LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 623 - 625

Kevala (623)

She is The Absolute. Absolute because She is devoid of qualities and modifications, the unique feature of the nirguna Brahman. Shiva sutra (III.34) explains thus “Completely free from the influence of pleasure and pain, he is rather alone – fully established in his real Self as sheer consciousness.” This sutra uses a word ‘kevali’ meaning ‘one whose knowership consists in sheer consciousness.’

The bija ‘klim’ discussed in the previous nama is made up of ka+la+im. Kevala in this nama means the ‘im’, the kamakala (refer nama 322). When the other two bijas are removed from ‘klim’ the bija that remains is kamakala that is capable of giving liberation. The word ‘purushartha’ means the end of human life. Purushartha consists of dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desires) and moksha (the final liberation). Kamakala, which forms part of ‘klim’ is capable of liberating a soul.

Kama bija is ‘klim’ and kamakala is ‘eem’. Kamakala forms part of kamabija. Both these bijas are auspicious and powerful.

Guhya (624)

She is secretive both in form and nature. It is repeatedly said that Her worship should be of secretive in nature. She cannot be worshipped in the presence of those who do not have fundamental knowledge about Her. Navavarana puja should not be performed in the presence of those who are not initiated into Her mantras. The secrecy in Her worship is advocated because She provides certain superhuman powers to the worshipper, provided the ritual is performed without any deviations. But Self-realisation happens beyond all religious rites and rituals (Katha Upanishad I.ii.14)

This nama also confirms Her status as the Supreme as the Supreme resides in a secretive cave in the heart. Katha Upanishad II.1.12 says ‘In the size of the thumb the Brahman rests in the body’. This resting place of the Brahman appears like a lotus (the biological heart) and inside this lotus there is a small empty space. This empty space is filled by the Brahman in the form of self illuminating smoke. The Upanishad proceeds to say “She manifests Herself as prana (cosmic energy). She is also the five elements. She is present in the heart of every being (II.i.7)”.

Taittiriya Upanishad (II.1) also says “It is in the space within the heart which is like a cave”. (For further reading: It continues to say “He who realizes the Self there not only realizes the all-knowing Brahman, but also attains everything he wants.”). From the Supreme Self comes space and from space the five elements come into existence. This cave in the heart is known as ‘parama vyoma’.

Kaivalyapada-dayini (625)

Kaivalya is the final stage of life of a living being. Nobody is there with that being during that time. He is all alone without any help around and he has to achieve on his own. This is the final stage of one’s evolution. The soul is about to leave its present body and getting ready to take another form. Kaivalya is liberation or salvation and hence it is called the final stage. This final stage can be reached in two ways. One is the mundane stage associated with desires and attachments and the soul is getting ready for rebirth. The other stage is the stage of Samadhi, where the soul is getting ready for its union with the Brahman not to be born again. This is kaivalya. Lalithai is the giver of this stage.

There is another word in this nama ‘pada’. Pada means four types of consciousness. They are salokyam, sarupam, samipyam and sayujyam. Beyond this is kaivalya. Salokyam is the stage where one performs ritual worship, worshipping idols or portraits of gods. In sarupam he leaves idol worship and does not differentiate himself from god. In samipyam he goes near the god and in sayujam stage he merges with god. These are the stages of one’s consciousness that finally lead to kaivalyam. One has to progress from one stage to another and this progression happens depending upon the level of spirituality. By being spiritual does not mean one has to be religious. Spirituality transcends religious affinities.

To attain kaivalya stage one has to progress from ritual worship to mental worship (meditation). By making sufficient progress in meditation, one has to search for the Brahman within. Once the Brahman is located and realized within, the practitioner moves to the stage of kaivalya, by detaching himself from worldly affinities by staying connected with his Creator. His soul is now under preparation to merge with Him, thereby finally getting liberated.

BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 19 - 21.

Gita series 55. Chapter IV.19 – 21.

“The one whose acts are devoid of desires and determinations and whose entire karmas are burnt in the fire of supreme knowledge, that great man is declared as a learned man even by the wise. The one, who has no interest in karmas and its fruits, devoid of worldly attachments and always remains satisfied in Paramatma, does not get himself involved in any actions, though he sincerely discharges his duties. The one winning over his body comprising of mind and senses, by detaching himself from sensory objects and functions merely to nourish his body is not affected by sins.”

Every man is born with certain responsibilities based on his karmic account. A school teacher is born for the purpose of educating children. He joins a school as a primary teacher with an ambition to become the head of the school. The teacher has aspirations to advance professionally in order to make a better living. Though his aspiration is not wrong, still it is called desire. He works towards the goal of getting promotions. If the same school teacher takes up the job of teaching with the sole purpose of educating children without aspiring for promotions, he is then called a man without desires and determinations. In the second situation, promotion will be thrust on him for his outstanding performance. Performance of the teacher in the second situation is bound to be better as he has the sole aim of educating children that is devoid of any personal gains. He discharges his karmas without any interest on the fruits of his karmas. He follows the principle of ‘work is worship’. The teacher in the second situation could be considered as incompetent by common men, but is considered as knowledgeable by learned men. The perceptions of wise and ignorant are totally different. What is considered as good by the learned, appear bad for the ignorant. The cause for difference in perception is the quality of knowledge. That is why knowledge is considered as the most essential component for God realisation. When one makes spiritual progress, he needs higher forms of knowledge to sustain his progress. Only the highest form of knowledge can lead to Self-realisation. The highest form of knowledge can be explained in a nutshell as the knowledge devoid of duality (duality - considering God and man as different. If this is considered, the question of realising the Self in self does not arise), ego and attachments. Highest form of knowledge is compared to fire and the one who attains such knowledge his karmas are offered as oblations and are burnt in the fire of knowledge thus making his soul merge with the Brahman. When karmic account ceases to exist, soul is not reborn. A person who is devoid of self-interest automatically works towards universal love. Considering that ‘Love is God’ he stands united with Divine and functions as His representative. He does not differ from God in any way, as God is the embodiment of Love that is pure, eternal and devoid of selfishness. When one remains in such a situation which means that he stands connected (not united. Union is the merger of the self with the Self) to the Divine.

Krishna describes further qualities of that man. Such a selfless person is able to win over his bodily afflictions. Body consists of mind and senses. The former is subtle and latter is gross. Though mind is subtle in nature, its effect on the senses is powerful. Mind and senses are interdependent and like the company of each other. If these are controlled (they need not be eliminated), the progress in spirituality happens at a faster pace. Such a person may appear to be inactive and lethargic. In reality his individual consciousness stays attuned with Supreme Consciousness, overflowing with love. This overflow is reflected in the form of energy that can be felt and realized in all the places around him. Most of these men can be identified from their energy level and not from their actions. Having born in this earth, it is important that one should nourish his physical body as the body covers the Brahman within. None has the right to punish his body on his own. If such a man remains inactive but continues to nourish his body, it is not considered as a sin. He nourishes his body only for the sake of God within, with no desires attached and un-stricken by senses. That man is considered as a man of knowledge even by the wise men. Wise men are those who are Self-realized but to continue to live due to the balance in their karmic accounts.

VIJNANA BHAIRAVA

Vijnana Bhairava is a very ancient treatise that elucidates tools for God realisation. It does not talk about ritualistic principles but lays stress on foundational consciousness to realize the Brahman. It describes methods to merge the human consciousness with the divine consciousness or the individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. It is one of the rare collections of Kashmiri Saivism. Kashmiri tradition names the Absolute Reality as Bhairava. Combination of three alphabets bha + ra + va form the word ‘’Bhairava”. Each of these three alphabets means three different acts of God. ‘bha’ means sustenance of the universe, ‘ra’ means dissolution of the universe and ‘va’ means manifestation of the universe. Vijnana is the knowledge about the highest state of consciousness. It is the nirvikalpa stage (the stage where there is no name and form) where the mind is confined to the Brahman, where the discrimination between subject and object is dissolved. To achieve this stage there are four impediments. They are lethargy, distraction, resentment and lower level of bliss (bliss of the Brahman is the highest bliss). Lower level of bliss is temporary and the highest level of bliss is perpetual. Therefore it is apparent that in order to realize Bhairava, one has to transcend these four impediments of the mind. The treatise does not explain in philosophical jargons and instead approaches the core subject of Self-realization with practical applications. Thus Vijnana Bhairava becomes different from other scriptures. Shiva Himself provides practical training to realize Bhairava (Shiva) through 112 types of yogic techniques. The treatise does not invest time in analysis and plunges straight into practice.

Brahman, the absolute freedom and un-afflicted pure consciousness is revealed in the form of iccha, jnana and kriya known as desire, knowledge and action, the functional causes for creation. Subject-object differentiation arises only due to the change in the level of consciousness. One’s awareness plays an extremely important role in Self-realization. Vijnana Bhairava teaches practical methods to develop one’s awareness. The entire treatose deals with dharana or attentiveness for which concentration is important. It is a process by which mind is trained to concentrate on a particular spot. Vijnana Bhairava deals only with science and not on philosophy. It deals with metaphysical science. It is a science because at every stage one can put to test all the 112 techniques. This treatise is found in Rudra Yamala, one of the very ancient tantra sastra.

The entire text is in the form of divine conversation between Shiva and Shakthi. Shakthi asks Her Lord Shiva and gets clarifications on some of Her doubts and that is how this ancient scripture has come into existence. The text has 163 aphorisms. Mind is the only factor in God realization. When a practitioner is able to dissolve his mind into the supreme consciousness of Bhairava, he becomes Bhairava himself. Tantra is based on the principle of accepting one as himself to go beyond and in yoga one has to dissolve himself in That. The aim of both tantra and yoga are the same, realising the Self within, but the path taken by both are different. For practicing tantra, one need not have extensive knowledge. Understanding certain technical terms are sufficient to achieve rapid progress. In yoga one has to fight against the principles of nature but in tantra one continues to remain with the nature. However, practice is important in both.

If the teachings of Vijnana Bhairava are followed, one can surely understand the changes that happen within. If a particular technique suits a person, he does not remain to be the same person. His perception becomes different. His spiritual evolution begins to happen within. All the techniques are simple and easy to follow as Shiva Himself is the Guru here. Each of these techniques will be taken up for discussion separately.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 619 - 622.

Pavaranakritih (619)

She is the embodiment of purity. It also means that She performs all auspicious acts such as creation, sustenance and liberation. She is the cause for Self-realization as She alone can lead to Shiva. A soul gets purified by means of penance and knowledge. Realising the Brahman is possible, only by acquiring the highest form of intellect. This purification process is possible only with Her grace. It is also said that one gets purified by simply cogitating Her. Perpetual cerebration about Her is the highest of all spiritual acts. All other acts such as meditation and rituals are considered inferior and ineffective. These processes are merely tools to access the ceaseless cognitive process which ultimately leads to Divine commune, bliss and liberation.

Reference can also be made to nama 542.

Aneka-koti-brahmanda-janani (620)

She has given birth to billions of worlds is the literal meaning. This is based on Her attributes of causing creation, sustenance and death. The universe is said to contain millions of planets like earth with their own galaxies. Man has four predominant level of consciousness – sleep, dream, deep sleep and turiya stages. These four stages of consciousness are related to souls or microcosms. In the same way, the Brahman or the macrocosm has four different stages. They are avyakta, Ishvara, hiranyagarbha and virat.

Avyakta is the state of prakriti in its un-manifested form, with the three gunas in equal proportions. Avyakta is the first stage of the Brahman that cannot be explained, as this is the purest form of the Brahman, without parentage. This stage is also known as turiya or the fourth state of consciousness, the other three being sleep, dream and deep sleep. It is the non-dualistic state, where the Brahman without a second is realized. It is highly subtle in nature endowed with tranquillity and bliss (cloud ninestage).

The second stage is ‘Ishvara’. The concept of God begins here. This stage is the cause of creation, sustenance and death and the stage of ‘all-knowing’. Maya which is known as illusion is associated with this stage. This forms the casual body or karana sarira.

The third stage is ‘hiranyagarbha’. This is the binding factor of the universe. It holds all the creations together. This forms the subtle body or linga sarira or karana sarira.

The fourth stage is ‘virat’. This is also known as ‘vaishvanara’. This is where manifestation of forms takes place and the gross form of the world is realized and is seen with biological eyes. But this is not everything. It is only a miniscule of the Brahman. Gross forms become perceivable when vaishvanara or virat gets associated with maya. This forms the gross body or sthula sarira.

When soul or purusha gets associated with prakriti, the birth of a living being happens. When virat gets associated with maya, the birth of the universe happens. The former is microcosm and the latter is macrocosm. All these four stages are referred in this sahasranamam. Avyakta in nama 398, Ishvara (Ishvari) in nama 271, hiranyagarbha (svarna-garbha) in nama 638 and virat (virat-rupa) in nama 778. This nama refers to the combination of these four stages.

Aitareya Upanishad opens by saying “In the beginning this was but the absolute Self alone. There was nothing else whatsoever that winked. It thought ‘let Me create the worlds’”. This talks about the will of the Brahman to create and the process of creation unfolds.

Divya-vigraha (621)

She has a divinely shaped body the beauty of which is possible only for the Divine. This nama has another interpretation. Divya also means ‘akash’ and ‘vigraha’ means war. In “Devi Mahatmiyam’ (Durga Saptasati) it is said that She had climbed to akash without support and fought the battle against the demon Sumbha.

Klimkari (622)

She is in the form of ‘kama bija’ klim (pronounced as ‘kleem’). It is also known as Manmata (Kamadeva) bija, the bija of the love god. ‘Ka’ refers to Kamadeva, ‘l’ refers to Lord Indra, ‘i’ refers to contentment and ‘am’ is the cause of pleasure or pain depending upon one’s karmic account. This interpretation is given by Shiva to Shakthi out of His love for Her. ‘Klim’ bija is used to please the Goddess of wealth Lakshmi.

Klimkara is Shiva and His wife is Klmkari. ‘Ka’ means Shiva and ‘la’ means Shakthi and ‘im’ (eem) is ‘kamakala’ (nama 322). Therefore ‘klim’ also means Shiva-Shakthi iykam (union).

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BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 16 - 18.

Gita Series 54. Chapter IV – 16 – 18.

“Even the wise find it difficult to differentiate between action (karma) and inaction (a-karma). Now, I am going to teach you about the principles of karma and after knowing of which you will be freed from all karmic afflictions. Nature of both karmas and a-karmas (action and inaction) should be understood. In the same way the forbidden actions should also be understood, because the depth of karma is deep. The one who beholds action in action and inaction in action, he is considered as wise among men. That yogi is said to be involved in all actions.”

Sastras explain the concept of karma in detail. Wise men would have attained enough knowledge to be called as wise. They also stand confused in interpreting karmas, as there are too many theories on karmas. One normally gets confused as they are not sure whether staying away from actions, in other words, being inactive is the right karma or surrendering the fruits of karmas to the Creator is the right karma or carrying out actions laid down by sastras is the right karma. These are the confusions about karmas even for the learned. However, Krishna has already said that being inactive is a sin and therefore inaction is to be excluded. For example one needs to have some sleep. Sleeping is karma or action. If one does not sleep he is affected biologically. Therefore, one has to sleep to keep his physical body fit that sheaths the Brahman within. If one tends to oversleep, more than the bodily requirement then, it tantamount to inertia that causes karmic affliction. Krishna is about to explain what is causing karmic affliction and what is not.

Krishna says that the concept of karma should be understood first. Karmic afflictions arise while performing karmas. Realising that actions cause karmas, if one tends to remain inactive, that also cause karmic afflictions. Karmic afflictions are embedded in a soul that unfold when the soul attains a form (birth) when it gets associated with prakriti. Krishna says that depth of karma is very deep because it has too many interpretations and repercussions. Karmic theory is not that easy to understand. Performing actions, not performing actions and performing actions that are prohibited, not performing prescribed actions, wrong performance of prescribed actions and the list is endless. In general Krishna says that a person who considers action and inaction on the same footing is considered as wise. When one understands this theory, he is not attached either to positive nor to negative results of an action. Any action is capable of providing both positive and negative results. Only when one chooses to surrender the end result of his action to the Brahman, he is not afflicted by karmas. When one is not interested in the end result of an action, he is then considered as a yogi (one who mastered his mind) since active and inactive stages are the same for him. He continues to dwell in the stage of deep sleep condition even during his waking condition. He is called karma yogi.

Having explained in detail about ‘karma yoga’ in the previous chapters, Krishna chooses to elucidate again about karma. This clearly explains the role played by karma in one’s life. It is improper to say that karmas lead to pain or pleasure. Karmas also lead to salvation. But if an action is performed with ego, then it leads to pain. Wrong actions are those not approved by sastras. Sastras say that one should love fellow men and on the contrary if one chooses to cause trouble to fellow men, then he stands afflicted by evil effects of karmas. Yogi is a person who has developed mental ability to see the Brahman in everything. He becomes a master of advaita philosophy. This is possible only through self exploration, the process of realising the Brahman within. For a yogi, action and inaction are the same. Due to his mental modification, he is able to see actions in all inactions and inactions in all actions. Human birth is the gift of God as human mind is endowed with the capacity to discriminate, the discrimination between the Creator and the created.

Karmas are of three types. They are sanchita, prarabdha and agamya. Sanchita karmas are the total sum of karmas accumulated over past births. Prarabdha karmas is that part of sanchita karma that gets unfolded during this birth. Agamya karma is the sum total of sanchita karma +/- prarabdha karma. Let us take an example. At the time death a person has a total of 60 in sanchita karma. Out of this 60 let us assume that 20 out of 60 is to be realized in his next birth. During the next birth he has two options. The first one is to nullify this figure 20 by performing only good actions. If the sum total of good karmas is more than 20 then it gets adjusted in his sanchita karma and at the end of this birth his sanchita karma could become 50. On the other hand the sum total of karmas accumulated in this birth is more than 20, then his sanchita karma account becomes more than 60, let us say 70. Until the sanchita karma becomes ‘0’ one has to undergo the process of births and deaths.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 615 - 618.

Adishakthi (615)

She is the primordial energy of creation. Shiva has no creator. Shiva’s only creation is Shakthi who in turn created the universe. Hence She is called as Adi (first) Shakthi (energy). In fact, Shakthi is the creative pulsation of Shiva. It is only because of Shakthi, empiric individual realises his essential divine nature.

Further reading: Shakthi asks many questions to Shiva. The questions of Shakthi and answers of Shiva are in the form of various tantra sastras. There are three positions from which Shakthi seeks answers from Shiva. The first position is Shakthi sitting by the side of Shiva. The questions asked from this position are only preliminaries. The next position is Shakthi sitting on the lap of Shiva. Questions asked from this position are towards attaining Shiva. When She gets clarifications from

Shiva and through the knowledge gained during the question answer sessions, She merges with Shiva and becomes a part of Shiva – the ardhanarishvara form. This form leads to ‘linga’ form where there are no manifested forms. This is a typical example of realisation. When one is at the beginning stage of spirituality there is a gap between the Brahman and the seeker. When he acquires knowledge of advaita, he moves closer to Him. When He realizes the Brahman, he merges with Him and his consciousness loses duality. Finally he transforms into “I am That”.


Ameya (616)

She is immeasurable. Mortals are measureable and eternal is not measureable. Katha Upanishad explains this phenomenon. It says “smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest” (I.ii.20). This is a popular verse among all the Upanishads. The original Sanskrit version goes like this “anoraniyan mahato mahiyan atma asya......” This is the unique nature of the Brahman.


Atma (617)


Like Self and self atman is also known by Atman and atman. self or atman indicates the soul and Self or Atman indicates the Brahman. When one realizes self as the Self, it is known as Self-realization. This nama means soul as the next nama makes a reference to the Brahman. atman is also known as jiva. When jiva is covered by body, it is known as jivan.

Soul is also known as purusha. Soul worships Atman by means of meditation. The soul within a shape and form is known as yajamana or the master. The object of meditation is Atman and meditation is a process by which atman seeks the Atman by modification of his mind. The fruit of mediation is the bliss leading to the merger of atman with Atman. Atman indicates Shiva and atman indicates Shakthi and the merger between the two is known as Shiva-Shakthi ikyam. (ikyam – union). This process happens at sahasrara.


Parama (618)

The previous nama addresses Her as atman and this nama addresses Her as Atman also known as the Brahman. From these two namas one can understand that She is both saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) and niruguna Brahman (Brahman without attributes), confirming Her Superior status.

‘Para+asya+ ma’ indicating that She is the wife of Shiva. Being the wife of Shiva, She helps spiritual seekers in realising Shiva.

Lingapurana (Chapter 86. Verses 97 – 99) says “Atman is neither having intellectual awareness within nor having intellectual awareness without, nor is He in both ways. He is not perfect knowledge nor wise nor having ignorance. Brahman is not the one that is known, nor one to be known. In fact He is extinction, devoid of ailments, immortal, imperishable, Parama-Atman, Brahman, Paratpara (greater than the greatest), devoid of doubtful alternatives, devoid of fallacious appearances, knowledge. All these are synonyms.” She is in this form

Para-Brahman (the Supreme Brahman, Shiva and Shakthi combine) has four forms. They are the purusha (soul), un-manifested, manifested and time. She has transcended all these four forms to remain as the Supreme.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 611 - 614.

Kalatmika (611)


She is in the form of ‘kalas’. Kala means digit or minute parts of an entity. The moon has 16 such kalas, the sun has 12 kalas and agni (fire) has 10 kalas. When it is said that the moon has 16 kalas, it means moon is made up of 16 parts. During waning period of moon one kala is reduced on each day leading to no moon (new moon day or amavasya) on the 15th day. Similarly one kala is added each day during waxing period of moon leading to the full moon comprising of all the 15 kalas. The 16th kala of the moon is Lalithambigai who is present in the moon without waxing and waning. This is yet another example to confirm that the Brahman is without any modification. This nama says that She is present even in the subtlest part of an object confirming the omnipresence nature of the Brahman. Examples of the moon, sun and fire are taken because of their illuminating nature. They are not self-illuminating in nature but simply reflect the illumination of the Brahman.

There are four stages of consciousness. They are awake, dream, deep sleep and turiya stages. Each of these stages has four kalas making a total of 16 kalas. The awake stage is said to be in the form Lalithai. The four kalas of awake stages are rising, waking, consciousness and mental action.

In nama 236, 64 kalas have been referred. In that context, kala means art. There are many such kalas referred to in the scriptures.


Kalanatha (612)


She is ruler of kalas discussed above. All subtle matters that make a gross matter are administered by Her. Hence, She is known as the ruler of kalas.

The chief of kalas of the moon is known as ‘kala-nathan’, which also means the moon. The disc of the moon is compared to Sri Chakra. Since She resides in Sri Chakra, She is also known as ‘kala-natha’.


Kavyalapa-vinodhini (613)


Kavyas mean the great epics. Epics have 18 types of qualities. ‘The Ramayana’ of the great sage Valmiki has all the 18 qualities and is said to be the first among the epics. She is delighted when She listens to such great epics that fulfil all the 18 qualities.

It is said that by properly worshipping Her, one attains poetization capabilities. There two known examples are in the form of poet Kalidasa and dumb turned poet Mooka-kavi (mooka means dumb and kavi means poet).

Soundarya Lahari verse 17 conveys the same meaning. It says when She is contemplated along with eight Vak Devis, the authors of this Sahasranamam, one gets poetic capabilities.

Nama 798 says that She is in the form of those great poetic epics.


Sachamara-rama-vani-savyadakshina-sevita (614)


Goddess Lakshmi (Rama) and Goddess Sarasvati (Vani) stand by Her side and fan Her. This nama means that those who contemplate Her get wealth and intelligence without even asking for them. Soundarya Lahari also endorses this narration. This concept is discussed in Soundarya Lahari verse 99, Lalitha trishati namas 63 and 194.

BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 13 -15.

Gita Series 53. Chapter IV 13 – 15

“Taking into consideration attributes and karmas, I created four socio-religious divisions in the society. Though I am the creator of such divisions, know me as immutable and not the cause for such divisions. I have no desire in the fruits of karmas. Karmas do not afflict me. The one who knows my nature thus, is not implicated by karmas. Knowing this, the wise during the ancient period, sought after liberation and performed their karmas. Therefore, following the footsteps of your ancestors, perform your actions dutifully.”

The division of humanity is based on socio-religious factors. The cause for such factors is one’s karmas and attributes (gunas). A portion of the accumulated karmas unfold during the present birth. At the time of birth the three gunas satvic, rajas and tamas are found in equal proportions. When karmas start unfolding fully, one of these gunas predominantly prevails. Therefore one’s karma and attributes decide the quality of a person. Though Krishna is the cause for such divisions, He does not become responsible for the quality of such divisions. Brahman is only a witness and does not partake in actions. He is the cause in his capacity as the Brahman, the Creator. He does not become responsible for such divisions because it is one’s thoughts and actions alone determine the attribute of that person. Unfortunately, these divisions are now being classified as castes and creeds that is determined by hereditary, which is against the will of the Divine. Divine is the cause of creation and surely is not the cause for the quality of His creations. Quality of creation is determined only by the self. Each of the divisions has certain duties to perform. One division is assigned with the job of providing knowledge about the Brahman that ultimately leads to enlightenment. The second division belongs to the class of warriors. Third division belongs to the business community and the fourth division belongs to the class of labourers. One division alone cannot survive without the support of the other three and therefore these divisions are highly interdependent. A labourer can move to the first division by acquiring knowledge and a man from the first division can also come to the fourth division by lack of knowledge. Ultimately one’s quality of knowledge determines his attributes. When one is imparted with sufficient knowledge, he will not like to do evil actions as the knowledge acquired by him would have taught him about the consequences of evil actions. Thus Creation alone is God made and one’s attribute is manmade.

The Brahman has no desires and no karma can ever affect Him. Desires and karmas are associated with materialistic world and not with the eternity. Creation is a process that was set rolling by the Brahman with several checks and counter checks, balances and counter balances. For example the presence of a soul alone cannot cause a creation. The soul has to depend upon prakriti and the elements such as akash, air, fire, water and nature to manifest as a living species. Such a living being cannot grow in whatever way it likes. Its actions are determined by its karmas. The very fact that the Brahman is immutable is an authentic proof that karmas do not affect Him. What Krishna talks here is about His nirguna form or the Brahman without attributes. The Brahman without attributes can only be realized and not be seen. He can be realized in the form of self-illuminating light within. Attempts to know Him elsewhere do not yield any tangible results. There are certain men who seek final liberation. Even the desire for such liberation arises out of ego since ‘I seek liberation’ includes ‘I’ the ego factor. What Krishna says is that one has to perform his karmas dutifully and the final liberation will follow. ‘Sought after liberation’ means discharging duties without the end results of actions in mind. Only those persons who are interested in final salvation will not attach significance to the fruits of karmas and at the same time they never shirk their responsibilities. Therefore, Krishna asks Arjuna to perform his prescribed karmas (fighting his enemies) without any desire on the fruits of his actions. Possibly we can conclude by saying that even during Krishna’s period, the true seekers of divinity had started dwindling leading to Krishna avatar.

MANBLUNDER IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITUALITY.

We have been discussing about internal search and internal exploration under various articles. Ancient scriptures declare in unambiguous terms that our body is the place of worship like temples, churches or masques. The sanctum sanctorum that is found in the places of worship is within our body. Within that sanctum sanctorum dwells the Brahman or God. There is no difference in interpretation between God and the Brahman. By this we mean God in His purest form without any attributes. He does not have a form and due to our ignorance we give Him forms of our choice. When contemplations of His forms – which is merely a visualisation arising out of one’s imaginative capabilities – crosses the admissible levels fanaticism, it leads to hatred and enmity. The eternal scriptures like Bible, Qur’an and Upanishads manifest God in the form of light. That is why they do not differentiate between self and Self. They point out that they are one and the same. Again due to our ignorance we differentiate between the two by using ‘S’ while referring God. This is meaningless when we understand that God resides within our body, in every cell, in every drop of blood and in every piece of excretory matter. If this is not understood in the proper perspective, the omnipresence of God would be lost.

Meditation is one of the processes to explore Him within. In fact a mere thought process is more than sufficient to realise Him. Though different forms of meditation are advocated, in reality such differentiations cannot exist. Again it is our ignorance that makes us to worship God through different means and in different forms. There is only one way of attaining Him, the process of Self-realisation within self, our physical body. For this process one needs superior knowledge, the knowledge that is capable of transforming one’s mind looking for the source by gradual transformation from external to internal. At the completion of such a transformation, the internal exploration or search commences. This alone is the starting point of spirituality. Spirituality does not begin in the places of worship, but begins in our mind, wisdom and intellect. A refined mind leads to the highest form of consciousness, where God can be realized. When transformation from religion to spirituality commences, to make further progress one has to acquire sufficient knowledge by understanding the secretive interpretations of the scriptures. They are authored in such a way that they are capable of providing gross and subtle meanings. Gross meanings are for religious minded people and subtle meanings are for spiritual minded people. One has to look for the subtle meanings and understand them. This is where a Guru assumes a pivotal role. In reality such Gurus are rare to find. There are excellent writings available with good interpretations and all such writings ultimately advocate universality of God. Universality should be understood as universal brotherhood, universal love, universal consciousness, universal well being, etc. All that is concerned with our society for peaceful co-existence is universal. Peaceful co-existence leads to prosperity. For such an ideal situation, we need to invest nothing except purification of our mind. When someone finds few minutes to visualise a world filled that is filled with happiness, joy and prosperity, he will not hesitate to put his first step forward to transform his visualisation into concrete action. The world needs someone to put this first step and the world is ready to follow. The need of the hour is more Allahs, Buddhas, Christs, Krishnas. But the time is too short to have incarnations. The best possible option available to us is to transform ourselves as incarnations.

Manblunder is doing its level best to play its role towards attaining such a world. Whatever that is dealt with in this site is more on the spiritual side than on the religious side. Religion means multiplicity of God whereas spirituality means the uniqueness of the conceptualisation called God. Transformation from religious to spiritual is a critical process, mainly because of habituation. Generally people call themselves as religious instead calling themselves as spiritual. Spiritually advanced persons would not like to be known as spiritual persons, as they realize that God within them is the same in all living beings. The main duty of this site is make such transformation possible by providing sufficient inputs to make one gain the supreme knowledge that is required to make the process of Self-realisation possible at the earliest. There are many sites that are far superior in delivering quality contents than this site. But, one cannot shy away or shirk from one’s duty, just because others are doing the same duty much better. Manblunder is completing its first year shortly and takes this opportunity to thank its viewers and assure the viewers that every effort would be made to improve the quality of the contents further.

Your comments and feedback at feedback@manblunder.com

THE UNKNOWN PANCHADASI

There is a less popular, yet highly informative scripture by name ‘Panchadasi’. This is different from the Supreme “Panchadasi mantra’ of Lalithambigai, though there is a striking similarity in their names. This scripture is authored by Shri Vidyaranya Swami during post Shankara Period. He is said to have headed the famous Shringeri Math during 1377 and 1386. This scripture dealing with advaita vedanta could have authored by him around this period.

This scripture consists 1622 verses categorised under 15 chapters. The scripture is named as Panchadasi, based on its 15 chapters. Lalithambigai’s Panchadasi mantra is so called because of its 15 bijas. The 15 chapters are broadly classified into three groups. The first group is known as ‘viveka-panchaka’ the discriminative knowledge to differentiate between real and illusion. The second one is ‘deepa-panchaka’ dealing in the highest level of consciousness known as the Brahman. The third group is ‘ananda panchaka’ that deals with bliss. From the arrangement of chapters, it is apparent that bliss is possible only if one has the highest kind of knowledge, leading to the highest type of consciousness. It deals extensively on the practical aspect of advaita philosophy. Writings on advaita mostly consist of arguments and affirmations in favour of this non-duality (advaita) and this scripture is one of the known exceptions to this.

Basically this scripture assumes the persona of a guru, by providing extraordinary inputs. It teaches many methods to differentiate between the real and the unreal. It analyses the three stages of consciousness – awake, dream and deep sleep and points out how the real exists in all the three stages without any modifications and the unreal undergoes modifications in each of the three stages. It also talks about the five sheaths that cover the real Self. The subtlest matter, the Self stands covered by the gross matters such as physical, vital, mental and the intellectual sheaths. This aspect has been discussed in detail in
Understanding our gross body
It says ‘The Self knows all that is knowable. There is no one to know it. It is consciousness or knowledge itself and is different from the known and the unknown (III.18)”. This ancient work repeatedly emphasises that the highest level of consciousness is the Supreme Self. “The cognition ‘This is a pot’ is due to cidabhasa, but the knowledge ‘I know the pot’ is derived from Brahman consciousness (VIII.18)”. It describes the Brahman as ‘witness, consciousness, changeless, without faults and eternal’.

It takes for example a drama theatre. The Brahman is compared to the lights in the stage. The lights shine irrespective of the actors are in the stage or not. The light does not undergo any change along with the changing artists on the stage and the light continues to shine ever after the show ends. “Consciousness is eternal, for its non-existence can never be experienced. But the non-existence of duality is experienced by consciousness before the duality assumes manifestation” says this scripture. There can be no better explanation than this for understanding the importance of consciousness, the Supreme awareness. It further says that bliss has different levels and the highest level of bliss is the god of creation, Brahma. But it says that Brahman-bliss is beyond comprehension. It explains the behaviour of an enlightened man. “The enlightened man when praised or blamed by the ignorant does not praise or blame them in return. He behalves in such a way as to, awake the knowledge of the real entity amongst the ignorant. In this world he has no other duty except awakening the ignorant. He always feels fully satisfied and thinks like this: ‘Blessed am I, blessed, for I have the constant vision of myself. The bliss of the Brahman shines clearly to me. I am free from the sufferings of the world. My ignorance has fed away, I know not where. I have no further duty to perform. I have now achieved the highest that one can aspire to. There is nothing to compare with my great bliss. I am blessed, again and again blessed’”. Now he is full of joy that is perfect and total. It is to be recalled that Buddha walked around the famous ‘Bodhi Tree’ consecutively for seven days immediately after his realisation. The scripture describes the Brahman as sat-cit-ananda (existence-consciousness-bliss). However it points out that these are only attributes of the Brahman and do not form part of the Brahman, stressing the fact that the nirguna Brahman is devoid of attributes.

How is it that one Reality appears as the world of plurality? It says that maya plays its role in causing such an illusion. The scripture does not simply endorse the theory of maya. It talks about revealed experience and reasoning of the ordinary men. They do not doubt about maya, but for the realised one it is unreal. It says that maya is that which is not. Maya is neither real nor unreal. The world of plurality appears in the Brahman on account of maya only. It advocates not probing more into maya. The more we probe, deeper becomes its mystery. Instead it says that one should transcend maya that really helps in crossing all the known hurdles. It also talks about the transmigratory nature of the soul that is embedded with karma. The author advocates the tool of meditation to attain the stage of ‘jivan-mukta’ for those who do not make attempts to gain the Supreme knowledge. The body of a jivan-mukta is the residue of karmas (prarabdha) that are responsible of the present gross body.

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KUNDALINI UNRAVELLED

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 606 - 611.

Guhajanma-bhuh (606)

Guha means hide, conceal or secret. Janmabhuh means the birth place. A soul is born, covered or concealed by avidya or ignorance. These souls are born from Her, the Brahman.
This is explained in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad II.i.20 which says ‘from a fire tiny sparks fly in all directions, so from this Self emanate ........all beings.’ Souls are the tiny sparks and the Self is the Brahman, our own Lalithambigai. This particular angle of creation is elaborated in almost all the Upanishads. If this nama is viewed through the interpretation of the first nama ‘Sri Mata’, the universal mother giving birth to all beings perfectly fits into the teachings of the Upanishads.
Guha also means ‘Lord Subrahmanya’ (Skanda, Muruga, Karttikeya). This nama also could mean that She had given birth to Subrahmanya. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that He likes Skanda as the best amongst army leaders.

Deveshi (607)

She is the Iswari for Devas, which means that She is the Supreme among all Gods and Goddesses. She is the source for all divinities.

Dhanda-nitistha (608)

‘Dhanda-niti’ means encumbering those who resort to evil ways and making them to pursue the path of goodness. She punishes those ignorant men who are unwilling to pursue the virtuous path. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita X.38 ‘I am the rod of punishment’. According to The Bible ‘rod’ means the law of karma. The Bible says “I will fear no evil: thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Old Testament. Psalms 23:4).” God administers the universe through the law of karma and those who follow the virtuous path need not worry about the divine punishment. “Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them (The Bible. OT. Job 21:9)” and “how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger” (Job 21:17).
This is the reason for carrying a rod when Judge enters a court hall. This is practiced by several parliaments when a presiding officer enters the parliament. They are the sustainers of justice. In the same way She administers the universe with Her justness (law of karma).

Dhaharakasha-rupini (609)

In the hearts of all beings is Her subtle form. Better interpretations are available in various scriptures.
Katha Upanishad mentions this place as “In this superior space of the heart, present in the cave of the intellect (I.iii.1)”. It further says “Of the size of a thumb, the Brahman resides in the centre of the body (II.i.12)”.
Chandogya Upanishad says “This body is the city of the Brahman. Within it is an abode in the shape of a lotus (meaning heart) and within that there is a small space (Please note the word. It is ‘space’ and not ‘place’. Space is infinite and place is definite). One must search within this space and earnestly desire to know what is there? (Self-realization)”
Brahma Sutra I.iii.14 says ‘daharah’ meaning the small space in the heart. It proceeds to says “That is which is inside, that is sought for, that is surely to be inquired into”, indicating the process for self-realisation.
This nama says that She is in That form (the Brahman), that can only be realized. This nama also reiterates Her status as the Brahman.

Pratipan-mukya-rakantha-tithi-mandala-pujita (610)

‘Pratipad’ means the first lunar day and ‘raka’ means the full moon. In Sri Chakra, She is surrounded by 15 tithi nitya devis, five on each side of the inner most triangle. The bindu, the central point of Sri Chakra, where Shakthi is sitting on the lap of Shiva is covered by this inner most triangle. Each of the lunar day is represented by one tithi nitya devi. In Sri Vidya cult, all these deities are worshipped during ritual worship of Sri Chakra. Lalithambigai is worshipped as ‘maha-nitya’. This interpretation is as per tantra sastras. Tithi mandala is also referred to in Vedas, which mentions 15 names representing 15 days or tithis of waxing moon. In addition to the names of the fifteen deities, Vedas also refer to one more deity by name ‘sada’ which is known as the 16th kala of moon. Moon has sixteen kalas.

A reference can be made to nama 391.

BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 10 - 12

Gita Series 52. Chapter IV 10 - 12

“A number of people have attained my preternatural form by means of knowledge, disinterested in other activities and surrendering unto me by sacrificing desire, fear and anger. Arjuna! I approach my devotees in the same way they worship me. Entire humanity in all respects pursues my path. In this earth, those (materialistic persons) who seek the fruits of karmas worship (various) gods; because, by doing so they are able to attain the fruits of their karmas easily. “

The Divine or the Brahman has no form and due to maya all that we see around us is only the reflection of the Brahman. It is like seeing objects in a mirror. For realising this truth, the highest form of intellect is necessary says Krishna. This process is known as intellection where one’s thought transcends the materialistic world, unafflicted by sensory influence. This is also known as thought process, where thoughts get highly refined leading to the stage of thoughtlessness, void and stillness. Only during this stage, the Brahman is realized. Brahman can neither be realized nor seen through biological eyes. He can be realized only through the third eye which gets automatically activated during true spiritual progress. Spiritual progress does not mean the time spent on reading scriptures or performing rituals. Ecstasy is not the advanced stage of spirituality but the bliss is. Such progress can be attained only through supreme intellect that makes a person to explore within. Only during the advanced stage of internal exploration, one tends to disassociate from the materialistic world where one is able to get rid of desire, fear and anger as this stage can be reached only if one is able to disassociate his consciousness from the power of sensory influence. The perpetual integration of self consciousness and Supreme consciousness leads to unconscious and thoughtless stage, where the Brahman is realized in absolute stillness. This is the stage that Krishna refers to as attaining His preternatural form (nirguna Brahman).

Brahman cannot be worshipped and can only be realized. Various forms of the Brahman are worshipped, depending upon one’s ability to visualise. The attributes of the Brahman (saguna Brahman) have been depicted in the forms of different gods and goddesses. Brahman is Supreme and all alone. Due to ignorance (avidya) the Brahman is visualized in different forms. But the fact remains that none can realize the Brahman overnight. The realization happens through a series of processes beginning with ritual worship, mantras, recitations, study of Vedanta, meditation, perpetual meditation leading to a stage where all materialistic worships cease and final emancipation takes place. Based upon the concept of the omnipresent nature of the Brahman, various forms of gods and goddesses are appeased. Those who do not possess supreme knowledge that is required to realise the Brahman, worship such forms. The practitioner during the process of such worship gets some miraculous powers known as siddhis. Those who want to make further progress with intent to realize the Brahman get rid of those siddhis that are considered inferior and distracting. Krishna never leaves these propitiators alone, though He does not consider them as jnanis or yogis. Krishna surely fulfils their desires, provided they are performed with dedication and devotion. Attachment to material prosperity is the root cause of such worships as ritual worships yield results much faster. But this does not lead to salvation, which is possible only through the process of self-realisation.

Irrespective of the path one chooses, he still pursues karma yoga elucidated by Krishna in the earlier chapters, as no man can remain idle without performing requisite karmas. Non-performance of prescribed karmas is a greater sin than performing karmas seeking fruits of actions. Krishna can be attained by any of the means taught by Him, karma yoga, jnana yoga, sanyasa yoga, inner yajna, bakthi yoga, etc. Every soul that gets manifested has to necessarily follow any one of the above paths. Liberation of the soul or otherwise purely depends upon the path one chooses. If the right path is not chosen to attain Him, the soul bound by karmic afflictions is born again. But the soul finally gets liberated only if the Brahman is realized.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 601 - 605.

Darandolita-dirghakshi (601)

She has shapely eyes that almost touch Her ears. Her eyes rotate all-round to dispel the fear of Her devotees.
In ‘mukapanchashati’ there are 101 verses praising Her eyes. In Soundarya Lahari also there are verses praising Her eyes. Her eyes express Her compassion and concern for Her devotees and that is why She is glancing all round to shower Her grace on those who surrender to Her. Her compassion is predominant in Her capacity as the Universal Mother or Ma. When someone calls Her as ‘Ma’ Her eyes move towards the direction of the sound. This is the reason for frequent rotation of Her eyes on all directions.

Darahasojjvalan-muki (602)

This nama describes Her smile. This smile attracts everyone to become Her devotee. Ones compassion and mercy are expressed through eyes and smile.

Gurumurtih (603)

She is in the form of Guru. In Sri Vidya cult, Guru, mantra and the deity should not be differentiated. ‘Varivasya Rahasya’ (which explains Pnachadasi mantra in detail) verse 102 says ‘The identity of the Mother, the Vidya, the Chakra (Sri Chakra), the Guru and the disciple himself should be practiced.’ The earlier verse (101) says that ‘one’s Guru is identical with Devata, Vidya and Sri Chakra....with the grace of Guru, the practitioner attains identity therewith.’
Guru means dispeller of darkness. Guru also means a person who possesses the Supreme knowledge about the Brahman. In this context, She is said to be the Supreme Guru.
Vishnu Sahasranamam nama 209 addresses Vishnu as Guru.

Gunanidhi (604)

She is the storehouse of gunas. Gunas are of three types: satvic, rajas and tamas. When these gunas or qualities vary in proportions, countless gunas arise. All the combinations of gunas arise from Her.
Gunas also mean conglomeration of nine qualities. Shiva, the Supreme is said to be in the form of these nine qualities. These nine qualities are time (kala), lineage (kula), names (nama), Knowledge (jnana), consciousness or mind (cit), nada (subtle sounds arising within the body while practicing pranayama), bindu (consisting of 16 kalas that include prana, sincerity, five elements, indriyas (kamendriays and jnanaendrias), mind, food, vitality, penance, mantras, karmas, worlds and names. These are described in Prashna Upanishad. Chapter VI)), kalpa and jiva. These nine qualities are different from their common usage.
There is a story associated with this nama. Guna also means rope. During great annihilation, Vishnu attained the form of a fish (matsya avatar), bundled the entire seeds of jivas, placed them in a boat and pulled them with a rope that was tied to the nose of the fish. Devi took the form of the rope making the rope strong.

Gomata (605)

She is the Mother of all cows. Cows are considered sacred. This nama also could mean the holy cow ‘Kamadhenu’ capable of yielding any quantity of food at anytime. The word ‘go’ is frequently used in Vedas, meaning knowledge while practicing inner yajna and in outer yajna it means four legged animals. The word ‘gauh’ also means speech, rays, heaven, etc indicating that they have originated from Her.

BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 7 - 9.

Gita Series 51. Chapter IV.7-9.

“Bharata (Arjuna)! Whenever virtues (dharma) decline and immorality (adharma) looms, I embody as an avatar. To sustain the pious, to eliminate the sinners and to protect dharma I incarnate in every yug. Arjuna! My avatar and actions are divine. The one who understands this principle is not born again and reaches me when he dies.”

Free will is the gift of God that works through mind making the mind instrumental in performing either virtuous or immoral acts. When such God given freedom is misused frequently by majority of the population, Krishna incarnates in various corporal forms. This concept is known as philosophy of incarnation. When more and more people are involved in virtuous acts, dharma prevails leading to all round prosperity. Improper utilization of free will leads to a situation where immoral acts prevail over virtuous acts casting all round poverty and gloom. The theory of the ‘survival of the fittest’ takes over universal brotherhood. Mindset of spiritually advanced people does not change with times. They can exist peacefully during the times of universal brotherhood and suffers for survival as they attempt to become physically fit. The pious men eat not to survive, but to exhaust their karmas. Adharma rules when the fittest among all resorts to immoral acts. He has huge following fearing for his might and they are induced to indulge in sinful acts leading to all round melancholy. This situation can be solved my two means. The first is total annihilation of the universe, which happens once in several billions of years. The second possibility is that God incarnates in embodied forms to destroy evil and to restore virtues. In Hindu epics depicts such evils as demons. In every incarnation, demons are destroyed and virtues are restored by such incarnated forms. This is what Krishna says here. By such incarnations, the pious are protected by eliminating the sinners.

The divine avatars and actions are beyond human comprehension. Though many such incarnations are in human forms, there are certain incarnations whose forms are incomprehensible. Narasimha avatar is one such form. Rama and Krishna avatars are in human forms for setting examples for the humanity to follow the virtuous paths. Krishna Himself repeatedly emphasises this in Bhagavad Gita. Avatars though in human forms, their power are infinite. This is what Krishna means by saying ‘divine’. No one can predict the timing of such incarnations. Now a contradiction arises with regard to God. God is described as the one without form and attributes known as the Brahman. But then, how can He incarnate in a form? The answer is in The Holy Bible (Mathew 19:17) “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God.” God or the Brahman has infinite power to sustain this universe. Every act unfolds according to His will, the Divine Will, juxtaposed to free will which is human. The Divine Will is not unilateral but bound by the ‘Law of Karmas’, the divine law. God never overrides His own laws that are eternal and not amended according to convenience.

The divine incarnations are of two types. In the first type the incarnated form is made visible to a community and in the second one, the incarnated form is made visible only to those who eternally stay connected with Him. This situation is known as Krishna consciousness, where one’s consciousness stays tuned to higher frequencies where two way communes are established. For them the Brahman appears in a visualised form of their choice, remaining invisible to others. There is a lot of difference between manifested and visualised forms of the Brahman. Rama and Krishna avatars are meant not only to annihilate the sinners but also to liberate many of Their devotees. But the visualized form is made known to select few with the exclusive purpose of liberating select souls. That is why the incarnations are said to be beyond human comprehension and expectation. The one who understands this principle of the Divine is liberated, not to be reborn. The divine principle ensures the continuance of the universe in terms of the Divine law. Divine law explicitly says that none should take credit for their actions as these actions are decided by the Divine. Neither the actions nor their fruits belong to the practitioner, but should be surrendered unto Him.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 594 - 600

Indra-dhanuh-prabha (594)

Indra dhanu in literal sense is Indra’s bow. But, in this context it indicates rainbow. In fact, this nama is an extension of the previous nama. There is a rainbow just above the bindu of ‘hrim’ that has been discussed in the previous nama. The bindu itself shines. Apart from bindu, this rainbow like structure that is quarter of the size of the bindu also shines. The bindu and rainbow like formation which is also known as ‘ardhachandra’ (half the shape of the moon thereby forming a rainbow), are visualised while worshipping ‘kamakala’ form of Lalithambigai.
Reference to rainbow is used as it consists of seven colours (VIBGYOR) that get exploded at sahasrara. These colours originate here.

Hrdayastha (595)

She resides in the heart. Katha Upanishad II.2.12 says ‘residing in heart’. The same Upanishad says again in II.1.12 says ‘Brahman resides in the centre of the body in the size of a thumb.’ This nama reaffirms Her stature as the Brahman.
This nama could mean that she is to be meditated in heart chakra. One of the ancient scriptures says that one who knows the heart of Brahman enjoys eternal happiness. The heart of the Brahman is the store house of universal love.

Raviprakya (596)

The second kuta of panchadasi mantra is situated in anahat chakra. This is called surya kuta. This nama says that She shines like the sun, residing in one’s heart. She shines in every kuta, but the nature of illumination differs.

Tri-konantara-dipika (597)

She shines like a flame in the triangle of muladhara chakra. The first kuta of panchadasi mantra, the agni kuta is mentioned here.
Notes on nama 591 to 597.
In these namas the subtle nature of the three kutas of panchadasi mantra are explained. The first kuta is manifested in the centre of muladhara chakra as a flame of fire. The second kuta is manifested in the form of a rainbow in anahat chakra. The third kuta is manifested at a place just below the sahasrara. The panchadasi mantra originates as the first kuta in the muladhara chakra develops further by adding the second kuta in the anaht chakra and blossoms fully just below sahasrara, where the third kuta is added. This is beautifully explained in ‘muka-panchasadi’ (I.50) which says ‘In the centre of the heart, in the middle of the forehead and in the centre of the head, She shines like sun, Indra’s dhanu and moon.’

Dakashayani (598)

She was born to Daksha and got married to Shiva. This nama talks about Her lineage.
Certain fire rituals are performed on full moon and new moon days continuously. These are known as ‘darsha-purna-masa yajna’ and the oblations offered during these rituals are known as Dakshayana yajna. These yajnas are considered as powerful and She is said to be in the form of those yajnas.

Daitya-hantri (599)

Daitya means evil and represented as demons in epics. She is the slayer of all evil acts (demonic qualities). Reference can be made to nama 318.

Daksha-yajna-vinashini (600)

She destroyed the sacrificial rites of two Dakshas. There existed two Dakshas. One is known as Daksha Prajapati, a superhuman character and another is the human incarnation of the former. They did not respect Shiva. In all the yajnas, a portion of the oblations are offered to all gods and goddesses. Due to their egoistic nature they did not give such oblations to Shiva. Shiva got wild and their yajnas were destroyed by Shiva’s army. She is said to be the cause behind such destruction. This nama signifies this act. Two Dakshas existed at different times. Shiva cursed superhuman Daksha to be born as a human.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM MEANING 588 - 593.

Trikuta (588)

She is in the form of triads. In spirituality there are a number of triads. OM consists of three letters a+u+m. In Gayatri mantra three worlds are mentioned bhu, bhuva, suva. Gods of creation, sustenance and death are known as Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra. Three stages of consciousness awake, dream and deep sleep. Three guans satva, rajas and tamas. Three stages of time past, present and future. Pancchadasi mantra consists of three kutas Agani, surya and chandra. Iccha shakthi, jnana shakthi and kriya shakthies. Triads are associated only with Her.
In this nama She is said to be the Lord of creation, sustenance and dissolution. This nama endorses nama 249 ‘Pancha-pretasanasina’. A reference can be made to nama 626 also.

Kamakotika (589)

The Brahman has two forms. One is Shiva (nirguna Brahman or Brahman without attributes and another is Shakthi (saguna Brahman or Brahman with attributes). The Shivashakthi ikyam form is known as Brahman. Shiva-Shakthi ikyam happens in two forms. One is Shakthi sitting on the lap of Shiva and another is Ardanarishvara form, where one vertical form is Shiva and another is Shakthi. This is referred to in this nama.
Lalitha Trisati nama 259 is ‘kamakoti-nilaya’. Here it is meant to mean that She dwells in Sri Chakra.

Kataksha-kinkaribhuta-kamala-koti-sevita (590)

By Her mere glance She is attended by millions of Lakshmis, the Goddess of wealth. If Lakshmi glances at a person his richness grows. This nama says that Lalithambigai is attended to by countless Lakshmis, signifying Her incomprehensible nature of wealth and prosperity.

Shirah-stita (591)

She is in the head. Head means the sahasrara at the top of the head. Apart from Shiva and Shakthi, one’s Guru is also worshipped in sahasrara. This nama could also mean that She is the supreme Guru who is worthy of worship in sahasrara.
Guru is the one who not only initiates into mantras but also imparts knowledge about the Brahman. A learned guru always makes his disciple to progress in both. Based upon disciple’s progress, guru advises his disciple to gradually move away from rituals to internal exploration, paving way for the ultimate self-realization. No progress in self- realization can be achieved if one continues to be associated with ritualistic worship alone. Only those gurus who are capable of imparting such supreme knowledge about the Brahman are to be worshipped in sahasrara, as sahasrara is the sanctum sanctorum of human body.

Chandra-nibha (592)

The shine of the moon is visualized just below sahasrara. The visibility of moon is a strong indication to know the progress achieved in kundalini meditation. The third kuta of pancahdasi mantra is chandra kuta. She is like this moon. A reference can also be made to nama 240.

Bhalstha (593)

She is in the form of the bindu of bija ‘hrim’ in ajna chakra. Hrim bija is formed out of 12 components, out of which three are letters and the rest are subtle modifications of sound. The bindu of bija ‘hrim’ is placed above the alphabet ‘e’. In Sri Chakra, Shiva is in the form of bindu and Shakthi is in the form of innermost triangle.

BHAGAVAD GITA. CHAPTER IV. 3-6

Gita series 50 - Chapter IV.3-6

Krishna continues. “You are my devotee and friend as well. Hence, this ancient yoga that is superior and secretive in nature was taught to you by me.”
Arjuna asks Krishna “Vishvat was born much ahead of your birth. How can I comprehend that you had taught this yoga to him in the beginning.”
Krishna replies. “Destroyer of enemies (Arjuna)! You and I experienced many births. You cannot recollect any of them whereas I know them all. Though I am eternal, indestructible and Lord of all living beings, abiding in my prakriti, I manifest due to my yoga maya.”

Arjuna is not only Krishna’s disciple, but also His good friend. Generally yoga is taught through guru-disciple relationship as certain technicalities are to be learnt directly from a master. Intricacy of karma yoga is considered secretive in nature as proper learning of this yoga leads to self-realization. It frees a person to from the evil effects of bondage and leading him to feel the eternal bliss. Such secretive yoga according to Krishna is not to be shared with those who are not interested in God-realization. The efforts of a master should not go waste in teaching this yoga to unworthy people. Karma yoga path is pursued by saints and sages who had attained liberation, from time immemorial and therefore Krishna calls this as ancient yoga. Krishna chooses Arjuna to teach this yoga because Arjuna has totally surrendered to Him and also has keen desire to advance spiritually. Divine directly imparts (divine commune) supreme knowledge, if one is making steady spiritual progress.

Arjuna knows that Krishna is not an ordinary human but an avatar. There is no reason for Arjuna to know about Krishna’s teaching to Vishvat, who is known as sun god. But Arjuna wanted to listen to Krishna (divine commune) on karma yoga. Krishna is eternal and omnipresent. He existed in the beginning and will continue to exist forever even after annihilation. Divine is nothing but the Supreme Cosmic consciousness, from which souls are released to associate with prakriti causing creation. When this self illuminating cosmic consciousness is realised within during the process of mediation, it is called self-realization.

Soul does not have the capacity to remember its previous incarnations. If it is vested with the capacity for such remembrance, it would have led to a chaotic situation in the universe. Such souls have only two options before them. One is to reborn again and again and to undergo the associated miseries. Every one born in this universe, however good he might be has to certainly undergo sufferings, miseries and pains at some point of time during his living. The second option is to merge with the Brahman and the individual identity of the soul would be lost forever. Karma yoga is taught by Krishna enabling Arjuna to resort to the second option. Since karma yoga expounds on rebirths, it is considered as secretive in nature. If one is to learn the secrets of karma yoga, his karmic account should permit the same.

Krishna teaches Arjuna not in His capacity as the God head, but as Arjuna’s guru. That is why He says that He was also born before. Before Krishna avatar Vishnu incarnated through other forms (ten avatars). He not only assumed different forms at different times, but also taught the secrets of karma yoga during those incarnations. In Krishna avatar, His teachings were in the form of conversation, whereas in His other avatars He had set examples by His actions. Krishna being the Brahman (saguna Brahman) is fully aware of His previous incarnations and Arjuna being a mortal is not aware of his previous births. Soul of Arjuna remains covered by perishable sensory organs. Having incarnated in this universe, Krishna follows the principles laid down for others. He does not want Him to be known as God head, though He says that He is eternal, indestructible and Ishvara (supreme head) of the universe. Prakriti is Nature. A soul interacts with prakriti and attains a form to undergo the karmas embedded in it. But Krishna is not bound by karmic account. He controls prakriti, which is a product of mulaprakriti known as ‘avyakta’. But still He says that He abides in prakriti which is His own creation. He sets an example for karma yoga by following all prescribed rituals. His True nature is veiled by the effects of yoga maya known as worldly illusion. Everything in this universe is a mere reflection of God and only due to the influence of maya one is not able to realize the Truth. Krishna becomes both the cause and effect.

SOUL AND THE BRAHMAN

Tatvas aid souls to attain liberation. Tatvas can be interpreted as principles. Saiva Siddhanta schools advocate 19, 25, 36 or 96 tatvas. But vadantic scholars, though do not oppose these tatvas as such, but accept only 36 or 96 principles with a lot of disagreements with siddhantic schools. Maya or illusion is the fundamental functional factor of living beings, from which tatvas emanate. The veil of maya is cast around soul, making it susceptible to afflictions arising out of karmas or actions. But the Supreme Brahman is beyond the concept of tatvas as He is all pervading. Soul and the Brahman are not the same. If they are indistinguishable, then soul should be beyond the purview karma. There is a difference in using self and Self or atman and Atman. Uppercase letters indicate the Brahman and the lower case letters indicate the soul. The more appropriate difference between the two would be their subjective and objective nature. Both the Brahman and soul are subjects. When soul unites with an object, it becomes objective. Therefore, soul is prone to modifications on becoming objective. But the Brahman cannot become an object at any point of time. He is eternal, omnipresent and pure. He is beyond karmas, which is one of the unique natures of the Brahman.

Tatvas or principles begin to unfold from the gross level. This is considered as appropriate as we have to learn to realize the Supreme only from the lower levels. The closeness to the Supreme is realised gradually. The process should be gradual but steady. Many of the materialistic teachers firmly believe only in four major principles air, fire, water and earth. They are unwilling to consider even the akash or ether, where cosmic energy is available in plenty. The potential power of intellect is not accepted by them as they consider intellect as yet another product of gross body. According to them, variation in the levels of intelligence is due to bodily powers that vary from person to person. They are not willing to recognise soul and Atman.

Intellect is an important component that evolved from ‘mulaprakriti’. Mulaprakriti is the root and un-manifested form of creation. Many are not willing to look beyond mulaprakriti, which is topping the entire list of tatvas. Matter can assume still finer form. Due to unwillingness to explore beyond ‘avyakta’ or mulaprakriti, mind and intellect are wrongly identified as soul and the Brahman respectively. In fact soul is covered by rarer and finer forms of matter causing the soul to become more advanced spiritually and intellectually. Three gunas or qualities satvic, rajas and tamas form an integral part of mulaprakriti and in its un-manifested form known as ‘avyakta’, these gunas are present in equilibrium. Every single soul is covered by these gunas. Nature of a person is determined based on the predominance of any single guna making someone as an angel and another one as algae. These qualitiesor gunas are known by different names such as Vishnu, Rudra and Brahma. To enable common man to understand this principle, they are signified as Gods. The soul or jiva thus veiled by the effects of gunas is mistaken for God. This mistaken identity happens due to the lack of adequate and supreme knowledge, resulting in not attaining liberation. Only the Brahman alone is capable of granting liberation, not the soul or atman.

Then how to differentiate between self and Self? The Supreme Self is without attributes and the other self is subject to modification, ultimate decay and full of attributes. To understand the Brahman better, the prakasha and vimarsha forms of the Brahman have been populated. While the prakasha form is self illuminating and vimarsha form is not, both remain changeless. If transition in faith from saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) to nirguna Brahman (without attributes) does not happen over a period of time, the soul never gets liberated. Worshipping saguna Brahman has to pave way for merging with nirguna Brahman. It is difficult to pack an idol that was worshipped for decades offering them nothing. The delusion continues to play its role by not making such thing happen. God does not need such persons remaining afflicted with bondage and attachment. Attachment to an idol or photo of a god is considered as bondage. When such transition happens, the soul advances from human birth to the higher levels of demigod or goddess. Such souls are seldom born again as mortals. The sankhya philosophers take into account this soul as the 25th principle. The fact that soul is being taken into account as one of the tatvas clearly indicate that atman or soul is not the Absolute, as Absolute is beyond tatvas. Based upon the fact of omnipresent nature of the nirguna Brahma, He has to exist in all mortals being covered by saguna Brahman. The soul falsely identified as the pure Brahman, making the practitioner to continue to dwell in darkness and ignorance. For realising the nirguna Brahman, the highest knowledge is required to delineate Him as quite often this knowledge itself is mistakenly identified as the nirguna Brahman. During this process of delineating, maya or illusion is to be understood thoroughly as without the aid of maya, one cannot realise the Brahman. But at the exact time of realization that could last for a few seconds, maya removes its veil and fades out exposing the eternal self-illuminating light that can be realized. This light can never be seen with biological eyes, but only with the divine eye situated between two eyebrows.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM 586-587

Kamasevita (586)

Kama means the lord of love Manmata. She is worshipped by Manmata. Panchadasi mantra was formulated by 12 of Her great devotees and Manmata is one among them. Names of all the worshippers have been mentioned in nama 228.
Kamaha also means Maha Kameshwarar (the highest form of Shiva) who is also Her devotee. Possibly this nama could also refer to His worship (this is based on the fact that Shiva cannot function without Shakthi). Shiva and Shakthi alternatively assumed the roles of guru and disciple. On many occasions Shiva initiated Shakthi and on certain occasions Shakthi initiated Shiva on various aspects of mantra sastras. In purvabhag of Lalitha Trisati (verse 13), it is said that Lalitha Trisati was told to Hayagrivar jointly by Kameshvara and Kameshvari. Lalitha Trisati is extremely auspicious and contains 300 namas.
Kamaha signifies Manmata without bodily form. There is a story in Lingapurana, chapter 101 regarding the bodiless form of Manmata. Shiva was doing penance forgetting his wife Uma. Brahma and Indra summoned Manamata and his wife Rati to break Shiva’s penance and to unite Uma with Shiva. Manmata and his wife Rati reached the cave where Shiva was doing His penance. Shiva knew the purpose of Manmata’s visit. The fire blazed from Shiva’s third eye and burnt Manmata. Rati who stood by Manmata’s side inconsolably cried. Shiva took pity on her and gave Manmata a bodiless form for the purpose of dalliance. This nama says that body is not necessary to mental worship. Bodily form is required only to perform rituals that are only secondary in nature when compared to mental worship (meditation). This nama also implies that without understanding the essential natures of Shiva and Shakthi (prakasha and vimarsha form), worship may not fructify. For further reading on Manmata please refer namas 84 and 375.
Soundarya Lahari verse 5 says that Manamata got his power to induce coquetry by worshipping Shakthi.
Panchadasi mantra has 15 bijas. If the repetitive bijas are removed, the balance would be 9 bijas. Mahalakhmi (consort of Vishnu) taught 108 namas of Lalithambigai (9 bijas multiplied by numeric 12 making 108) to Manamata beginning with these nine bijas of Panchadasi.

Sri-shodasahkshari-vidya (587)

Shodashi mantra is superior to panchadasi. Shodashan means 16 and shodash means 16th. Shodashi mantra is derived by adding one more bija to panchadasi mantra. In fact, shodashi mantra consists of 27 bijas and formed like this. Om is excluded for computation, as all the mantras begin with OM.
1. Om (1 bija)
2. Shreem-hrim-kleem-im-sow: (5 bijas)
3. Om-hrim-shreem (3 bijas)
4. Ka-a-e-la-hrim (4 bijas)
5. Ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrim (6 bijas)
6. Sa-ka-la-hrim (4 bijas)
7. Sow:-im-kleem-hrim-shreem (5 bijas)
If this mantra is observed, one can find lines 4, 5 and 6 are the panchadasi mantra and each line representing one kuta of panchadasi. If lines 2 and 7 are observed, the bijas contained in the 2nd line are placed in the 7th line in reversed order. For example the last bija in line two is ‘sow:’ and this is placed as the first bija of the 7th line.
This mantra is known as shodashi because of 16 bijas, each kala representing a kala of moon. This is arrived at by adding Lakshmi bija ‘shreem’ at the end of panchadasi mantra. These sixteen bijas are arrived at by considering each kuta of panchadasi mantra as one bija. This way, lines 4, 5 and 6 are considered as one bija each, thus forming three bijas. The sixteen bijas are arrived by adding 5+3+1+1+1+5 (from line 2 to 7). There are two ‘om’s in this mantra. The first om is not considered for calculation. The second om in line 3 is replaced by atma bija of the practitioner and this is decided by one’s guru. Such a decision can be made by a guru if he is conversant with mantras and bijas. Any wrong bija is capable of destroying the practitioner.
Shodashi mantra is to be used exclusively for liberation and those who seek liberation alone should be initiated in this mantra. Shodashi mantra is the ultimate of all mantras and there is no other mantra superior to this. It is said that Shodashi mantra yields fruits after reciting 900,000 times. Those who are initiated into this mantra are not supposed to prostrate before anyone except one’s guru.
Shakthi is worshipped in ten different forms and this is known as ‘dasa-maha-vidya’ and shodashi is one among them. Shodashi vidya has too many prescribed rituals.

LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM MEANING 578-585

Maha-kailasa-nilaya (578)

Maha-Kailasa is the abode of Shiva. This is far away from the existing Kailasa Mountains. In fact, Maha-Kailasa is beyond human comprehension. Shiva has various forms and Maha-Kailasa is the abode of Paramashiva. Since Lalithambigai is always present with Shiva, Maha-Kailasa is referred to as the abode of Lalithai as well. This interpretation is given in epics.
The orifice in sahasrara (bindu) is known as maha-kailasa. Sahasrara is beyond the shad-chakras (muladhara to sahasrara) in the human body. Shiva is visualised here in the form of bindu (dot). Since She conjoins Shiva here in Her subtlest form, it is also referred as Her abode. In the previous nama three prastaras were discussed and one among them was kailasa prastara, which is beyond the reach of Vak Devis, the authors of this sahasranamam. They have used prefix ‘maha’ to mean Her best qualities and there are 37 such namas.

Mrunala-mrdu-dorlata (579)

Her arms are tender like lotus stalks. Her subtlest form is kundalini. This form is compared to that of a lotus stem in nama 111.

Mahaniya (580)

She is adorable. Whatever praise one showers on Her, She becomes worthy of it. Possibly this could be the reason for using prefix ‘maha’ (great) in a number of namas.

Dayamurti (581)

She is the embodiment of compassion, which is one of Her predominant qualities. This is the reason for commencing this Sahasranamam with ‘Sri Mata’, the compassionate mother of the universe. To emphasize Her compassion, this quality has been repeated in namas 197, 326 and 992. Compassion becomes Her predominant quality because She sustains all those who do not think about Her even for a moment.

Maha-samrajya-salini (582)

She magnificently controls all the planets forming part of this universe. Normally ‘samrajya’ refers to cluster of kingdoms. For Her, kingdoms mean planets and earth forming only a tiny part of the universe controlled by Her. Even the ‘maha-kailasa’ is ruled by Her in Her capacity as the consort of Shiva.

Atma-vidya (583)

This nama and the next two namas talk about three types of vidyas (knowledge).
Atma vidya means the knowledge about the Brahman, Brahma vidya. Brahman is also known as Atman. Nama 727 is ‘shiva-jnana-pradyini’, which means that She imparts knowledge on Shiva who is known as the Brahman without attributes. Since She imparts knowledge of the Supreme Ataman, she is addressed as ‘atma-vidya’.
Turiya gayatri is also said be atma vidya. Turiya gayatri is ‘Ka-e-la-hrim-vakbaveshvari-vidmahae; ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrim-kameshwari-cha-dhimahi; sa-ha-la-hrim-thanaaha-shakthihi-prachothayat.
There is a mantra called ‘atma-ashtakshara mantra’. This mantra is ‘om-hrim-hamsaha-soham-svaha’ (this mantra is a part of Sri Vidya cult). She is said to be in the forms of turiya gayatri and ‘atma-ashtakshara-vidya’.

Maha-vidya (584)

Knowing Atman within is the process of self-realization and such knowledge is known as maha-vidya as per the previous nama. This nama says that atma vidya is the best of all vidyas (knowledge). Knowing the Atman within makes a person not to distinguish between pleasures and pains. Such a person always stays connected with Her and enjoys perpetual bliss, leading to no more births. Pleasure and pain are felt only if one is born.
There is another interpretation which says that Vanadurga vidya is maha-vidya. Another scripture by name ‘Vanadurga saptasathi’ consists of a number of mantras. This is extremely powerful and its recitation drives away all evil forces. . Moola mantra of Vanadurga consists of 37 bijas.

Sri-vidya (585)

Sri vidya is panchadasi mantra. Vishnu purana refers to four types of vidyas. They are yajna vidya (deals with karmas), maha-vidya (rituals), guhya vidya (secretive worship), atma vidya (knowledge of self-realisation). Panchadasi and shodasi mantras are considered as most secretive. These mantras, if properly initiated and recited as per the prescribed rules, one is bound to attain liberation.