कार्यकारण-निर्मुक्ता कामकेलि-तरङ्गिता । कनत्कनकता-टङ्का लीला-विग्रह-धारिणी ॥ १६१॥

862. कार्यकारण-निर्मुक्ता: कार्य is प्रपञ्च while कारण is प्रकृति. From an individual lens, while शरीर (and प्राण) are the कार्य, our own कर्म is the कारण. Therefore, कार्य is the effect while कारण is the cause. She is however neither cause nor effect and She is thus beyond cause & effect. There is no cause that has led to Her birth nor can She be seen as an effect – She is नित्य (eternal) and has always been there, is there and will always be there in Her own स्वरूप. 

863. कामकेलि-तरङ्गिता: काम refers to आनन्द while केलि means लीला while तरंग is understood as waves (that display a consistent frequency). The व्यक्तीकरण (expression) of आनन्द is done by Her on a निरन्तर (continuous) basis – it never ceases. A साधक may experience आनन्द but it is infrequent and not continuous. In Her case, it is निरन्तर. There is another अर्थ – काम also stands for परमेश्वर and काम is also the reason for सृष्टि and since शिव and उमा undertake पञ्चकृत्य (सृष्टि, स्थिति, etc) as a लीला on a continuing basis, Her नाम is given as कामकेलि-तरङ्गिता. 

864. कनत्कनकताटङ्का: Se has two ताटङ्का viz ear-rings and these are कनत्कनक (meaning shining or illuminating golden). We discussed earlier that both ears represent काल principle (as सूर्य & चंद्र). There is another अर्थ of this नाम – कनत् refers to one what is displaying प्रकाश and the लक्षण of a मंत्र is तेज or प्रकाश; and it is not just a normal तेज (like that of an electric bulb) but one that is हिरण्मय प्रकाश (meaning golden light). ताटङ्का refers to दीर्घ अक्षर in the मंत्र शास्त्र. And what is the दीर्घ अक्षर – it is ॐ. And therefore, the हिरण्मय तेज present in ॐ अक्षर is what lies at the root of प्रपञ्च and makes प्रपञ्च happen and sustain itself. This नाम therefore sees Her as ॐकार रूपिणी or to extend this further, She can be seen as बीज अक्षर रूपिणी (ह्रीम्, ईंम्). 

865. लीला-विग्रह-धारिणी: She has taken रूप of a विग्रह as a लीला. लीला is understood as a play or an act that is undertaken in an अनायास manner (effortless, easy). Each रूप that we take on (of a father, mother, entrepreneur, actor, etc) requires a lot of effort while She has taken a रूप out of Her own स्वतंत्र शक्ति for the sake of Her उपासक or Her साधक to grant them मोक्ष. All रूप in मंदिर are therefore to be seen as Her विग्रह for our upliftment. लीला can also be understood as करुणा, आनन्द, etc and all these will also fit in this नाम.

अजा क्षयविनिर्मुक्ता मुग्धा क्षिप्र-प्रसादिनी । अन्तर्मुख-समाराध्या बहिर्मुख-सुदुर्लभा ॥ १६२॥

866. अजा: She has no आदि because She has no जन्म. She has always been there – eternally. अजो नित्य शाश्वतम् पुराणम् which states that अजा applies to that which is नित्य (is always available), शाश्वत (meaning सनातन or will always be present) and पुराणम् (always been there). अजति गच्छति क्षिपति इति वा अजा: – She is called as अजा since She is सर्व व्यापक (गच्छति) and She also triggers or encourages all minds or even grants all beings whatever they deserve (क्षिपति) (just as seeds are spread out within a field). 

867. क्षयविनिर्मुक्ता: क्षय refers to decay and therefore क्षयविनिर्मुक्ता means She has no decay or reduction (since She is नित्य/ शाश्वत as we discussed earlier). 

868. मुग्धा: मुग्धा means अंकुरित यौवना means when यौवन (youth) begins or is in a seed state, that state is called as मुग्धा. Those who possess innocence, सौंदर्य and display a प्रसन्न demeanour are also called as मुग्धा. Earlier, we have seen her name as always being seen as having षोडष वर्ष (sixteen years). 

869. क्षिप्र-प्रसादिनी: क्षिप्र means immediate – if and when a भक्त is able to see Her as मुग्धा, प्रसाद is immediately granted to such a भक्त. Her अनुग्रह to such a भक्त is immediate. 866 – 869 are stated to contain क्षिप्र-प्रसादिनी मंत्र and if जप of these is done collectively with श्रद्धा, such a साधक will obtain the प्रसाद sought for by them. 

870. अन्तर्मुख-समाराध्या: Those who are अन्तर्मुख undertake Her आराधना in a समग्र manner. While आराधना means to focus on Her fully, समग्र means such an आराधना is as per शास्त्र and undertaken in a परिपूर्ण manner. भावना उपनिषद् talks about अन्तर्मुख आराधना as conveyed here – ज्ञान is offered as अर्घ्य (as against water) (meaning one should know the तत्व of the देवता whose आराधना is being done), ज्ञेय is हवि: (whatever is the deity we are trying to know or gain access to, what is the हविस् we are pouring into the अग्नि), ज्ञाता is होता (one who is doing उपासना and trying to integrate ज्ञान and ज्ञेय is the होता; meaning the उपासक) – and one who really does भावना of all the three as one only is called as one who is doing अर्चना of श्री चक्र. Who is कामेश्वर? One who is चैतन्य without उपाधि. The आनन्द शक्ति of कामेश्वर is श्री ललिता who is present within us as स्वात्मा. सिद्धि happens when one is able to realize that the आत्मा present within oneself is श्री ललिता and all else being seen earlier as the उपासक himself is got rid of.  And one who is able to undertake such a भावना even for a split second, such an उपासक will attain अभेद स्थिति with परमेश्वर in an immediate manner – the फल is obtained instantaneously (the previous नाम of क्षिप्र-प्रसादिनी becomes relevant here). 

871. बहिर्मुख-सुदुर्लभा: Those who undertake Her आराधना in a बहिर्मुख (externalized) manner will find it extremely difficult to attain Her – She is not accessible to those who are बहिर्मुख. This is as clear as one can get – does this mean the बहिर्मुख क्रिया is useless? It is not – since it will lead to चित्त शुद्धि; meaning it will cleanse us and prepare us. But what will enable us to attain Her state of सम्पूर्ण आनन्द is only when one becomes अन्तर्मुख – that is the message of these two नाम. For a साधक therefore, these two नाम are extremely critical and should never be forgotten throughout one’s life. 

त्रयी त्रिवर्गनिलया त्रिस्था त्रिपुरमालिनी । निरामया निरालम्बा स्वात्मारामा सुधासृतिः ॥ १६३॥ or सुधास्रुतिः

872. त्रयी: त्रयी means the वेद. While the वेद are four, all of them are conveyed in three types of मंत्र which are called as ऋक्, यजुस् and साम and hence, वेद is referred to as त्रयी. ऋक् मंत्र is chanted in the form of श्लोक, यजुस् in the form of यज्ञ and साम in the form of a song. Equally, since every मंत्र in the वेद has three types of अर्थ – आधिभौतिक, आधिदैविक and आध्यात्मिक, hence वेद is called as त्रयी. 

873. त्रिवर्गनिलया: She is present in three वर्ग (भाग)– not only does She grant the three वर्ग, She is also present within them – the three वर्ग as धर्म, अर्थ and काम. When one therefore sees Her in these three पुरुषार्थ, one will seek these and engage with these also in a responsible manner. She is not separate from what She grants – when She grants अर्थ, note that She is also present within the अर्थ too. We discussed earlier that the four पुरुषार्थ can be divided into three – धर्म as one, अर्थ & काम as second and मोक्ष as third. To take this further, one may say that She is present in all aspects of ॐकार (अ-कार, उ-कार and म-कार). 

874. त्रिस्था: मार्कण्डेयपुराण has a fascinating श्लोक to explain what त्रिस्था stands for – त्रयोलोकास्त्रयोवेदास्त्रय्विद्यं पावकत्रयं त्रीनिज्योतींश्च वर्गाश्च त्रयोधर्मादयस्तदा, त्रयोगुणा त्रयस्शब्दा त्रयोदोशातदाश्रमा: त्रयकाला: तदावस्था पितरोहर्निषादया मात्रात्रयंचदेरूपं त्रिस्तेदेवी सरस्वती. She as त्रिस्था means She is three लोक, three वेद, three विद्या (सांख्य, योग & वेदान्त), three अग्नि (गार्हपत्य, दक्षिणाग्नि & आह्वानि), three ज्योति (सूर्य, चंद्र & अग्नि), three वर्ग/ धर्म, three गुण (सत्व, रजस् & तमस्), three शब्द (अ-कार, उ-कार & म-कार), three दोष (वात, पित्त & कफ), three आश्रम (ब्रह्मचर्य, गृहस्थ and वानप्रस्थ), three काल (प्रात:, माध्यान्न & सायं), three अवस्था (जाग्रत्, स्वप्न & सुशुप्ति), three पितृ (बर्हिष्पत्य, अग्निप & सोमप), three मात्रा (उदात्त, अनुदात्त & स्वरित) – all these are expression of देवी who is always present in तुरीया अवस्था while taking all these रूप for running विश्व.

875. निरामया: If शरीर experiences problems, we refer to these as व्याधि while if मन experiences problems, we can these as आधि. Therefore, while all कर्म शरीर are exposed to both व्याधि & आधि, She is not exposed to either of these – hence, Her नाम is given as निरामया. 

876. निरालम्बा: She does not need any आलम्ब (support) – unlike all beings which are dependent (on other beings, on प्रकृति, etc), She needs no such आलम्ब and therefore, She is called as निरालम्बा. 

877. स्वात्मारामा: When a साधक undertakes साधना realizing that the key reason to address oneself as “I” is not the शरीर or प्राण or बुद्धि – instead, it is one’s own चैतन्य from where the idea of “I” comes about. And when we realizes this, one’s साधना makes the person integrate the जीव aspect of being into चैतन्य – and when this happens, one attains स्वात्मारामा state – being immersed on one’s own चैतन्य. This is a state when one merges with one’s own आत्मा and experiences अनुभूति of आनन्द. 

878. सुधासृतिः: सुधा refers to अमृत while सृतिः refers to प्रवाह (flow). For ध्यान on the नाम of सुधासृतिः,  She needs to be visualized as having अमृत रूप. And what does this mean? Her शरीर is emanating कान्ति that comes from चंद्रशिला; also when moon rays fall on चंद्रशिला, the shining aspect gains freezes and one can see liquidity flow from it. One may therefore understand the प्रकाश or कान्ति is ज्ञान and the liquid aspect as अमृत is the अमृत as well as दया. This नाम is therefore conveying Her ज्ञान and करुणा aspect collectively to the साधक. There is another निर्वचन of सुधा – सुष्टुधीयते सुखेनधीयते इति सुधा meaning that which bears or takes responsibility in a परिपूर्ण manner as well as bears this burden in the most easy manner (just as कृष्ण lifted गोवर्धन in an effortless manner). सुधासृतिः therefore means the शक्ति प्रवाह that runs the विश्व and this नाम therefore is most apt for श्री माता. 

संसारपङ्क-निर्मग्न-समुद्धरण-पण्डिता । यज्ञप्रिया यज्ञकर्त्री यजमान-स्वरूपिणी ॥ १६४॥

879. संसारपङ्क-निर्मग्न-समुद्धरण-पण्डिता: संसार is akin to पङ्क (mud) in which all beings are fully immersed (निर्मग्न) and She is the पण्डित(qualified) who is capable of lifting such a being in a comprensive manner (समुद्धरण) from संसार. Since there is certainty in Her capability to lift oneself from संसार and take oneself to मोक्ष, a साधक can engage in Her ध्यान without any doubt.  

880. यज्ञप्रिया: From this नाम till विष्णुरूपिणी is to see Her as यज्ञेश्वर देवी. Whatever यज्ञ one does – अन्तर्याग or बहिर्याग, both are प्रिया (or dear) to Her. यज्ञ is a कर्म that makes us पवित्र. शास्त्र convey the line – यज्ञो वै विष्णु: where विष्णु as स्थितिकर्ता is seen as an expression of यज्ञ (this is why the नाम of विष्णुरूपिणी is conveyed later). 

881. यज्ञकर्त्री: One may immerse oneself fully in Chapter 3 of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता – not only is यज्ञ dear to Her, She is also the doer of यज्ञ (even though the actual क्रिया is being done by a पुरोहित, know that it is Her acting through पुरोहित who is doing the यज्ञकर्म). One who performs the यज्ञ as per the specifications in the शास्त्र is called as याजी – and it must be noted that such a याजी cannot perform the यज्ञ without presence of the भार्या during the यज्ञ. Similarly, when विश्व रचना was being done by शिव, He was called as सोमयाजी and She joined Him in performance of the यज्ञ and this is also the reason why She is rightly named as यज्ञकर्त्री. 

882. यजमान-स्वरूपिणी: यजमान is the one who has taken the responsibility of performing the यज्ञ and has taken all necessary दीक्षा for ensuring the success of यज्ञ. Within this यजमान, She is situated as the दीक्षा and with Her cooperation as well as help of all others, the यजमान is able to perform the यज्ञ. Since She is residing within the यजमान as the दीक्षा attribute, She is rightly called as यजमान-स्वरूपिणि.

धर्माधारा धनाध्यक्षा धनधान्य-विवर्धिनी । विप्रप्रिया विप्ररूपा विश्वभ्रमण-कारिणी ॥ १६५॥

883. धर्माधारा: She is the आधार of धर्म – धर्म is therefore Her रूप only. She is the one who has made धर्म as the आधार for running the विश्व. How does one know what is धर्म? धर्म is contained within the वेद – वेद is धर्म Herself and therefore doing यज्ञ as per वेद is akin to living as per धर्म. शास्त्र विहित कर्माचरण is the निर्वचन of धर्म (adherence to कर्म contained in the शास्त्र is धर्म). But what about those who are not aware of शास्त्र? देशे ये आचार: पारंपर्यक् क्रमागत: आम्नायैरविरूद्धश्चास्वधर्म परिकीर्तितः – whatever is the आचार followed within the देश one is born into or living, that which is followed as परम्परा for many generations, that which is not going against the prescriptions of the शास्त्र – these three collectively are referred to as धर्म that needs to be adhered to by all. 

884. धनाध्यक्षा: She is the अध्यक्ष (controller, overseer, owner) of धन. And what does धन mean? Though it is translated as wealth, that makes one धन्य is called as धन. धन्य means beneficial – therefore, when one is hungry, food becomes धन, when one is thirsty, water becomes धन, etc. For a जीव, attaining मोक्ष is what may be understood as धन and since that can only come from ज्ञान, She as ज्ञान स्वरूपिणि is rightly to be understood as धनाध्यक्षा. Similarly, for a साधक interested in doing यज्ञ, if such a साधक lives by धर्म, the द्रव्य necessary to undertake the यज्ञ will also be given by Her – hence, She is धनाध्यक्षा.

885. धनधान्य-विवर्धिनी: Carrying forward from the previous नाम, for one living as per धर्म, She will grant adequate धन (दक्षिण) as well as धान्य (द्रव्य) – hence, She is called as धनधान्य-विवर्धिनी. 

886. विप्रप्रिया: विप्र (one who has विशेष प्रज्ञा) is one who lives a lifestyle as dictated by वेद – one doing नित्य & नैमित्तिक कर्म and avoiding निषेध कर्म throughout one’s life develops the necessary पात्रता to utter the मंत्र and any मंत्र uttered without such a lifestyle will not be a मंत्र but merely a शब्द (and will therefore be ineffective). Such a विप्र is प्रिया to Her – hence, She is called as विप्रप्रिया. A person may be born in a ब्राह्मण कुल but only with संस्कार can such a person be called a द्विज; further, only with विद्या as conveyed in the शास्त्र can such a person be called as a विप्र – only if all three come together, such a person can be called as श्रोत्रीय.  

887. विप्ररूपा: Such a विप्र who has विशेष प्रज्ञा is Her रूप only. When we therefore comes across a विप्र who lives as per the lifestyle conveyed in the शास्त्र on a continuous basis, we must see such a person as Her रूप only. Only because She lives within such a person, a विप्र is able to life such a lifestyle. 

888. विश्वभ्रमण-कारिणी: What is the purpose of यज्ञ? To ensure that विश्व undertakes भ्रमण (movement, journey) in a balanced & consistent manner. Only when यज्ञ is undertaken by all properly (meaning all beings live as per the धर्म contained in the शास्त्र), विश्व runs smoothly. She is the आधार whose presence ensures that विश्व circle runs smoothly, hence, She is called as विश्वभ्रमण-कारिणी. 

विश्वग्रासा विद्रुमाभा वैष्णवी विष्णुरूपिणी । अयोनिर् योनिनिलया कूटस्था कुलरूपिणी ॥ १६६॥

889. विश्वग्रासा: As अग्निहोत्र, the अग्नि in the यज्ञ consumes all द्रव्य. Since She is consuming all द्रव्य and thereby accepting all offerings completely, She as यज्ञ अग्नि is called as विश्वग्रासा. विश्व will therefore not just be run by Her, She will also consume विश्व on a continuous basis (at the macro level, not only are stars born and sustain themselves, they are also consumed and destroyed after their life span is over). She therefore becomes the काल principle that consumes विश्व too at the end of प्रलय.  

890. विद्रुमाभा: The प्रभा or प्रकाश coming from the यज्ञाग्नि shines brightly all around; She is therefore called in this रूप as विद्रुमाभा. There is another अर्थ – वित् means ज्ञान, द्रुम means वृक्ष while आभा means प्रकाश and therefore means विद्रुम means वेद in the form of a वृक्ष that is shining all around is विद्रुमाभा  – which again is Her रूप only.

891. वैष्णवी: She is not separate from विष्णु – She is the वैष्णवी. Since विष्णु is यज्ञ, She too is called as वैष्णवी, which also means सर्वव्यापक शक्ति. 

892. विष्णुरूपिणी: Given that विष्णु is seen as यज्ञ, She is the यज्ञ रूपिणी since, as stated earlier, She is non-different from विष्णु. Last few नाम are therefore conveying the विष्णु तत्व in the रूप of यज्ञ – these नाम collectively are therefore referred to as an expression of वैष्णवी मंत्र (similar नाम of यज्ञ can also be found towards the end of विष्णु सहस्रनाम).  

893. अयोनिर्: योनि means कारण but since She does not have a cause for Her birth, She is called as अयोनि. She as सत्य has always been there; She is eternal and has no birth – She is self-existent (स्वयंभू). 

894. योनिनिलया: Whatever is the कारण of everything, She is established within it (निलया means place of residence). Nothing can run or function without Her and therefore, while everything in the विश्व has a cause, She Herself is the cause of all other causes – though She Herself does not have any cause. Hence, She is called as योनिनिलया. निलीयते इति निलय which means that which consumes (or does लय) in a संपूर्ण manner is known as निलय and therefore योनिनिलय may be understood that She is both जन्म कारिणी and लय कारिणी). Lastly, योनि also stands for त्रिकोण (in the श्रीचक्र) while अयोनि stands for बिन्दु and since बिन्दु is within the त्रिकोण, She as the बिन्दु is called as योनिनिलया. 

895. कूटस्था: कूट refers to माया or प्रकृति. She is situated within प्रकृति as the चैतन्य that activates प्रकृति and therefore, She is called as कूटस्था. We discussed earlier that कूट also means समूह and all beings are कूट only (of इन्द्रिय, of प्राण, of thoughts, etc). However, for all these कूट to function effectively, She is present within us as आत्मा तत्व or चैतन्य. Hence, She is कूटस्था. 

896. कुलरूपिणी: The different aspects that are composed within the समूह of various parts described in the previous नाम are also functioning because of Her activating them – therefore, the समूह are also expressed as Her रूप only. Another अर्थ is that while She is the आत्मा तत्व called as कूटस्था, She can only be known via ज्ञान and since ज्ञान of the वेद can only be accessed via गुरु परम्परा, कुल refers to गुरु परम्परा and the विद्या received via गुरु परम्परा is Her रूप only and called as कुल रूपिणी. 

वीरगोष्ठीप्रिया वीरा नैष्कर्म्या नादरूपिणी । विज्ञानकलना कल्या विदग्धा बैन्दवासना ॥ १६७॥

897. वीरगोष्ठीप्रिया: वीर are those who take on to उपासना in an intense manner. What is their गोष्ठी (areas of discussions)? Their talks always focus on धर्म, ज्ञान, आत्मा तत्व, etc. And since She loves such discussions, She is called as वीरगोष्ठीप्रिया. Another अर्थ is that all लीला of श्री माता are all about Her वीर display – महिशासुर मर्दन, भण्डासुर मर्दन, etc. To keep talking about Her लीला at all times is also referred to as वीरगोष्ठी. Those who convey Her कथा with intense joy are loved by Her and She helps them to convey Her लीला in an effective manner – in that way too, She is वीरगोष्ठीप्रिया. 

898. वीरा: She is वीर since She has done संहार of असुर. पति-पुत्रवति is also called by शास्त्र as वीर. Lastly, वीर is one who is ज्ञान स्वरूपिणि – for possessing all these three aspects, She is called as वीरा. 

899. नैष्कर्म्या: निर्गत कर्म is called as नैष्कर्म्य – this means She does no कर्म. Till a जीव engages with any activity, such a जीव is said to be doing कर्म. However, once a जीव integrates into Her, कर्म stops altogether. Those who stop doing any activity (like sleeping, lazing around, etc) are also doing कर्म of sleeping, etc. Till one therefore possesses a जीव भाव, one is doing कर्म. One may however argue – does She not undertake सृष्टि, स्थिति, etc? If She does all these क्रिया, how can we say that She is not doing any कर्म? All work done in a detached manner is not कर्म – nothing touches Her nor is She impacted and just as water on a lotus leaf does not wet the leaf, Her क्रिया is not कर्म since these are detached. While all क्रिया happen in Her presence, nothing touches Her at all – hence, She is called as नैष्कर्म्या. 

900. नादरूपिणी: What is नाद? The ईश्वर तत्व is अव्यक्त is the one that creates the व्यक्त विश्व and the intermediate stage between अव्यक्त ईश्वर and व्यक्त विश्व is referred to as नाद. Therefore, as a जीव who is situated in व्यक्त विश्व, the route to अव्यक्त ईश्वर is via the route of नाद. And since all of us have access to शब्द, the root behind every शब्द is the नाद and once one is able to access Her as नाद, one will securely find their way to ईश्वर. परमेश्वर शक्ति is thus available to us or accessible to us in the नाद रूप – hence, She is called as नाद रूपिणी. In वेदान्त, ॐकार is known as the नाद. The श्री विद्या शास्त्र describes नाद as नाद प्रणवशिरस्थित: तद्रूपा meaning that नाद is situated at the शिर of प्रणव meaning that it is more सूक्ष्म than ॐकार too (and referred to as तुरीया भूमिका). To go deeper on this, the most सूक्ष्म sound is called as परा वाक् situated at सहस्रार. As it travels to मूलाधार and reaches हृदय स्थान, it is called as पश्यन्ती and once it reaches विशुद्ध (कण्ठ स्थान), it is called as मध्यमा and when it is expressed outside, it is called as वैखरी. Since परा वाक् starts taking a रूप at the हृदय स्थान, it is called as नाद when it is situated at हृदय. Only a योगी who becomes अन्तर्मुख is able to access नाद in the हृदय – at such a state, the eyes of the योगी start shedding tears since the योगी is gripped with आनन्द at such a time. 

901. विज्ञानकलना: विज्ञान refers to the ability to grasp the ज्ञान contained in the शास्त्र, The नाद turned into ॐ-कार which in turn became the वेद which in turn created various शास्त्र. कलना refers to assembling or organizing. She is therefore to be seen as the one who has a नादरूप and in turn put together the वेद and allied शास्त्र to make ज्ञान available to all beings. विज्ञान also stands for ब्रह्म अनुभूति (while ज्ञान is intellectual appreciation or grasping of key concepts, विज्ञान refers to brings that knowledge to one’s own अनुभव). She is the one who therefore facilitates अनुभूति of the शास्त्र ज्ञान within us – but for Her engagement within us, the ज्ञान of the शास्त्र cannot be experienced by Her उपासकs. 

902. कल्या: कलासु साधु: कल्या – whosoever is qualified (or skilled) to assimilate all कला is कल्या where कला refers to विद्या (all types of विद्या but more specifically, ब्रह्मविद्या). ध्यान योग्य स्थिति is also called as कल्या where ध्यान योग्य refers to that which is really worth doing ध्यान of (that is Her as परब्रह्म स्वरूपिणि). कल्यं सर्गे प्रभाते नीरोगदक्षयो: कल्याण वाचिन्या – कल्या refers to one who has undertaken सृष्टि, She is also a प्रभात काल रूपिणी, it is also a स्थिति where one has no रोग, She also stands for capability or skill (समर्थता) and lastly, कल्या शब्द is a कल्याण वाचिक (व्यक्तता of मंङ्गळ is referred to as कल्या). 

903. विदग्धा: refers to one who is चतुर – one who has the capability to apply the विद्या in day to day life engaging with other beings. She is a चातुर्यशीला (this is why She is able to do सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय in the most effective manner). 

904. बैन्दवासना: She is established (आसन) within the बिन्दु – the प्रथम स्पन्दना शक्ति of सृष्टि is the state of बिन्दु (imagine a stone thrown into still water wherein the waves get formed in the river AFTER the first creation of बिन्दु and नाद viz sound – the first impression is thus बिन्दु and नाद and this is to be understood as बैन्दवासना). She is established within the बिन्दु in the श्रीचक्र as well as at the centre of सहस्रार.  If we take the श्री चक्र, after the बिन्दु, there is a त्रिकोण followed by eight त्रिकोण followed by ten त्रिकोण followed by another ten त्रिकोण followed by fourteen त्रिकोण – all adding up to 43 त्रिकोण. Note that every त्रिकोण also has a बिन्दु at each of the three ends where त्रिकोण is connecting these three बिन्दु. Thus, बिन्दु is not just at the root or centre of the श्री चक्र, there is बिन्दु even in every त्रिकोण where She is established. For example, if we take जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति as three aspects of our being, while these three are distinct states, the चैतन्य of अहं is the connecting link between all three अवस्था. श्री चक्र is also therefore referred to as बैन्दवचक्र. What are the various बिन्दु within our own selves? बिन्दुत्रये योगात् त्रिपुरा आनन्दरूपिणी – the योग (or association) of three बिन्दु (viz 1) इच्छा, ज्ञान & क्रिया, 2) वाम, ज्येष्ठा and रौद्र – सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय) is known as त्रिपुरा. Her रूप in the form of हंस मंत्र is also called as बैन्दवासना. हकारं बिन्दुरूपेण ब्रह्माणम् विद्धि पार्वती सकारं बिुन्दुसर्गाश्च हरिश्चाहम् सुरेश्वरी अविनाभाव सम्बन्धो लोके हरिहरौ इति – ह-कार (हंस) indicates परब्रह्म and when He wants to do सृष्टि, He expresses as हंस:, when लय of सृष्टि is undertaken, He expresses as हंसम् (note that ह-कार is पुरुष वाचिक while स–कार is स्त्री वाचिक) and since सृष्टि and लय requires शक्ति, स–कार ends up being the expression in both sounds – हंस and हंसं. Now, सम् is expression of हर (शिव) while स: is expression of हरि. Put another way, When हंस (परब्रह्म) does सृष्टि, this is expressed as हंस: and we automatically see two बिन्दु (in the विसर्ग) – meaning one becomes two (duality or signifier of many) but when लय is undertaken, this is expressed as हंसं (which has a single बिन्दु after स) – therefore, both हंस: & हंसं together has three बिन्दु and three बिन्दु together is called as त्रिपुरा. Now, expressing both हंसं & हंस: (meaning inhalation and exhalation) happen because of प्राण which is Her called as प्राण रूपिणी (or प्राण चक्र) and this is also the अर्थ of बैन्दवासना. How or where does an उपासक do ध्यान of बिन्दु or the location of बैन्दवासना? हाकिनी मण्डला ऊर्ध्वं बिन्दुरूपस्तु वर्तुलम् – where is हाकिनी मण्डला located – it is at आज्ञा चक्र (as we discussed earlier, this region is also called as इन्दु मंडल). For ध्यान purposes, the उपासक must do ध्यान over बिन्दु (as एकरूप of शिव & शक्ति) having वर्तुल आकार and located over the आज्ञा चक्र (which is also the reason why we see Hindus bearing बिन्दु on their forehead). 

तत्त्वाधिका तत्त्वमयी तत्त्वमर्थ-स्वरूपिणी । सामगानप्रिया सौम्या सदाशिव-कुटुम्बिनी ॥ १६८॥ or सोम्या

905. तत्त्वाधिका: तत्व here refers to the building block or raw material of this प्रपञ्च. As the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता (and other शास्त्र) state, there are 24 तत्व – पञ्च भूत, पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रिय, पञ्च ज्ञानेन्द्रिय, पञ्च तन्मात्रा and four अन्त:करण (मन, बुद्धि, चित्त and अहंकार). Since She is अधिक (greater or more सूक्ष्म) than the 24 तत्व all of which depend on Her, She is called as तत्वअधिका. 

906. तत्त्वमयी: While She may be greater or beyond all the तत्व, She has also permeated all the तत्व – in fact, all तत्व cannot even function without Her working from within all the तत्व – hence, She is called as तत्त्वमयी as one immersed in तत्व. And how does She permeate the तत्व? She is present within the तत्व as the अहं चैतन्य स्वरूप. 

907. तत्त्वमर्थ-स्वरूपिणी: Another नाम for Her चैतन्य is तत् and this तत् is present in all as त्वम् and one who is able to know Her स्वरूप (तत्) as त्वम् present in all beings will be able to connect fully with Her नाम as तत् + त्वम् + अर्थ + स्वरूपिणि. To take an analogy, if सूर्य reflection is visible within an earthern pot filled with water, while both water and pot may be seen as तत्व, the reflection of सूर्य is त्वम् while any person with ज्ञान will be clear that what is being called as त्वम् is not really Her but merely Her reflection while Her real identity is तत् – this ज्ञान will make one abandon both तत्व as well as त्वम् and connect with तत् which is Her स्वरूप. 

908. सामगानप्रिया: Those who want to connect with the नाद will start with शब्द which is expressed with लया, with ताळ in a certain पद्धति – one who attempts to reach the नाद in the शब्द thereby expresses a song or does a जप or a मंत्र or a स्तोत्र. And the best way to catch Her नाद रूप is through सामगान. साम means persuasion and one who sings Her कीर्तन in a सौम्य manner pleases Her – hence, such a type of singing is called as सामगान  and because, She melts at such a signing, She is called as सामगान प्रिया. The previous नाम has तत् + त्वम् and one must note here that the famous महावाक्य तत् त्वम् असी comes in छांदोग्य उपनिषद् which is part of सामवेद (and therefore having previous नाम with this नाम suggests continuity) – even श्री कृष्ण says in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता that among the वेद, He is सामवेद highlighting why Her नाम is given as सामगान प्रिया. Note that ऋक्, यजुस् and साम are present within our शरीर too – our thoughts are ऋक्, our आचरण are यजुस् while our प्राण is the साम. It is प्राण which flows within our body in a rhythmic musical manner and सामगान प्रिया means She is pleased with those who undertake Her उपासना as प्राण स्वरूपिणि (प्रश्न उपनिषद् provides details of प्राण उपासना). 

909. सौम्या: सौम्य refers to सोम and the चंद्र मंडल स्थान within our शरीर (आज्ञा चक्र to सहस्रार). सोम is a लता used in यज्ञ. The कुण्डलिनी is also seen as लता that starts at मूलाधार and ends in सहस्रार. सोम is also broken as (स + उमा) which refers to शिव with उमा. ब्रह्मानन्द रस is also referred to as सौम्य and therefore the one having अनुभव of ब्रह्मानन्द स्थिति is called as सौम्य. 

910. सदाशिव-कुटुम्बिनी: This नाम displays a continuity with the previous नाम where we have seen Her expressed as one with शिव – hence, this नाम is self-explanatory viz one who is the wife of सदाशिव. सदाशिव is ईश्वर and कुटुम्ब of ईश्वर is विश्व and one who is आध्यक्ष of such a कुटुम्ब is श्री माता – hence, She is called as सदाशिव-कुटुम्बिनी. 

सव्यापसव्य-मार्गस्था सर्वापद्विनिवारिणी । स्वस्था स्वभावमधुरा धीरा धीरसमर्चिता ॥ १६९॥

911. सव्यापसव्य-मार्गस्था: सव्य refers to right and अपसव्य refers to left. She moves right and left between इडा and पिङ्गळ नाडी within our शरीर as प्राण स्वरूप – this is one अर्थ. कथा उपनिषद् provides two मार्ग – प्रेय मार्ग and श्रेय मार्ग where प्रेय मार्ग refers to a lifestyle where one is seeking what one desires while श्रेय मार्ग refers to the one who is seeking goal of शास्त्र viz मोक्ष. While the former provides immediate but temporary सुख, the latter provides eternal सुख that can never leave us once we obtain it. Whichever मार्ग an उपासक chooses, She grants whatever each such person chooses. Similarly, depending on the कर्म undertaken by an उपासक, they traverse either देवयान मार्ग that courses through सूर्य मंडल and takes the उपासक to देव लोक or through पितृ मार्ग that courses through चंद्र मंडल and takes the उपासक to स्वर्ग and other लोक – while both उपासक are good, the former takes one to eternity while the latter spend some time in higher लोक only to return to मृत्यु लोक (eighth Chapter of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता give more details). 

912. सर्वापद्विनिवारिणी: आपद refers to negative or fearful consequences. Those who follow either of the two मार्ग given in the previous नाम will be protected from सर्व आपद by Her – hence, She is called as सर्वापद्विनिवारिणी.  These आपद will include लौकिक आपद as well as आपद of birth in मृत्यु लोक. 

913. स्वस्था: स्व (self) + स्था (situated or stationed) is स्वस्था refers to a state when one is not troubled by any रोग (affliction) or problematic situation. When one is established in one’s own state, one is happy and any deviation makes one unhappy. When one is not impacted by and आधि (mental रोग) व्याधि (शरीर रोग), one is stated to being in स्वस्था state. When She removes any आपद that is troubling us, we obvious attain state of स्वस्था. Lastly, when we use the word अहं, we point towards the अनाहत चक्र (or हृदय) and the चैतन्य stationed at आत्मा from where the अहं aspect expresses itself is called as स्वस्था and this चैतन्य is Her only. 

914. स्वभावमधुरा: Her स्वभाव is माधुर्य – it is सहज (innate) or not acquired. And what is माधुर्य? It is आनन्द and since there is nothing sweeter or satisfying than आनन्द, She as आनन्द स्वरूपिणि is therefore referred to as स्वभावमधुरा. Her नाम is माधुर्य, her रूप is माधुर्य, Her लीला is माधुर्य, Her करुणा is माधुर्य and Her तत्व is माधुर्य – hence, Her स्वभाव is called as being मधुर. There is another meaning – स्वभावमधुरा = स्वभा + वम + धुरा where स्वभा refers to Her innate प्रकाश, वम refers to expressing or making व्यक्त (viz सृष्टि) while धुरा refers to bearing, holding or protecting or doing पोषण. Therefore, स्वभावमधुरा means She is using Her शक्ति to project the विश्व as well as protect it (or sustain it). 

915. धीरा: From धीर comes धैर्य. She has धैर्य (strength, confidence, etc) because She is filled with both ज्ञान and आनन्द. An उपासक too must have धैर्य; else such a one will not be capable of attaining आत्मा. Says कालीदास on who is a धीर – विकार हेतौ सति विक्रयन्ते meaning even if there is a विकार event (disturbance, changing, difficult, etc) that one may experience, if one’s own persona does not develop or fall prey to such a विकार, only such a person is called as a धीर. One who is therefore stable within, able to maintain calm and handle all events as per धर्म, such a one alone is a धीर. Since She is Herself not subject to any विकार, despite so much of intense drama happening within the प्रपञ्च, She is called as धीरा here. Such a धीरत्व comes because She is fully established in ज्ञान and आनन्द and because of that connect, She will never get distracted – this is precisely why धर्म also asks an उपासक to develop alignment with ज्ञान. 

916. धीरसमर्चिता: This नाम shows logical continuity from the previous नाम – because She is धीरा, only those who develop the quality of धीरत्व will be able to undertake Her अर्चना in a continuous and consistent manner. That does not mean those who have not developed the quality of धीरत्व cannot do Her अर्चना – this नाम merely states that their अर्चना will not be undertaken in the right way (their motivation may be fear, anger, greed, लौकिक desire, etc). Or such an अर्चना will be undertaken without concentration. But one who has acquired धीरत्व alone will be able to undertake Her अर्चना without any lapse of ध्यान and without distractions. Some भाष्याकार have combined the previous नाम and this नाम as a single नाम viz धीराधीरसमर्चिता. This states that both धीर and अधीर equally undertake Her अर्चना and since both undertake Her अर्चना, Her नाम as धीराधीरसमर्चिता also may be seen as reasonable. A question may arise – why should one who is a धीर do Her अर्चना? The answer should be obvious – the one who is a धीर knows very clearly that She is everything and his or her own identity is non-different from Her. Therefore, because such a one sees Her at all times, being immersed into Her at all times is indeed Her अर्चना – this is why धीर may also be said to be doing Her अर्चना at all times (unlike an अधीर whose अर्चना may be done now & then only). 

चैतन्यार्घ्य-समाराध्या चैतन्य-कुसुमप्रिया । सदोदिता सदातुष्टा तरुणादित्य-पाटला ॥ १७०॥

917. चैतन्यार्घ्य-समाराध्या: We discussed earlier by stating that ज्ञान is अर्घ्य, ज्ञेय is हवि: and ज्ञाता is a होता. Therefore, when this नाम states that चैतन्य must be offered as अर्घ्य, it is saying that She is pleased when a भक्त offers ज्ञान as अर्घ्य. And what is the ज्ञान? That She is non-different from me – that is all. 

918. चैतन्य-कुसुमप्रिया: What are the features of a कुसुम? One can assign four features – it is soft, it is fragrant (सुगंध), it has the feature of expansion or spreading out and it has मकरन्द (or honey) within itself. What does She like? She will be happy if our मन turns into a flower – has our मन developed कोमलत्वम्, has our मन acquired सुगंध in the form of सत्गुण has our मन expanded or spread out with ज्ञान or does our मन have प्रेम (towards Her and everyone) as its मकरन्द? If our मन develops these qualities and then, it is these that are called as चैतन्य कुसुम and if we offer such a मन to Her as कुसुम, She will certainly be pleased with such an offering by an उपासक. Additionally, शास्त्र refers to eight aspects as कुसुम – अहिंसा, इन्द्रिय निग्रह, सर्वभूत दया, क्षमा, तप, ध्यान and lastly, सत्यम् – and these are referred to as कुसुम since, if these सत्गुण expand (or spread out) from within our own selves, this is akin to true flowering within one’s हृदय. There is another अर्थ – चैतन्य as अर्घ्य or चैतन्य as कुसुम is also seen as per मंत्र शास्त्र as चैतन्य मंत्र and She is pleased by an उपासक who do Her उपासना using चैतन्य मंत्र – भुवनेश्वरी बीज is referred to as चैतन्य मंत्र (covered earlier as ह्रीम् बीज which when connected with the मंत्र brings चैतन्य to it).

919. सदोदिता: सदोदिता = सदा + उदिता meaning She is always rising (unlike सूर्य which rises and sets too at least from a व्यवहार lens). She प्रकाश is always coming out/ expressing itself – it never ceases to spread its प्रकाश. Further, उदिता refers to the परमात्मा present within the आदित्य मंडल. From an उपासना lens, whenever an उपासक does Her ध्यान, She immediately shines within and this also makes Her being called as उदिता (and this is because She is always present within and therefore, immediately available when accessed). To add to this, Her उदिता aspect works perfectly in those who are सत्पुरुष. 

920. सदातुष्टा: = सदातुष्टा: = सदा + तुष्टा which means She is always संतुष्ट which again is an expression of Her being आनन्द स्वरूपिणि. Taken together with the previous नाम, She can be seen as ज्ञानानन्द रूपिणी. Both these are present with Her eternally – सदा or सत्. She is therefore सत्चितानन्द रूपिणी. 

921. तरुणादित्य-पाटला: उदय सूर्य is to be seen as Her रूप. तरुणा also means youthful and while some भाष्याकार expresses this as सूर्य at noon (having a golden hue as against red in the morning), the रूप that is recommended for visualization is Her रूप at the time of उदय सूर्य. We discussed earlier that stands for गुलाब colour (which is a mix of red and white colour and not deep red). As we have seen throughout this सहस्रनाम, in between various नाम which convey वेदान्त ideas, there is a नाम in-between that does Her रूप वर्णन. This could be seen as facilitating ध्यान and since it is difficult for keeping a साधक glued to abstract (निर्गुण) ideas on a continuous basis, a सगुण नाम keeps popping up to enable such a साधक to remain glued to the शास्त्र so that over time, the need for a सगुण नाम may no longer be required. 

दक्षिणा-दक्षिणाराध्या दरस्मेर-मुखाम्बुजा । कौलिनी-केवलाऽनर्घ्य-कैवल्य-पददायिनी ॥ १७१॥

922. दक्षिणा: दक्षिण means one who is सर्व समर्थ. And what does समर्थ mean? One who has the capability to destroy दुःख completely is one who has समर्थ. And when does दुःख get fully eliminated. Only when one has attained ब्रह्मज्ञान. Thus, दक्षिण means that She is ब्रह्मज्ञान स्वरूपिणि. Equally, सर्व समर्थता is assigned to one who can undertake सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय at any or all times. दक्षिण also means one having सरल उदार स्वरूप where सरल is applied to one whose thought, speech and word are consistent or same (expressed as मनसा-वाचा-क्रिया) at all times – योग सूत्र uses आर्जवम् for such a person. Equally, Her मनसा-वाचा-क्रिया are दया-भूत (meaning that She showers Her grace generously and an उपासक may wonder whether the person really is deserving of such दया). 

923. दक्षिणाराध्या: Her आराधना is undertaken by those who have दक्षिण स्वभाव. भक्त must acquire समर्थता to do उपासना as per the साधना discipline proposed by the गुरु – as the अभ्यास rises, the भक्त grows in his or her समर्थता and when such समर्थता becomes intense, the भक्त attains a दक्षिण status and when Her आराधना is done now, She will immediately accept such an आराधना and grant the necessary फल as deserved by the भक्त. Equally, the साधक must develop a सरल उदार चरित्र to undertake Her उपासना. Additionally, there are two मार्ग used to undertake Her उपासना – and these are called as वामाचार and दक्षिणाचार मार्ग. And while She will grant फल to both types of उपासक, She prefers those who practice दक्षिणाचार मार्ग (since its methods are सात्विक and ज्ञान driven). There is another अर्थ – the भार्या of यज्ञ is दक्षिण – what does this mean? शक्ति of यज्ञ is दक्षिण which means that यज्ञ will be ineffective if दक्षिण is not given by the यजमान after the यज्ञ क्रिया is concluded. Also, since दक्षिण also means समर्थता, conduct of यज्ञ in an effective manner will be accepted by the दक्षिण देवी and only if She too agrees that the यज्ञ has been concluded effectively, the यज्ञ फल will be obtained. शास्त्र adds that these four aspects must be offered as a दक्षिण to Her in any यज्ञ endeavour – मन must be offered as a दक्षिण to Her (one will cross all difficulties if this is done), निश्चय दक्षिण (one will obtain all that one is seeking), भक्ति दक्षिण (one will cross शोक when this is offered) and दीक्षा दक्षिण (impurities will get washed away if this is offered). Some भाष्याकार combine the previous नाम with this one as दक्षिणादक्षिणाराध्या which suggests that Her आराधना is done by a few with दक्षिण and those others who अदक्षिण – but She accepts whatever efforts are put in by both kinds of people (and grants appropriate फल for each such kind of persons).  

924. दरस्मेर-मुखाम्बुजा: She sports a mild smiling expression. Once again, a रूप comes in-between other नाम. We have stated earlier that a mild smile is an expression of ज्ञानानन्द aspect of Her स्वरूप. And if we continue from the previous नाम, we can say that She accepts दक्षिण offered by an उपासक and grants the फल with a smiling expression (which means even the recipient knows that She is happy and therefore willingly accepts the फल with equal happiness and satisfaction). 

925. कौलिनी: We discussed earlier कुल refers to शट्चक्र while अकुल refers to सहस्रार and that which connects कुल to अकुल is कौलिनी. कालीदास refers to कुल as one having three तेज – इन्दु–वह्नि-रवि लक्षणम् कुलम् meaning चंद्र-अग्नि-सूर्य are collectively referred to as कुल (as we discussed earlier, the entire कुण्डलिनी is divided into three मंडल starting with सूर्य मंडल, अग्नि मंडल and चंद्र मंडल). 

926. केवला: केवला means She is एक (one only). She is the अद्वैत ब्रह्म – there is none else other than Her. 

927. अनर्र्घ्य: That which has no मूल्य is अर्नर्घ्य. What does मूल्य mean? That which can be measured or assigned a value is the मूल्य of that object. She however cannot be valued and there is nothing that can be compared with Her as having equal value – She is invaluable or beyond value.  

928. कैवल्य-पददायिनी: She has a fascinating trait – if anyone does Her उपासना, She has so much करुणा that She ensures that Her भक्त also becomes अमूल्य or invaluable. She grants Her status to Her भक्त by merging Her भक्त into Herself by granting कैवल्य – in effect, She grants Her invaluable status or vantage point to Her उपासक – such is the extent of Her करुणा. कैवल्य is explained as विषय संपर्क रहित कैवल्यम् meaning there is absolutely no association with विषय (meaning objects within विश्व) and one who becomes एक like Her has attained कैवल्य state. If one combines the previous नाम with this one as अनर्र्घ्य कैवल्य-पददायिनी, it may be taken to mean that She will grant the अमूल्य कैवल्य पद to Her उपासक.   

स्तोत्रप्रिया स्तुतिमती श्रुति-संस्तुत-वैभवा । मनस्विनी मानवती महेशी मङ्गलाकृतिः ॥ १७२॥

929. स्तोत्रप्रिया: Since She is a स्तोत्र रूप, She is स्तोत्र प्रिया. स्तोत्र means a composition of स्तुति (or praise). She does not like स्तुति done by a person who is feeding into Her ego (She has no ego, of course). स्तोत्र is the शब्द रूप of the देवता or परमात्मा. स्तुति in Her context means that the उपासक has expressed to Her that such a one has gained Her ज्ञान or developed a connect with Her स्थिति – and since the उपासक has gained Her ज्ञान, She becomes pleased with Her उपासक. स्तुति contains words of Her गुण, Her लीला, Her नाम, Her तत्व, Her आविष्कार, Her स्वभाव, Her प्रभाव and Her महिमा and one who gains ज्ञान on all these aspects of Her truly knows Her – hence, She is pleased with such a person. निर्वचन of स्तोत्र is given as प्रगीत्य मंत्र साध्या स्तुति इति स्तोत्र meaning effective usage of गान or मंत्र to undertake स्तुति which ensures success in knowing Her or reaching Her is स्तोत्र. A composition is called as a स्तोत्र if it has six लक्षण – नमस्कार (by use of नम:), आशीश (how the देवता grants the various aspects that one seeks from them), सिद्धांतोक्ति (the सिद्धान्त of the particular देवता as contained in the शास्त्र), पराक्रम (the देवता’s strength that has spread all around must be displayed in the स्तुति), विभूति (greatness and ऐश्वर्य रूप taken by the देवता) & प्रार्थना (lines where one bows down to the देवता seeking their अनुग्रह). 

930. स्तुतिमती: स्तुतिमती refers to the fact that there are numerous or large number of स्तुति in Her praise. Another अर्थ is that She directs Her मती to undertake अनुग्रह of the उपासक who undertakes Her स्तुति. In every स्तोत्र (or मंत्र), She is the ईं रूपिणी (in this रूप is present the तुरीया तत्व). 

931. श्रुति-संस्तुत-वैभवा: Who has really done Her स्तुति? It is not the individuals or brilliant academic persons who have written Her स्तुति – the वेद Itself (the श्रुति) is the one that has undertaken Her स्तुति. Her वैभव (greatness) are described in the वेद via various स्तोत्र in a संपूर्ण way. 

932. मनस्विनी: मनस्विनी is expressed as प्रशस्तम् मनो यस्या सा. She has उदार मन, a great मन which contains उत्कृष्ट सङ्कल्प and भाव. Whose मन is She? She is the मन of ईश्वर. This is why various शास्त्र convey again and again that whenever one wishes to undertake any activity, instead of using our own मन, align our मन with the मन of ईश्वर and then undertake any कर्म. And alignment with ईश्वर means raising our मन to an उत्कृष्ट level – to Her level. And then any कर्म that we do no longer becomes our कर्म but becomes धर्म, more appropriately, Her कर्म. At a व्यवहार level too, those people are called as मनस्विनी who are स्वतंत्र and therefore not under the control of anyone else.  निर्वचन of is given as मनो अस्या: स्वतन्त्रतया तिष्ठति न तु पराधीना – as stated earlier, She is established in a स्वतंत्र mode and She is not therefore पराधीना (under the control of anyone else). Some may argue – is She not aligned to शिव and if yes, how can She be स्वतंत्र? She is non-different from शिव and whatever is expressed by Her is wish of शिव and whatever is expressed by शिव is Her wish. Both are one or have one मन – and therefore aligned fully with one another. And this alignment is what makes them called as स्वतंत्र. 

933. मानवती: मान means मर्यादा and She is expressed as one who always lives within मर्यादा. मान also means गौरव (recognition of greatness) and मानवती refers to one whose is deserving of गौरव by everyone.  निघण्टु describes मान as मान: चित्तसमुन्न्ति: meaning again one who possesses उन्नति (at the highest स्थिति) चित्त (or मन) in a संपूर्ण manner. 

934. महेशी: She has no ईश्वर (since She is the highest) – that is why She is called as महेशी (masculine expression of महेशी is माहेश्वर). 

935. मङ्गलाकृतिः Her आकृति is मंङ्गळ. This is why मंङ्गळ enters the life of an उपासना who does Her रूप ध्यान. 

विश्वमाता जगद्धात्री विशालाक्षी विरागिणी । प्रगल्भा परमोदारा परामोदा मनोमयी ॥ १७३॥

936. विश्वमाता: She is the माता of entire विश्व. 

937. जगद्धात्री: She does धारणा (bears) of the entire विश्व, She grants वृत्ति to all (life activity or intelligence to live life by doing a certain activity), She gives पोषण for all beings. This is a विशेष नाम and those who are experience अभाव in life can do ध्यान of this नाम alone to obtain what they may be seeking (of course, seeking must be aligned to धर्म).  

938. विशालाक्षी: For doing पोषण of the entire विश्व, She needs to have Her vision everywhere and since She has an all-encompassing दृष्टि, She is called as विशालाक्षी.  

939. विरागिणी: She is an embodiment of वैराग्य – hence, She is called as विरागिणी.  She does पोषण of entire विश्व, She bears responsibility for the entire विश्व – but all these are undertaken in the spirit of वैराग्य. She is the one present in काशी क्षेत्र as विशालाक्षी. From a साधक lens, both the नाम must be understood that one whose दृष्टि (vision) has expanded, only such a one can attain वैराग्य. Thus, विशाल नेत्र or अक्ष means expansion of ज्ञान and this नाम thus again points out to Her as ज्ञान स्वरूपिणि. As one’s ज्ञान on विश्व expands, one will see everything as changing/ limited, अनित्य etc, one will then automatically develop वैराग्य and this is the certain approach towards regaining one’s own स्वरूप.  

940. प्रगल्भा: प्रौडत्वात् प्रगल्भा – meaning expressing (प्रकटन) boldly – She does not hide anything. प्रगल्भा means doing प्रकटन on one’s प्रतिभा. विश्व is Her grand expression (galaxies, stars, planets, seasons, diversity, etc) from within Herself.  A साधक may thus do Her भावना as ज्ञान स्वरूपिणि (विशालाक्षी) who is full of वैराग्य (विरागिणी) and in that mode, She is expression Herself fully and grandly as विश्व (प्रगल्भा) and Her grandeur is not hidden from anyone. 

941. परमोदारा: She has a परम उदार चरित्र. Her करुणा is of the उत्कृष्ट kind – there is no one can be more उदार than Her. Via this नाम, She can also be seen as one who grants परम पद in an उदार manner. And what is परम पद? It is मोक्ष. She is therefore a मोक्ष दायिनी. Says the निघण्टु – उदारो दातृ महदो: which means that the term उदार can be applied only to one who has दातृत्व (charitable) स्वभाव apart from being महत् (or great). Once again, in the काशी क्षेत्र, She is established as अन्नपूर्ण giving पोषण to all who come there (and thereby the काशी aspect continues to be expressed in this नाम too). 

942. परामोदा: पर + आ + मोदा where मोदा stands for आनन्द, आ representing आसमन्तात् meaning संपूर्ण while पर representing Highest. She is therefore संपूर्ण आनन्द स्वरूपिणि.

943. मनोमयी: She is the मन  of परमेश्वर – hence called as मनोमयी. निर्वचन of मनोमयी is given as सभैरवश्च चिदाकाश: शिवयित्यविभीयते अनन्याम् तस्य ताम् विद्धि स्पन्दशक्तिर्मनोमयी. शिव has the रूप of चिदाकाश (which also means चिदाम्बर which means स्पन्द शक्ति in the आकाश – this स्पन्दन led to immediate सृष्टि of the विश्व) – and this स्पन्द शक्ति is known as मनोमयी. 

व्योमकेशी विमानस्था वज्रिणी वामकेश्वरी । पञ्चयज्ञ-प्रिया पञ्च-प्रेत-मञ्चाधिशायिनी ॥ १७४॥

944. व्योमकेशी: व्योमकेश is शिव and She is therefore, व्योमकेशी. व्योम refers to आकाश and His केश is spread all over the आकाश. For a साधक therefore located on पृथ्वी, he may do भावना of परमेश्वर as one whose feet is on पृथ्वी and since शिव is all around, the closest approximation for a साधक to cognize “everywhere-ness” is आकाश and he may therefore do भावना of शिव as one whose केश is all across the universe. In the व्योम is established the जल शक्ति as गंगा and चित्कला as चंद्र.  Equally, व्योमक + ईशी = व्योमकेशी where again stands for आकाश in the हृदय (also called as चिदाकाश). Now, the स्पन्द शक्ति in the चिदाकाश is the प्रपञ्च (life) and where there is no स्पन्द शक्ति too, the चिदाकाश remains as-is – in both aspects, it is Her only.  

945. विमानस्था: विमान refers to उत्कृष्ट स्थान and She is established or sitting in विमान means She occupies the highest point. In the श्री चक्र, She is established in the बिन्दु स्थान. In our own शरीर, She is situated in the सहस्रार (which is situated on top of the skull). विमान is वि + मान where मान means that which can be measured while विमान refers to विगत मान (meaning that which cannot be measured). विमान thus refers to परब्रह्म only and since She is the शक्ति of परब्रह्म, She is called as विमानस्था. मान is also used for शास्त्र (प्रमाण translated as proof also refers to प्रकृष्ट मान and शास्त्र is one of the प्रमाण in the वेद). Therefore, विमान may also be expressed as विशिष्ठ मान (meaning most special मान) which is वेद and since, वेद continually refer to Her स्वरूप, She as विमानस्था becomes वेद स्वरूपिणि. 

946. वज्रिणी: वज्रिणी refers to इंद्राणी which is the शक्ति of इंद्र. There is a इंद्राणी मंत्र in the शास्त्र and all four नाम beginning with व (last two, this one and the next नाम) are together said to contain Her बल प्रदायी शक्ति. At many places, when the नाम of इंद्र is used, it is meant to convey परमेश्वर only and वज्र refers to the आयुध or शक्ति that is used by परमेश्वर to run विश्व – thus, वज्रिणी is to be understood as शक्ति of परमेश्वर. वज्र also stands for वाक् शक्ति viz मंत्र and is the most powerful and therefore वज्रिणी also refers to मंत्र शक्ति स्वरूपिणि. 

947. वामकेश्वरी: वामक refers to the देवता who undertake वम viz सृष्टि – in the पुराण, we see ब्रह्मा asking प्रजापति to undertake सृष्टि. Since She is the ईश्वर शक्ति controlling the वामक, She is called as वामकेश्वरी. 

948. पञ्चयज्ञ-प्रिया: पञ्च यज्ञ refers to देव यज्ञ, पितृ यज्ञ, ऋषि यज्ञ, मनुष्य यज्ञ and भूत यज्ञ. Everyone has to undertake these यज्ञ on a continuous basis – so important are these that if these are not undertaken, any उपासना of Her will not be complete or successful. She adores all भक्त who undertake the पञ्चयज्ञ क्रिया. 

949. पञ्च-प्रेत-मञ्चाधिशायिनी: We discussed earlier पञ्चप्रेत refers to the various पञ्च that governs our life (पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रिय, पञ्च ज्ञानेन्द्रिय, पञ्च तन्मात्रा, पञ्च भूत and पञ्च प्राण). Since She as चैतन्य स्वरूप is activating all these प्रेत (which are merely जड वस्तु), She is seen as activating force of all the पञ्चप्रेत. We also referred to the visualization where देवी sits on top of a पर्यन्क (or bed) with ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, रुद्र and ईश्वर seen as four ends of the bed and सदाशिव as the mattress – here ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, रुद्र and ईश्वर and सदाशिव are not to be seen as जड वस्तु but instead the निष्क्रिया aspect of परमेश्वर while She as the माया शक्ति brings परमेश्वर out of the निष्क्रिया mode and activates it and thereby brings out the प्रपञ्च.

पञ्चमी पञ्चभूतेशी पञ्च-संख्योपचारिणी । शाश्वती शाश्वतैश्वर्या शर्मदा शम्भुमोहिनी ॥ १७५॥

950. पञ्चमी: We have पञ्च ब्रह्म viz ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, रुद्र and ईश्वर and सदाशिव. The fifth one, the highest one as per श्री विद्या परम्परा is the पञ्चम viz सदाशिव (which includes all the other four too within Itself). And since She as the शक्ति or भार्या of सदाशिव, She is referred to as पञ्चमी. Additionally, वाराही देवी is also referred to as पञ्चमी – why is this? As we saw earlier, the मातृका वर्ण listing starts with ब्राह्मी, वैष्णवी, माहेश्वरी, कौमारी and the fifth one is वाराही (She is the अन्नम् प्रदायिनी). Further, every जीव passes through four stages – बाल्य, कौमार, यौवन and वृद्ध and all जीव go through these four stages. However, those उपासक who undertake Her साधना reaches a fifth स्थिति viz मोक्ष and therefore, मोक्ष स्थिति becomes पञ्चमी.  

951. पञ्चभूतेशी: She is the शक्ति  that operates behind all पञ्चभूत (no need for detailed explanation on this one). 

952. पञ्च-संख्योपचारिणी: Her पूजा उपचार is undertaken in the form of पञ्च संख्य (ideally, 64 उपचार must be done, if not possible, 16 viz षोडष must be done but if even that is not possible, five must be undertaken). Note that we have five fingers and given that this नाम comes after पञ्चभूत, the little finger is said to denote पृथ्वी, the next one being जल and the thumb representing आकाश – in Her पूजा too, the क्रिया involves use of these five fingers and uttering the बीज मंत्र of लम् representing पृथ्वी (and we offer गंध), हम् representing आकाश (and we offer पुष्प), यम् representing वायु (and we offer धूप), रम् representing अग्नि (and we offer दीप) and वम् representing अमृत (and we offer नैवेद्य representing जल तत्व). At the end, सं बीज is uttered and सर्व उपचार is signified by joining fingers of both hands. Therefore, via this उपचार, the उपासक must go into भावना of offering all पञ्चभूत present within the जीव to Her fully and once पञ्चभूत is fully offered, nothing else is left of the जीव since it has fully merged into Her. There is a योग approach also when doing the पञ्च उपचार – since we know the क्रम of सृष्टि involves expansion from सूक्ष्म to स्थूल, since the उपासक is the most स्थूल expression, such a जीव therefore must retrace the journey back to Her by moving from Sthuka to सूक्ष्म. Therefore, the उपासक merges the पृथ्वी तत्व into जल तत्व, जल into अग्नि, अग्नि into वायु, वायु into आकाश, आकाश into मन and the मन then takes the entire जीव into Her feet (or put another way, मूलाधार merges into स्वादिष्ठान, स्वादिष्ठान into मणिपूर, मणिपूर into अनाहत, अनाहत into विशुद्ध, विशुद्ध into आज्ञा चक्र which then takes all शट् चक्र into सहस्रार) – all this प्रक्रिया is therefore referred to as पञ्च-संख्योपचारिणी. 

953. शाश्वती: She is eternal, शाश्वत – She is always there. While everything changes on a continuing basis, as the changeless eternal principle, She is always there and will always be there.  

954. शाश्वतैश्वर्या: Not only is She शाश्वत, Her ऐश्वर्य is also शाश्वत – meaning, it is always present with and within Her. Because She is always the ईश्वर शक्ति for the विश्व, She is called as शाश्वतैश्वर्या. This नाम also refers to Her मोक्ष स्वरूपिणि since what remains within all जीव eternally is their मोक्ष स्थिति. Therefore, one who undertakes पञ्च उपचार with fullest भावना on Her will certainly attain शाश्वत स्थिति viz मोक्ष. 

955. शर्मदा: शर्म means आनन्द – and we are not referring to लौकिक आनन्द here but ब्रह्मानन्द. Therefore, those who pursue ब्रह्मानन्द as their goal in life and live life to attain such a goal, the word शर्म is added to their own personal नाम. She is शर्म-दा meaning She is the giver (or granter) of शर्म. 

956. शम्भुमोहिनी: She succeeded in ensuring that शम्भु or शिव) develops मोह towards Her. शिव usually prefers to be within Himself in a निष्क्रिया way but पार्वती succeeded in doing तपस्या and making Him develop मोह towards Her – hence, She is शम्भु-मोहिनी. Therefore, while in all लोक, मन्मथ is capable of putting all beings into मोह, मन्मथ is not capable of developing मोह in शिव – but She alone is capable of doing this; hence, She is शम्भु-मोहिनी. There is another अर्थ – the entire प्रपञ्च runs or moves along owing to मोह शक्ति of शिव (or माया शक्ति) – therefore, शम्भु-मोहिनी may be understood as माया शक्ति of शिव, which is श्री माता – hence, Her नाम. 

धराधरसुता धन्या धर्मिणी धर्मवर्धिनी । लोकातीता गुणातीता सर्वातीता शमात्मिका ॥ १७६॥

957. धराधरसुता: Many भाष्याकार see both these नाम as separate with धरा representing भूमी and धरसुता to mean सीता (since She is the सुता or daughter of भूमी). There is a tradition in the श्री विद्या परम्परा to undertake पारायण of सुन्दरकांड by doing न्यास of सीता as श्री ललिता and therefore see सीता and श्री माता as one and the same. However, combining these two नाम into one has a more direct meaning where धराधर refers to पर्वत (since it is seen to be bearing the भूमी) and धराधरसुता refers to daughter of पर्वत which is पार्वती (and we earlier discussed at length the अर्थ of this नाम). 

958. धन्या: Whosoever attains धन is said to become धन्य and since धन gives धन्यता (prosperity, full-ness), it is called as धन. To take this deeper, whatever one seeks and thereby attains, such a स्थिति is called as धन्यता. If understood this way, whatever is the possession that enables us to attain धन्यता, that needs to be understood as धन – in this way, धन therefore need not be restricted to material wealth alone. Taking श्री माता, She is eternally धन्य since She is always in a state of पूर्ण and ऐश्वर्य – hence, She is called as धन्या. Unlike us who have to undertake certain क्रिया or साधना or उपासना to attain the धन्या स्थिति, She is always established or situated in that state, hence, the नाम of धन्या is suited to Her only. Therefore, those who undertake उपासना on श्री माता as धन्या attains to धन्यता. मनुष्य is said to live with चिन्ता the entire life – and श्री कृष्ण says in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता that whatever चिन्ता one “also” undertakes at the last moment of one’s life, one will attain such a गति – so we have आर्त चिन्ता where विषय, दुःख and भय come to mind, रौद्र चिन्ता where events fllled with extreme anguish and unhappiness seize the mind, धन्य चिन्ता where the specific देवता whose उपासना had been undertaken the whole life comes to mind and lastly, शुक्ल चिन्ता where the highest निष्क्रिया स्थिति of Her comes to mind. A person seized with आर्त चिन्ता and रौद्र चिन्ता will attain तिर्यक अवस्था (meaning a life form whose backbone is not straight), a person seized with धन्य चिन्ता will attain the specific देवता लोक (इंद्र लोक, कैलाश, वैकुण्ठं, etc) while the rare one seized with शुक्ल चिन्ता will attain मोक्ष. Therefore, what is real धन्यता, the state of पूर्णता or सम्पन्नता, which is मोक्ष. Therefore, once again, this नाम too suggests Her स्वरूप as मोक्ष स्वरूपिणि.   

959. धर्मिणी: She is the समिष्टि (aggregated, collective) रूप of all धर्म. धारणात् धर्ममित्याहु: – whatever keeps us focused and keeps us stable in our course of action/ way of life is धर्म. धर्म thus protects us and stops us from straying away from the appropriate course of action. धर्म can be known through शास्त्र which are also seen as Her रूप. Next, every aspect of the विश्व runs or operates as per its own धर्म (Sun displays प्रकाश, eyes see, ear hears, nose smells, trees give shade, etc) – श्री माता is the primal force that operates within each aspect of the विश्व by assigning appropriate धर्म to each such component – and thereby ensures that विश्व operates in an effective manner. And because She is the operating force of धर्म operating within all, She is called as धर्मिणी. 

960. धर्मवर्धिनी: Not only does She operate as धर्म within everything, She ensures that such धर्म continues to be performed (e.g., Sun shines every, Earth continues to give food, etc). Equally, whenever धर्म in the लोक comes down or gets impacted negatively, She takes अवतार to regain धर्म so that society continues to function in an effective manner – because She does वृद्धि of धर्म that may have depleted for whatever reason, She is धर्मवर्धिनी. 

961. लोकातीता: We discussed earlier that ललिता refers to लावण्य (extra-ordinary beauty, grandeur) – whatever लावण्य is not available in the लोक at all and whatever लावण्य is available beyond this लोक, that लावण्य is श्री माता. In the लोक, whenever an assessment of लावण्य is made, it is compared with प्रकृति and therefore, it limits our understanding to प्रकृति only. Her चैतन्य is however something that cannot be compared with anything in प्रकृति – hence, its grandeur is beyond लोक. Everything in प्रकृति has विकार (changing aspect as everything has to go through process of सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय) but while She operates within लोक (within all of us as well as everything else), She remains untouched by any विकार – and because She operates untouched by anything within the लोक, She is called as लोकातीता. 

962. गुणातीता: Everything in लोक is bound by त्रिगुण – प्रकृति is त्रिगुण-infested. She is however the निर्गुण तत्व, She is not bound by or limited by any of the त्रिगुण and therefore referred to as गुणातीता. 

963. सर्वातीता: While लोक and गुण have been called out in the previous two नाम, if one proceeds in this manner, one may have to call out that She is अतीत of नाम, रूप, उपाधि, इन्द्रिय, etc – instead of therefore calling out many aspects of प्रकृति and adding अतीत to such a word, the वाक् देवी therefore consolidated such अर्थ via a single नाम by stating that She is beyond everything – hence, called as सर्वातीता. 

964. शमात्मिका: When a जीव crosses प्रकृति and reaches the स्थिति, what will it experience? It is experience a शान्ति स्थिति (शम means शान्ति). सर्वोपाधि ध्वंस: इति शम: – शम  is a state where all उपाधि get destroyed or eliminated – and there is अनुभूति of शान्ति and आनन्द only. “Destruction” does not mean getting physically elimimated – it means one attains ज्ञान that there is only one स्थिति that is शाश्वत viz तुरीया and attaining ज्ञान that one is एक destroys or eliminates the ज्ञान that one is अनेक – उपाधि destruction thus means the false ज्ञान that one is अनेक gets set aside and one becomes शम. Therefore, this नाम with the previous three नाम may be expressed as तुरीया स्थिति. 

बन्धूक-कुसुमप्रख्या बाला लीलाविनोदिनी । सुमङ्गली सुखकरी सुवेषाढ्या सुवासिनी ॥ १७७॥

965. बन्धूक-कुसुमप्रख्या: The last four नाम refer to श्री माता in तुरीया स्थिति and She is called as ज्ञेय ब्रह्म in this अवस्था. Some भाष्याकार believe that the सहस्रनाम must end with these नाम. However, the वाक् देवी, in their करुणा for the उपासक, convey the उपास्य नाम to enable them to use these नाम to uplift themselves to Her निर्गुण state. These नाम are therefore to be seen as श्री माता in Her सगुण साकार रूप. बन्धूक-कुसुम are a type of red coloured पुष्प. She is shining or displaying Her प्रकाश in अरुणा वर्ण. In the श्री चक्र, we are aware that She is residing in the बिन्दु चक्र and immediately covering the Bindu is the त्रिकोण आकार – this त्रिकोण is referred to as सर्वसिद्धिप्रद चक्र and this त्रिकोण is said to have बन्धूक-कुसुम वर्ण and the श्री चक्र पूजा involves specific reference to Her as having बन्धूक-कुसुम वर्ण at the त्रिकोण. 

966. बाला: श्री माता as a nine-year old is called as बाला. बाला उपासना is popular among श्री विद्या उपासकs – just as श्री कृष्ण is seen as fully grown as well as a young child in a banyan leaf, same is the case with बाला. And there are योगी who have experienced Her presence as बाला throughout their lives. Next, बाला also means ज्ञानी. The चैतन्य that shines within a जीवन-मुक्त is referred to as बाला. And how do they behave? Despite seeing that entire विश्व and all beings as ब्रह्म, they engage with all these from a व्यवहार lens in a लीला way (just as children play games with one another and indulge in mock dramas with one another for no reason expect as a लीला). Put another way, instead of seeing बाला as a young girl, one may understand बाला as श्री माता who is engaging with विश्व or प्रपञ्च in a playful manner (लीला). त्रिपुरा सिद्धान्त ग्रंथ states that लीला विशिष्ठत्वात् बाला which means She does लीला while running the विश्व. There is another निर्वचन – बलति रूपयति बल्यते प्राण्यते इति बाला: – बाला is the शक्ति which gives बल in the form of रूप and प्राण to the प्रपञ्च. 

967. लीलाविनोदिनी: Since She designs and runs the प्रपञ्च as a लीला and derives आनन्द from such actions, She is aptly referred to Her state as लीला विनोदिनी.  

968. सुमङ्गली: This and the next three नाम are an expression of सुवासिनी मंत्र. She is a सर्वमंङ्गळ स्वरूपिणि. Her presence is beneficial to all लोक. अमंङ्गळ refers to अज्ञान. प्रशस्ताचरणम् नित्यं अप्रशस्त विवर्जनम् एतत् मङ्गळ प्रोक्तम् ऋषिभिर्ब्रह्मवादिभि: – to undertake whatever is noble & great and to avoid that which is the opposite – behaving in this way is to operate in मंङ्गळ mode. Whatever are the obstacles to ज्ञान, मोक्ष and भक्ति are अमंङ्गळ and because Her presence ensures that these obstacles are set aside, She is called as सुमङ्गली. 

969. सुखकरी: She grants सुख to Her उपासक – hence, She is सुखकरी. Whatever gives आनन्द to a person is सुख for that person. 

970. सुवेषाढ्या:  Whatever is the वेश (dress code including ornaments, bangles, मंङ्गळसूत्र, nose-ring, etc ) specified for a सुमङ्गलीis worn by Her, hence, She is सुवेषाढ्या. 

971. सुवासिनी: One whose husband is alive is called as सुवासिनी. Since शिव is eternally Her husband, She is the only one who can really be called as सुवासिनी. सु+वास may also be understood as one who is established in the right home or right foundation – since She as शक्ति is established or aligned to or fundamentally connected to परमात्मा whose शक्ति She is, She is called as सुवासिनी.  Since परमात्मा is always and eternally present, She too as His शक्ति is eternally present – eternity is thus the best home. सुवासिनी is thus to be understood as one who is सर्वकाल जीवत्पतिका (who has a husband at all times). सुष्टुवस्तुशीलायतायिति सुवासिनी meaning one who has great (सुष्टु) presence (She is present in entire ब्रह्माण्ड) and who has great स्वभाव is a सुवासिनी – who else can it be other than Her to be deserving of the title of सुवासिनी. 

सुवासिन्यर्चन-प्रीताऽऽशोभना शुद्धमानसा । बिन्दु-तर्पण-सन्तुष्टा पूर्वजा त्रिपुराम्बिका ॥ १७८॥

972. सुवासिन्यर्चन-प्रीताऽऽ: Her अर्चना is done with the भावना that She is a सुवासिनी and equally, all सुवासिनी undertake Her अर्चना – and if and when this is done, She is pleased; hence, the नाम of सुवासिन्यर्चन-प्रीता. 

973. शोभना: She is a शुभ स्वरूपिणि and सौंदर्य रूपिणी; hence, She is शोभना. 

974. शुद्धमानसा: Her मन is शुद्ध – and what does शुद्ध mean? रागादिदोषरहितम् शुद्धम् – meaning whose चित्त does not have दोष of राग & द्वेष is शुद्ध. Therefore, those who undertake Her उपासना as शुद्धमानसा will also acquire मन that is शुद्ध – this is because उपासना of Her means उपासना of Her qualities and those who always seek Her qualities will, over time, acquire Her qualities too. 

975. बिन्दु-तर्पण-सन्तुष्टा: She is pleased when the उपासक does तर्पण at the बिन्दु स्थान in the श्री चक्र. Equally, when doing तर्पण, even if a quantum of बिन्दु is offered to Her, She is pleased – both अर्थ may be taken as valid (note that this नाम can be understood better by those who undertake श्री चक्र उपासना). There is another अर्थ – बिन्दु is something that is very सूक्ष्म and since ज्ञान is most सूक्ष्म, the ज्ञानी (or जीवन-मुक्त are also referred to as बिन्दु). Therefore, if an उपासक gives तृप्ति to a ज्ञानी (means those who are immersed in Her ज्ञान or ज्ञान of परमात्मा), She becomes pleased – hence, Her नाम as बिन्दु-तर्पण-सन्तुष्टा. Lastly, She is pleased with those who offer तर्पण of ज्ञान to Her feet – hence, Her नाम as बिन्दु-तर्पण-सन्तुष्टा. 

976. पूर्वजा: She was born before everyone – and by everyone, we mean सृष्टि and She was already existing before सृष्टि – hence, She is पूर्वजा (viz पूर्व + अजा). 

977. त्रिपुराम्बिका: Where is the बिन्दु located? It is located in the त्रिकोण and three माता are present in the त्रिकोण in which are present the three – महा कामेश्वरी, महा वज्रेश्वरी and महा भगमालिनी. Since She is the मूल शक्ति who powers all these three, She is त्रिपुराम्बिका (माता of all three). There is another अर्थ – पुरत्रये क्रिडति यश्च जीव: – जीव is one who plays in three पुर (or bodies or locations) viz स्थूल, सूक्ष्म and कारण शरीर. And since She is the अम्बिका (or माता) of all जीव, She is त्रिपुराम्बिका.  

दशमुद्रा-समाराध्या त्रिपुराश्री-वशङ्करी । ज्ञानमुद्रा ज्ञानगम्या ज्ञानज्ञेय-स्वरूपिणी ॥ १७९॥

978. दशमुद्रा-समाराध्या: Her अराधना is undertaken by taking help of ten मुद्रा (e,g., अभय मुद्रा or चिन्मय मुद्रा (these are essentially gestures using the hands and to be learnt from a गुरु only). There is another अर्थ – मुदं राति इति मुद्रा which means that which gives आनन्द is a मुद्रा. Each and every मुद्रा has a certain देवता behind it and these are. – सर्वसङ्शोभिनी, सर्वविद्राविणी, सर्वाकर्षिणी, सर्ववशंकरी, सर्वोन्मादिनी, सर्वमहांकुषा, सर्वकेचरी, सर्वबीजा, सर्वयोनी & सर्वत्रखंडा. Since Her अराधना is complete when done by दश मुद्रा, Her नाम is given as दशमुद्रा-समाराध्या. There is another simple अर्थ – दश मुद्रा involves bringing together of ten fingers together which is nothing else but a नमस्कार and when done with भक्ति, that itself may be taken as Her best आराधना – hence, doing नमस्कार to Her may also be understood as दशमुद्रा-समाराध्या.  

979. त्रिपुराश्री: The देवी  present at the सर्वार्थसाधक चक्र is called as त्रिपुराश्री.  Further, She is the श्री (or चैतन्य) that powers all three शरीर – स्थूल, सूक्ष्म and कारण शरीर (as well as three लोक and three काल) – hence, the नाम of त्रिपुराश्री. मातृमानप्रमेयानाम् पुराणाम् परिपोषिणी – this entire विश्व or लोक is त्रिपुटी having three aspects – मातृ (measurement), मान (that which can be measured) & मेया (the one which or who measures). In this विश्व which is composed of these three, Her चैतन्य fills up this entire विश्व and via this त्रिपुटी, makes the विश्व work/ move – equally, She is separate from it at the same time.  

980. वशङ्करी: Since the entire सृष्टि is under Her वश (or control), She is called as वशङ्करी.  Another अर्थ is that She as श्री is the निग्रह शक्ति who pulls back the इन्द्रिय within oneself and makes one अन्तर्मुख and thereby gain Her, She is called as वशङ्करी. 

981. ज्ञानमुद्रा: She bears a ज्ञान मुद्रा (also known as बोध मुद्रा, ब्रह्म मुद्रा, चिन्मुद्रा, etc). In this मुद्रा, the index finger bends down and meets the thumb to form a circle while other three fingers (little finger, ring finger and middle finger remain straight) – what is the अर्थ here? This entire विश्व is understood to have just five aspects – अस्ति, भाति, प्रिया, नाम and रूप. Everything in the विश्व has a नाम and रूप and thus clearly identifiable and measurable.   Once one goes beyond the नाम and रूप, the चैतन्य स्वरूप is seen as अस्ति (or सत्), भाति (or चित्) and प्रिया (आनन्द) – therefore, देवी or दक्षिणामूर्ति is always displaying the चिन्मुद्रा conveying this सत्य via a visual expression. There is another way to understand the चिन्मुद्रा – here, the last three fingers (little, ring and middle) are stated to express three शरीर (स्थूल, सूक्ष्म and कारण), index fingers which always points to others or even used to point to one’s own self as जीव while the thumb represents ब्रह्म. Till the time जीव continues to associate itself with the three शरीर, it remains with the three fingers and the four together represent the status of a जीव. However, as an उपासक with साधना, the जीव moves away from the three शरीर and moves closer & closer to ब्रह्म – and when जीव & ब्रह्म become एक (when index finger and thumb come together), there become complete (circle formed by the two fingers signifies पूर्णत्वम्). And because She always bears a चिन्मुद्रा, Her नाम also became ज्ञानमुद्रा. Further, since मुद्रा has been defined earlier as मुदं राति इति मुद्रा, She as the ज्ञान स्वरूपिणि becomes आनन्द प्रदाता and that is signified by Her नाम as ज्ञानमुद्रा.

982. ज्ञानगम्या: Only via ज्ञान can one approach Her. 

983. ज्ञानज्ञेय-स्वरूपिणी: Both ज्ञान and ज्ञेय are Her स्वरूप where ज्ञान refers to the one चैतन्य as the only reality and ज्ञेय refers to what needs to be known. We have stated earlier that बन्धूक-कुसुमप्रख्या, we will witness नाम that are helpful to an उपासक. And for an उपासक, what is ज्ञेय (which is ब्रह्म) is perceived as separate from oneself. However, using ज्ञान that everything is one चैतन्य, as one deepens one’s साधना, one realizes that the ज्ञेय that one perceives as separate is not different from the ज्ञान that “everything is चैतन्य” – and the सिद्धि स्थिति is when ज्ञान and ज्ञेय become one which is the eternal सत्य – hence, She is called as ज्ञानज्ञेय स्वरूपिणि. Simply put, one can know Her (ज्ञेय) only via Her (ज्ञान) (just us we know about प्रकाश aspect of सूर्य using the प्रकाश of सूर्य Itself). 

योनिमुद्रा त्रिखण्डेशी त्रिगुणाम्बा त्रिकोणगा । अनघाऽद्भुत-चारित्रा वाञ्छितार्थ-प्रदायिनी ॥ १८०॥

984. योनिमुद्रा: This is once again a नाम that is specific to those who under श्री चक्र उपासना – this is a technical नाम. There are nine मुद्रा used sequentially by श्री चक्र उपासकs (at every आवरण) where योनिमुद्रा (also known as नमस्कार मुद्रा) happens to be the ninth मुद्रा which is used/ applied when one is doing नमस्कार of Her बिन्दु रूप. योनि शक्ति is to be understood as कारण and since She is indeed to be seen as the कारण owing to which this entire विश्व has become व्यक्त, She is referred to as माया शक्ति or योनि शक्ति of the ईश्वर. The specific मुद्रा that is used to express योनि मुद्रा is त्रिकोण and thus refers to Her शक्ति as इच्छा, ज्ञान and क्रिया शक्ति through which Her चैतन्य causes the entire प्रपञ्च to become व्यक्त.

985. त्रिखण्डेशी: She is the ईश्वर शक्ति of त्रिखण्ड – खण्ड means भाग (or parts). Note that these are to be seen as parts of one whole (just as many hills belonging to a single mountain range). मंत्र has three खण्ड – वाग्भव कूट., कामराज कूट and शक्ति कूट (we discussed this earlier), श्री चक्र is also seen as having three खण्ड – अग्नि मंडल, सूर्य मंडल and चंद्र मंडल. In the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, श्री कृष्ण also states that प्रपञ्च has three भाग – आदित्य, चंद्र and अग्नि. And since She is the central core who runs or enables the three भाग to run effectively, She is called as त्रिखण्डेशी here. For a श्री चक्र उपासक, त्रिखण्डा मुद्रा is the नाम of is the tenth मुद्रा (दशमुद्रा was conveyed earlier) and is conveyed to only those उपासक who have reached the highest state of उपासना – and since the previous नाम refers to the key मुद्रा, the tenth मुद्रा has also been conveyed here. 

986. त्रिगुणाम्बा: She is the अम्बिका (or माता) of त्रिगुण – त्रिगुण is the feature of प्रकृति and while entire विश्व is infested with त्रिगुण, such an expansion of त्रिगुण across विश्व has been made possible by the शक्ति behind the त्रिगुण, which is Her, hence, She is called as त्रिगुणाम्बा. 

987. त्रिकोणगा: Given that She is the बिन्दु शक्ति lying at the centre of त्रिकोण, She is called as त्रिकोणगा.

988. अनघाऽद्भुत-चारित्रा: अघा refers to दोष or पाप and while अनघा refers to one without दोष (or दोष-रहित). Now, Her स्वरूप which is अनघा has taken नाम and रूप for the benefit of उपासक and this is available to us in the form of Her चरित्र (Her लीला, Her अवतार) – this चरित्र is however अद्भुत, wonderful, that is beyond compare and awe-inspiring, hence Her नाम is given as अनघाऽद्भुत-चारित्रा here. चरित्र also refers to all व्यवहार in the लोक which it itself an अद्भुत, a wonderful expression and therefore, since it is She who expresses the विश्व, अनघाऽद्भुत-चारित्रा means the अद्भुत विश्व which is projected by Her who is अनघा. 

989. वाञ्छितार्थ-प्रदायिनी: This नाम is to be broken into वाञ्छित + अर्थ + प्रदायिनी – here, अर्थ refers to पुरुषार्थ (धर्म, अर्थ, काम and मोक्ष) and वाञ्छित refers to whatever पुरुषार्थ one seeks while प्रदायिनी refers to giver or granter. Whichever of the four (or all four) पुरुषार्थ that a साधक seeks, She grants such an object of seeking for the साधक.  

अभ्यासातिशय-ज्ञाता षडध्वातीत-रूपिणी । अव्याज-करुणा-मूर्तिर् अज्ञान-ध्वान्त-दीपिका ॥ १८१॥

990. अभ्यासातिशय-ज्ञाता: Whosoever tries to know Her via अतिशय (intense, hard) अभ्यास (practice) alone can obtain Her. आध्यात्म is not idle talk or lazy philosophizing – hard work over an extended period of time with complete sincerity and commitment needs to be undertaken by a साधक – only if such an intense अभ्यास is undertaken, a साधक can obtain Her access. Hence, Her नाम as अभ्यासातिशय-ज्ञाता. 

991. षडध्वातीत-रूपिणी: Her रूप is beyond the six मार्ग – that is the simple अर्थ. What are the six मार्ग? श्री चक्र उपासना contains six मार्ग (as per the आगम शास्त्र). But before we get into what are the six मार्ग, let us understand प्रपञ्च – everything in प्रपञ्च can be understood via two aspects – नाम and रूप. Every aspect is given a नाम by us and नाम is given that is aligned to the रूप of that particular aspect. कालीदास uses the word वागर्थ (वाक् + अर्थ) where वाक् can be associated with नाम and अर्थ with रूप where वाक् is शक्ति and अर्थ is शिव – and seeing every aspect of प्रपञ्च as a mix of शिव and शक्ति is essential for an उपासक. And such an उपासक then uses both वाक् and अर्थ (a गुरु, for example gives a मंत्र which is वाक् and some वस्तु for ध्यान which is रूप) and both these are needed for अनुभव of the तत्व behind both नाम and रूप – this तत्व is permeating both नाम and रूप but has a स्वरूप that is beyond both of them. Taking this further, there are three sub-parts of वाक् प्रपञ्च and three sub-parts of अर्थ प्रपञ्च. The three sub-parts of वाक् प्रपञ्च from an उपासना lens are वर्ण (viz अक्षर), पद (combination of अक्षर to get a certain meaning) and मंत्र (combination of multiple पद). The three sub-parts of अर्थ are कला, तत्व and भुवना. As far as कला is concerned, how the प्रकाश is spread out all across in every aspect of प्रपञ्च is expressed as कला. The प्रथम कला or the मूल कला of परमात्मा is called as चित्कला (the चैतन्य of परमात्मा) – next, since the order of सृष्टि starts with आकाश, वायु, etc., the चित्कला then present within आकाश is called as शान्त्यातीत कला, in वायु is called as शान्त कला, in अग्नि is called as विद्या कला, in जल is called as प्रतिष्ठा कला and in पृथ्वी is called as निवृत्ति कला. Let us take up तत्व next – as per सांख्य, there are 24 तत्व while तंत्र refers to 36 तत्व. Last, there are 14 भुवना (starting from ब्रह्म लोक and descending to the lowest level of पाताल). The trio of कला, तत्व and लोक are also called as दृष्य प्रपञ्च. Coming back to the नाम of षडध्वातीत-रूपिणी, She is present as six अध्वा in the प्रपञ्च which are helpful for a साधक in doing उपासना but using Her षडध्व aspect, उपासक eventually knows Her as स्वरूप beyond the षडध्व, hence Her नाम as षडध्वातीत-रूपिणी:. 

992. अव्याज-करुणा-मूर्तिर्: She is a परम करुणा मूर्ति. Her करुणा is not transactional or for a certain purpose – करुणा flows from Her as naturally as sunlight from the Sun. All of us can access Her करुणा provided we turn towards Her (just as a person sitting inside a cave needs to merely come out of the cave to access the joys of sunlight). 

993. अज्ञान-ध्वान्त-दीपिका: ध्वान्त refers to अन्धकार and while all जीव are immersed on अन्धकार owing to their tilt towards अज्ञान, She is a ज्ञान दीप and even a small quantum of प्रकाश from Her can fully removes the अन्धकार present in the जीव. And once can gain access to this ज्ञानदीप once we are able to access Her करुणा.  

आबाल-गोप-विदिता सर्वानुल्लङ्घ्य-शासना । श्रीचक्रराज-निलया श्रीमत्-त्रिपुरसुन्दरी ॥ १८२॥

994. आबाल-गोप-विदिता: From आबाल (meaning kids) to गोप (meaning older people) – all of them engage with complete प्रेम towards Her. In the भगवद् कथा, when श्री कृष्ण was in वृन्दावन, all the residents of गोपाल – from small children to all other residents, all of them secured मोक्ष since they poured unadulterated प्रेम towards श्री कृष्ण and thereby received His unadulterated करुणा. As we have already seen, श्री कृष्ण is non-different from श्री ललिता, hence Her नाम as आबाल-गोप-विदिता. गोपाल also means रक्षा शक्ति and one who does रक्षा is परमात्मा – similarly, गो means वेद, इन्द्रिय and प्राण and गोपाल is thus the protector of वेद, इन्द्रिय and प्राण within all beings – therefore, this नाम is stating that everyone (from small kids to परमात्मा) – everyone knows Her. And how can we say that everyone knows Her? This is stated since everyone knows the अहं तत्व wthin themselves and refer to it all the time – and this अहं is none other than चैतन्य or अहं रूपिणी that permeates all viz श्री ललिता. 

995. सर्वानुल्लङ्घ्य-शासना: The whole प्रपञ्च is governed by Her शासन – She has specified rules or limits within which each जीव as well as विषय operate – no one can breach the नियम set up by Her – this is why Her नाम is given as सर्वानुल्लङ्घ्य-शासना.  

996. श्रीचक्रराज-निलया: चक्र means चकति, भ्रमयति or भ्रमणम् करोति which means that which turns or circles or moves about. Everything in जगत् keeps moving (or changing) – cycles of day & night, seasons, years, etc keep happening and nothing stops in जगत् – equally, the cycle of सृष्टि, स्थिति and लय keeps happening again and again and again. Further, what exactly is turning the विश्व as well as जीव is the चैतन्य within all of them viz Her only. Hence, She is called as श्री चक्रराज निलय (one who resides within the चक्र). Therefore, our शरीर is a श्री चक्र and so is the प्रपञ्च – and the श्री (or चैतन्य) is the one who is making both शरीर and प्रपञ्च move about is the श्रीमाता and because She is present in all these, this चक्र is called as श्रीचक्र. 

997. श्रीमत्-त्रिपुरसुन्दरी: Similar as above, in the त्रिपुरा of शरीर or प्रपञ्च, what is सौंदर्य in both is the चैतन्य – in the absence of this सौंदर्य, neither of these two will have any सौंदर्य or even existence. Therefore, the आनन्द that comes from चैतन्य presence in all Is श्री माता – hence, She is called as श्रीमत्-त्रिपुरसुन्दरी here. 

श्रीशिवा शिव-शक्त्यैक्य-रूपिणी ललिताम्बिका । एवं श्रीललिता देव्या नाम्नां साहस्रकं जगुः ॥

998. श्रीशिवा: While most texts give this नाम is श्रीशिवा, some ancient commentaries have specified this as शिवा only while श्री has been moved to the 1000^th नाम. She is शिवा while He is शिव. त्रिगुण अतीत तत्व is शिवा present in the बिन्दु. 

999. शिव-शक्त्यैक्य-रूपिणी: And how does शिवा express Herself? She expresses Herself as non-different from शिव or as the शक्ति of शिव. The चैतन्य of परमात्मा spread out all across the विश्व is non-different from परमात्मा (just as sunrays are non-different from the प्रकाश of the Sun). The अर्ध नारीश्वर तत्व is the विग्रह रूप of the same शिव-शक्त्यैक्य-रूपिणी expressed here – both are one and the same only. 

1000. ललिताम्बिका: We may add श्री to this नाम and this will then be the ultimate, final नाम where Her नाम as श्री ललिता is expressed for the first and the only time. Therefore, while this स्तोत्र is called as श्री ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, the नाम of श्री ललिता comes only once at the very end of the स्तोत्र. One निर्वचन of ललिता is लोकातीत लावण्यात् ललिता – as explained earlier, She as ललिता is the लावण्य (or सौंदर्य) that is अतीत of लोक. उत्तम गुण are given as शोभा, विलासम्, माधुर्यम्, गांभीर्यम्, स्थैर्यम्, तजस्, लालित्यम् & औदार्यम् and the combination of these गुण is ललिता.  लालित्यम् means one who gives आनन्द and because She as आनन्द स्वरूपिणि grants आनन्द, She is called as ललिता. Another निर्वचन is सदाशिवस्य मनसो लालनात् ललिताभिदा (in the ब्रह्माण्ड पुराण) – one who provides आनन्द to the मन of परमेश्वर is ललिता. 

॥ इति श्रीब्रह्माण्डपुराणे उत्तरखण्डे श्रीहयग्रीवागस्त्यसंवादे श्रीललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र कथनं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

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