Author: amrita

Every object in ti s universe is the creation of the Divine Mother. From the smallest of the organisms to the Brahma, hence we praise in the LS as Om ābrahma kīṭa jananyai namaḥ, who is the mother of everything from Brahma to the lowliest insect. As said earlier, the syllable Sri is added to depict anything that is connected to Devi.

The abode of Divine Mother is called Sri Puram, the path of Sadhana followed is known as Sri Vidya, Sri also depicts the Purusharthas (Dharma, Artha, Kama & Moksha). Out of all these Moksha is the most suspicious and ultimate aim and Devi bestows Moksha, hence she is addressed with the syllable Sri. It is because of this great souls like Sri Sankara, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and others considered the feminine aspect of the Divine as their own Mother.

Usually people go to their Mothers to unburden their sorrow. It is said like this in the Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram composed by Sri Sankara,

āpatsumagnassmaraṇaṁ tvadīyaṁ |
karōmi durgē karuṇārṇavē śivē |
naitacchaṭhatvaṁ mama bhāvayēthāḥ |
kṣudhātr̥ṣārtā jananīṁ smaranti ||

O Mother I have sunk in misfortunes and therefore remembering you now which I never did before,o Mother, you who are an ocean of compassion, Therefore do not think of me as false and my invocation as a pretence, Because when children are afflicted with hunger and thirst, they naturally remember their mother only –

matsamaḥ pātakī nāsti pāpaghnī tvatsamā na hi |
ēvaṁ jñātvā mahādēvī yathā yōgyaṁ tathā kuru ||

O Mother, There is no one as fallen like me, and there is no one as uplifting by removing sins like you, considering thus, O Mahadevi, please do whatever is proper to save me. To praise Devi, one do not need to have profound knowledge or practices in mantra or tantra. Nor one need to give huge donations to the temples or perform Japa, dhyana and study scriptures. What she needs is the innocent pure Love. That is what we need to offer to the Mother.

She is the root cause of this universe. Like the smallest invisible seed becomes a huge banyan tree and manifests as the trunk, the branches, the leaves and the fruits. If you look into each part, each one is different from the other. The branches are different from the fruits, the fruits are different from the leaves and so on. But the root cause for all these was that minute seed. In a similar way the root cause and foundation for this universe is Divine Mother.

When we make ornaments from the gold, the bangles are different from the ear stud which intern is different from the necklace but the gold in all the ornaments remain the same. In a similar way, it is Devi who is the power of consciousness that pervades the entire creation. She is the cause for this world, Jagad Karini. Hence it is with Her one should unburden your sorrows and share your joy. In happiness or sorrow, we should remember Her.

Aapadi Kim Karneeyam?
Smaraneeyam Charanayugalam Ambaayaah!
What to do when in trouble?
Think of the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother!

All the devatas are Her control. Hence we should always remember Her feet

We often argue whether God is having a form or is She formless? Amma often says ” Don’t think whether God is with or without attributes. Both are in fact the same. Some part of the ocean freezes to become icebergs. That doesn’t make it different from the ocean. It is still a part of the vast ocean. The waters from the ocean vaporise forms clouds and come back as rains. In the same way, God can attain any form to Grace us. By attaining any form the formless principle is not being affected”. The divine being manifests in front of us as avatars just to Grace and bless us.

In India there are many popular Sahasranamas out of which those of Vishnu, Shiva, Ganapati & Lalita are considered the most famous. Ganga, Kalika, Gayatri, Saraswati, Sita, Shyamala, Rajeshwari, Bhavani, Bala, Parvati, Meenakshi, Radhika, Durga, Lakshmi, are a few among the Sahasranamas of divine mother. Among these, Lalita Sahasranama is the most famous.

The word Lalita means simple. “Laliteti Sundaram” is another definition meaning Lalita means beautiful. “Lalanat Lalita” means the one who is always with us in whatever actions we do. A child plays and walks with the mother without any fear or hesitation, in the same way, this mantra depicts the accessibility of Laita Devi, who is ever approachable for whatever needs and ready to walk alongside with us in any circumstances.

Eventhough we adore the supreme being as Nirguna (who is beyond all three gunas of nature, namely, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas), Nishkala(who is without parts), we also praise Her as Nama Narayana pita (who is pleased by the repetition of Her names) . Even if She doesn’t have any names and forms, She takes a form and come running towards the cry of Her beloved Children. Hence the first mantra of Lalita Sahasranama is Sri Mata. There are so many names in LS that denotes the motherly nature of Devi, namely Amba, Ayi, Ambika, Dhaatri, Jagad Dhatri, Prasu, Viyadadi Jagad Prasu, Veera Mata, Janani, Jagad Janani etc.

The effort a Mother takes to give birth to a child is enormous. It is because for this reason great souls. like Sri Sankara, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Ramana Maharshi etc were eager to serve their biological mothers. An ordinary mother takes care of our well being in this birth but the Divine Mother is always with us during all our births and tries to uplift us. Not only that this creation and the Mother are not different. We say it as Karya-Kaarana Bandham (Relationship between the effect and the cause). Like gold is needed to create ornaments, Gold is the cause and ornaments are the effect. Mud is the cause and pot is the effect. In this universe the Divine Mother is the cause and effect. Anything that is sentient or insentient is the Divine Mother. She sees everything as Her own and it is because of this we call her Jagad Janani, Jagan Mata etc.

We add the syllable Sri in front of LalitaSahasranama and also in front of Mata. This is the peculiarity of the Indian tradition. When we talk about Sannyasins, we usually address them as “Anantha Sri Vibhooshitha”, those with infinite auspiciousness. When a mother gives birth to a child, She doesn’t know what kind of child she is giving birth to. But by addressing the Divine Mother Sri Mata, we depict the Divine power behind the creation, the energy that had complete knowledge on this creation. In Soundarya Lahari, it is said that without the blessings of Devi, even the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu & Maheshwara) cannot perform their duties.

sivah saktya yukto yadi bhavati saktah prabhavitum
na ced evam devo nakhalu kusalah spanditum api

Without Her blessings, even the Parameshwara cannot pulsate!
Hence this creation is done with the complete knowledge unlike an ordinary mother giving birth. Devi does the Creation (Srishti), Sustenance(Sthithi) and Dissolution(Samhara) through the trinity.

There are around 321 shlokas in Lalita Sahasranama. The preface has 51 shlokas. The main crux constituting the stotra is 183 shlokas. It has 1 dhyana shloka and the phalashruti (explanation on what one can achieve by chanting the stotram) has 86 shlokas.

Amma often says “Whoever chants LalitaSahasranama daily with faith and devotion, Devi takes care of all his/her material needs. At the same, there will also be spiritual progress.”

The Lalita Sahasranama is believed to be composed by the 8 divine Vagdevatas (or Rishis) who are the deities of speech with the following names. 1.Vasini Vagdevi; 2. Kameswari; Vagdevi; 3. Modini Vagdevi; 4. Kamala Vagdevi; 5. Aruna Vagdevi; 6. Jayini Vagdevi; 7. Sarveswari Vagdevi and 8. Koushini Vagdevi. They are believed to be the rishis of this stotram/mantras as there are rishis for every mantra. “Rishis are Mantra-drashtas or “the seers of thought”

The Lalita Sahasranama appears in the Uttara khanda (the last part) of the Brahmanda Purana in the form of conversation (Samvada) between the lord Hayagreeva & sage Agastya as the lord initiates the sage with the auspicious wisdom.

Once Lalita Devi addressed Vasini and the other Vagdevathas “I command you – who know the secrets of Srichakra, and of Sri Vidya and other Mantras to compose a hymn of a thousand names that reveal my greatness. Lead the way to let my devotees obtain My grace by chanting it!”. Accordingly Vasini and the other 7 deities of speech composed the Lalita Sahasranama consisting of the most secret mantras.

There are 51 alphabets in the Sanskrit language. The Vagdevis used the best words and letters to describe the mother and avoided the most difficult ones to ease the pronunciation thus selecting only 32 letters from the Sanskrit alphabet.

Lalita Sahasranama is said to be a combination of Bhakti, Vedanta and the Yoga Sadhana. Vagdevis are very close to the Mother and no-one else could have described mother in such an authentic and spotless way. They are the deities of speech.Who else can write it better than them!

Subsequently one day Devi sitting on her throne, gave the opportunity of her Darshan to all those who were present in the court, including countless Brahma’s, Countless Vishnu’s, Rudra’s and Sakthi’s such as Mantrini, Dandini and the other inhabitants of heaven. She gave them all the opportunity to worship her. As every one took their seats after the worship, Lalita Devi allowed Vasini and the other deities to chant the Sahasranama by visual signaling. They stood up with their palms joined in devotion and chanted “Lalita Sahasranama” in her praise.

This divine stotra was heard by Lord Hayagreeva from the Vagdevis and gave it to sage Agastya. Sage Agastya along with his wife Lopamudra spread gave it to this mortal world. In Tamil Nadu, there is a place known as Thirumeichur (earlier known as Sri Puram). It is believed that it is here where the Lalita Sahasranama was chanted for. the first time in this world.

There is a popular story. Once Adi Sankara wanted to write a commentary on Lalita Sahasranama and asked his disciples to bring the palm leaves containing the mantras. The disciples brought a manuscript and gave it to Sri Sankara. When he opened, he found it to be Vishnu Sahasranama, not Lalita Sahasranama. Sri Sankara said, “Please bring Lalita Sahasranama”. Again a manuscript was given and to the surprise when Sri Sankara opened that too was of Vishnu Sahasranama. This happened repeatedly for many times. Sri Sankara became a bit furious and asked his disciple “Why are you bringing Vishnu Sahasranama when I ask for Lalita Sahasranama?” the disciple replied, “Master, whenever I go to take Lalita Sahasranama, a little girl stands next to the manuscript library and gives me this. I couldn’t refuse!”. Sri Sankara understood what this implied using his divine vision and created a commentary on Vishnu Sahasranama. Later Sri Sankara composed a beautiful hymn on Mother named Saundarya Lahari. Lalitāsahasranāma bhāsya is a commentary (bhāsya) on Lalita Sahasranama by Bhaskararaya. This work was completed in 1728 CE. The translations of this work became popular in all languages in India.

An infant is more affectionate towards its mother than the father.
pitra nirbhalsitho balah
matreya ashwasithokhila
The father always tries to bring us to a disciplined way of life whereas the mother always tries to console us. Even if we do anything wrong, mother forgives and console us.

We praise Devi like this
Bhumau Skalitha Paadaanaam
Bhumireva Avalambanam
Thvayi Jaatha Aparaadhanaam
Thwameva Sharanam Shive
If we slip, we fall on to Mother Earth. In the same way, when we do a mistake the divine Mother forgives and with Her unconditional Love tries to correct us. This is why it is said a baby is attracted more towards its mother.

by Swami Sankaramritananda Puri