विशाला कल्याणी स्फुटरुचिरयोध्या कुवलयैः
कृपाधाराधारा किमपि मधुराभोगवतिका।
अवन्ती दृष्टिस्ते बहुनगरविस्तारविजया
ध्रुवं तत्तन्नामव्यवहरणयोग्या विजयते॥

viśālā kalyāṇī sphuṭarucirayodhyā kuvalayaiḥ
kṛpādhārādhārā kimapi madhurābhogavatikā |
avantī dṛṣṭiste bahunagaravistāravijayā
dhruvaṁ tattannāmavyavaharaṇayogyā vijayate ||

viśāla1– wide; kalyāṇi2 – auspiciousness; sphuṭaruci ayodhya3 – fully blossomed, splendorous and irresistible; kuvalayaiḥ - blue water lilies; kṛpā dhārā dhārā4 – continuous flow of compassion; kimapi madhura5 – inexplicable charm; bhogavatikā6 – causing Bliss; avantī7 – protection; dṛṣṭiḥ te – Your eyes; bahu nagara vistāra vijaya8 – many great victorious cities; dhruva – permanently; tat tat nāma vyavaharaṇa yogyā – each of them worthy of being called by their respective names; vijayate – victorious.

“O! Parāśakti! Your wide eyes are full of auspiciousness appearing like fully blossomed beautiful and splendorous blue water lilies. They show continuous flow of compassion and inexplicable charm and causes blissfulness. They offer protection to the universe and appear multitude of victorious cities, each of them worthy of being recognized independently.”  

This verse describes Her eyes. They are wide, auspicious and appear like fully blossomed blue water lily flowers. They are compared to blue water lilies because these flowers are elongated and sharp at the tip. They are dark blue in color and the verse subtly conveys that Her eyes are blue in color, which enhances Her beauty. Typically speaking, such comparisons cannot be made, as She is beyond such objective comparisons. But, great saints like Śaṁkarācārya draw these comparisons to enable everyone to understand Her incomprehensible beauty. This description also explains Śaṁkarācārya’s knowledge. He could have drawn several other flowers as comparison; but he has chosen the most appropriate comparison to narrate the beauty of Her eyes. Śaṁkarācārya had the capacity to visit any place of his choice through astral travel and by doing so he could have decided that blue water lilies are the best comparison to describe Her eyes.

Lalitā Sahasranāma 936 is Viśālākṣī, which is explained thus: “The form of Lalitāmbikā does not have abhaya (a is used here to negate bhaya, which means fear) and varada (granting wishes, conferring a boon, ready to fulfil requests or answer prayers) hands.  Generally, forms of gods and goddesses are described with more than two hands. One hand which is known as varada hasta (hasta means hand) is said to confer boons and another hand known as abhaya hasta  removes fear, and offers peace, safety and security.  But Lalitāmbikā offers these through Her eyes.  Hence Her eyes are praised in many scriptures.”

Her glances are classified under eight categories and they are: (marked as above line numeric like 1,2 etc in the verse above.)

1. Viśālā – causes bliss within as a result of which excitement is experienced, which is known as saṃkśobha (She unfolds within as the Self, causing inner happiness, initial stages of bliss)

2. Kalyāṇi – excitement and as a result of which people are attracted and this is known as ākarṣaṇa (She attracts people who occasionally drift away from virtuousness.)

3. Ayodhyā – expanded eyes causing fear and panic, which is known as drāvaṇa (She is a terror to those who are perpetual sinners.)

4. Dhārā – sluggish look causing intoxication known as unmāda (causing bliss in the minds of Her devotees.)

5. Madhurā – melodic look causing attraction, known as vasya (attracting Her devotees towards Her and offers them liberation.)

6. Bhogavatī – romancing glance (She looks at Śiva with this glance).

7. Avanti – tranquilizing look (this is said to cause enmity.)

8. Vijayā – half-closed eyes causing death (māraṇa).

These eight types of glances are described as eight cities, representing eight types of inherent human qualities. There is a reference to this eight cities (referred as puryaṣṭaka – eight body parts) in Vivekacūḍamaṇi (verse 96), which says, “Five organs of action such as speech, five organs of knowledge such as ear, five prāṇa-s, five principle elements such ākāśa along with three constituents of antaḥkaraṇa – mind, intellect and ego. These eight “cities” form the subtle body.” {Puryaṣṭaka is also explained differently thus: (1) five organs of action (karmendriya-s), 2)  five organs of senses (jñānaendriya-s), 3) antaḥkaraṇa (four in numbers - manas, buddhi, cittam and ahaṃkāra or ego), 4) five prāṇa-s (prāṇa, apāṇa, etc), 5) five elements (ākāś, air, etc) 6) desire, 7) ignorance and 8) karma.} 

This is further explained in Lalitā Sahasranāma 662 Aṣṭamūrtiḥ: “She is eight fold.  Both Śiva and Śaktī are eight fold.  Eight forms of Śiva are Bhava, Śarva, Īśāna, Paśupati, Rudra, Ugra, Bhīma and Maha. Śaktī’s eight forms are known through Brāhmī, Māheśvarī, Kaumāri, Vaiśnavī, Vārahī, Māhendri, Cāmundā and Mahālakṣmī.  It is said that a soul is divided into eight categories based on the quality of the soul.  If soul is embedded with more karma-s, it is not considered as pure and the soul with least karmic account is considered as pure.  The purest forms of the souls are not born in the earth, but born as angels or super human forms.  Taking these as the two extremes, the eight forms of the soul are classified as follows. 1. Soul or jīva, 2. Inner self or antarātman, 3. Supreme Self or Paramātman, 4.  Untainted-ātman or nirmalātman, 5. Pure self or śudhātman, 6. Knowledgeable self or jñānātman, 7. Great self or mahātman, 8. Basic self or bhūtātman. 

The five basic elements and sun, moon and soul are considered as the eight types of bodies.  The authors of this Sahasranāma are eight Vāc Devi-s. 

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gīta(VII.4 and 5) “Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, reason and ego constitute my eightfold. This indeed is My lower nature.”  When Kṛṣṇa says lower nature, naturally there has to be a higher nature which is known as the Supreme Consciousness or the Brahman. 

Based on the principle of omnipresent nature of the Brahman, whatever form of existence is the beingness of the Brahman only.  These eight dimensional forms or attributes merge together to form the Brahman.  It would be wise to say that these eight dimensional forms originated from the Brahman and each of the eight forms of Śiva or Śaktī represents an aspect of the Brahman.  Be it multidimensional or non-dimensional, every part of existence is Her form only, which is in conformity of Her omnipresent nature.” 

As far as this verse is concerned, it says that Parāśakti carries out all the acts of Brahman only through Her eyes. That is why great emphasis has been given to Her eyes in various Scriptures.