Deśa-kālā-paricchinnā देश-काला-परिच्छिन्ना (701)

She is not limited by space (deśa) and time (kālā). Sage Patañjali in his yoga sūtra (aphorisms on yoga) says “He (the Brahman) is the teacher of teachers, not limited by time (I.26)”.  This is the unique quality of the Brahman.  All the beings are bound by space and time. 

In this Sahasranāma, there are many nāma-s that confirm the status of Brahman on Lalitāmbikā. But each of these nāma-s convey different qualities of the Brahman.  It is also pertinent to note that Brahman is beyond qualities and attributes. For easier understanding Brahman is classified into two categories – saguṇa Brahman (with attributes) and nirguṇa Brahman (without attributes). Saguṇa Brahman is Śaktī and Nirguṇa Brahman is Śiva. One without the other becomes non-functional. 

Sarvagā सर्वगा (702)

She is omnipresent.  This is the result of the previous nāma.  When time and space are transcended, the resultant factor is omnipresence, yet another quality of the Brahman.  There is a story about Her omnipresent nature.  When She was doing penance, Brahma appeared before Her and offered a boon and She asked for the boon of being omnipresent.  But this cannot be correlated with this Sahasranāma particularly in view of nāma-s 58 pañca-brahmāsana-sthitā and 249 pañca -pretāsanāsīnā.

Because of being Sarvagā, She is also Sarvajṇā (nāma 196), knower of everything (omniscient).  The omnipresent nature also indicates that She is the soul of living beings.  Īśa Upaniṣad says (5) “asya sarvasya antaḥ, asya sarvasya bāhyataḥ” which means the inner most being of all that constitutes its outside also’. Nārāyaṇa sūktam says (Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad 13.5), “antar bhahisca tat sarvam vyāypya nārāyaṇa stitaḥ” which means ‘all that pervade both inside and outside is Nārāyaṇa.  Śrī Devi Māhātmiyam 598 says, sarva svarupe sarveśe sarva śakti samanvite which means “embodiment of all beings, the supreme ruler and embodiment of all the powers”. This is the nature of Sarvagā.

Sarva-mohinī सर्व-मोहिनी (703)

She casts Her spell on everybody. She casts Her spell through the effect of māyā. Omnipresent means that She is present in all the objects, whether perishable or non-perishable, present as contradictory attributes, present as opposites.  This leads to bewilderment of Her nature. This nāma solves this bewilderment. 

This is explained in Śrī Devi Māhātmiyam (I.55) mahāmāyā ...... jnānināmapi cetāṃsi devī bhagavatī hi sā meaning that ‘the great māyā form of Devī Bhagavatī attracts even the minds of jñānī-s by casting Her spell.’ Śiva says in Kūrma Purāṇa “this supreme Śaktī is in me and is Brahman.  This māyā is dear to me, it is infinite and the universe is bewildered by this.”

Bhagavad Gīta (V.16) explains how She casts Her spell. “The omnipresent God (refer nāma 702 above) does not receive the virtue or sin of anyone.  Knowledge is enveloped in ignorance.  Hence it is those beings which are constantly falling prey to delusion (māyā).”  Māyā means that power by which experience can be measured, as opposed to the Brahman which is immeasurable, as Brahman is omnipresent.  That is why She is known as Prakāśa Vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpinī.

Māyā is a deterrent factor in realising the Brahman. She will withdraw Her spell of māyā only for those who are spiritually advancing.

{Further study on Prakāśa Vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpinī: The objective manifestation is “I am this”. This is called prakṛti. It has three guṇa-s namely sattva, rajas and tamas. They originate from three śaktī-s namely icchā, jñāna and kriyā. When one does not possess anything, where is the question of any object? When there is no object where is the question of ‘this’? At this stage both subject and object do not exist. When subject and object no longer exists, where is the question of will, or three śaktī-s namely, icchā, jñāna and kriyā. Here, out of the thirty six tattva-s thirty four are destroyed. By simply understanding that nothing belongs to him, one is able to remove the thirty four tattva-s that were preventing him to identify himself with the Supreme Self. Now he has only two more tattva-s remaining. They are Prakāśa and Vimarśa. All these thirty four tattva-s were created and controlled by Vimarśa only. Since Vimarśa is the sole reason for māyā, we can call Vimarśa as Vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpini. Why mahā and svarūpini. Mahā means great. Māyā is the greatest cause of all illusions and is the cause of ignorance. So mahā is added. Why svarūpini? Svarūpini means form. Vimarśa is Śaktī, the feminine gender. Why Śaktī-s is considered as feminine gender? Because, She not only creates the universe, but also nurtures it. When one understands this, he is close to realising the mahā māyā svarūpini. The next stage is to realise Prakāśa, which alone is Self-illuminating. Vimarśa with the help of Self-illuminating Prakāśa, reflects the Self illuminating light to the universe, without which universe cannot function.  Therefore, to realise Prakāśa is anyone’s ultimate aspiration.

It has already been seen that Vimarśa is the only creation of Prakāśa. Vimarśa is the absolute freedom of Will of Prakāśa, which is also known as svātantrya śakti. Prakāśa has given all powers to Vimarśa to create, sustain, delude, conceive and bless the universe. Without Vimarśa, Prakāśa cannot do these acts. Prakāśa is always alone and it does not have a second. It is ādi (beginning with or the first) and anādi (existing from eternity). This means, it exists from eternity. We always need a second one for creation. One alone cannot create. Same principle applies here. When Vimarśa identifies itself and unites with Prakāśa it is called the Absolute. We can call Vimarśa at this stage as Prakāśa vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpini”. Here Vimarśa is still with Prakāśa. This is called “the Absolute”.

One has to surely go through Śaktī alone to realise the Śiva. It is argued that Śaktī alone, in the form of Vimarśa or Cit, can lead to realizing Śiva. It is also considered that Śaktī is feminine gender and Śiva is the masculine gender. Śaktī cannot function without Śiva and Śiva also cannot function without Śaktī. Both are interdependent. Therefore, when Śaktī stays with the Śiva, She is called the Absolute.}