Youth and Beauty (Was LalithA SahasranAma [459] sumukhi)

[Guest guest]

This is a repsot from our old inconversations series :

 

Here is another in Shakti Sadhana's "Conversations About Srividya"

series.

 

As usual, "Q" is me, asking all the dumb questions. "A" is an

accomplished Srividya upasak and guru, who (also as usual) offers

patient and lucid replies for the benefit of the Group, but in

return requests anonymity to avoid being flooded with queries from

too many people

 

Q: Why were the Sri Lalita Sahasranama and other thousand-name hymns

composed?

 

A: Why do you think?

 

Q: I assume because it reflects what the sages discovered upon

contemplating Her?

 

A: No. Think again. Start looking at the structure. Go further. What

is the first name?

 

Q: shrI mAtA. The Mother.

 

A: But why the Mother? Whose Mother? For that you must refer back to

Lalitopakhyana [i.e. Story of the Goddess Lalita; an important text

describing the Great Goddess of Srividya Shaktism], on how Lalita

manifested Herself.

 

A: When the Devas were running away from the asura Bhanda, they

reached a hopeless situation, and they decided to do the mahaa yaga,

which is sacrificing oneself part by part and, ultimately,

completely. And they did it. And thus were all the Devas consumed by

the sacrificial fire. And from that fire arose a power - formless;

attributeless - that coalesced into Lalita, the ever playful one.

And what did she do first? She recreated the devas, thus becoming

the Mother of all Gods. Hence the name shrI mAtA.

 

Q: I see ...

 

A: Now lets take the second name, shrI mahArAjnI, the Great Empress.

How did She become that? Upon being recreated, the Devas decided

that in the coming battle they needed a leader composed of all their

powers - and that was manifest as Lalita in front of them. So they

crowned Her the Empress.

 

As the Empress, Lalita needed a consort; so Shiva became a male

Lalita - like a twin to Her in every respect, except that He was a

male He was married to Her. And they ascended the throne, and She

became the third name of LS, srImatsimhAsaneshwarI on being seated

on the throne. Thus the early part of Lalitopakhyana was compressed

into the first three names.

 

Q: And it goes on from there

 

A: Yes. Lalitopakhyana is the story of Lalita and her acts, and the

entire Lalita Sahasrama refers only to Lalitopakhyana. Because that

is the summum bonum of Lalita's story. And it goes on, answering in

turn all of our questions about Her. We wonder, Where did She

manifest from? and the fourth name reminds us, chidagnikunda

sambhootA, She was born out of the chidagni, the fire of the mind.

 

Why was She born? The fifth name tells us, Devakaarya samudbhavaa;

for the benefit of the devas.

 

What does She look like? See the sixth name: udyat bhaanu

sahasraabhaa; like the light of a thousand rising suns.

 

What are Her physical attributes? The seventh name, caturbAhu

samanwitaa; with four arms.

 

And so, on it goes ...

 

Q: So it is correct to say that these are truly not names - they are

simply descriptives.

 

A: Yes, that is what I am saying. When you understand the

Lalitopakhyana, and then stop at each name in Lalita Sahasranama and

reflect on the relevant part of Lalitopakhyana, it becomes a

meditation. You visualise the birth and acts of Lalita; She becomes

ALIVE. She manifests herself. She appears before you. The

descriptive names help you to visualise and relive her acts. It

becomes a powerful meditation. It makes you one with HER! And that's

the whole purpose of upasana. Understanding and doing it is an

upasana by itself. Hence it is called the greatest sahasranama.

[Guest guest]

pranam mata, pranam for revealing and sharing with us one of the greatest

secrets of LS. kindly inform that great yogi of my sashtanga namaskaram at his

lotus feet.

 

asokan

 

NMadasamy <nmadasamy wrote:

This is a repsot from our old inconversations series :

 

Here is another in Shakti Sadhana's "Conversations About Srividya"

series.

 

As usual, "Q" is me, asking all the dumb questions. "A" is an

accomplished Srividya upasak and guru, who (also as usual) offers

patient and lucid replies for the benefit of the Group, but in

return requests anonymity to avoid being flooded with queries from

too many people

 

Q: Why were the Sri Lalita Sahasranama and other thousand-name hymns

composed?

 

A: Why do you think?

 

Q: I assume because it reflects what the sages discovered upon

contemplating Her?

 

A: No. Think again. Start looking at the structure. Go further. What

is the first name?

 

Q: shrI mAtA. The Mother.

 

A: But why the Mother? Whose Mother? For that you must refer back to

Lalitopakhyana [i.e. Story of the Goddess Lalita; an important text

describing the Great Goddess of Srividya Shaktism], on how Lalita

manifested Herself.

 

A: When the Devas were running away from the asura Bhanda, they

reached a hopeless situation, and they decided to do the mahaa yaga,

which is sacrificing oneself part by part and, ultimately,

completely. And they did it. And thus were all the Devas consumed by

the sacrificial fire. And from that fire arose a power - formless;

attributeless - that coalesced into Lalita, the ever playful one.

And what did she do first? She recreated the devas, thus becoming

the Mother of all Gods. Hence the name shrI mAtA.

 

Q: I see ...

 

A: Now lets take the second name, shrI mahArAjnI, the Great Empress.

How did She become that? Upon being recreated, the Devas decided

that in the coming battle they needed a leader composed of all their

powers - and that was manifest as Lalita in front of them. So they

crowned Her the Empress.

 

As the Empress, Lalita needed a consort; so Shiva became a male

Lalita - like a twin to Her in every respect, except that He was a

male He was married to Her. And they ascended the throne, and She

became the third name of LS, srImatsimhAsaneshwarI on being seated

on the throne. Thus the early part of Lalitopakhyana was compressed

into the first three names.

 

Q: And it goes on from there .............