LALAITHA SAHASRANAMAM 139-142

Nirguna (139) She is unconditioned with gunas. Guna means satva, rajo and tamo gunas. These gunas are responsible for the formation of gross body and originate from ‘prakrti’ (the source of objectivity) which is also known as maya. Please recall ‘maha maya svarupini’ that we have discussed earlier. Please use google search in the sidebar to know more about this. Since She does not have a gross body She is called nirguna. The Brahman alone is without gunas, as Brahman does not have a gross form. Svetashvatara Upanishad VI.11 says ‘ekah devah’ God is one without a second. Since ‘devah’ also means luminous, this word means only the Brahman as Brahman alone is self illuminating. After identifying the Brahman, the Upanishad talks about the qualities of the Brahman. It says ‘without attributes and uncondtioned’. All these confirm Her as the Brahman. Nishkala (140) She is without bodily parts. This nama is an extension of the previous one. Because of being nirguna, She is nishkala. Kala means parts. Brahman has no parts in literal sense. Krishna gives more clarity on these two namas. He says ‘the living entities in this conditioned world are my eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with six senses that include mind’ (Gita XV.7). This is beautifully explained in Vijnanabhairava verse 146 thus ‘Unswerving buddhi without any image or support constitutes meditation. Concentration on an imaginative representation of the divine with bodily parts is not meditation.’ This is possible only with knowledge (and this knowledge is provided in this web site!). Thus it is amply made clear that the Brahman is without form and meditation with form is not a meditation on the Brahman. Shanta (141) First, notice the absence of negation in this nama. Any prefix with nish or nir means negation of the quality mentioned in that nama. For Example ‘kala’ means parts and ‘nish-kala’ means without parts. This nama means that She is calm and tranquil. Svetashvatara Upanishad VI.19 says ‘nishkalam, nishkriyam, shantam, niravadyam, niranjanam’. This means that the Brahman is without form, without action, tranquil, above reproach and without any blemish’. All these qualities of the Brahman are cited by Vak Devis in this Sahasranamam. One more quality of the Brahman tranquil is described here. Please remember that we are now discussing the qualities of nirguna Brahman (the Brahman without form and attributes). To make us understand the nirguna Brahman better, certain qualities are negated in Upanishads as well as this Sahasranamam. When you are bound by the clutches of bondage, there cannot be any tranquility. Tranquility is considered as an essential quality for self-realization. Nishkama (142) She is without desire. This is the reason for the previous nama. When you have desires you cannot be calm. The explanations given in certain texts that She is without desire because all Her desires have been fulfilled is wrong and cannot be accepted. When we are talking about Her nirguna form, there is no question of ‘Her desires’ at all. Brahman cannot have any desires and this has been confirmed in earlier namas. These namas are in line with Brahadarayaka Upanishad II.iii.6 which says ‘neti neti’ meaning not this, not this. The Upanishad is zeroing on the Brahman by negating many known qualities. Finally this verse says ‘satyasya satyam’ meaning Truth of truth. It has identified truth as one of the qualities of the Brahman. This nama is in confirmation of Her Brahman status.