lalitā
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
I thought to spend just a few posts on some of the names found in the lalitā-sahasranāma ( or 1,000 names of lalitā), considered a stotraṁ.
- stotraṁ स्तोत्रं - praise; stotraṁ ( some write stotra) comes from the word stu स्तु. Stu means to praise , laud , eulogize , extol , celebrate in song or hymns.
- lalitā is defined as sporting; it also means soft , gentle , charming , lovely. It is a way of identifying śrī, or mahā-tripurasundarī.
We also are aware that there are many sahasranāma-s i.e. rudra, viṣṇu, sīta, and the like. It is within the brahmāṇanda purāṇa we find lalitā-sahasranāma¹.
We are told this knowledge comes from the conversation of the ṛṣi agastya¹ and his master śrī hayagrīva; yet one must note it was the composition of the vāg-devatā-s. The ṛṣi asks, why was this not taught/revealed to me ? Hayagrīva-ji says it is not for public teaching, it is that secret. It should be concealed from the devotionless, just as śrī vidya is reserved and kept consealed ( the 44th śloka of the phalaśruti section suggests this).
Hence for the following posts, there will not be an in-depth review, but just some looks at Her name and the revealing nature of them. I am posting this on Friday, as this is a favorite day for Her.
Because we are talking of mahā-tripurasundarī the notion of 3 (tri) must be inherent in this sahasranāma. I will ofer some ideas in the next post on this 3, but thought to start here: I have mention before the disambigulation¹ of this word tripurasundarī:
tri-pura-sundarī is :
- tri- the three fold division we see throughout creation; The highest is Sat-Chit-Ananda , as Truth (pure) Consciousness and Bliss. The taittrīya upaniṣad is all food (anna) is made of this triad – Tejas ( fire) , ap or jala (water or fluid) and prithvī (or earth) – She is found in all 3.
She is found in the triad of the famous vyahrti’s of bhu, buvaha suvaḥ, the second of janaḥ, tapaḥ and satyam, and the connection between the two or mahaḥ given by rishi (ṛṣi) mahacamasya.
We see this trika in waking ( jagrat), dream (swapna) and deep sleep (suṣupti). Yet we see Tripurasuundarī transcending all ( turīyam) so She can encompass all or be the root of all. She is mentioned as 'certainly the 4th' ( turīyam svid).
We have also talked of this trika on onter HDF Posts discussing śiva's triśula. - pura or puri for city – and call our body the city of the divine that has 9 gates. The nine is 3 squared ( again trika based) – or 9 entry points to the body. Yet pura is a field of action ( like our bodies) and the triads mentioned above are the fields of wake , dream, sleep, etc.
- sundarī – a beautiful woman
praṇām
words
- disambiguate - to remove the ambiguity from; make unambiguous
- agastya - said to have been the son of both mitra and varuṇa by urvaśī ; to have been born in a water-pot.
His name components are 'a-ga' = a mountain , and 'asti' = thrower - vāg-devatā-s - divinities of speech which are 8 in number
- we use red as lalitā is quite fond of red; we are told this in the lalitā-sahasranāma, 23rd, 37th, 49th śloka i.e. each and everything of sarvāruṇa is red in color i.e. aruṇa means red.
- lalitā-sahasranāma can be found in the 36th chapter, lalitopākhyāna, of the brahmāṇanda purāṇa
Last edited by yajvan; 10 August 2012 at 09:28 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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