Lalita Sahasranama meanings per name
531. Śukla-saṁsthitā
Meaning – She fills the shukla into the being.
Shukla is the last of the seven components (dhatu). It bestows brilliance and lustre (tejas) onto the devotee. With the filling of this component the foetus is completely ready to enter and face the world.
Shukla means white brilliance. It is found at the Sahasrara.
532. Sarvatomukhī
Meaning – She has innumerable faces that face every direction. This depicts Her infiniteness.
533. Sarvaudana-prīta-cittā
Meaning – The Divine Mother seated at the Sahasrara Chakra, is pleased with the offering of every kind of food (anna).
Sahasrara describes Her infinite and all pervasive state. Aptly, at this point, offering of any type of food (sarva odana) is dear to Her.
To a yogi who has reached this stage, there are no differences of any kind. He is beyond all limitations. He sees himself everywhere and in everyone.
Anna (food) is Parabrahma. Taitareeya Upanishad states-
Annam brahmeti vyajanāt
annādhyeva khalvamāni bhootani jāyante
Annena jātāni jīvanti
annam prayantyabhisamvishanti
Meaning – Every being is born out of food, sustains on this earth with the aid of food and upon death once again merges back into food. Food is the root of everything. It is food that is being born and it is food that is growing.
Food (anna) should never be wasted, insulted and disrespected. Every aspect of food preparation plays a significant role in formation of our attitude. It is said that its influence begins right from the place from where it has been purchased. The conditions, cleanliness and the purity with which it has been cooked, the feelings of the person preparing the food, the feelings of the person serving the food, the environment in which the food is being served, the feelings of the person consuming the food, all of these play a role in the formation of the gunas (traits) within the person. For this reason, consumption of food should be with an attitude of yagna.
The food prepared in complete purity is offered to Her with together with the recitation of the Swahaa mantra. Offering of every form of food (anna) preparation is very dear to Her.
534. Yākinyambā-svarūpiṇī
Meaning – At the Sahasrara Chakra She is Yākini Devi also known as Yaśasvinī (refer nama 474).
With this the initiation into all the Chakras is complete and Lalita Sahasranama now deals with the aspect of ‘yagna’. All yoga and karma (actions) culminate in yagna. Every action (karma) performed with an attitude of surrender (to the supreme force) is yagna. In other words, every deed should be undertaken with the feeling that it is being conducted on behalf of the Supreme Parabrahma and the karma should be offered completely to Him. As explained in Bhagavad Gita, Yagna is of varied types. Homa is a part of yagna. Even earnings in life are a part and parcel of this yagna and hence should be fairly distributed among the society. The balance that is left thereafter should be utilized for personal consumption. When this is practiced, yagna is being performed effectively.
Visualization and contemplation of Chakras is a pure internal process. It is an inner sacrifice/ ritual (antar yaaga) and hence is classified as yagna. In this yagna, the prana (life energy) is offered as an ahuti to the Supreme Mother who resides within the Mooladhāra chakra.
Inner sacrifice (antar yaaga) is innumerable times superior to external sacrifices/ rituals (bahir yaaga). After the completion of the external worship, every person should sit in silent contemplation for at least a few minutes. He should churn his mind and try to figure out whether or not he is on the right path. ‘Have I progressed in my sadhana? Am I anywhere closer to reaching God or am I satisfied with the meager returns that I am achieving now? What is the true benefit of this sadhana?’ Answers to such questions pave the way for antar yaga. Mere understanding about this inner sacrifice bestows as much merit (punya) as actual performance of the yagna could grant. The most important names of such a yagna are now being taught in Lalita Sahasranama.
535. Svāhā
Meaning – The Divine Mother manifests as Swāhā Devi to deliver the oblations of the yagna (āhuti) to the respective deity.
‘Swāhā’ is the mantra through which the homa oblations (ahuti) are delivered to the respective deity. Swāhā consists of 2 words su+aha. ‘Su’ means ‘good or auspicious’. Swaha thus means ‘auspiciously said’.
Just as a letter posted without an address cannot reach the recipient, the oblations put in the homa fire without the utterance of the word ‘Swāhā’ never reach the proper deity to whom it was intended. The utterance of the word ‘Swahaa’ is followed by the deity’s name and the phrase- ‘idan na mama’. For example, an offering to Lord Indra is made together with the recitation of the phrase ‘Swāhā Indrayai idan na mama’. ‘Idan na mama’ means ‘the item being offered does not belong to ‘me’ (the person offering it). Here the person who is making the offering should consider himself as a tool in the offering process and the right attitude to entertain is ‘I am offering back to the Lord what genuinely belongs to Him.’
Devi Bhagawatam explains the story of the manifestation of Goddess Swaha.
Once upon a time the increase in the number of demons caused a decline in the yagnas. Yagna is the only medium through which the hunger of the Devatas can be appeased. Troubled by hunger, the Devatas approached Lord Vishnu and sought refuge in Him. Lord Vishnu directed them to worship and appease the Supreme Mother, who would then find a solution to their distress. The Devatas undertook antar yaaga and looked for Her in the chidaakaasha.
Pleased with their worship the Supreme Mother appeared before them in the form of Swāhā Devi. Agni Deva (Fire God) wanted to accept her as his wife as only the combination of the homa fire and the utterance of the word ‘Swāhā’ the oblations offered in the yagna could reach the Devatas. However Swāhā Devi intended to marry Lord Vishnu himself. Towards this she undertook intense penance. Lord Vishnu appeared before her and promised that he would marry her in another manvathara (period of time). In this manvanthara He ordered her to marry the Fire God (Agni) and be a medium through which the offerings of the yagna could be carried to the Devatas. Hearing this, Swāhā Devi created from herself another form and with this new form appeared before Fire God and married him.
The three-homa fires (tretagnis) i.e. Garhapatyagni, Dakshinagni and Ahavanagni are the sons of Swāhā and Lord Agni. Yagna is performed with the aid of Tretagnis. Goddess Swāhā also takes on many names, a few of them being Vahnipriya, Vahnijāya, Santoshakārini, Swāhā Devi, Shaktikriya, Kāladātri, Paripātakari, Dhruvā, Dahanashakti, Gati, Dāyikā, Samsārasāra roopa, Ghorasamsāra tārini, Devajeevanaroopa and Devaposhanakārini. Devi Bhāgavatam states that listening to these 16 names grants the good results of actual performance of yagna.
536. Swadhā
Meaning – The Divine Mother has manifested as Swadhā in order to pass on the oblations to the forefathers.
Tarpana means ‘the offering that satisfies’. It thus refers to the offerings made by the person to his departed forefathers in the manner prescribed by the scriptures. During the death ceremony when offering is made into the fire the word Swadhā is uttered. As Swadhā is the medium through which the Fire God carries the offerings, She is said to be his wife.
Swadhā Devi has other names such as Pitruprāna tulyā, Dvijajeevanaroopini, Shrādhādhistādri, Shraadhāphala pradā, Brahma mānasa kanyā, Pitru tushi pradā and dvijapreeti karā.
Every being born in this earth is indebted to his parents who have taken the trouble of bringing him/her to earth. Hence at least once a year the departed parents should be remembered and offerings should be made to them. This is the dharma of every individual and there is no escape from it.
537. Amatiḥ
Meaning – She is the ignorance (avidya).
Ignorance (avidya) can also be interpreted as the worldly knowledge that is distinctly different from spiritual knowledge. She is this worldly knowledge.
Yagnas are most often undertaken with desire to achieve better materialistic prosperity. All these are acts of ignorance and hence can be classified as amati (ignorance).
538. Medhā
Meaning – She is the intellect, memory power and power of retention that is found in every being.
Brahmaahamasmeti smruti reva medha- the feeling of ‘oneness with God’ (Advaita) that one possesses is known as Medha. As such a feeling is also Her form, She is Medha. She blesses her devotees by creating such feeling within them. Simply put, recollecting that which is forgotten is Medha. She helps us recollect Parabrahma whom we have forgotten.
Dheerdhaaranaavati medhaa- Medha is the power of retention (dharana shakti); the power of remembering all that has been learnt. Thus is a very powerful tool in memory power of the individual.
539. Śrutiḥ
Meaning – She exists in the form of the four Vedas.
Vedas are divine. They are the storehouse of the greatest knowledge. ‘Veda’ means ‘supreme knowledge’ (Jnana). Addressing the Divine Mother as Vedas re-iterates the fact that She is the Supreme Knowledge.
‘Shruti’ means ‘hearing or listening’. The ancient sages listened to the divine truths as they were passed down the generations and learnt them. For this reason, Vedas are addressed as Shruti.
Powerful memory and good retentive power (medha) is the primary requirement for imbibing the essence of the Vedas.
540. Smṛtiḥ
Meaning – She appears in the form of the various smṛtis.
Smṛti means ‘to recollect’. Smṛtis are the detailed explanations of ideas contained in the Vedas and help us recollect them. Smritis stem out of the authoritative dictates contained in the Vedas. They teach us the way or life, duties and many more aspects.
Manu Smriti, Yagnavalkya smriti are two examples of Smritis.