LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM MEANING 563 - 571.

Mukhya (563) She is the first in the universe. Mukhya also means important. She is authoritative amongst all gods and goddesses. Taittiriya Upanishad (III.x.6) says “I am That which was born before anything. I was born before the gods and goddesses”. This nama says that She is not only first among the creations, but also part of creation itself and assumes importance amongst all gods and goddesses. Mrudani (564) Mruda means Shiva. Consort of Mruda is Mrudani. It also means giver of happiness that is provided by the vimarsha form of Shiva, Shakthi. Mitra-rupini (565) Mitran means a friend. Sun is considered as a friend of the universe, as it sustains existence. She is in the form of sun. In Sri Vidya worship, Shiva is represented by agni, Shakthi is represented by moon and the union of Shiva-shakthi is represented by sun. This nama indicates Her closeness and easy accessibility to those who seek Her. Nitya-trpta (566) She remains eternally contended, because She has no requirements. Non-requirement is one of the qualities of the Brahman. It is said “That is infinite and this is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite, taking the infinite of the infinite, it remains as the infinite alone.” Because She being infinite, She remains eternally contended. Nama 815 is ‘a-nitya-trpta’, which means She is contended even with perishable offerings. Based on this interpretation, the present nama can be explained as ‘She remains contended with eternal non-perishable offering, which is atman.’ Bhakta-nidih (567) She is the treasure house for Her devotees. She shares this treasure with Her devotees whenever sought for vide nama 989. Niyantri (568) She is the guide to the universe. Since She administers the universe, She is addressed in this nama as its guide. Nikhileshvari (569) This is an extension of the previous nama. Because of being the only guide to the universe, a quality of the Brahman, She assumes the position of Supreme Ruler, which is conveyed in this nama. Maitryadi-vasana-labhya (570) She can be attained through qualities like kindness, etc. Patanjali yoga sutra I.33 says “Friendship, mercy, gladness and indifference being thought of in regard to subjects, happy, unhappy and good and evil respectively, pacify the mind stuff.” For attaining perfection, one has to remove evil thoughts. One should not become felicitous on knowing the sufferings of another. One should not become jealous on knowing the wealth of another. When someone is suffering, one has to help him to come out of his sufferings. Converting hatred into love, converting sadness into happiness etc are some of the ways to attain perfection. If countervailing negativities by positivism is practiced, mind attains perfection which leads to the stage of samadhi. Such devotees can easily reach the stage of bliss and ultimate merger with the Brahman. This nama says that She can be attained by practicing to countervail negativities by positive thoughts. She can be attained by positive vasanas or impressions. Maha-pralaya-sakshini (571) Maha-pralaya is the total dissolution that has been discussed in nama 232 ‘maheswara-mahakalpa-mahathandava-sakshini’. When annihilation unfolds, the entire universe gets dissolved into Shiva. This happens exactly in the reverse process of creation. At the time of creation akash was born out of the Brahman, air was born out of akash, etc. At the time of annihilation, air gets dissolved into akash and akash gets dissolved into Shiva. This process is known as involution as opposed to evolution, a process that happens during creation. This nama says that She is the only witness to the great dissolution. Such a great dissolution unfolds at the command of Shiva. He begins His famous cosmic dance during annihilation. Macrocosm gets dissolved into Shiva and She is the only witness to such a mind boggling event. Soundarya Lahari verse 26 describes this event. “Brahma, Vishnu, Yama, Kubera, Indra all gets annihilated. But your consort Shiva plays around with you.”