The Lalita Sahasranama · Part 5: Shri Vidya and the Names of the Tattvas

The praise rises from the root of creation. The Devi is that primal nature which is the first cause of all creation, which stays unmanifest beyond the senses, and which is present at once in both the manifest and the unmanifest. She pervades everywhere, spread through the whole cosmos, taking on countless shapes. And she becomes the very form of both vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance.

Now two vast similes arrive. The Devi is the moonlight that makes the night-lotuses of Mahakameshvara’s eyes bloom, and she is that stream of sun-rays which pierces the darkness in the hearts of devotees and cuts through the gloom within.

Now a strand of names binds to Shiva, so closely that the difference between the Devi and Shiva dissolves. Her messenger is Shiva himself, her worship is performed by Shiva himself, her very form is Shiva made visible. She grants blessing and welfare and casts her devotees into the form of Shiva, she is the beloved of Shiva and devoted to Shiva alone. Then the voice turns toward the good, those dear to the virtuous, their cherished Devi, worshipped forever by them.

Then the names move toward the place where measure and word fail. The Devi cannot be measured by the senses, self-luminous in form, radiant of her own light, and beyond the reach of mind and speech. She is the power of consciousness, the form of pure awareness, and by becoming maya she turns into the inert power of creation, seated as the inert world.

Now the Devi appears as the speech of the Veda. She is the form of the Gayatri mantra, the form of the vyahritis and the presiding power of speech, present as the hour of sandhya, and served by the assembly of the twice-born.

Here the strand of names turns into a great utterance. The Devi’s seat is tattva, she is the supreme truth meant by ‘तत्’, she is Brahman, and she is the individual soul pointed to by ‘त्वम्’, in these two names ‘तत्त्वमसि’ resounds, the non-difference of Brahman and the soul. Then a call goes up, O Mother, this division of the words is not held the same in all traditions. And she dwells within the five sheaths.

Now the praise turns toward the Devi’s beauty and the intoxication of bliss. Her glory is boundless, without limit, and she stays forever in the fullness of youth. She is resplendent in that intoxication of bliss, her reddened eyes turning inward as they roll in rapture, her cheeks flushed with a rosy glow. Her body is anointed with the paste of sandal, and the champa flowers are especially dear to her.

Now the names descend straight into the kula-secret of Shri Vidya. The Devi is skilled in every act, of tender and delicate form, the Kurukulla power dwelling in the kuruvinda gem. She is the mistress of the kula, where kula means the triad of knower, known, and knowledge. She dwells in the kulakunda at the center of the sheath of the muladhara chakra, served by seekers absorbed in the kaula path, and she is the mother of Kumara and Gananatha.

Now the Devi is remembered as the powers that hold life together. She is contentment, forever satisfied, and she is nourishment, the power of sustenance. She appears as the intellect, she is patience and the power to hold firm, she is peace, she is the auspicious form of welfare, she is radiance and luster, and she is the giver of joy.

Then come the names of splendor and beauty. She destroys every obstacle, she is full of radiance, whose three eyes are the sun, the moon, and fire. Her restless eyes keep roving, and some readings after this take ‘Kamarupini’ as a separate name, the one seated as love within woman. She wears the garland, she is one with the swans, those yogis who have reached the highest spiritual state, and she is the mother of the entire universe.

Now another cluster of sweetness of form opens. She dwells on the Malaya mountain, of lovely face, her body soft as the petals of a lotus, of beautiful brows, forever luminous and radiant, the leader of the gods. She is the wife of the blue-throated Shiva, filled with luster, who stirs a trembling in the mind, and whose form is so subtle that the senses cannot grasp it.

Now the Devi of the siddhas comes forward. She is Vajreshvari, the sixth Nitya-Devi, the wife of Vamadeva Shiva, free from the changes of age and time. She is the mistress worshipped by the siddhas, she is the fifteen-syllable Siddhavidya mantra, she is the mother of the siddhas, whose fame is beyond compare.

Now the praise descends within the body, chakra by chakra. The first stop is the vishuddhi chakra at the throat, where the Devi settles in her Dakini form. There her color is faintly reddish, three-eyed, arrayed with the khatvanga and other weapons, bearing a single face, and fond of the offering of kheer. She is the presiding power of the sense of touch, terrifying to the bound creatures caught in worldly bondage, surrounded by Amrita and the other great powers, seated as the Dakini Devi.

The second stop is the anahata chakra at the heart, where the Devi settles in her Rakini form. There she dwells in the anahata lotus, with the glow of a dark complexion, two faces, bright fangs, wearing the rudraksha garland and the rest. She is the presiding power of the blood in the bodies of living beings, surrounded by the host of Kalaratri and the other powers, fond of the offering of rich food, granting boons to the great heroes, and present as the Rakini Devi.

The third stop is the manipura chakra at the navel, where the Devi settles in her Lakini form. She dwells in the ten-petaled lotus of the manipura, three-faced, holding the vajra and other weapons, surrounded by Damari and the other attendant goddesses, of a red color like blood. And she is the presiding power of the flesh-element in the bodies of living beings. Here the fifth part pauses, and the journey through the chakras will move on in the next part.