river) the boundary beyond which the liberated do not return.
780. विश्वतोमुखी — Viśvato-mukhī
Translation: Viśvato-mukhī — all-faced; whose faces are turned in every direction.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “facing every direction” — all-faced. The apavāda, as in the Gītā's vision of the Universal Form (XI.11, sarvato-mukha): she has faces in every direction, for she is the all (recall Sahasrākṣī, thousand-eyed; Virāḍ-rūpā just before); from every direction one looks toward her, one looks at her face. She is the Subject seen from every angle — and the seer at every angle. (The Gītā's terrible-and-glorious universal vision is in this name.)
Śrī Vidyā: Viśvato-mukhī is all-faced (in every direction); the Goddess of the Gītā's Universal Form (XI.11, sarvato-mukha) — facing every direction because she is the all, Subject seen from every angle.
781. प्रत्यग्रूपा — Pratyag-rūpā
Translation: Pratyag-rūpā — of the form of the indwelling Subject (pratyak); the inward Self.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of inward form” — pratyak, the Subject turned inward, the indwelling Self. The apavāda: this is the great pair-name to Virāḍ-rūpā just before. Where Virāj is Brahman outward (all the worlds as body), Pratyak is Brahman inward (the “I” at the root of every “I,” the indwelling pratyag-ātman); the Upaniṣads call it the “inward-looking,” the “consciousness turned in” (recall Pratyak-citī-rūpā, Part XII; Vimarśa-rūpiṇī). She is both at once: the cosmic Self extended in the all, and the inward Self that is your own “I am.” The two faces of the One non-dual reality. (Vedānta's central pair: outer cosmic Self and inner indwelling Self, equally she.)
Śrī Vidyā: Pratyag-rūpā is of the form of the indwelling Subject; the Goddess as Brahman turned inward (the pratyag-ātman, the “I” at the root) — paired with Virāḍ-rūpā (the cosmic outward Self), the two faces of the one non-dual reality.
782. पराकाशा — Parākāśā
Translation: Parā-ākāśā — the supreme (parā) Space (ākāśa); the highest open Ether.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the supreme Space.” The apavāda: ākāśa is the first and subtlest of the elements, the open space; parā-ākāśa is the highest such space — beyond the physical sky, beyond even the cidākāśa (the space of consciousness); the absolute openness in which all exists. Recall Daharākāśa-rūpiṇī (the small heart-ether) and now Parākāśā (the supreme Ether); the small and the supreme are one Space — the heart-cave's tiny space is the supreme open Space, as the Chāndogya teaches.
Śrī Vidyā: Parākāśā is the supreme Space; the highest open ether (beyond physical and even cidākāśa) — and one with the Daharākāśa (the heart-cave's small space) per the Chāndogya, small and supreme one Space.
783. प्राणदा — Prāṇa-dā
Translation: Prāṇa-dā — the giver (dā) of breath/life (prāṇa).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the giver of prāṇa.” The apavāda: prāṇa is breath, and also the cosmic life-force that the breath is a sign of; she gives it — every breath is her gift (recall Annapūrṇā gives food, this gives breath). And as the Upaniṣad says, prāṇa is the very life of beings, the principle without which the body is corpse; she who gives prāṇa gives life itself. Each inhalation is grace.
Śrī Vidyā: Prāṇa-dā is the giver of breath; the Goddess giving prāṇa (breath and the cosmic life-force) — every breath her gift, each inhalation grace.
784. प्राणरूपिणी — Prāṇa-rūpiṇī
Translation: Prāṇa-rūpiṇī — whose form (rūpa) is breath/life (prāṇa).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of prāṇa.” The apavāda: deepening Prāṇa-dā — she does not merely give breath, she is breath; the cosmic prāṇa is her own form (recall the Praśna and Kauṣītaki Upaniṣads, which name prāṇa as Brahman). The breath that moves in every living being is herself in motion; to attend to the breath is to attend to her. Inwardly, the breath becomes the path (in prāṇāyāma) — and the goal is breath as the Goddess.
Śrī Vidyā: Prāṇa-rūpiṇī is of the form of breath; the Goddess as prāṇa itself (the Praśna / Kauṣītaki prāṇa-as-Brahman teaching) — the breath that moves in every living being her form in motion.
Śloka 150
मार्ताण्ड-भैरवाराध्या मन्त्रिणी-न्यस्त-राज्यधूः ।
त्रिपुरेशी जयत्सेना निस्त्रैगुण्या परापरा ॥ १५०॥
mārtāṇḍa-bhairavārādhyā mantriṇī-nyasta-rājya-dhūḥ |
tripureśī jayat-senā nis-traiguṇyā parāparā ǁ 150 ǁ
The movement closes in names of supreme rule and supreme transcendence. She is worshipped by Mārtaṇḍa-Bhairava — the great solar Bhairava of the Saubhāgya tradition, the supreme tutelary deity of the Saubhāgya-rāja's Mantra-mahodadhi line. She has entrusted the burden of sovereignty to her general Mantriṇī (Śyāmalā, the lute-bearing Goddess). She is Tripureśī, the Lady of the Three Cities; Jayat-senā, of victorious army; beyond the three guṇas; and Parāparā — the supreme-and-not-supreme, transcendent and immanent, the One that holds both terms and surpasses both. A perfect close.
785. मार्ताण्डभैरवाराध्या — Mārtāṇḍa-bhairavārādhyā
Translation: Worshipped (ārādhyā) by Mārtaṇḍa-Bhairava (the great Solar Bhairava).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “worshipped by Mārtaṇḍa-Bhairava.” The apavāda: Mārtaṇḍa is the Sun (literally “born of a dead egg,” a Vedic name for the Sun); Mārtaṇḍa-Bhairava is a great form of Śiva-Sūrya — the supreme solar Bhairava, the high tutelary deity of the Saubhāgya line in the Śrī-Vidyā (named in the Mantra-mahodadhi, the Saubhāgya-ratnākara, and other works of that tradition); he worships her (as Śiva, the supreme deity, worships her — recall Hari-brahmendra-sevitā). The supreme solar Lord-Bhairava is among her devotees. (The precise upāsanā belongs to the parampara.)
Śrī Vidyā: Mārtāṇḍa-bhairavārādhyā is worshipped by Mārtaṇḍa-Bhairava (the great Solar Bhairava, supreme tutelary deity of the Saubhāgya line in the Śrī-Vidyā — Mantra-mahodadhi, Saubhāgya-ratnākara); the precise upāsanā held in the parampara.
786. मन्त्रिणीन्यस्तराज्यधूः — Mantriṇī-nyasta-rājya-dhūḥ
Translation: By whom the burden (dhūḥ) of sovereignty (rājya) is entrusted (nyasta) to Mantriṇī (Śyāmalā, her chief minister).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “she by whom the kingdom's burden is placed upon Mantriṇī.” The apavāda: Mantriṇī is her great female minister Śyāmalā (the dark-blue Goddess, lute-bearer, master of speech and counsel — recall Mantriṇyambā in the Bhaṇḍāsura war, Part V); she has entrusted to Mantriṇī the active rājya-dhūḥ, the burden of governance — as the queen sets her chief minister to run the kingdom while she abides in the inner chamber. The Goddess at rest, her minister at work; the queen and her vizier. (And esoterically, Mantriṇī is the Goddess's own active power, to whom she delegates the worldly governance.)
Śrī Vidyā: Mantriṇī-nyasta-rājya-dhūḥ has entrusted the burden of sovereignty to Mantriṇī (Śyāmalā, her lute-bearing minister, the Mantriṇyambā of the Bhaṇḍāsura war); the queen at rest, her vizier at work — and Mantriṇī as the Goddess's own active power.
787. त्रिपुरेशी — Tripureśī
Translation: Tripureśī — the Lady of the Three Cities (tripura); sovereign of the threefold (echoing Tripurā).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Tripureśī — “Lady of the Three Cities” (echoing Tripurā, śloka 125; deepening the great name). The apavāda: the “three cities” are read on many levels — three states of consciousness, three bodies, three guṇas, three worlds; she is sovereign of all the triads (recall the Sat-cit-ānanda triad just sounded), and the supreme that transcends each three as their ground. The threefold and its sovereign, both she.
Śrī Vidyā: Tripureśī is the Lady of the Three Cities; the Goddess sovereign of every triad (states, bodies, guṇas, worlds — the threefold she rules and transcends), deepening the great name Tripurā.
788. जयत्सेना — Jayat-senā
Translation: Jayat-senā — of victorious (jayat) army (senā); whose forces are ever-conquering.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of victorious army” (echoing Bṛhat-senā, of the vast army, śloka 133). The apavāda: her forces — the Śaktis, the Nityās, the Yoginīs — are ever-victorious; in the war on Bhaṇḍāsura they prevailed without exception (recall Vārāhī, Mantriṇī, the great Śakti-army of Parts IV-V). And inwardly, the seeker's powers, when marshalled in her service, are jayat — ever-victorious; the inner army does not lose its war.
Śrī Vidyā: Jayat-senā is of victorious army; the Goddess's ever-victorious forces (Śaktis, Nityās, Yoginīs of the Bhaṇḍāsura war) — and the seeker's inner powers marshalled in her service, ever-conquering.
789. निस्त्रैगुण्या — Nis-traiguṇyā
Translation: Nis-traiguṇyā — beyond the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas); transcendent of the threefold mode.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “beyond the three guṇas.” The apavāda: as Tri-guṇātmikā (śloka 146) she was of the nature of the three; here, as nis-traiguṇyā, she is beyond them — echoing the Gītā's instruction to Arjuna: “Be beyond the three guṇas, O Arjuna” (II.45, nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna). The supreme is beyond the modes of prakṛti; she who is prakṛti (as the three) is also the transcendence of prakṛti (beyond the three). Both: of the three, and beyond.
Śrī Vidyā: Nis-traiguṇyā is beyond the three guṇas; the Goddess transcendent of prakṛti's modes (the Gītā's nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna, II.45) — paired with Tri-guṇātmikā (śloka 146): of the three, and beyond.
790. परापरा — Parāparā
Translation: Parāparā — the supreme-and-not-supreme (parā + aparā); both the transcendent and the immanent.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Parāparā — “the supreme-and-not-supreme.” The apavāda: parā is the supreme (transcendent), aparā is the not-supreme (immanent / lower); she is both at once — the Absolute that is transcendent and immanent, the One whose nature includes both terms of the great pair without being reducible to either. The Muṇḍaka distinguishes the parā-vidyā (the supreme knowledge of Brahman) from the aparā-vidyā (the lower knowledge of the Vedas and arts); she is both. The Mahāvākyas of the Vedānta point at this very thing — the Absolute beyond all distinction is itself the distinction it is beyond. A perfect close to this movement: she who is parā is also aparā, and both are her — and she is beyond both. (Recall Sad-asad-rūpa-dhāriṇī, bearer of both being and non-being; Bhāvābhāva-vivarjitā, free of both — Parāparā holds both and is beyond both, the full adhyāropa-apavāda in a single name.)
Śrī Vidyā: Parāparā is the supreme-and-not-supreme (parā + aparā), transcendent and immanent; the Goddess as the Absolute that holds both terms and surpasses both — the Muṇḍaka's parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā alike — the full adhyāropa-apavāda in one name, fitting close.
Part XIX — Nāmas 791–843 (Ślokas 151–157): The Treasure of Rasa, the Antaryāmin, and the Wheel of Becoming
In simple words. The treasure of rasa — the deep taste of joy. She is the Inner Controller seated in every being, guiding from within. The wheel of birth and death turns by her hand. The One who turns the wheel can also stop it for you.
Śloka 151
सत्यज्ञानानन्द-रूपा सामरस्य-परायणा ।
कपर्दिनी कलामाला कामधुक् कामरूपिणी ॥ १५१॥
satya-jñānānanda-rūpā sāmarasya-parāyaṇā |
kapardinī kalā-mālā kāma-dhuk kāma-rūpiṇī ǁ 151 ǁ
The śloka opens with the Vedāntic triad named once again — this time as satya, jñāna, ānanda (the explicit Taittirīya phrasing), echoing Saccidānanda-rūpiṇī (700, Part XVII). Then Sāmarasya-parāyaṇā — devoted to the equipoise of Śiva and Śakti, a great term whose precise Kaula-Samaya / Trika resonance belongs to the parampara. The Kāma-names recall the kāma-arc burnt → revived → offered (Part II, Part XI): she is the wish-yielding cow, and the assumer of any form at will.
791. सत्यज्ञानानन्दरूपा — Satya-jñānānanda-rūpā
Translation: Whose form (rūpa) is satya, jñāna, and ānanda — Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of the form of Truth, Knowledge, Bliss” — the Taittirīya triad sounded in its explicit form (the Taittirīya defines Brahman as satyaṃ jñānam anantam, “real, knowledge, infinite,” and the brahmānanda-vallī rises through the bliss-measurements to the supreme). The apavāda: this is Saccidānanda-rūpiṇī (700) renamed, with the same Vedāntic content — only the second pair (jñāna, ānanda) is the same, while satya here replaces sat, deepening to “truth” the bare “being.” She is Truth-Knowledge-Bliss, the absolute Self that one is.
Śrī Vidyā: Satya-jñānānanda-rūpā is of the form of Truth, Knowledge, Bliss; the Taittirīya triad (satyaṃ jñānam anantam) named explicitly — echoing Saccidānanda-rūpiṇī (700), the Goddess as the absolute Self.
792. सामरस्यपरायणा — Sāmarasya-parāyaṇā
Translation: Devoted (parāyaṇā) to sāmarasya — the equipoise (sama-rasa, equal-savour) of Śiva and Śakti.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “devoted to sāmarasya” — to the perfect equipoise of Śiva and Śakti. The apavāda: sāmarasya literally is “same-savour,” the state in which two distinct things share one taste — applied to Śiva and Śakti, it names the non-difference of consciousness and its self-knowing power, the supreme union (recall Vimarśa-rūpiṇī, the self-touching of consciousness; Ardha-nārīśvara). She is wholly given to this equipoise — her very nature is the sāmarasya. (The precise technical content of sāmarasya in the Trika/Kaula-Samaya tradition belongs to the initiate.)
Śrī Vidyā: Sāmarasya-parāyaṇā is devoted to the equipoise of Śiva-Śakti; the Goddess given to sāmarasya (the “same-savour,” the supreme non-difference of consciousness and its self-knowing) — the technical Trika/Kaula content held in the parampara.
793. कपर्दिनी — Kapardinī
Translation: Kapardinī — consort of Kapardin (Śiva with the matted-locks); the female form of Kapardin.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is Kapardinī — consort of Kapardin, a great epithet of Śiva (the “one with matted locks,” the Vedic ascetic-form; named in the Rudra-praśna of the Yajurveda). The apavāda: as Sadāśivā is the feminine of Sadāśiva, Kapardinī is the feminine of Kapardin — she is the Vedic Śiva in her own form; the matted-locks ascetic Lord is herself. (And she is the female ascetic too, the matted-locked Goddess — the female counterpart of the great Vedic Rudra.)
Śrī Vidyā: Kapardinī is consort of Kapardin (Śiva with the matted locks, the Vedic Rudra of the Yajurveda's Rudra-praśna); the Goddess as the feminine of the great Vedic Śiva, the matted-locked Lady.
794. कलामाला — Kalā-mālā
Translation: Kalā-mālā — wearing the arts/kalās as a garland (mālā).
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “garlanded with the arts” — wearing all kalās as a flower-mālā. The apavāda: kalā is at once a fraction/digit (recall Kalātmikā, Cit-kalā) and an art — the sixty-four arts that perfect the cultured being (and the sixteen kalās of the moon as a sub-figure). She wears them all (recall Catuḥ-ṣaṣṭi-kalā-mayī, of the sixty-four arts). Beauty by every art; learning as her ornament.
Śrī Vidyā: Kalā-mālā is garlanded with the arts/kalās; the Goddess wearing all kalās as her ornament (the sixty-four arts; the sixteen lunar digits) — learning as her beauty.
795. कामधुक् — Kāma-dhuk
Translation: Kāma-dhuk — the wish-yielding cow (Kāmadhenu / Kāma-duh); she who milks every desire.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “the wish-yielding cow” — Kāma-dhenu, the divine cow of plenty in Indian myth, who grants whatever is wished. The apavāda: as Kalpa-tarū (the wish-tree) is among her trees, so Kāma-dhenu is among her forms; she is the inexhaustible source from which every desired good is milked. The Goddess as the abundance-itself behind every fulfilment. (And inwardly, she yields the supreme kāma — the desire for liberation — when that desire arises.)
Śrī Vidyā: Kāma-dhuk is the wish-yielding cow (Kāma-dhenu); the Goddess as the inexhaustible source of every wished good — outwardly the cow of plenty, inwardly the yielder of the supreme kāma (the desire for liberation).
796. कामरूपिणी — Kāma-rūpiṇī
Translation: Kāma-rūpiṇī — assuming any form at will (kāma-rūpa); also, the deity of the Kāmarūpa pīṭha.
Adhyāropa–Apavāda: She is “of any form at will.” The apavāda: kāma-rūpa is the power to take whatever form one wishes — a power of the gods and the great yogins; she has it supremely (recall Bahu-rūpā to come; Vividhākārā). And Kāmarūpa is also a great śakti-pīṭha in Assam (where Sati's yoni fell, sacred to the Goddess as Kāmākhyā); she is its deity. The free-form Goddess, and the deity of the supreme Tantric pīṭha.
Śrī Vidyā: Kāma-rūpiṇī assumes any form at will (kāma-rūpa); the Goddess of free-form power — and the deity of the great Kāmarūpa śakti-pīṭha (Kāmākhyā in Assam, where Satī's yoni fell).
Part XIX continues in Article 17.
Śrī Lalitā Sahasranāma — Article 16 of 20 · Nāmas 750–796.
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.
