चित्कलाऽऽनन्द-कलिका प्रेमरूपा प्रियङ्करी । नामपारायण-प्रीता नन्दिविद्या नटेश्वरी ॥ १४१॥
- चित्कला: All living beings have a जीव कला (the प्रकाश that emanates from all living beings). श्री माता however possess चित्कला (meaning प्रकाश that emanates from ईश्वर चैतन्य). In fact, it is the चैतन्य present within living beings that eventually gets displayed outside via the उपाधि of शरीर. The unlimited चैतन्य present in the universe enters a जीव and starts shining from there (just as the unlimited space enters a pot) – since कला also means भाग (or part), चित्कला therefore also means a part of universal चैतन्य lighting up an individual जीव.
- आनन्द-कलिका: कलिका refers to a bud or aura around दीप. She resides within us in the form of ब्रह्मानन्द that is present like a कलिका within us. When one does उपासना, one may therefore do भावना that She is present within us as a कलिका at all times. Just as light of a दीप inside a fully covered pot with a few holes is visible through all the holes, light of Her within our शरीर lights up our ज्ञानेन्द्रिय and कर्मेन्द्रिय and makes them to work. In योग शास्त्र, कलिका is used to describe a specific आसन (as can be seen in कामाक्षी) where both feet come together and touch the मूलाधार and the base of the कुण्डलिनी gets lighted up with the heat going up to सहस्रार – कलिका thus refers to कुण्डलिनी that has become जाग्रत्. Clearly, this is a योग अवस्था that can be attained by an accomplished योगी. Anyone who has seen कामाक्षी in Her sitting position will be able to see Her feet organized in this आसन.
- प्रेमरूपा: Her रूप is that of प्रेम. Whenever anyone gives us a look filled with प्रेम, आनन्द swells into us – why is this so? It is because प्रेम displayed is स्वरूप of Her only and therefore आनन्द is an obvious outcome of such a display of प्रेम. When parents and even गुरु displays प्रेम towards their शिशु / शिष्य, this is called as वात्सल्य, when शिशु / शिष्य reciprocate प्रेम towards parents/ गुरु, it is referred to as विनय, when friends display प्रेम for one another, it is called as स्नेह, when a man & a woman display प्रेम towards one another, it is called as प्रलय and when परमात्मा displays प्रेम towads जीव, it is called as करुणा. Therefore, another अर्थ of प्रेमरूप is करुणा. And when such a करुणा descends of us, we reciprocate this in the form of भक्ति (which is also प्रेम of a जीव towards परमात्मा). When प्रेम descends from Her to a भक्त, it is referred to as धारा and when a भक्त reciprocates this back towards परमात्मा, the word is reversed and it gets called as राधा.
- प्रियङ्करी: When a जीव thus displays प्रेम towards Her, She grants to such a जीव whatever is प्रिया for such a one – this may be taken as simple अर्थ. Next, when a जीव develops भक्ति over Her स्वरूप, She displays करुणा and takes such a भक्त towards मोक्ष and that is seen as प्रिया by the भक्त. In बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्, there is a conversation between Maitreyi and Yagnavalkya as to what is the most प्रिया वस्तु for all जीव and the discussion concludes by stating that our own आत्मा is the most प्रिया and this नाम therefore means that She is the आत्मा of all. A more elaborate discussion on conversation between Maitreyi and Yagnavalkya is given in the link below.
- नामपारायण-प्रीता: This and the next two नाम are referring to a type of विद्या called as नन्दी विद्या. Simple अर्थ of this नाम is that She has special affection towards those who do Her नाम पारायण. What is पारायण? When the मन develops एकाग्रता over तत्व and अर्थ of the नाम and when नाम is uttered by such a मन, then the नाम जप undertaken is called as पारायण. पर अयन पारायण – this means that when one does पारायण in a manner with conviction that chanting this नाम is the only base or foundation (or आश्रय) of one’s life and will take me towards मोक्ष or ज्ञान, such a mind with full conviction is said to be doing पारायण. Within श्री विद्या परम्परा, there is another अर्थ – it states that since there are 50 अक्षर, and all अक्षर are a रूप of Her only, combining all these अक्षर into various combinations enables one to identify over 27036 combinations; so combining these and ending each such combination with नम: are also to be seen as Her नाम and those उपासक who chant all these नाम become close to Her (details can only be obtained from a गुरु). नन्दी is credited with bringing out all these 27036 नाम and hence, this ज्ञान is called as नन्दी विद्या.
- नन्दिविद्या: What is नन्दी विद्या? नन्दी refers to आनन्द अनुभव स्वरूप. In temples, नन्दी is always watching शिव and since He does so, He is always experiencing आनन्द. Since श्री माता is आनन्द स्वरूपिणि, श्री विद्या is also called as नन्दी विद्या since both are focused on आनन्द only.
- नटेश्वरी: Since शिव is seen as नटेश्वर, She as His शक्ति becomes नटेश्वरी. Since शक्ति is nothing else but the व्यक्त aspect of परमात्मा, when शिव is नटेश्वर, She may be seen as the नाट्य (the expression of नटेश्वर). When one reads शिव पुराण and various other शास्त्र, after नाट्य, शिव blows His डमरू, the various अक्षर came into being which in turn has led to सृष्टि coming about. Since there is a link between नाट्य causing मातृका वर्ण getting expressed, and further that this ज्ञान was conveyed first by नन्दी, use of नन्दी विद्या as well as expressing Her by the नाम of नटेश्वरी becomes apt here.
मिथ्या-जगदधिष्ठाना मुक्तिदा मुक्तिरूपिणी । लास्यप्रिया लयकरी लज्जा रम्भादिवन्दिता ॥ १४२॥
- मिथ्या-जगदधिष्ठाना: She is the अधिष्ठान (or आधार) of जगत् but more importantly, this जगत् is a मिथ्या वस्तु. आदि शंकर सार (essence) of सत्य is given as – ब्रह्म सत्यम् जगन्मिथ्या जीवोब्रह्मैवनापर:. Simply put, this states that ब्रह्म is the only real substance or वस्तु in this universe, what we witness or experience विश्व or जगत् is nothing else but a मिथ्या substance; and finally, जीव is non-different (or same as) from ब्रह्म. What does मिथ्या mean? In this जगत्, the same object (or person) is not perceived in the same way by different beings – some animals can see and smell more (or less) than human beings. Equally, humans may also absorb different perceptions about the same object owing to their own conditioning. But above all, what the senses perceive are not the truth about objects too (which are composed of atoms and sub-atomic particles that are not visible to the eye). What therefore one sees is not what is real or सत्य. मिथ्या therefore does not mean that the world is an illusion or does not exist but it means that it is certainly not what we perceive via our imperfect इन्द्रिय. However, while जगत् may be a मिथ्या वस्तु, such a मिथ्या however cannot arise in vacuum – it has as आधार or foundation or base behind it from where this मिथ्या वस्तु is projected (just as the magic of a magician may be a मिथ्या but a magician or the magic done by such a one is सत्य), this आधार is श्री माता – hence, She as the परमात्मा is called here as मिथ्या-जगदधिष्ठाना.
- मुक्तिदा: One who is able to understand that the जगत् is nothing else but a मिथ्या substance becomes curious to know what सत्य is. Such a person then comes a साधक; and when the साधक reaches a level of intense साधना, such a one becomes more and more convinced that the विश्व indeed is not the real substance. Such conviction intensifies the साधना more – finally, श्री माता then makes the सत्य known to such a साधक and grants मुक्ति when the साधक comes to the conclusion that the साधक and ब्रह्म are one and the same – since She is the one who removes the covering of माया and reveals Her सत्य रूप in full glory, She is called as मुक्तिदा here.
- मुक्तिरूपिणी: मुक्ति is not something separate (like another object). मुक्ति is a state when the साधक realizes that the साधक and Her are non-different. The साधक then has Her दर्शन – She is मुक्ति रूपिणी – She is the goal.
- लास्यप्रिया: She is लास्यप्रिया. What does लास्य mean? लास्य also means नाट्य. In Her सभा in मणिद्वीप, various अप्सरा are performing नाट्य to please Her and She loves the नाट्य कला being performed – hence She is लास्यप्रिया. There are two kinds of नाट्य – ताण्डव & लास्या. ताण्डव can only be done by शिव while शक्ति does लास्या. While लास्या enables सृष्टि and स्थिति to happen in the normal course, ताण्डव is performed when विश्व takes a turn towards संहार or लय – that is the difference.
- लयकरी: नाट्य शास्त्र gives निर्वचन of लय as “ताळै: नृत्यगीतयो: समकाल परिच्छेदो वा लय: तस्य करीकतृ लयकरी” – during a नाट्य, ताळ coordinates the timing of गीता (song) and नृत्य (dance) so as to maintain the rhythm of the entire event; this rhythm is called as लय here. Similarly, in respect of सृष्टि and स्थिति, there is a rhythm that is maintained (day comes & goes, seasons come & go, breathing within us happens in a rhythm, planets circle the Sun, Sun circles the centre of galaxy, etc) and since it is Her who maintains this rhythm, She is called as लयकरी here (note that this is not the संहार लय but instead refers to the rhythm of everything that we witness all around us). Another अर्थ – लास्या can also be seen as लीला – why does She envelop the विश्व with Her महामाया शक्ति? It is Her लीला – Her sport, Her expression of joy and therefore, She is लास्यप्रिया. Equally, for those उपासक who participate in Her लास्या knowing very well that She is doing लास्या, She then ensures that such an उपासक is granted मोक्ष; after all, मोक्ष is nothing else but a स्थिति of मनोलय (mind becomes withdrawn and आत्मा takes over). Such granting of मोक्ष becomes an act of लय – thus, She is लयकरी.
- लज्जा: लज्जा means to feel shy and She is expressed as one having लज्जा. In typical day to day व्यवहार, this term is used when a person feels shy when someone praises oneself or if someone has committed a minor crime but gets caught in front of society, etc. However, लज्जा does not refer to the व्यवहार meaning – when लज्जा is experienced, one withdraws from one’s external orientation. Similarly, when a नाट्य (सृष्टि and स्थिति concludes either at the end of कल्प or some other time), She withdraws from such a नाट्य and this is expressed as लज्जा here. ह्रीम् बीज is hidden in this नाम. Equally, for an उपासक, they follow the मर्यादा of धर्म and will never do any कर्म that crosses the line of मर्यादा. However, if & when such a line is crossed, they withdraw from embarrassment and will make amends for having crossed the line that they have drawn around themselves in their उपासना lifestyle. To remain within the line of धर्म is also an expression of लज्जा and such an अर्थ also can be taken here. Such adherence to धर्म is also Her expression; hence this नाम.
- रम्भादिवन्दिता: We stated that ह्रीम् बीज is hidden in the previous नाम. The word रम्भा has र-कार which refers to अग्नि बीज and since अग्नि बीज that is प्रधान in the ह्रीम् बीज (apart from other बीज) is used to do Her वन्दना, this नाम is conveying that She is the one whose वन्दना is undertaken by doing जप of ह्रीम् बीज. Of course, a simple meaning that Her वन्दना is undertaken by various देवता including अप्सरा like रम्भा can also be taken here (as we see in various पुराण describing in various कथा).
भवदाव-सुधावृष्टिः पापारण्य-दवानला । दौर्भाग्य-तूलवातूला जराध्वान्त-रविप्रभा ॥ १४३॥
- भवदाव-सुधावृष्टिः This bunch of नाम in 143 & 144 have to be understood from ज्योतिष lens. For people troubled by ग्रह-दोष, one may do जप by starting from श्री मात्रे नम: followed by भवदाव-सुधावृष्टिः and ending with मृत्युदारु-कुठारिका: and followed by श्री मात्रे नम: – this cycle may be repeated as many times as one is able to with the benefit that all ग्रह-दोष will be set aside. The next eight नाम highlight eight भाव (or problems) in which ग्रह-दोष troubles a जीव. The first नाम is दाव which means दावाग्नि while भव means संसार – therefore, the simple अर्थ is that to help a जीव who is burning in the दावाग्नि of संसार, She pours down (वृष्टिः) सुधा (अमृत) thereby cooling the person down and makes the अग्नि dormant. Further, we have discussed earlier that when the कुण्डलिनी rises up and pierces the सहस्रार चक्र, सुधा flows down continuously and fills up the entire body with सुख – this is the मोक्ष स्थिति. दौर्भाग्य
- पापारण्य-दवानला: When पाप become unlimited and inflnite (like an अरण्य or forest), when the जीव reaches out to Her, She will generate an intense अग्नि to burn all the entire forest (of पापकर्म).
- दौर्भाग्य-तूलवातूला: दौर्भाग्य refers to situations where despite hard work and intense efforts, the objectives remain elusive. It is as if our भाग्य is fully covered with cotton dust and cobwebs (the word तूल is used to describe the covering of dust). For such a जीव who has taken Her आश्रय, She will come as a blow of fresh air which will blow hard and drive away the covering of cotton and cobwebs.
- जराध्वान्त-रविप्रभा: When a जीव is troubled by darkness of old age (or decay of body), She takes the रूप of bright Sunlight that drives away all darkness.
भाग्याब्धि-चन्द्रिका भक्त-चित्तकेकि-घनाघना । रोगपर्वत-दम्भोलिर् मृत्युदारु-कुठारिका ॥ १४४॥
- भाग्याब्धि-चन्द्रिका: Just as the entire समुद्र rises up on a पूर्णिमा night, one’s भाग्य also rises up (meaning दौर्भाग्य vanishes away) when Her आश्रय is fully obtained.
- भक्त-चित्तकेकि-घनाघना: केकि means peacock and the चित्त of a भक्त is like a peacock. On a normal day, the feathers of the peacock do not open up but on a cloudy day, they open up fully Similarly, when Her आश्रय is obtained, the mind of a भक्त opens up fully (he attains उत्साह and gains आनन्द) when She graces the भक्त as a deep cloud.
- रोगपर्वत-दम्भोलिर्: When Her भक्त is facing रोग as large as a पर्वत, She then becomes the वज्र and breaks down the पर्वत just as इंद्र had broken the पर्वत using the वज्र – with this, the रोग of the भक्ति is obliterated.
- मृत्युदारु-कुठारिका: Lastly, to Her भक्त, She also smashes मृत्यु that is present for all जीव in an unshakeable form.
महेश्वरी महाकाली महाग्रासा महाशना । अपर्णा चण्डिका चण्डमुण्डासुर-निषूदिनी ॥ १४५॥
- महेश्वरी: From श्लोक 145 to 150 is called as मंङ्गळ चण्डी विद्या. Her शक्ति of महेश्वरी enables Her to know when to invoke माया into the life of a जीव and when to withdraw the same माया.
- महाकाली: काली is अनन्त आकाश. In our day-to-day अनुभव, आकाश is seen with नील वर्ण (dark blue or black) and the शक्ति of such an अनन्त आकाश is referred to as महाकाली here. Now, within this अनन्त आकाश, at time, we see ज्योति मंडल manifesting (stars, planets, galaxies, etc) and when आकाश is permeated with ज्योति मंडल, we refer to that स्थिति as गौरी. Therefore, both measures of infinity – काली and गौरी are Her expressions only.
- महाग्रासा: Both ग्रासा and अशना refer to आहार (or food that is consumed or eaten up). Her महाकाली रूप also consumes everything – for those who remember 11th Chapter of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, Arjuna gets very scared when he was watching श्री कृष्ण consuming or eating up the entire प्रपञ्च. This means that महाकाली is the शक्ति that consumes प्रपञ्च when it is required (like a black hole consumes all space systems including light around it).
- महाशना: While refers to महाग्रासा re-absorption of प्रपञ्च in the manner of a gulp, महाशना refers to re-absorption in a slow measured manner. Therefore, both नाम refer to the प्रलय शक्ति of श्री माता. Even काल (or time) शक्ति applies to both these नाम since time consumes everything.
- अपर्णा: This is one of the special नाम of Her. In the शिव पुराण, one finds an account where पार्वती does तपस्या of शिव where, at higher stages, She also gives up eating leaves (पर्ण) and hence, the नाम of अपर्णा – however, like उमा, one must note that अपर्णा has been Her previous नाम too and it is not just because She gave up eating leaves that She came to be called as अपर्णा. So what does नाम of अपर्णा stand for? अपगतऋणायस्या अपर्णा – She is called as अपर्णा since She has no ऋण (debt) towards anyone. Troubles from ऋण happen for those who suffer from कुज दोष (trouble from Mars, as per astrology) and doing जप of अपर्णा (श्री अपर्णायै नम:) helps a भक्त get rid of suffering from कुज दोष (marriage not happening, not conceiving kids, सिद्धि for one doing तप, troubles relating to loans, etc). Next, She is a creeper without पर्ण (as कुण्डलिनी that grows up from मूलाधार to सहस्रार) – hence called as अपर्णा. When पार्वती was doing तपस्या of शिव, She was standing in a specific position for such a तप and that position is also called as अपर्णा – अपर्णा therefore means तप स्वरूपिणि.
- चण्डिका: चण्डि नाम is indicative of Her being कोप (anger) स्वरूपिणि. The word प्रचण्ड is also for सूर्य and meant to convey someone who is hard, bold or fiery. देवी is called as चण्डि in देवी माहात्यम् since She is taken the रूप of असुर संहार there for doing धर्म रक्षा. Therefore, when one seeks रक्षा, one may bow down to Her चण्डि रूप. प्रचण्ड word is also used when one displays one’s शक्ति comprehensively (without holding anything back). Therefore, if पराब्रह्म ज्ञान flows in a प्रचण्ड manner towards us, all अज्ञान (which is also as असुर) within us gets completely obliterated and such a ज्ञान स्वरूप is also referred to as चण्डी here. चण्डी also means शासना शक्ति and since शासक who takes charge in a full & comprehensive manner burns away all forces who do not adhere to धर्म – for शासना, the ruler may display कोप from time to time but the purpose of this कोप is लोक रक्षा only and nothing else.
- चण्डमुण्डासुर-निषूदिनी: She defeated two असुर – चण्डा & मुण्डा and hence being referred to as चण्डमुण्डासुर-निषूदिनी – this is a लीला or कथा अर्थ. In the कथा, we are aware of destruction of the असुर रक्तबीज by काली following which She in the रूप of चामुण्डा defeats चण्डा & मुण्डा. Even in the नाम order here, काली comes first followed by taking the रूप of चामुण्डा to defeat चण्डा & मुण्डा who represent द्वन्द्व viz (राग & द्वेष, etc) and therefore destruction of द्वन्द्व in the form of रजस् & तमस् is the क्रिया of चामुण्डा. There is a निर्वचन of चामुण्डा – चमू डाति लाति इति चामुण्डा where चमू means समूह which in turn means अनेक or अज्ञान which are numerous and destruction of अनेक and taking one to एक is the key अर्थ of चामुण्डा (note that while She has also destroyed शुंभ & निशुंभ or मधु & कैटभ too, the नाम of चामुण्डा is seen as significant/ important owing to which we have चामुण्डा मंत्र as well as होम primarily since removal of द्वन्द्व is seen as the most critical साधना.
क्षराक्षरात्मिका सर्व-लोकेशी विश्वधारिणी । त्रिवर्गदात्री सुभगा त्र्यम्बका त्रिगुणात्मिका ॥ १४६॥
- क्षराक्षरात्मिका: What is seen as अनेक is क्षर while what is एक is अक्षर – both must be seen collectively as expressions of Her only. This means that even when we are witnessing or experiencing the stupendous diversity present within the विश्व or whenever we conceive of the singularity or one-ness that permeates the diversity – both are Her expressions only. She is therefore the आत्मा or the centre of both of Her forms as क्षरा as well as अक्षरा. उपाधि is अनेक while चैतन्य is एक. There is a popular expression – क्षर जगत् अक्षर ब्रह्म – whether as ब्रह्म or as जगत् – She is the one who is the truth or reality in both these expressions. There is a slight variation in which this नाम can be seen – our उपाधि is क्षर since it keeps changing, getting destroyed, etc and what is अक्षर within us is the जीव who is experiencing via the उपाधि. However, She is the चैतन्य who is igniting or in whose presence, both the क्षर and अक्षर are able to sustain themselves – hence, She is क्षराक्षरात्मिका.
- सर्व-लोकेशी: In this जगत् where both क्षर and अक्षर are present and moving about, She is the ईंश or ईश्वर शक्ति under whose oversight, everything comes about and continues to sustain. She is the ईश्वर शक्ति of the entire लोक and hence, She is सर्व-लोकेशी.
- विश्वधारिणी: She bears the burden of the entire विश्व. धारणा also means पोषण and this नाम thus sees as per the पोषण शक्ति of the entire विश्व – hence, She is विश्वधारिणी. This नाम can also be seen as expressing भूदेवी – there is a मंत्र in the वेद which reads as “भूमिर् धेनुर् धरणी लोकधारिणी” meaning that भूदेवी is the giver (धेनुर्) as well as the one who bears (धरणी) everyone in the लोक and hence, विश्वधारिणी may also be seen as भूदेवी here.
- त्रिवर्गदात्री: त्रिवर्ग refers to धर्म, अर्थ and काम and seen as the फल of चण्डी विद्या. One who does उपासना of Her via चण्डी विद्या gets or obtains त्रिवर्ग. वर्ग also means भाग (or part) and She runs the entire लोक by dividing time into three parts (in line with त्रिसंध्या that we are aware of) – equally, all beings are governed by living in only three states – जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति. All these may be seen as त्रिवर्ग only. One may then ask – why has मोक्ष been left out? Does She not grant मोक्ष too to Her उपासक? And the response is that मोक्ष is not a वर्ग – मोक्ष is the unseen thread or truth that is always present when one is doing धर्म, pursuing अर्थ or devoting to काम – it is only when the reality is perceived in a deeper way, the three-fold distinction of धर्म, अर्थ and काम gets obliterated and one discovers the eternally present मोक्ष स्थिति that is always present within us. मोक्ष is also referred to as अपवर्ग.
- सुभगा: भग means ऐश्वर्य and सुभग thus means ऐश्वर्य that is beneficial or good. ऐश्वर्य that is secured by performing धर्म कार्य and securing which one is able to move towards परमात्मा, such ऐश्वर्य is सुभग and She lives with Her उपासक thus as as a सुभगा. Which are the aspects securing which one may call oneself as having attained सौभाग्य? The various अर्थ of भग are – ज्ञान, धर्म, वैराग्य, संकल्प, ऐश्वर्य, यश, माहात्म्य, प्रयत्न, स्वरूप of सूर्य भगवान् and मोक्ष. सौंदर्य is also भग and thus, anything in this लोक that is seen as सुन्दर is Her रूप only. If one sees Her in all these aspects, in these multiple रूप, She is available to Her उपासक – hence, referred to as सुभगा. Also, सर्वै: भजते इति सुभगा – here, since She is worshipped or praised by everyone, She is called as सुभगा.
- त्र्यम्बका: अम्बक means नेत्र and त्र्यम्बक means one having three नेत्र (शिव). What are the three नेत्र? These are सूर्य, चंद्र and अग्नि. Also, since She has दर्शन at all three काल, that aspect also signifies why She has three नेत्र. She is the स्त्री aspect of शिव and hence, the feminine expression of त्र्यम्बक is त्र्यम्बका. अम्बिका means mother and since She is available to Her उपासक as सरस्वती, लक्ष्मी and उमा (which also represents three aspects of शक्ति viz इच्छा, ज्ञान and क्रिया), She is given the नाम of त्र्यम्बका.
- त्रिगुणात्मिका: She runs the प्रपञ्च in three states of प्रकृति – सत्व, रजस् and तमस् and since She is the truth or reality that is behind the त्रिगुण, She is referred to as त्रिगुणात्मिका here. त्रिगुणात्मिका also is called as माया शक्ति or कारण ब्रह्म.
स्वर्गापवर्गदा शुद्धा जपापुष्प-निभाकृतिः । ओजोवती द्युतिधरा यज्ञरूपा प्रियव्रता ॥ १४७॥
- स्वर्गापवर्गदा: For Her उपासक, She will grant both स्वर्ग as well as अपवर्ग (viz मोक्ष). What exactly is स्वर्ग? यन्न दुःखेन सञ्छन्नम् नचग्रस्थम् अनन्तरम् अभिलाशोपनीतम् यत् तत् सुखम् स्व: पदास्पदम् – In our daily life, whatever we सुख experience, there is an आभास of दुःख also (example, we celebrate our birthday but also know they we have grown older). No सुख is pure and enjoyed in an unadulterated manner. स्व: refers to अनुभूति of आनन्द that is pure and not adulterated by दुःख and स्वर्ग is thus a place where स्पर्श of दुःख is not present while experiencing सुख. Hence, Her उपासक will initially obtain स्वर्ग but as they progress further, they will attain the state of अपवर्ग which is the real state where the स्पर्श of both सुख and दुःख are not present and one is established in an eternal state of आनन्द. We discussed earlier that अपवर्ग is also a स्थिति where अक्षर of the प-वर्ग does not bother such a person (पुण्य-पाप, फल, बन्धन, भय & मरण) meaning that in मोक्ष स्थिति, these five cannot touch such a person.
- शुद्धा: What is the स्थिति of one who has attained अपवर्ग? It is called as शुद्ध स्थिति. It is a state which has no दोष. There is no पाप, no impact of त्रिगुण in that state. It is a परम ज्ञान स्थिति where one has fully established connect with their own highest true state of being, their own नित्य स्वरूप.
- जपापुष्प-निभाकृतिः: What does पुष्प mean? That which expands – विकसन शक्ति is a पुष्प. धनदस्य विमानम् (viz the विमान of कुबेर – पुष्पक विमान) is also referred to as पुष्प. कुसुम is also पुष्प. In the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, कृष्ण says that among the यज्ञ, He is the जप. In this नाम, it is therefore stated that when जप expands (or more particularly, deepens), the मंत्र whose जप is done develops an आकृति (we know that देवता चैतन्य is the मंत्र or put in a different way, मंत्र is the sound while देवता is the form of the मंत्र) – the प्रकाश that comes about when जप of a साधक gains maturity is nothing else but the रूप of श्री ललिता – that is the real अर्थ of this नाम.
- ओजोवती: There is presence of सप्त धातु within our body. We discussed earlier that प्राण and जीव may be seen as eighth and ninth धातु within our system – both of these put together are also collectively referred to as ओजस् शक्ति and can be seen as potency within our शरीर that keeps the entire शरीर work in a coordinated manner. Put another way, there is चैतन्य which in turn gets translated as ओजस् which in turn operates as सप्त धातु which power the entire शरीर. This नाम therefore describes Her as ओजस् शक्ति present within all of us that powers our life. ओजस् शब्द is also used to describe बल & प्रकाश. आदि शंकर gives निर्वचन of ओजस् as यत् कामराग विवर्जितम् ऐश्वरं जगत्विदारण सामर्थ्यम् – meaning ओजस् is the बल that does not have दोष of काम & राग, it has ऐश्वरं meaning ईश्वर शक्ति and it must have the ability to power running of the entire जगत् (not just of one being) – श्री कृष्ण also says that He is the ओजस् present in all beings (see Chapter 15). Here, श्री ललिता therefore has the नाम of ओजोवती which has the same meaning.
- द्युतिधरा: There is a प्रकाश associated with our शरीर – प्रकाश is referred to as द्युति here. When ओजस् powers the सप्त धातु, our शरीर projects a प्रकाश (note that when प्राण leaves the शरीर or even when one is ill, प्रकाश gets eliminated or gets diminished). द्युति अंगगताम् कांतिम् is the निर्वचन and since the कान्ति of our शरीर comes about on account of ओजस् which triggers प्रकाश on our मुख, She is referred to as द्युतिधरा here.
- यज्ञरूपा: यज्ञ means a त्याग पूर्वक कर्म – this is why when we undertake a यज्ञ, we pour the द्रव्य into अग्नि and then utter the word – न मम (not mine). But while a साधक does a त्याग पूर्वक कर्म of a द्रव्य but has an इच्छा of फल from the देवता of whom the यज्ञ कर्म is done, the words न मम are restricted to the द्रव्य only but not to ममकार or अहंकार (since these two continues to remain with us). However, when She does यज्ञ, Her actions do not have a trace of ममकार or अहंकार too and therefore, Her यज्ञ is possess a शुद्ध aspect (that ours does not). Therefore, it is only ईश्वर who does यज्ञ in the highest way and a साधक too must therefore undertake यज्ञ on a continuing basis (first by doing त्याग of द्रव्य only but eventually doing त्याग of ममकार or अहंकार too) – eventually, a साधक who does यज्ञ like Her becomes Her (gaining मोक्ष स्थिति).
- प्रियव्रता: Two कर्म are prescribed by the वेद – यज्ञ and व्रत. Now, whatever व्रत one does, we offer the outcome to ब्रह्म (which is Her only). Therefore, to whatever देवता one offers one’s व्रत, such a व्रत is प्रिया to Her only – hence, She is called as प्रियव्रता here. She is the फल स्वरूप of all व्रत.
दुराराध्या दुराधर्षा पाटली-कुसुम-प्रिया । महती मेरुनिलया मन्दार-कुसुम-प्रिया ॥ १४८॥
- दुराराध्या: Doing Her आराधना is very difficult – that is the अर्थ here. विष्णु सहस्रनाम also uses नाम like दुर्लभ for attaining विष्णु and it means that one has to work hard to become Her भक्त. For our minds that are continually distracted by the longings of our इन्द्रिय, keeping it focused on Her is indeed very difficult.
- दुराधर्षा: Doing युद्ध with Her is very difficult – that is the अर्थ here. Another way to express this नाम is to know that making Her aligned to oneself (स्वाधीन) is very difficult. She becomes स्वाधीन only via भक्ति and therefore, only a भक्त can engage with Her effortlessly, but others will find it very difficult, if not impossible to do Her आराधना or to make Her स्वाधीन to oneself (or know Her तत्व).
- पाटली-कुसुम-प्रिया: श्रीवृक्षे शंकरो देव: पाटलायास्तु पार्वती – says पद्म पुराण. One अर्थ of कुसुम is that this refers to red गुलाब पुष्प (since She is described throughout this text as having अरुणा वर्ण). पाटली stands for पटलस्य भाव where पटल refers to समूह (or aggregation or collective) – since our भाव (expressions, emotions, etc) are segregated and all over the place, bring these all together, make them concentrated towards Her and one will then gain प्रीति towards Her. And since She is accessible with such a concentrated or focused expression, She is referred to as पाटली-कुसुम-प्रिया here. Third अर्थ is that also पटल refers to one type of पद्धति while doing Her आराधना (जप, न्यास, etc) and when one does Her आराधना by doing each पटल appropriately and performing all of them collectively in an effective manner, She becomes one’s object of प्रीति and for this reason too, She is called as पाटली-कुसुम-प्रियाhere.
- महती: असंगो अशरीरो अशब्दो अस्पर्शो महान् – says the उपनिषद् while referring to परब्रह्म (and the अर्थ is these words is self-explanatory). Since She is परब्रह्म स्वरूपिणि, She is referred to as महती here. Note again that whenever the word महान् is used, it refers to परब्रह्म only (even though in our व्यवहार manner, we (mis)apply this word to normal people too). The वीणा of नारद is also called as महती.
- मेरुनिलया: She stays in मेरु पर्वत. मेरु refers to the centre around which the entire विश्व चक्र is moving about. In the universe, all the ज्योति मंडल gain ज्योति and move about keeping मेरु at the centre since it is मेरु from where they gain their power of प्रकाश and movement. श्री माता sits atop the मेरु पर्वत meaning She is the one who has activated मेरु and therefore, She is the core around which everything happens or comes about. मेरु also stands for कुण्डलिनी and She sits atop the शिखर of मेरु viz सहस्रार (no further elaboration is necessary). मेरु is also used to describe the source or core from where all मंत्र have emanated from. And since She as the मंत्र स्वरूपिणि is the innermost मूल मंत्र from where all मंत्र have come from, the नाम of मेरुनिलया is most apt for Her. Lastly, श्रीचक्र is also referred to as मेरु while She resides within the श्रीचक्र in the बिन्दु स्थान.
- मन्दार-कुसुम-प्रिया: मन्दार-कुसुम has अरुणा वर्ण and She has प्रीति towards मन्दार कुसुम is the simplest अर्थ. मन्दार-कुसुम also refers to कल्प वृक्ष and संकल्प शक्ति is the inner अर्थ to be taken here. And since She has प्रीति towards भक्त who displays संकल्प towards Her, She is referred to as मन्दार-कुसुम-प्रिया here.
वीराराध्या विराड्रूपा विरजा विश्वतोमुखी । प्रत्यग्रूपा पराकाशा प्राणदा प्राणरूपिणी ॥ १४९॥
- वीराराध्या: Her आराधना is done by those who are वीर. वीर does not mean one who has शरीर बल but it refers to one who are दीक्षित (those who have obtained दीक्ष from a गुरु and therefore adopt difficult नियम or adopt a disciplined lifestyle) – She is accessible to such a वीर only. Those who have developed control over इन्द्रिय and ensure that their मन is focused on परमात्मा at all times are also referred to as वीर – only such ones are capable of doing Her आराधना (and none others). Another निर्वचन is वीर is given as – अहम् मम इति अभिमान विरहित: वीर: meaning those who are able to give up the idea of अहम् & मम can be referred to as वीर (this disqualifies most of us 😀).
- विराड्रूपा: She bears a विराट (big, expansive, all-encompassing) रूप.
- विरजा: विगत रजा विरजा is the निर्वचन meaning विरजा refers to one who does not have रजस् (and by implication, तमस् too) aspect within Herself. रजस् also means dust and She thus becomes dust-free (or better, She is निर्मल). वैदिक निरुक्त defines as one that has विशिष्ट रजम् – what does this mean? ज्योति is referred to as रजम् and so is नक्षत्र and more particularly, रजम् here means बीज शक्ति or मूल कारण शक्ति. And since She is the मूल शक्ति of विश्व, She is aptly referred to as विरजा here. विरजा is also the नाम of a शक्ति पीठ situated in modern Orissa where She is referred to as विरजा there.
- विश्वतोमुखी: Her मुख is facing the entire विश्व – She is thus सर्वज्ञ (meaning She knows everything). Reading the last three नाम together, while She is विराट रूप as well as मुख that sees everything in विश्व, while entire विश्व is run by त्रिगुण, She as विरजा is गुण-रहित meaning that being established in a state that is beyond गुण, She runs the विश्व. Thus, all these three नाम collectively are conveying the aspect of how She bears expansive रूप, knows everything but runs the विश्व in a गुण-रहित अवस्था. Just as a water drop shines by reflecting the Sun within itself but the Sun itself is not bound by or limited to the liquidity aspect of water, similarly, while विश्व may be गुण-infested, She runs the विश्व objectively and not Herself under the control of any of the three गुण.
- प्रत्यग्रूपा: परान्मुख refers to one who is बहिर्मुख while प्रत्यन्मुख refers to one who is अन्तर्मुख. Our इन्द्रिय always keep our मन as परान्मुख and make it difficult for us to turn our gaze within our own selves – they are always seeking out. She is however to be seen as one who is available to us when we become प्रत्यन्मुख – and since Her रूप is only accessible to those who become अन्तर्मुख, She is called as प्रत्यग्रूपा here. These नाम come in the मंत्र within the कथा उपनिषद् (and others too).
- पराकाशा: आकाश is one of the भूत – the primary पञ्चभूत from which other भूत (वायु, अग्नि, etc) have emerged. The interesting aspect of आकाश is that it is present everywhere – there is no location where आकाश is not present. All the ग्रह, नक्षत्र, भूमी and शरीर are living within आकाश only – but equally, आकाश is present within the ग्रह, नक्षत्र, भूमी and शरीर. But while आकाश is indeed present everywhere in the विश्व, श्री माता is not to be seen as भूत आकाश – She is परा आकाश, the चैतन्य which is the source, base or foundation (आधार) of all पञ्चभूत including भूत आकाश. She is the चिदाकाश, the आकाश present in our हृदय and the substratum of everything and everyone – hence, called as पराकाशा here. आसमन्तात् काशम् इति आकाशम् where काश stands for प्रकाश (viz signifies शक्ति or चैतन्य) and the आ prefix attached to it means आसमन्तात् (signifying संपूर्णता or completeness). A साधक is therefore not meant to experience आकाश as a शून्य or nothingness but instead experience this as signifying completeness, the source within which everything is present. Such an उपासना of आकाश will eventually take the person to have अनुभव of Herself as पराकाशा, which is Her real रूप.
- प्राणदा: She is the giver of प्राण. The चित् शक्ति present within the हृदय आकाश moves about in the सुषुम्ना नाडी and from this नाडी, it spreads out all across our शरीर as the प्राण शक्ति. प्राणिति चेष्टाङ्गरोति इति प्राण: which means that प्राण is that which facilities चेष्टा or movement within our शरीर. She is to be seen as प्राण of the प्राण meaning that while it is प्राण that enables us to live and move about, She is the प्राण of प्राण itself meaning that life cannot come about with Her as the base from where प्राण enters into our शरीर.
- प्राणरूपिणी: Not only if She giver of प्राण, She also moves about within our शरीर as मुख्य प्राण स्वरूपिणि. Therefore, from an उपासना lens, while living with the idea that आत्मा is the core substance within our own selves, one must take प्राण as the idea that immediately follows the आत्मा – the कुण्डलिनी शक्ति that moves about within सप्त चक्र is the प्राणरूपिणि which in turn gives प्राण to the शरीर. She is therefore both – giver of प्राण as well as moving about by taking the रूप of प्राण in the form of कुण्डलिनी शक्ति.
मार्ताण्ड-भैरवाराध्या मन्त्रिणीन्यस्त-राज्यधूः । or मार्तण्ड त्रिपुरेशी जयत्सेना निस्त्रैगुण्या परापरा ॥ १५०॥
- मार्ताण्ड-भैरवाराध्या: There are various उपासना types within श्रीविद्या – this नाम states that Her आराधना is done by मार्ताण्ड भैरव (who is सूर्य भगवान्). This उपासना विद्या done by सूर्य towards Her is being referred to here. In the previous नाम, while we have stated that कुण्डलिनी present within us is the प्राण-giver, सूर्य is seen as प्राण-giver for all the life forms on भूमी. From the rays of सूर्य, the plants are able to convert the light into food which in turn are consumed by all beings to sustain life among themselves. However, while सूर्य may be seen as the life giver, सूर्य itself gets its own शक्ति from Her by doing Her उपासना and in this नाम also, like the previous नाम, She is being expressed as प्राण of the प्राण of all. Note that भैरव refers to शिव and मार्ताण्ड भैरव refers to शिव तेज within सूर्य and since this तेज does उपासना of शक्ति, She is referred to as मार्ताण्ड-भैरवाराध्या here. मृतं अंडयति जीवयेति इति मार्तण्डः meaning that विश्व that is मृतं (meaning lifeless) is made alive and activity-oriented and that which makes the lifeless विश्व alive is called as मार्ताण्ड. Note that मार्ताण्ड is also present in the श्री चक्र (22nd – 23rd प्राकार) and one will encounter मार्ताण्ड when one does Her उपासना using श्रीचक्र.
- मन्त्रिणीन्यस्त-राज्यधूः धू refers to responsibility or burden, राज्य refers to kingdom while न्यस्त refers to “given charge of” – मन्त्रिणीन्यस्त-राज्यधूः means that मंत्रिणी देवी has been given responsibility to run the kingdom. मंत्रिणी देवी, as we have discussed earlier, is the ज्ञान aspect of Her and any kind of responsibility requires ज्ञान without which the responsibility cannot be discharged. For a मंत्र उपासक, while the मंत्र जप is undertaken on a continuing basis, it is मंत्रिणी who continually observes the उपासक, takes care of the उपासक and when the जप attains सिद्धि, She is the ज्ञान स्वरूप who conveys the स्थिति of the उपासक to श्री माता who in turn will then grant मोक्ष to such an उपासक.
- त्रिपुरेशी: In the श्रीचक्र, first comes trailokya Mohana चक्र which is a Chaturasya (square) – in every चक्र, She is the ईश्वर शक्ति with a certain नाम and in this चक्र, Her नाम is त्रिपुरा. Next चक्र is called as Shodasi आवरण चक्र (Sarvasha Paipuraka चक्र) and here, Her नाम is त्रिपुरेशी. All Asha is fulfilled in this चक्र (as the name of this चक्र clearly suggests). Next अर्थ is also there – श्री चक्र is also referred to as त्रिपुरा चक्र which has three pura – सूर्य मंडल, अग्नि मंडल & चंद्र मंडल. Further, She resides in बिन्दु मंडल and immediately following the बिन्दु मंडल in the श्री चक्र is त्रिकोण which is also referred to as त्रिपुरा and since She resides in बिन्दु मंडल in the centre governing everything that follows, She is referred to as बिन्दु मंडल here. Note that बिन्दु मंडल together with त्रिकोण is referred to as राजा श्यामला शक्ति (which therefore links to the previous नाम of मंत्रिणी देवी who represents the same देवी). Last अर्थ is that महाशिव is referred to as त्रिपुरा since He is the आत्मा of ब्रह्मा, विष्णु and रुद्र and since She is His expression or His शक्ति only, She is referred as त्रिपुरेशी here.
- जयत्सेना: Her सेना has जय लक्षण and hence, She is called as जयत्सेना here. सेना also means मंत्र and when one looks at the entire लीला of युद्ध between श्री ललिता and भण्डासुर, one sees a lot of परिवार देवता who too are fighting युद्ध and winning against the various armies of the असुर. The उपासक of श्री विद्या know that each of the परिवार देवता has a certain मंत्र and यंत्र associated with each of them. Therefore, whether while listening to the लीला कथा or doing comprehensive उपासना of श्री विद्या, one will encounter the various परिवार देवता and how they attain जय over the enemy – भण्डासुर thus can be seen as an external enemy or अविद्या hidden within each and doing जप of the मंत्र relating to various परिवार देवता will enable us to progressively gain जय over the अज्ञान within us and eventually attain the highest जय viz मोक्ष.
- निस्त्रैगुण्या: This नाम refers to Her तत्व identity which is of one who is beyond the त्रिगुण.
- परापरा: She is both परा and अपरा – meaning She is both परमात्मा स्वरूप as well as प्रपञ्च स्वरूप or प्रकृति (by now, this dual अर्थ should be clear). If we look at Chapter 7 of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता where श्री कृष्ण uses the words परा प्रकृति and अपरा प्रकृति, the former takes the meaning of जीव within our शरीर while अपरा प्रकृति refers to पञ्चभूत (which has a जड स्वभाव) – both of them are His expressions only. The उपनिषद् states that even प्रणव (or ॐ) has two aspects – परा प्रणव and अपरा प्रणव. The ॐ-कार is called as अपरा प्रणव (since it can be heard and therefore an expressed or व्यक्त sound) while the परमात्मा who is indicated or signified by the sound of ॐ-कार is परा प्रणव (a simple analogy may be helpful here – we may be able to see सूर्य within an earthern pot and this सूर्य in a pot may be understood as अपरा ब्रह्म while the actual सूर्य above आकाश is परब्रह्म – while the सूर्य in the pot is easy for access to all of us, the actual सूर्य may be difficult to see. Similarly, while परब्रह्म is difficult to access, when we do ॐ-कार जप, we are accessing परब्रह्म as available to us in प्रकृति. And note that just as सूर्य above आकाश and सूर्य in a pot are non-different, similarly, परब्रह्म and प्रपञ्च ब्रह्म are an expression of one only). Another अर्थ – we have earlier talked about four kinds of वाक् (परा, पश्यन्ती, मध्यमा and वैखरी) – परा वाक् then becomes परा and all the other three types of वाक् are अपरा. Those following श्री विद्या परम्परा undertake three kinds of उपासना of the चक्र – परा उपासना, अपरा उपासना and परापरा उपासना. What is परा उपासना here? Here, परा is बाह्य उपासना meaning that when one perceives Her as someone outside our own selves and ourselves as a small and disconnect with Her, one is said to be doing परा उपासना (this is called as सर्वप्रचुरगोचरम् परा meaning this is the most common way in which most of the साधक conceive of Her). Next, when the same idea is internalized while one does चक्र अर्चना, this is referred to as अपरा उपासना (since we are doing उपासना using an आलम्बना or physical artefact). Now, when one does both परा and अपरा उपासना over time and develops the idea of Her as residing within myself as स्वप्रभा energizing myself completely, one is then doing परापरा उपासना. Taken this way, one who does Her उपासना conceiving Her as residing within me as स्वप्रभा स्वरूपिणि, such a साधक is said to understand Her तत्व as परापरा – that is why this नाम is given here as Her नाम.
सत्य-ज्ञानानन्द-रूपा सामरस्य-परायणा । कपर्दिनी कलामाला कामधुक् कामरूपिणी ॥ १५१॥
- सत्य-ज्ञानानन्द-रूपा: She has three लक्षण – they are सत्य, ज्ञान and आनन्द. Each of these have been explained earlier and no further explanation may be required now for these नाम.
- सामरस्य-परायणा: समरस भावम् सामरस्यं is the निर्वचन of सामरस्यं. रस stands for that which is सार or essence within all. साम means equal and therefore सामरस्यं refers to परमात्मा तत्व that is present in equal measure within all (beings and non-beings). Now, when a साधक does intense ध्यान over that which is सामरस्यं, one will know Her as the essence of all. And because Her access can only be obtained by one who undertakes intense तपस्या of Her present in everything, She is called as सामरस्य-परायणा here. प्रकाश विमर्शयो: सामरस्यं – this is what श्री विद्या states. Because शिव and शक्ति operate as one within this सृष्टि, there is harmony in this universe and the अनुभूति is आनन्द happens when there is experience of harmony (whether at home or society). रस is an expression of आनन्द and समरस refers to अनुभूति of आनन्द when one is able to see everything as an expression of शिव and शक्ति and such intense ध्यान of परब्रह्म takes a साधक to Her states of being viz आनन्द स्वरूपिणि and that is what this नाम of सामरस्य-परायणाstates here.
- कपर्दिनी: कपर्दि means one bearing जटाजूट (thick flowing hair) which is शिव and since She is non-different from शिव, She is called as कपर्दिनी here. कम् पर्दयतीति इति कपर्दिनी is the निर्वचन of कपर्दिनी – कम् refers to जल and one who protects or takes care of जल is कपर्दिनी. शिव bears two aspects that signify जल तत्व (गंगा and चंद्र) and therefore, while his hair represent अग्नि तत्व, this is the one that controls/ monitors/ channels जल within Itself and since both are regulated by Him, He is called as कपर्दि. कपर्द is also used for one that is praised using multiple expressions and शिव therefore comes कपर्दि and She becomes कपर्दिनी.
- कलामाला: कला refers to various phases of चंद्र that we witness daily and माला refers to garland and since all days happen one after another on a continuous basis, She therefore becomes काल स्वरूपिणि when using the नाम of कलामाला. कला also refers to विद्या and She can thus be seen as सर्व विद्या स्वरूपिणि. Note that all काल or विद्या must be seen in a समिष्टि (or collective) manner and not in a disaggregated or separate manner (this is why the word माला is used along with कला here).
- कामधुक्: All these four nama starting with क signify कपर्दिनी दुर्गा मंत्र and one who does जप of such a मंत्र is able to meet all their इच्छा including कला and other काम – which explains why all these फल that one obtains from doing जप of such a मंत्र are collectively placed here. कामधुक् refers to कामधेनु. Thus, She is granter of all काम for all साधक वेद-यज्ञ स्वरूपिणि.
- कामरूपिणी: She can take any रूप since She is स्वातंत्रय शक्ति and since She can take any रूप, She is called as कामरूपिणी here.
कलानिधिः काव्यकला रसज्ञा रसशेवधिः । पुष्टा पुरातना पूज्या पुष्करा पुष्करेक्षणा ॥ १५२॥
- कलानिधिः: चंद्र is referred to as कलानिधि since चंद्र takes16 रूप or कला on a continuous basis. She is the निधि is all कला in the प्रपञ्च (we discussed 64 कला earlier) meaning all कला emanate from and merge into Her only; hence She is कलानिधि. कलानिधि also refers to षोडषी मंत्र रूपिणी.
- काव्यकला: The कला in the form of काव्य is also Her रूप only. If any काव्य is thus filled with रस, the पुष्टि that is present within the काव्य is Her स्वरूप only. वेद is also called as काव्य and thus, She is वेद स्वरूपिणि. रमणीयार्थ प्रतिपादक शब्द इति काव्य meaning काव्य is that where the अर्थ of the शब्द (or वाक्य) fills the listener with आनन्द or रस अनुभूति. She is the रस or शक्ति present in the काव्य and only when She is present (both in the काव्य as well as the listener of such a काव्य), the अनुभूति of आनन्द can come about. This नाम therefore sees Her as आनन्द स्वरूपिणि that energizes the काव्य. In the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, अर्जुन calls परमात्मा as the most excellent कवि and प्रपञ्च as the finest काव्य.
- रसज्ञा: While काव्य may be excellent, the listener must possess the necessary गुण to grasp the beauty of such a काव्य. रसज्ञा refers to Her who is present within an उत्तम साधक who possesses the right गुण to perceive or appreciate the काव्य. Should She not be present, our hearts will be seen as dry (meaning they are lacking in रस) and in Her absence, even the best of काव्य will elicit no reaction from the listener. But for one who is able to appreciate or connect with the काव्य, it means She is present in the साधक as a रसज्ञा which means आनन्द अनुभव स्वरूप.
- रसशेवधिः: She is the अखण्ड आनन्द निधि or source point of all आनन्द. आनन्द never depreciates or reduces from Her (it does not have an अवधि or time limitation)– She is the source of eternal आनन्द and Her आनन्द रस स्वरूप is also present in all विषय and beings.
- पुष्टा: Owing to Her presence within us as रस (or आनन्द स्वरूपिणि), our प्राण and इन्द्रिय are able to undertake any activity. And because it is Her presence that gives us life, identity, etc., She is called as पुष्टा (strength) here.
- पुरातना: She is पुरातना or the ancient one. No one knows from when She is. She is always been there.
- पूज्या: Everyone does Her पूजा. There is no one who does not do Her पूजा. How so? What do beings seek? They seek Her in the रूप of पुष्टि (since everyone needs बल).
- पुष्करा: पुष्कर stands for कमल, आकाश, सूर्य, औषधी and तीर्थ. That which gives पुष्टि or does पोषण (takes care or protects) is called as पुष्कर. She is the रस स्वरूपिणि that protects the entire विश्व. पुष्कर also refers to a योग – when सूर्य is in विशाखा नक्षत्र and चंद्र is in कृत्तिका नक्षत्र, such a समय is called as पुष्कर योग. When one does आराधना of परमात्मा at this time, one gets a deeper level of आध्यात्म सिद्धि (नवमि falling on शुक्रवार, सप्तमी on रविवार and चतुर्दशी & चतुर्थी falling on मंगलवार too are beneficial for आध्यात्म साधना). Since पुष्करalso stands for तीर्थ, She is the नाम of पुष्करा also needs to be understood as one who purifies us, पवित्र स्वरूपिणि.
- पुष्करेक्षणा: Her eyes are पुष्कर – meaning, with Her दृष्टि, She purifies us, protects us as well as does our पोषण. ईंक्षणा means eyes. Since Her eyes give us all these benefits, She is called as पुष्करेक्षणा here.
परंज्योतिः परंधाम परमाणुः परात्परा । पाशहस्ता पाशहन्त्री परमन्त्र-विभेदिनी ॥ १५३॥
- परंज्योतिः: ज्योति refers to चैतन्य or प्रकाश. She is the परम् ज्योति meaning that not only is Her प्रकाश spread out across the विश्व, She is also प्रकाश that is eternal beyond the विश्व. Even देवता does Her उपासना even though देवता themselves possess स्वरूप of प्रकाश, as परम् ज्योति, She is the प्रकाश of प्रकाश.
- परंधाम: She is the परम् धाम (or final resting place or home) too. This धाम is eternal and while the 14 लोक that compose the विश्व may be destroyed, Her धाम is always present. Once one attains मोक्ष, one reaches Her home – after this, there is no coming back into प्रपञ्च. Another meaning is that all of us are always situated in three धाम (or अवस्था) viz जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति while there is a fourth धाम which is beyond these three states of being (तुरीया अवस्था) and when one attains that state, one may say that they have reached Her abode, the परम् धाम.
- परमाणुः Whatever is most सूक्ष्म in the प्रपञ्च is referred to as परमाणु. What does सूक्ष्म mean? That which cannot be known/ perceived via the इन्द्रिय (including the मन) is सूक्ष्म. And while सूक्ष्म in modern science may mean something that is very small (like a sub-atomic particle), सूक्ष्म in आध्यात्म is something that is व्यापक (meaning spread out over a greater distance just as ice may occupy a certain space while water vapour is सूक्ष्म than ice and also spread out over a larger area than the block of ice). Since She is most सूक्ष्म and most व्यापक (since She is present in entire विश्व), She is परमाणु.
- परात्परा: It is परा of the परा – meaning whatever is perceived as most उत्तम by us, and we may be compelled using तर्क that that aspect is most परा, She however exists as more परा than whatever we may have conceived so far. Essentially, a superlative is used here merely to convey that She is beyond conception. And once again, that which is most सूक्ष्म and most व्यापक is referred to as परात्परा here.
- पाशहस्ता: She is the weilder of पाश. This means She controls. For those who stray far away from Her, She will use पाश to reign them in. She is shown as holding पाश in Her hands.
- पाशहन्त्री: She also frees a being from the control of the पाश. When a being needs to be tagged to a पाश and when must the पाश be removed is Her decision and Her action. All a भक्त can do is to align with Her and once one aligns with Her, we become free but till this freedom, our movement is as per how She uses Her पाश to control us (as aligned to our own best interest).
- परमन्त्र-विभेदिनी: She protects Her भक्त who may be subject to attack by use of a मंत्र by another being who may see the भक्त as an opponent. When such an attack happens, She will ensure that the effects of such a negative मंत्र is mitigated and thereby, Her भक्त remains safe and secure. भक्त is one who lives life aligned to धर्म, one whose उपासना is सात्विक and one whose चिन्तन is तत्विक – only to such a भक्त, She will intervene and protect from those who would like to disturb the भक्त driven by their रजस् and तामसिक tendencies. There is a deeper meaning of this नाम – मंत्र means thought (or विचार) and if this thought is engaged with something other than Her (पर-मंत्र means where the thought is direct towards an aspect of प्रपञ्च as against परम् or ब्रह्म), when the साधक expresses his inability to focus on Her, She will then intervene by using Her पाश to control to इन्द्रिय which in turn then enables the भक्त to focus on Her on a continuing basis) – since She destroys the trait of our मन to move towards प्रपञ्च and redirects the मन towards Her, Her नाम is given as परमन्त्र-विभेदिनी here.
मूर्ताऽमूर्ताऽनित्यतृप्ता मुनिमानस-हंसिका । सत्यव्रता सत्यरूपा सर्वान्तर्यामिनी सती ॥ १५४॥
- मूर्ता:
- अमूर्ता: मूर्ति is something that is accessible to इन्द्रिय (it can be a शब्द or रूप) while अमूर्ति refers to that which cannot be accessed by इन्द्रिय. She is both मूर्ता and अमूर्ता. Therefore, when a साधक is in a lower state of साधना when the necessary level of शुद्धि is not present, She approaches such a person as a मूर्ता while Her real state of being is that of अमूर्ता. Put another way, when one does उपासना by keeping in our मन Her रूप, Her चरित्र and Her लीला, all such aspects are referred to as मूर्ता. On the other hand, Her परब्रह्म स्वरूप is referred to as अमूर्ता (Her मंत्र, Her कुण्डलिनी and Her आनन्द स्वरूप).
- नित्यतृप्ता: She has तृप्ति as Her स्वभाव – and that too, not just तृप्ति now and then but at all times (नित्य). In other words, even this नाम is another expression of Her आनन्द स्वरूप.
- मुनिमानस-हंसिका: She is always present in the मन of the मुनि. She is present in what रूप? She is present as a हंस. We have discussed about हंस earlier (मुख्य प्राण रूपिणी, सदाशिव, etc) and will not repeat here except to state that हंस is always present in a place that is शुद्ध and पवित्र, since the मन of मुनि is पवित्र, She always resides in such a location.
- सत्यव्रता: सत् is परब्रह्म, सत् is that which is eternally existent – this and the next three नाम focus on the सत् शब्द. Now, all कर्म that is done for attaining सत् वस्तु are called as व्रत – any such उपासना, धर्म, पूजा, यज्ञ, etc thus become व्रत undertaken to attain परब्रह्म. Even one who lives aligned to various नियम prescribed in the शास्त्र is also akin to living with व्रत. All these कर्म are also aspects of Her itself – hence, She is called as सत्यव्रता. All व्रत related to Her are सत्यव्रता only. All such व्रत are not wasted and they will certainly take us closer to our own reality viz सत् अवस्था. Equally, all व्रत undertaken in a सत्य manner become सत्य व्रत (says श्री कृष्ण in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता that all व्रत undertaken with श्रद्धा represent सत्य व्रत). Lastly, to live by सत्य in our entire life is also an expression of Her as सत्यव्रता (श्री राम or श्री हरिश्चंद्र can be taken as examples here).
- सत्यरूपा: Her रूप is सत्य, ज्ञान and अनन्त. The नाम of सत्यम् is a combination of सत्, ति and यम् where सत् refers to अन्नम्, ति refers to प्राण and यम् refers to आदित्य and therefore, सत्यम् refers to Her who is ever present in the रूप of अन्नम्, प्राण and आदित्य – put another way, it is सूर्य whose presence enables us to consume अन्नम् which in turn leads to presence of प्राण शक्ति within us. Therefore, सत्यम् also refers to Her in the रूप of सूर्य भगवान्.
- सर्वान्तर्यामिनी: Where is Her रूप as सत्य present? It is present everywhere or it is the inner essence that is present in everything (every जीव as well as विषय).
- सती: स्त्रीलिङ्ग of सत् is सती. सती also stands for पतिव्रता and therefore signifies एकत्वम् of शिव and उमा as शक्ति which is always present with परमात्मा.
ब्रह्माणी ब्रह्मजननी बहुरूपा बुधार्चिता । प्रसवित्री प्रचण्डाऽऽज्ञा प्रतिष्ठा प्रकटाकृतिः ॥ १५५॥
- ब्रह्माणी: शक्ति of परब्रह्म is ब्रह्माणी. Even सरस्वती is referred to as ब्रह्माणी. She is the जननी of ब्रह्मा.
- ब्रह्म: ब्रह्म here refers to वेद and She is वेद. She is also the highest state of reality and the goal to be attained by all साधक.
- जननी: She is the जननी of the वेद as गायत्री देवी. She is the जननी of विश्व.
- बहुरूपा: She takes अनेक रूप throughout the विश्व and hence referred to बहुरूपा – लक्ष्मी, दुर्गा, सरस्वती, काली, etc. All रूप in the विश्व come out of Her कल्पना only.
- बुधार्चिता: Her अर्चना is done by those who have enlightened बुद्धि or ज्ञानी only. Only they are able to see Her or aware of Her presence in all रूप and therefore, the अर्चना done by them alone is Her अर्चना. Any other अर्चना that sees any रूप as separate from Her is not अर्चना even though externally, it may be seen as such. Since only a ज्ञानी sees Her in everything, She is called as बुधार्चिता – meaning, one whose अर्चना is undertaken by ज्ञानी.
- प्रसवित्री: She is the माता of all in this विश्व (from ब्रह्मा to पिपीलिका).
- प्रचण्डा:
- आज्ञा: She is the controller of विश्व. No one can change the नियम She has established to run the विश्व. Her आज्ञा is प्रचण्ड (that which cannot be challenged) and the entire विश्व follows Her आज्ञा (movement of seasons, movement of sun & earth, etc).
- प्रतिष्ठा: Not only has She given birth to the विश्व and established नियम for its running, She is also established within this विश्व as its आधार.
- प्रकटाकृतिः Equally, not only is She the आधार of this विश्व, विश्व also becomes व्यक्त owing to Her will. श्रीचक्र is also stated as the आकृति taken by Her and all योगिनी from the first चक्र to the innermost बिन्दु is Her प्रकटन only.
प्राणेश्वरी प्राणदात्री पञ्चाशत्पीठ-रूपिणी । विशृङ्खला विविक्तस्था वीरमाता वियत्प्रसूः ॥ १५६॥
- प्राणेश्वरी: She is the ईश्वर शक्ति that drives the functioning of प्राण within all beings (the life force behind the functioning of विश्व as well as all beings). प्राणेश्वरी also refers to कुण्डलिनी.
- प्राणदात्री: She is not just the operating principle of प्राण, She is the giver of प्राण too (meaning She will decide when to give प्राण and when to remove it). Presence of कुण्डलिनी makes प्राण work within us.
- पञ्चाशत्पीठ-रूपिणी: There are 50 पीठ where She is established. These are also referred to as मातृका पीठ where She is available to all of us – which obviously refers to 50 अक्षर of the संस्कृत वर्णमाला. Also, कुण्डलिनी is present in मूलाधार with four अक्षर, स्वादिष्ठान with six अक्षर, मणिपूर with ten अक्षर, अनाहत with 12 अक्षर, विशुद्ध with sixteen अक्षर and आज्ञा with two अक्षर all adding to = fifty अक्षर. (already covered earlier and not being repeated here). Most भाष्याकार however refer to 51 शक्ति पीठ (names can be obtained from Google) which are available externally as well as within our body as well as within श्री चक्र. Reference is also made to 51 अक्षर from अ to क्ष. She is present in all these पीठ and one whose is able to see Her in all these पीठ will see Her everywhere. संस्कृत अक्षर are fifty or fifty one depending upon the number of vowels or consonants (inclusion of ॡ (lū). Elsewhere, it is said that क्ष (consonant) is not to be included. There are a few who does not include ‘la’ in consonants). There is another शास्त्र which says that each of the three कूट of पञ्चदश मंत्र gives rise to sixteen अक्षर, totalling to forty eight (क्ष and ह excluded). Therefore, this नाम means that She is in the form of fifty alphabets of संस्कृत. Her manifestation in अक्षर is known as शब्द ब्रह्म.
- विशृङ्खला: She has no शृङ्खला (aspects that bind). She is free. Despite being the आधार of the entire विश्व as well as taking on crores of रूप, She is not bound to or bound by any particular aspect of Her expression. While we as जीव are bound by our various कर्म, She has no binding for any aspect of Her क्रिया in this विश्व. Evolved योगी (like Ramana Maharishi) may also be called as विशृङ्खला since they are free and not bound to their कर्म and/ or their शरीर.
- विविक्तस्था: How does She conduct Herself (or who does a योगी behave)? विविक्तस्था means living in एकान्त. She is either said to be within crores of रूप within the विश्व or She is said to be always with शिव – in such a case, how can we say that She is always एकान्त? Answer is – there is no अन्य वस्तु in this प्रपञ्च other than Her. She is एक and because She is एक, She is called as विविक्तस्था or said to live in एकान्त.
- वीरमाता: Those who are said to be वीर undertake Her आराधना at all times. She is also the माता of all वीर. भक्त is a वीर since such a one has embarked on a यात्रा that is extremely difficult to navigate and remain aligned to. Therefore, those who are श्रेष्ठ in doing उपासना are called as वीर and they remain in their course of उपासना since they are always aware or live with a view that She as their माता is always there for them. Both गणेश and स्कन्द are referred to as वीर in various पुराण and वीरमाता therefore also refers to माता of गणेश and स्कन्द.
- वियत्प्रसूः वियत् refers to हृदय चक्र and since She manifests in this चक्र, She is called as वियत्प्रसूः here.
मुकुन्दा मुक्तिनिलया मूलविग्रह-रूपिणी । भावज्ञा भवरोगघ्नी भवचक्र-प्रवर्तिनी ॥ १५७॥
- मुकुन्दा: मुकुन्दा is one who is a मुक्ति दाता and since She is the one who gives मुक्ति, She is called as मुकुन्दा here (note that this नाम is used popularly for कृष्ण since He granted मुक्ति to many persons during His अवतार – ब्रह्माण्ड पुराण therefore states that She took the पुम् viz masculine रूप as श्री कृष्ण signifying that both are one only).
- मुक्तिनिलया: If She is seen as a giver of मुक्ति, is She separate from मुक्ति? If someone gives me a book, the person and the book are different. However, in Her case, not only is She the giver of मुक्ति, She is also the destination since मुक्ति is Her home. मुक्ति is Her स्वरूप.
- मूलविग्रह-रूपिणी: She has taken on रूप of मूल विग्रह for the purpose of giving मुक्ति to Her उपासक. The मूल विग्रह in the श्री चक्र is the बिन्दु रूप which is called as श्री ललिता to whom the उपासक directs their साधना to. Within any मंदिर too, we have the idea of मूल विग्रह situated within the गर्भा गृह which in turn is surrounded by various परिवार देवता. Therefore, to grant मुक्ति, She is taken the रूप of the मूल विग्रह to enable a साधक to undertake Her ध्यान and over time, the साधक attains मोक्ष. Another अर्थ of this नाम is that मूल refers to मूल मंत्र while विग्रह (विशेष ग्रहण is विग्रह) refers to Her रूप – here, it means that Her शक्ति present within the मंत्र is attracted or personified into a specific रूप which is represented as Her विग्रह. Therefore, doing the उपासना on the विग्रह, we will certainly over time gain मोक्ष. One must therefore do जप of Her मूल मंत्र and ध्यान on Her रूप and both collectively therefore make Her मुकुन्दा for Her भक्त.
- भावज्ञा: She is aware of भाव of all beings; hence, She is called as भावज्ञा. The स्वरूप of भव is भावज्ञा where भव means संसार. Each of the beings goes through multiple दश (बल, कुमार, etc) and She is aware of all these दश that one experiences in संसार – and while the person may not be conscious of the changes happening, She is fully aware of these changes happening.
- भवरोगघ्नी: All रोग experienced by a being while living in संसार are negated/ removed by Her; hence, She is called as भवरोगघ्नी. भव or संसार is also akin to a रोग (owing to limitedness in everything that we experience here) and She removes अनुभव of भव in Her भक्त (by granting मुक्ति).
- भवचक्र-प्रवर्तिनी: संसार चक्र is the भवचक्र – सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय keep happening in संसार, an individual too goes through six stages (जायते, etc) as a चक्र and it keeps getting repeated life after life – this चक्र is run by Her both at ब्रह्माण्ड as well as at a पिण्डाण्ड level – hence, She is called as भवचक्र-प्रवर्तिनी.
छन्दःसारा शास्त्रसारा मन्त्रसारा तलोदरी । उदारकीर्तिर् उद्दामवैभवा वर्णरूपिणी ॥ १५८॥
- छन्दःसारा: सार refers to essence. श्री विद्या ज्ञान is श्री ललिता and She is the essence of all छंद (वेद has seven छंद in which all मंत्र are chanted).
- शास्त्रसारा: वेद is the only शास्त्र. All other शास्त्र are also derived from the वेद (पुराण, इतिहास, आगम, etc). She is the सार of all शास्त्र.
- मन्त्रसारा: She is the सार of all मंत्र whose जप is undertaken by an उपासक. All मंत्र are directed towards Her only. Also, since जप of मंत्र can only be done using अक्षर, since all अक्षर are Her रूप, in this way too, the सार of all मंत्र is Her only. Further, सार also means बल – this means that the बल that छंद, any शास्त्र or any मंत्र has is owing to Her only (without Her present within these, each of these will become meaningless or निर्बल).
- तलोदरी: उदर refers to abdomen while तल refers to being सम (equitable or balanced and not bloated). One will then wonder – why should Her रूप be referred to all of a sudden in a manner that has no bearing to the previous नाम? Why should the shape of Her abdomen matter? While a beginning stage उपासक may visualize Her उदर in this manner, there is another meaning also that is a deeper meaning. उदर means inner part while तल refers to स्थान or लोक and therefore, since She holds all लोक or विश्व within Herself, She is rightly referred to as तलोदरी here. This is why when विश्वरूप दर्शन was shown to श्री कृष्ण, He showed the विश्वरूप within Himself and not some place outside Himself. She is the विश्व and विश्व is present within Her only – that is the अर्थ here. Lastly, as per संख्य शास्त्र, त has association with six as a number while ल with nine – तल thus becomes nine and since the श्री चक्र is comprised of nine आवरण, तलोदरी stands for Her स्वरूप of श्री चक्र together with all nine आवरण.
- उदारकीर्ति:: उदार can be translated as one who is liberal and not miserly. Her कीर्ति (fame) is not limited or hidden – it is widely known and spread all around in the विश्व. Wherever there is greatness, there is कीर्ति and since all that is great in this विश्व is Her expression only, whenever one sees anything as worth praising and praises such as aspect of विश्व (being or विषय), everyone is praising Her only. One may remind oneself as various विभूति stated in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता which are described as the excellences of श्री कृष्ण – and since all विभूति have a great fame, She in the रूप of विभूति attracts liberal fame from everyone; therefore, She is called as उदारकीर्ति.
- उद्दामवैभवा: विभू भावं वैभवं meaning the अर्थ of वैभवं is नायकत्वम् or शासकत्वम् (aspect of leadership). उत् + दाम means to be in the highest position and shining (or spreading knowledge). Putting both together, this नाम states that She is अधिकारिणि placed in an उत्कृष्ट position (since She is विश्वमाता) and shining from that vantage point. There is a शास्त्र अर्थ too – one of the उपनिषद् states that उत् is the नाम given to परमात्मा situated in आदित्य मंडल; therefore, She is situated within आदित्य मंडल and Her प्रकाश is spread out all around the विश्व and the वैभवं of this परम ज्योति is the highest.
- वर्णरूपिणी: Continuing from the previous नाम, it is the कान्ति coming from within the सूर्य मंडल that then gets transformed in multiple वर्ण (colours) across the विश्व – hence, She is वर्णरूपिणी. वर्ण also stands for अक्षर (as discussed earlier) and Her नाम as वर्णरूपिणी is apt. Lastly, it is Her who has created the चातुर्वर्ण (ब्राह्मण, वैश्य, etc) ensuring that each being having a certain aptitude is born in the appropriate वर्ण and if they thereby follow the धर्म of such a वर्ण, they will attain Her state of being. One more अर्थ – She takes विविध रूप of various देवी when the विविध मंत्र जप is undertaken and in each such रूप, She bears a certain वर्ण to assist the साधक in the manner appropriately sought for by such a साधक – and since She takes on विविध रूप for the sake of the भक्त, She is aptly called as वर्णरूपिणी.
जन्ममृत्यु-जरातप्त-जनविश्रान्ति-दायिनी । सर्वोपनिष-दुद्-घुष्टा शान्त्यतीत-कलात्मिका ॥ १५९॥
- जन्ममृत्यु-जरातप्त-जनविश्रान्ति-दायिनी: ताप (burning, agony, pain, etc) faced by a being include जन्म (being born), मृत्यु (death) as well as जरा (decay) – everyone being is exposed to these ताप. She however has the power to grant विश्रान्ति (relief, rest) to all beings who have been experiencing these three ताप. Note that one can obtain विश्रान्ति not only after स्थूल शरीर is got rid of, but even सूक्ष्म शरीर (मन & बुद्धि) and कारण शरीर (वासना & संस्कार) are eliminated and only once these three are fully eliminated, one can attain विश्रान्ति. The only state where these three cannot continue to trouble a being is the state of आत्मा (since आत्मा is a सनातन पदार्थ). And since She is the आत्मा तत्व present in all beings, it is only Her who can grant the आत्मा state to a जीव – hence, She is called as जन्ममृत्यु-जरातप्त-जनविश्रान्ति-दायिनी.
- सर्वोपनिष-दुद्-घुष्टा: उत् refers to loud/ grand while घुष्टा refers to proclaim while सर्व उपनिषद् refers to all उपनिषद्. What have ALL उपनिषद् grandly proclaimed? They have grandly proclaimed about Her only. Since it is about Her only that all वेदान्त texts talk about, She is called as सर्वोपनिष-दुद्-घुष्टा. One of the उपनिषद् निर्वचन is given as “उपनीयेममात्मानम् ब्रह्मोपास्ति द्वयं सत: निहत्यविद्याम् तत्जांच तस्मात् उपनिषं मता” which says that उपनिषद् is that which takes one to the idea of ब्रह्म and as one gets closer to ब्रह्म, the अविद्या situated within मन and बुद्धि keep getting eliminated. Multiple उपनिषद् (केन, भावना, etc) refer to Her only.
- शान्त्यतीत-कलात्मिका: In श्री विद्या, unlike वेदान्त which recognizes four अवस्था (जाग्रत्, स्वप्न, सुशुप्ति followed by तुरीया), श्री विद्या तंत्र has a fifth अवस्था which is called as तुरीयातीत. So how is तुरीयातीत different from तुरीया? The तंत्र states that while तुरीया is a state where a जीव will exclaim “I have gained freedom from अज्ञान”, there is a level of अहंकार in such an expression while in the final state of तुरीयातीत, the words “I have gained freedom…” will not be used since “gaining of freedom” itself is an expression of अज्ञान – this is because one has always been free at all times. Such a state therefore gets expressed as तुरीयातीत and this नाम is thus stating that the तुरीयातीत अवस्था is the real home of श्री माता – this is called as शान्त्यतीत-कलात्मिका here. शिव आगम शास्त्र says that शान्त्यतीत-कला is अद्वैतनिर्वाणानन्द बोधदा. What does this mean? It refers to an अद्वैत स्थिति (meaning where जीव and ब्रह्म become एक) where one attains निर्वाण आनन्द ज्ञान. This is the real स्वरूप of श्री माता and hence, this Her नाम is given as शान्त्यतीत-कलात्मिका (note that कला means प्रकाश of ज्ञान).
गम्भीरा गगनान्तस्था गर्विता गानलोलुपा । कल्पना-रहिता काष्ठाऽकान्ता कान्तार्ध-विग्रहा ॥ १६०॥
- गम्भीरा: गम् बीज is hidden in this and the next three नाम. The नाम this श्लोक are conveying is Her लक्षण. She is गम्भीरा. It means depth. Her state is very deep (or सूक्ष्म) and is not comprehensible to normal thinking. समुद्र is also called गम्भीरा since it hides everything within it – and since entire विश्व is hidden within Her, She is गम्भीरा. Anyone entering आध्यात्म realizes after initial euphoria as to how difficult it is to attain to Her state. There is an expression – आनन्त्यात् गंभीरा which states that whatever is अनन्त is गंभीरा since She is without any limits or end – She is everywhere. महाहृदानुसंधानान् मंत्रवीर्यानुभावतः is another expression – when a साधक has अनुभूति of हृदय of ब्रह्म, the वीर्य or तेज of मंत्र comes to one’s अनुभव and this अनुभव is गम्भीरा. Doing निरन्तर जप of a मंत्र will take a sincere साधक to a stage where one is immersed fully in the शक्ति of the मंत्र – this is something that can be understood only via अनुभव when one enters fully into the शक्ति of the मंत्र – this is गम्भीरा and not accessible by doing simple जप in an external manner.
- गगनान्तस्था: अन्तस्थ may be seen as inner aspect while गगन refers to आकाश – this नाम is stating that आकाश is within Her (since, we have stated multiple times, She is सूक्ष्म than आकाश). अन्तस्थ may also be understood as अन्त + स्थ meaning that She is established (स्थ) at the end (अन्त) of गगन (meaning while in vyavahara, आकाश is understood as most सूक्ष्म, when one goes beyond आकाश, one is able to access परमात्मा and this is the very end of our quest for Her). This is the reason why Her नाम as गगनान्तस्था is most apt.
- गर्विता: Just as a वृक्ष displays leaves, beautiful flowers and fruits without hiding them, She also displays the entire विश्व in an unadulterated manner. Just as a दीप displays कान्ति in the most natural way or a flower spreads its fragrance in the most natural way, श्री ललिता too displays the entire विश्व – no one can accuse a flower of spreading fragrance since what is natural to it gets displayed to everyone, similarly, She also displays विश्व in the most natural manner – hence, She has the नाम of गर्विता. While गर्व stands for arrogance, in our case, if we display our intellect or our capabilities as OURS (even though it is Her शक्ति that gave us our capabilities), it is indeed arrogance. However, in Her case, whatever She displays is indeed Hers only (and not borrowed unlike us) and She deservingly can display Her capabilities and depth to the विश्व – and therefore, She alone is deserving is being called as गर्विता. Only such a one can display गर्व who knows that there is no one that can be equated with such a person – now, who else can claim to display गर्व other than Her since there is indeed no one other than Her.
- गानलोलुपा: गान is understood as song or music. वेद sees गान as an expression of आनन्द – when one has अनुभूति of आनन्द, one automatically breaks into गान. Sitting in मणिद्वीप, She too is having अनुभूति of आनन्द when Her भक्त are doing गान of Her नाम. Since She likes गान by Her भक्त, Her नाम is given as गानलोलुपा (enjoyer of गान). In the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता too, कृष्ण says very clearly that among the वेद, He is सामवेद (which again suggests that the गान expression of the वेदमंत्र is most dear to Him).
- कल्पना-रहिता: कल्पना refers to that which is manufactured/ created (while the word imagination is also used as a translation of this word, imagination also can be seen as creation; albeit of the mind). What is विश्व – it is an outcome of Her कल्पना. But while विश्व is त्रिगुण-infested, has आकार, etc., She does not have all these विकार – hence, because is निर्गुण or beyond त्रिगुण, She is called as कल्पना-रहित. कल्पना is also explained as वासनामय्यो दृश्यवीचय: where वीचय refers to waves (or तरंग) and these तरंग come into our मन on a continuous basis owing to our pre-existing वासना. These waves in our मन is not our real identity though we mistake this as such. Our आत्मा तत्व, which is Her रूप too, is therefore rightly named as कल्पना-रहिता.
- काष्ठा: काष्ठा means that which is always present in a एक स्थिति and has no विकार (shape, movement, change, etc). Says कथा उपनिषद् – महतपरमव्यक्तं अव्यक्तात् पुरुषपर: पुरुषान् न परः किञ्चित् सा काष्ठा सा परागति: which means “(beyond इन्द्रिय and पञ्चभूत) there is महत्, beyond महत्, there is अव्यक्त, beyond अव्यक्त is the पुरुष (our real identity, our आत्मा); beyond पुरुष, there is nothing else since it is a state of no change and it is our ultimate goal or journey”. काष्ठा thus becomes a state where all waves cease to influence the जीव since the साधक is no longer a जीव but regains the original पुरुष स्थिति. There is an idea of Ashta मूर्ति of शिव where the fifth रूप is called as भीम which is equivalent to आकाश and the भार्या (or शक्ति) of शिव in the रूप of भीम is called as काष्ठा which stands for दिक् स्वरूप (ten directions) – thus काष्ठा stands for Her रूप as दिक् स्वरूपिणि. There is a third अर्थ – वेदान्त वाक्यानाम् निष्टा काष्ठ्येति कत्स्यते which states that one who has निष्टा (conviction, fixity, focus, belief, etc) over the वाक्य of वेदान्त is called as काष्ठा. Such a conviction can only happen if Her करुणा is available or present within the साधक – and in this way too, Her नाम as काष्ठा makes perfect sense. काष्ठा also stands for सूक्ष्म काल रूपिणी (described as time equal to 18 blinks by our eyes).
- कान्ता: कमनीयत्वात् कान्ता which means that which is कमनीय (worth aspiring for or seeking) is कान्ता. Since आनन्द is what all beings seek, She as कान्ता is none else other than आनन्द स्वरूपिणि. कान्ता can be broken as क + अन्त where क stands for ब्रह्मा and since She is beyond ब्रह्मा (who is responsible for creation of the universe), She is कान्ता. Some भाष्याकार also see this term as अकान्ता where कम् refers to सुख, अकम् refers to दुःख and therefore अकान्ता refers to a state beyond दुःख viz state of आनन्द.
- कान्तार्ध-विग्रहा: अर्ध नारीश्वर is the meaning of this नाम. He is कान्त and She is कान्ता. In श्री चक्र too, both शिव and उमा are present. Since She is half of शिव, She is referred to as अर्ध विग्रह of कान्त viz शिव.
