LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 41-46

Indragopa-parikshipta-smaratoonabha-janghika (41) Her calf muscles look like the quiver of Manmata, the god of love. SL 83 describes this. Gooda-gulpaa (42) She has round and well shaped ankles. Koorma-prshta-jayishnu-prapadanvita (43) The arch of her feet is more beautiful and shapelier than tortoise’s shell. But Shankara expresses his anger for comparing her feet to that of tortoise shell, which is hard. SL 88 says “The toes of your feet is the one that sustains this universe (he is not even comparing the entire feet, he says only about the toes). Lord Shiva knows the softness of your feet that is why he held your feet with great care during your marriage ceremony. How dare they (possibly vak devis) compare such a soft feet to that of tortoise shell?” 41, 42 and 43 are as per the features described in samudrika lakshana (study of body parts). Nakadidhiti-sanchanna-namajjana-tamoguna (44) The rays of her nails remove the ignorance of those who bow before her. When devas and asuras pay their reverence to her by bowing, the rays of the gems emanating from their crowns are in no comparison to the rays emanating from the nails of her feet. The rays that come out of the nails destroy the tamo guna and ignorance of those who worship her. It is also said that She does not bless with her hands, but with Her feet. She does not have abhayam and varadam hands. Normally you can notice that most of the Gods have these two hands one meant for blessings and another for giving boons. Lalithai does not have these two hands as She has four powerful goddesses (8, 9, 10 and 11) in her four hands. These two acts blessings and giving boons are done by her feet. Pada-dvaya-prabha-jala-parakrta-saroruha (45) The beauty of her feet is much more than a lotus. Generally lotus flower is compared to the eyes and feet of gods and goddesses. In SL 2 it is said the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva uses the fine dusts of Her lotus feet for their respective activities. These three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are representations of the three activities of the Brahman’s vimarsha form or saguna Brahman. In Hindu mythology, every act of Nature is represented by a god or goddess. For example, water is represented by lord Varuna, fire is represented as agni, wealth as Kubera, death by yama etc. It is nothing but worshiping the Nature and the cosmos. Since there are so many forces and energies in the universe, each of them represented by a god. That is why we have so many forms of gods and goddesses. In the next verse SL 3, Shankara says that Her feet gives knowledge to those who are ignorant (ignorance of Brahman) Sinjaana-mani-manjira-mandita-sripadambuja (46) She is wearing anklets made out of precious gems that shine. It is to be noted that five namas 42 to 46 describe only about her feet. When her feet alone are described so much, it is beyond comprehension to even think about her powerful form. This is made so by vak devis, to impress about her prakasha vimarsha maha maya swarupini form.