Veda-vedyā वेद-वेद्या (335)

She can be known through Veda-s.  All the Veda-s lead to the Supreme Reality, the Brahman.  Brahman is the embodiment of Veda-s.

 Kṛṣṇa says, (Bhagavad Gīta XV.15) “By all the Veda-s, I am to be known. …I am the knower of all Veda-s”. 

Veda-s can be known only through knowledge.  In other words, unless one has knowledge, the Self-realization is not possible.  Brahman is the essence of that knowledge.  There is a difference between Veda-s and Vedānta. Vedānta refers to the teachings of Upaniṣads.  Study of Upaniṣads gives the necessary impetus to the knowledge.  

It is also said that Śrī Cakra has four gates on the four sides and each gate represents one Veda.  Knowing Her through Veda-s is called Śuddha Vidya (the perfect knowledge) in contrast to Śrī Vidya that deals predominantly with rituals. 

 No doubt, some good interpretations on Veda-s are available, but the fact is that Veda-s are beyond human interpretation.  If one looks at the Veda-s, one may tend to believe that they talk about external fire rituals. In fact they do not. They convey several subtle interpretations and only out of such interpretations, Upaniṣads originated.  Upaniṣads do plain speaking and to the point. They make attempts to qualify the Brahman by affirmations and negations.  She is in the form of essence of Veda-s.

{Further reading on Veda-s:  The Veda-s (वेद) are the most important treatise to the humanity.  They are in classical Sanskrit language that was widely used in ancient Aryan times. The Vedic verses can be interpreted from various angles like literature, spiritual, religious, grammar, philosophy etc.  Though there are interpretations on Veda-s available today, it is doubtful whether they truly convey the intended meaning.  This is not because of defective interpretations or lack of efficiency of the interpreters, but mainly due to the abilitie-s of Veda-s to communicate both gross and subtle renditions.  A careful reading of Vedic verses reveals that they deal with symbolic separation of bodily organs of the performer and offered to higher energy fields for purification.  Veda-s never advocated physical slaying of animals. But it is wrongly interpreted that various organs of an animal are offered as oblations.  Veda-s originated from divine commune.  For a long time, they were not penned down as the verses and were channeled from a master to his disciples.  The sages have chosen the oral path for communication as these verses relied more on orthoepy to prevent any distortions.   Most of the texts of Veda-s are in the form of verses.  These are called mantra verses and their oral delivery largely depends on phonics and rhythm.   There are portions of prose as well and they are known as Brāhmaṇa (ब्राह्मण) passages.  These passages explain the procedures for rituals and dwell more on the practical side. 

There are four Veda-s, Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva (ऋग्, यजुर्, साम, अथर्व). The first three are known as trividyā (त्रिविद्या) (literal translation – three types of knowledge).  Atharva Veda is not included here because of its late origin.  The origin of the other three Vedas is not known.  But the fact remains that they defied Nature’s fury and continued to guide even in this contemporary world.  Vedas are also known as Śruti-s (श्रुति).  Veda-s in their original form is too difficult to comprehend as they are considered to have been delivered by God Himself to the ancient sages and saints. The sages conglomerated the speech of God, by colligating their highest level of cosmic intelligence with the Supreme Consciousness.  They memorized these verses and imparted them to their disciples orally.  If the sages had chosen to contrive the Vedas into manuscripts, they could have been destroyed or modified, unable to stand the vagaries of the Mother Nature.  It is beyond the human power to decrypt the speech of God.  To make it possible to some extent, the study of Vedas were divided into various categories and each category was analyzed by the experts in the respective fields. This study is known as vedāṅga (वेदाङ्ग) that integrates study of phonetics, ritual injunctions, linguistics, grammar, etymology, lexicography, prosody, astronomy and astrology.

The elaborate study of Veda-s would not have been initiated, had it been easier to understand them. Vedāṅga attempted to corroborate various expert interpretations, thereby making it possible to first understand the gross interpretation and later its subtle conveyance.    It was concluded that Vedas discuss about every act of a human being, from birth to death.  This conclusion was divided into three broad categories known as jñāna, karma and upāsana.  Jñāna means wisdom.  It is not the knowledge of literacy. This knowledge is known as wisdom.  Knowledge is of mundane type, the psychological result of perception of learning and reasoning.  Wisdom has the ability to apply knowledge gained for the purpose of practical judgment, discrimination and insight.  This is the reason why wisdom is considered superior to knowledge.  The Veda-s both directly and indirectly advocate acquiring of wisdom. As wisdom can be acquired only through experience, they prescribe karma-s.  Karma-s mean actions.  By repeated actions, experience is gained and by such experience, one is able to discriminate between good and bad.  Next is upāsana which means performance, performance of rituals.  Upāsana differs from karma.  Karma means actions for sustenance.  Upāsana means actions performed to realize God.  The Veda-s give innumerable interpretations to the concept of God.  The basic idea of the Veda-s is to make one realize God, which they call as the Brahman.  To realize the Brahman, the Veda-s insist that one should be proficient in all the three categories.  Therefore, it is made imperative to understand the Veda-s, in their archetypical form, as the verses of Veda-s have deeper implications.} 

Vindhyācala-nivāsinī विन्ध्याचल-निवासिनी (336)

She lives in Vindhyā mountains.  In Durgā Saptasati (Seven hundred verses like Bhagavad Gīta and is a part of Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) XI.41, She says “I will be born in the house of Nandagopa (father of Kṛṣṇa) and will live in Vindhyā mountains, during which time I will kill these two demons (two demons called Śumba and Niśumba)”.  This verse is a definite clue identifying Kṛṣṇa as Lalitāmbikā. This could be the reason for various nāma-s in this Sahasranāma identifying Her with Viṣṇu.  There are certain instances where She is said to be the sister of Viṣṇu.  In this Sahasranāma, nāma 280 says that She is the sister of Padmanābha, one of many names.

Vidhātrī विधात्री (337)

Dhātrī means the motherhood.  She being (Śrī Mātā) the Supreme Mother, She nourishes this universe. Dhātrī also means gooseberry (Emblica Officinalis or amla) and in this context it is said that She likes gooseberries. This tree is said to be a sacred tree attributed to Goddess Lakṣmī.  The lord of creation, Brahma, is known as Vidhātra and his wife is Vidhātrī.  The Supreme Śiva in the form of Brahman creates this universe, as Viṣṇu maintains it and as Rudra destroys it.  His consorts in these three stages are known as Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī and Rudrāṇī.  There are other nāma-s (457, 823, 826, 985) with the same meaning, that come up later in this Sahasranāma. In Lalitā Sahasranāma no nāma is repeated for the second time.  But there are certain nāma-s that could convey the same meaning.  If one goes deep into each nāma, one can realize that such nāma-s also convey different meanings altogether.