Lalita Sahasranama meanings per name
361. Tamopaha
Meaning – She destroys absolute ignorance (tamo guna).
Laziness, sleep, procrastination, inertia, lack of interest in any task, lack of faith in anything, complete ignorance, complete maya (illusion, delusion), absolutely being bound by attachments and bondages (moha) are all traits of tamo guna. When all these traits accumulate at one place, it is dreadful darkness and is a state of absolute tamoguna. It is a very dangerous state.
She destroys these traits in those persons who deeply seek to proceed on the spiritual path but are facing impediments from such inertia. Such persons truly deserve to receive her grace.
Where the mind is not fully craving for spiritual knowledge and has other desires/ thoughts, it means that the person is not fully ready. Knowledge imparted to such persons will not be retained by their mind. Hence, it is impertinent that first of all mind should be directed towards this. This is the first exercise to be undertaken.
362. Citiḥ
Meaning- She is a form of complete illumination (Chaitanya, Jnana, prakasha, chit).
‘Om chityaih namah’ -this is a very profound name of the Divine Mother and is of immense significance. Explanation about this name can stretch for days.
In this form of illumination She is all pervading. This is Her true form. Illumination implies that She is a form of complete knowledge. Just as a fire reduces a dead body completely to ashes, Supreme Knowledge burns away entire ignorance in the person and unites him with God.
In the Chandi Shaptashati, She is worshipped as-
Citi-rupena yā kritsnam yetadhyāpya sthithā jagat
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah.
Meaning- Our worshipful salutations to the Divine Mother who pervades this entire universe and abides within all beings in the form of consciousness (chit).
363. Tatpada-lakṣyārthā
Meaning- She is ‘tat’ and She can be realized only through ‘tat’.
Tat means that. In this world whatever we point out to as ‘that’, is Her manifestation. In other words, every external object or being that we see in this visible world is Her form. She can be realized through the understanding of this great truth.
Why is it being referred as ‘tat’ instead of ‘He’ or ‘She’? This is because the supreme essence is neither male nor female hence it is ‘tat’.
The Guru Gita teaches-
Akhanda-mandalākaram vyāptam yena charācharam.
Tatpadam darśitam yena tasmai śri Gurave namah.
Meaning – The infinite essence, the divinity, which pervades the entire universe and is present in everything- living, movable, as well as non- living and immovable object is ‘tat’. It is the Supreme Mother. Such knowledge, realization and experience happen purely due to the grace of the Guru. I reverentially offer my salutations to such a Guru.
364. Cideka-rasa-rūpiṇī
Meaning – She is Cit, the highest experience/ knowledge. It is the experience of the supreme consciousness (chit). Such knowledge is her true form.
365. Svātmānanda-lavī-bhūta-brahmādyānanda-santatiḥ
Meaning – Even the bliss enjoyed by Brahma fades in front of the bliss enjoyed by the Supreme Mother.
Such bliss (ananda) is not externally available/ visible. She helps her devotee realize the ananda (bliss) that is inherently his by helping him understand about himself.
There are 11 levels of bliss with one level being more superior to the previous level by 100 times. At the bottom of the ladder is the human bliss (Manusha ananda). Manusha-gandharva ananda is the second type of bliss and is 100 times superior to the manusha- ananda. The third is the Deva-gandharva ananda, followed by Devata ananda, Pitru ananda and so on. Each of this also corroborates to the different stage of evolution and spiritual progress. As the soul goes higher up, it begins to experience one by one each of these stages of bliss. It is not compulsory that every level should be necessarily experienced.
The Divine Mother can, if She so wills enable her devotee to experience bliss that is far superior to any of those mentioned above, while he/she is still in the human body. Even the bliss of Brahma (Brahmānanda) fades in front of this bliss (ananda) bestowed by Her.
The next few names explain how She exists in the form of our speech.
There are 4 stages in the formation of speech- Parā, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhiri. The word Parā means ‘that which is most superior and yet very subtle’ as in Paramātma, Para-tattva, Paramahamsa etc. Speech in the form of ‘parā’ exists at the intent level and is formed in the mind. Long before the word is uttered, the vital air vibrates at a very subtle level far beyond our understanding and the ‘intent to speak’ gets created in the mind. This is Parā. This state of ‘parā’ is far subtler than even the Mooladhāra stage and therefore people are not normally conscious about it. Only those who are at a very advanced level of self- realization can become conscious this stage of ‘Parā’.
This parā undergoes change of state with the help of the vital air (prāna vayu) and prāna shakti (life energy) and is now called ‘Pashyanti’. Pashyati means ‘one who is seeing’ (dhrsta). In general, seeing is of 3 types- a) seeing with the mind, b) seeing with the eyes or c) seeing with memory. Speech, that had so far been very subtle and beyond our awareness, now gets noticed by the mind. The Divine Mother, seated within us, is the first to notice it. The sound that was so far beyond the scope of Mooladhara, now fixes itself at the Anahata chakra. An action has taken place.
In the third stage, the word (Akshara) is born in the abdomen (naabhi sthaana). It then moves up with the help of vital air (Prana vayu). As it is now in an in-between state it is called ‘Madhyama vak’. The speech converts from intent to sound (naada). Such transformation takes place at the Vishuddha chakra (located near the throat).
From the Vishuddha chakra the Sound (naada) jumps to the intellect (buddhi) and there it combines with the intellect and begins to flower. Sound that was so far pre-dominantly the form of wind (vaayu), is now of the fire element (agni swaroopa). Words distinctly clear and audible roll out from the mouth. It is now called Vaikhiri. Vikhari means loud, audible.
Upon observing closely we understand that the roles of air (vayu) and fire (agni) are intertwined in every aspect of creation. Existence and vibration of air is a pre-requisite for the ignition and burning of fire. The spoken speech (vak) is the fire element. For this speech to emerge, the vibration of the vital air (prana vaayu) is a pre requisite.
This process is repeated for every single word uttered by us. She is the Mother for this entire process of speech and hence is Srimata. When the realization that speech is a form of the Divine Mother dawns upon the person, he will learn not to misuse it.
Understanding the four stages of transformation of sounds helps us appreciate the role played by the Divine Energy in its creation. These 4 stages pass by in 1/100th of a second. This speed causes the ceaseless flow of words. But for this speed, we would experience faltering in speech. Lord Subrahmanya is the Lord who causes this wheel of speech to rotate at unimaginable speeds; hence He is the cause for sound (nāda) within us. He is both the Kundalini (nāga swaroopa) and sound (nāda swaroopa) within the being.
Apadam pada māpannam padamcha apadam gatam
Padā pada vibhāgamcha ya paśyati sa paśyati.
Meaning – Word (padam) that existed merely as intent (sankalpa, apada) has now taken on a form and become audible. A pada (word, sentence) has been formed and has come out. Once the word is expressed it converts back into nāda (sound) and merges into the universe. He, who is able to visualize the distinction (vibhaaga) between the spoken word (pada) and apada (speech in its sound, naada form) is the true seer. He is a true jnani. He knows the judicious use of words.
Words once spoken remain eternally in the universe in the form of sound. Such sounds encircle us and follow us during the entire lifetime. Like the Sudarshan chakra of Lord Vishnu, they protect the devoted or chase others. Either case, Vishnu’s feet are the sole refuge.
366. Parā
Meaning – It is the Divine Mother who exists in the form of Parā.
367. Pratyak-citī-rūpā
Meaning – She is the intelligence (Jnana, chiti) that exists within each individual being (pratyak).
The individual being (the jeevatma) has its own separate existence/ identity and is called the pratyek atma. At the individual level, speech takes on so many individualized forms based on each individual’s knowledge. For this reason, the speech, tone, sound, words used etc. differ from one person to another.
It is important to understand that the same all-pervading intelligence divides itself into innumerable entities known as individual beings and expresses itself in million varied ways through them.
368. Paśyantī
Meaning – It is the Divine Mother who manifests as Paśyanti i.e. the second stage in the formation of speech.
369. Paradevatā
Meaning – At the Paśyanti stage of speech, the Divine Mother takes on the name Paradevatā.
370. Madhyamā
Meaning – She changes into the third stage of speech i.e. Madhyama.