VERSE 14

लक्ष्मीः मौक्तिकलक्षकल्पितसितच्छत्रं तु धत्ते रसात्
इन्द्राणी च रतिश्च चामरवेर धत्ते स्वयं भारती।
वीणामेणविलोचनाः सुमनस्सां नृत्यन्ति तद्रागवद्भावैः
आङ्गिकसात्विकैः स्फुटरसं मातस्तदाकण्यर्ताम्॥

lakṣmīḥ mauktikalakṣakalpitasitacchatraṁ tu dhatte rasāt
indrāṇī ca ratiśca cāmaravera dhatte svayaṁ bhāratī |
vīṇāmeṇavilocanāḥ sumanassāṁ nṛtyanti tadrāgavadbhāvaiḥ
āṅgikasātvikaiḥ sphuṭarasaṁ mātastadākaṇyartām ||

“Goddess Lakṣmī is holding happily for You, a pure white umbrella studded with innumerable pearls. Indrāṇī and Rati standing on Your both sides fan You. Goddess Sarasvati sitting opposite to You plays on her veena. Celestial damsels with deer like eyes dance to the tune of Sarasvati’s veena by showing different expression. O Mother! Let all these be seen and heard by You.”

This verse begins with the third bīja (la ल) of the third and last kūṭa viz. śakti kūṭa of Pañcadaśī mantra. This is the 14th bīja of the Pañcadaśī mantra.

She is sitting in Her Royal throne offered to Her in the first verse. Goddess Lakṣmī is holding a white umbrella with innumerable pearls embedded in it. Lakṣmī is happily holding the umbrella out of love for Her. This means that Lakṣmī is not holding the umbrella as a duty, as she knows that She is Supreme. The way in which she holds the umbrella clearly shows that she is holding it, as if she is privileged to hold it. Lakṣmī closeness to Her, gives her power to offer material wealth to Her devotees. Holding an umbrella is the exhibition of highest mark of respect. She is Rājarājeśvarī (Lalitā Sahasranāma 684), the Supreme Ruler.

On Her either sides, Indrāṇī, wife of Indrā and Rati, wife of Manmatha (Cupid) fan Her using cāmara. Cāmara is made of plumes in the heads of white horses. This is also a symbol of respect, like holding an umbrella. Normally, such sort of respect is shown to great kings. Since She is much beyond all the human kings, the utmost respect is being shown to Her. Why Indrāṇī and Rati? Since Indrāṇī is the wife of Indra, the head of all gods and goddesses, she represents all gods and goddesses. Rati is the wife of Manmatha. Parāśakti is fond of Manmatha and his acts. Manmatha is a great devotee of Parāśakti, says Lalitā Sahasranāma-s 375 Kāmapūjitā and 586 Kāmasevitā. Kāma refers to Manmatha. She Herself is the essence of love says Lalitā Sahasranāma-s 376 Śṛṅgāra-rasa-saṁpūrṇā and 863 Kāmakelitaraṅgitā.

Opposite to Her throne, goddess Sarasvati is playing on her veena. Sarasvati’s veena is known as kachapi. Lalitā Sahasranāma 27 says that Her voice is more melodious than Sarasvati’s veena. Saundaryalaharī verse 66 also endorses this. In tune with Sarasvati’s veena, divine damsels, whose eyes resemble the eyes of a deer, dance and make expressive gestures known as abhinaya.

All these are called upacāra-s and explained in detail in tantra śāstra-s. Lalitā Sahasranāma 235 mentions about 64 types of upacāra-s. The aspirant mentally appeals to Her to accept these upacāra-s. With this he completes all offerings to Her.

VERSE 15

ह्रींकारात्रयसंपुटेन मनुनोपास्ये त्रयीमौलिभिः
वाक्यैर्लक्ष्यतनो तव स्तुतिविधौ को वा क्षमेताम्बिके।
सल्लापाः स्तुतयः प्रदक्षिणशतं संचार एवास्तु ते
संवेशो नमसः सहस्रमखिलं त्वत्प्रीतये कल्पताम्॥

hrīṁkārātrayasaṁpuṭena manunopāsye trayīmaulibhiḥ
vākyairlakṣyatano tava stutividhau ko vā kṣametāmbike |
sallāpāḥ stutayaḥ pradakṣiṇaśataṁ saṁcāra evāstu te
saṁveśo namasaḥ sahasramakhilaṁ tvatprītaye kalpatām ||

This verse begins with the fourth and the last bīja (la ल) of the third and last kūṭa viz. śakti kūṭa of Pañcadaśī mantra. This is the 15th and the last bīja of the Pañcadaśī mantra. At the end of this verse Pañcadaśī mantra, if the first bīja-s of these verses are taken, entire Pañcadaśī mantra consisting of 15 bīja-s is formed.

“You are worshiped with a mantra consisting of three hrīṁ-s; You can be realized through the subtle teaching of Upaniṣad-s, which are considered as the head of Vedas. Who has the power to compose hymns in Your praise? O! Mother! Let all benignant words spoken, be hymns for you; let all movements be pradakṣiṇa for You; lying down be thousands of prostrations for You. Let all these be for Your Grace.”

At the completion of Pañcadaśī mantra, the aspirant has truly realized Her. He has moved away from ritualistic worship. Even though, he has been offering everything to Her only in his mind, without literally resorting to ritualistic worship, still, whatever he has contemplated are associated with ritual worship. He has conceptualized throne for Her to sit, he has offered different types of food for Her food to eat, etc. When everything comes from Her, where is the question of offering anything to Her? When She is within, where is the question of offering something to Her externally? This was happening in him due to his spiritual ignorance. In the initial stages, the aspirant was holding Her as someone different from Him and was contemplating Her in a pedestal. This is dualistic worship. Any ritualistic worship is dualistic worship. Dualistic worship though lays strong foundation for advancing in spirituality, but cannot be continued for ever. This aspirant has attained this transformation only in this verse, by making a reference to Upaniṣad-s.

Upaniṣad-s describe about Brahman without form. Brahman has two forms. The first one is saguṇa Brahman and the second one is nirguṇa Brahman. In a crude language, the first one can be explained as the One with forms and the second is without forms. The former has to lead to the latter and this is the true spiritual progress. Upaniṣad-s are the head or crown of Vedas, as they teach the essence of Vedas in a subtle way. Vedas have been referred in this verse as trayī, which means three fold sacred science, which comprises of recitation of hymns, performing sacrifices and chanting.

The aspirant has attained such a maturity that he offers all his benignant speeches as hymns in Her praise. When this realization happens in an aspirant, he speaks only good language. Whatever he utters becomes benignant. Speech normally reflects one’s mental status. Since his entire is mind is pervaded by Her, he speaks only auspicious words, which transforms the environs around him positively. The people around him feel his presence due to the radiation of positive energy from him. He considers his normal movements as pradakṣiṇa namaskāra. There are various types of prostration and pradakṣiṇa namaskāra is one among them, which can be explained as rotation from one’s right to left (circumambulations). The aspirant now understands the teachings of Upaniṣad-s. He now understands that She is to be realized within and not externally. Upaniṣad-s draw comparisons only for the sake of understanding Brahman. For example Upaniṣad-s say that Brahman is several times brighter than the sun, with an intention to make us understand Brahman better. In reality, Brahman can never be explained by any words. He is beyond explanations. At the most saguṇa Brahman can be explained as the one with attributes, from whom, Her various forms are derived. But liberation is possible only with nirguṇa Brahman, Her formless form. The aspirant appeals to Her that his lying down be accepted as sāṣṭaṅga namaskāra, where the entire body is laid down on the ground in reverence. It is called sāṣṭaṅga because eight body parts touch the ground and they are forehead, two hands, chest, two knees and two feet. Women are exempted from performing sāṣṭaṅga namaskāra. This represents the submission of one’s ego before Her. Saundaryalaharī verse 27 conveys the same concept.

There are two more verses to complete this series.