Lalita Sahasranama meanings per name
451. Vighnanāśinī
Meaning – She dispels all forms of obstacles not only in the materialistic world but also in the path of spiritual pursuits. She destroys ignorance.
Vighna stands for darkness (ignorance). When darkness is dispelled, all that remains within is eternal light. The next name elaborates this.
The names 442 to 451 are the 94th stanza of Lalita Sahasranama.
Kumāra-gaṇanāthāmbā tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭir matiḥ dhṛtiḥ
Śāntiḥ swastimatī kāntiḥ nandinī vighnanāśinī
Destruction of ignorance begins with the names of Ganapati and Kumaraswamy and ends with the result vighnanāśinī.
452. Tejovatī
Meaning – She is the cause of tejas (illumination) that exists with the individual as well as in the Sun.
The Sun has unending illumination –Aditya-gatam tejaha. She is the illumination (tejas) within the Sun and thus is the cause of its illumination. Tejovati or Vahnipuri is the city where the Fire God (Agni) resides. As She is that city itself, She takes on the name Tejovati.
453. Trinayanā
Meaning –
a) She is three-eyed.
The Sun, Moon and the Fire (Agni) are Her three eyes among which Agni is Her third eye that is located at the forehead.
Shiva is addressed as ‘Trayambaka’ (three eyed). Ambaka refers to eyes. The names Trinayana and Trilochana also signify the same essence.
Every person has a third eye that exists subtly at the point of Ajna chakra (centre of the forehead). Lambika sutra known as Lambika mudra exists there. This third eye should not be exposed to sunlight, wind, fire etc. and should be protected at all times. This rule is more valid for women. It is also one of the primary gates for the life energy movement (praana shakti). Applying kumkum, sandal paste or vibhuti at this point acts as a lock for the gate and prevents the life energy from ebbing away.
b) She possesses the complete knowledge of the three times- past, present and future (Trikaala jnana). Hence She is Trinayana.
c) She is the form of the seed letters (aksharas) ‘Swaha, Vaushat and Vashat’ used during homa.
454. Lolākṣī-kāma-rūpinī
Meaning – She is the form of desire (kāma-rūpa) in women (lolākshi).
She is the form of knowledge (Jnana) and intention (sankalpa) within women. Women have an undisputed role in the sustenance, protection and welfare; hence this grace on women.
455. Mālinī
Meaning – She wears the garland (māla) of alphabets (akshara, varna) and hence is Mālinī.
Her garland contains all the alphabets from ‘ā’ to ‘ha’. Every existing word spoken or written forms a part of this garland.
456. Haṁsinī
Meaning – She is the female swan (pen). She dwells within each being in the form of breath.
The unique feature of a swan lies in its ability to separate milk components from that of water in a given mixture. Thus it represents the ability to distinguish between good and bad. The Divine Mother possesses the rare ability to distinguish and discriminate between those which are permanent and those that are perishable (nitya anitya), truth- untruth (satya asatya), saara asaara, jada ajada (inanimate animate).
Hamsa (so-ham, ham-sa) refers to Pranayama and to the relentless japa (ajapajapa) done by the individual. Japa comprises of mantra recitation. Mantras are composed of seed letters. These seed letters have their origin in alphabets (aksharas). To those who are able to visualize these seed letters (beejaksharas) within the six chakras (spiritual centres of the body) She gives Her darshan as a Swan (Hamsini). In other words, She blesses them with the ability to distinguish the real from unreal, good from bad etc.
Breathing is a routine activity undertaken every second of life. Inhaling and exhaling are referred to as Ham-sa and So-ham respectively. It means ‘I am a swan’. Every breath re-iterates this feeling – I am a swan. It means that we are trying to inculcate the qualities of a swan and reaching a stage wherein we are able to pick only the good out of the mixture of good and bad/ pick only the truth out of the mixture of truth and untruth. (Refer to Guru gita, shloka ‘hamsaabhyaam parivrutta’).
Among the duties mandated to every individual soon upon waking up are certain prayers. The first step upon waking up is to sit on the bed, look at the palms and offer the following prayer to the 3 Goddesses that dwell there-
Karāgre Vasate Lakshmi, Karamadhye Saraswati
Karmule sthithe Gowri, Prabhate kara darshanam
Meaning of this hymn – At the tip of your fingers dwells Goddess Lakshmi; at the middle of the palm dwells Goddess Saraswati and at the base of the palms dwells Goddess Gowri. Hence every morning look at your palm (immediately upon waking up).
After this prayer, the person should visualize his Guru as seated on his Sahasrara chakra and offer a prayer to Him. Thirdly pray to Mother Goddess Earth who sustains, takes our load, feeds and nourishes us. As we will be stepping and walking upon Her the entire day Her permission is sought. Fourthly, the person should make an intention (sankalpa) for offering his entire day’s breath (hamsa) to Goddess Gayatri. The day should begin with such intention. Then the breath taken will grant good health and longevity.
Number of breaths that should be thus offered to Mother Goddess is also elaborated in our sacred texts. Let us briefly discuss it.
Ganapati is the presiding deity of Mooladhara Chakra. To Him 600 breaths (hamsa japa) should be offered in a day. Swadhisthana Chakra is the place of Brahma. Here the Mother Goddess should be offered 6000 breaths. To Vishnu, who is situated at Manipura Chakra 6000 breaths are to be offered. Anahata Chakra is the seat of Shiva and here again 6000 breaths is to be offered. Vishuddha Chakra (throat) is the position of the life energy and here 1000 breaths are offered to Mother Goddess. At the location of the Ajna chakra, the seat of Paramatma, 1000 breaths are offered. Sahasrara is the seat of the Guru. Here again 1000 breaths are offered to Divine Mother who is in Her form as Guru. The total is 21600. This is the ideal number of breaths that should be taken during a span of 24 hours.
How was this number of 21600 arrived at? The Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad explains this in the following verse- asya mahato bhutasya nisvasitam etad yad rg-vedo yajur-vedah samavedo ’tharvangirasah.
Meaning – The four Vedas—namely the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veda all emanated from the breath of Paramatma.
Parabrahma got the initial intention to create and He exhaled once. From his exhalation the 4 Vedas emerged in the form of sound and spread in all directions. This is the first sound; the big bang. The first of the 4 Vedas is Rig Veda and it has 21600 divisions (Rik). When each breath is taken with the feeling that a Rig Veda incantation is being offered to the Divine Mother, it becomes a Rig Veda upasana. Thus every person has the ability to offer entire Rig Veda incantation to the Mother Goddess every single day.
457. Mātā
Meaning – As a protector and guide to every being She is addressed as Mother.
It is under a mother’s watchful eye that we all grow and nourish. She understands our needs, reads our mind and fulfils our desires. Our scriptures dictate that the elder brother’s wife, the queen of the land, friend’s wife, Guru’s wife, Mother-in-law, own mother are all to be treated as mother and given the same respect. The synonyms for this name are Janani, Srimata. She is also Veda mata (mother of Vedas). Veda refers to the Jnana. She is the mother for knowledge.
458. Malayācala vāsinī
Meaning –
a) She is Bhagawati, the presiding deity of the Chotanikkara temple at Kerala.
Malaya refers to the land of Kerala. The forests here are abundant in sandal wood trees. Sandal paste that is dear to Her is found in plenty here.
b) She resides as good intellect (achala) amongst Her dearest devotees.
Even amongst her many children, a mother tends to have a soft corner towards some of them due to their inherent qualities, helpful tendencies and the like. Likewise, the Divine Mother, from amongst her millions of children, has a soft corner towards those who undertake good deeds and are on the path of truth. She is the good intellect (achala) in such persons. Such persons can be compared to sandal paste. To them She appears as Bhagawati.
459. Sumukhī
Meaning – Her face is glowing with infinite radiance.
Such divine infinite radiance is clearly visible in an emerald idol (Marakata vigraha). Marakata is a divine stone whose radiance increases with age and with abhisheka. Emerald is a stone that is closely associated with Guru. Mara refers to ‘diseases’ and kata means ‘to cut’. It is a divine stone that dispels diseases. Deities carved out of this stone are very precious/ sacred.
460. Nalinī
Meanings –
a) Her face is as beautiful as a fully bloomed lotus and hence She is addressed as Nalini.
b) She is the spiritual energy that runs through the subtle energy channel of Sushumna.
‘Nala’ is the thin thread-like streak that exists within the stem of the lotus plant and which is the cause/root for the sustenance of the lotus plant. Likewise, in human beings, the spiritual energy flows through the subtle Sushumna naadi, which is the main channel for the flow of spiritual energy. As She exists in the form of this spiritual energy, She is Nalini.
c) Sandal paste is known as nalam. She, to whom sandal paste is very dear, is Nalini.
Those who are on the path of truth, those who are completely into satsang and who undertake spiritual pursuits (sadhana) radiate good energy. Their radiance can be compared to the fragrance that emanates from the flower night-queen. Such persons are also comparable to the sandal paste.
Worshipping the Divine Mother as Nalini helps the person to reach such a state.
It is said that the fame (kirti) of a being reaches earth, long before the being reaches earth. If the society praises the actions of an individual, then he is subsequently rewarded with a good body and good birth in his next life. Where people curse the person and his actions, the next birth will be in accordance to that. For this reason, it is important to undertake good actions during the lifetime.