Rajarajeshvari or Lalitha?

[Guest guest]

Namaste all

 

Since in this group there are several knowledgeable

devotees and upAsakas of ambaa, I am asking this question

which is personally important for me. I have a silver murti

(2.5 in. in height) in my daily puja of ambaa. She has been

referred to as Raja Rajeshvari in our family as far as my

memory goes. My father used to refer to Her that way. But

after I read Soundaryalahari, especially the fourth shloka,

I began to have doubts whether there is something more I am

missing.

 

The murti in my puja has abhaya hasta (right hand) and

varada hasta (left hand) and ankusha in the upper right

hand and pAsha in the upper left hand. She is sitting with

left leg folded and right leg stretched. Very much like the

picture in the Home page of the Lalitha (except

for the sugarcane and lotus interchanged for the varada and

abhaya hastas.) This murti has been in our family for

probably 200 years or so. In my father's time lakhs and

lakhs of archanas have been performed by him to this murti

and I have also done a few times in my own time.

 

Now tell me. Is She Raja Rajeshvari or Lalitha or

Bhuvaneshvari? Though it is easy to take all are the same,

I would like to know whether this particular type of

combination of features in the murti categorise Her in any

way.

 

Thanks, in anticipation, for the reply or replies.

 

PraNAms to Mother Goddess and Her devotees

profvk

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

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[Guest guest]

, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk>

> Now tell me. Is She Raja Rajeshvari or Lalitha or

> Bhuvaneshvari? Though it is easy to take all are the same,

> I would like to know whether this particular type of

> combination of features in the murti categorise Her in any

> way.

 

I have a similar doubt.

 

Iconographically speaking, the mUrti is that of bhuvaneshvarI.

 

However, if one observes devI mUrti-s in various shiva temples(in

south - I am talking about some specific temples in Andhra and

Tamilnadu) the mUrti usually has two hands with one hand holding a

lotus or a water lily, and the other hand free. These two handed

vigraha-s usually have different names like pArvatI, bAlA tripura

sundarI, tripura sundarI, durgA etc and the sculptures usually dont

match the dhyAna shloka-s for that devata.

 

Does the yantra installed in the garbha gR^iha usually decide the

name of the devata in these temples?

 

I wonder if along with the mUrti mentioned, is there a bhuvaneshvarI

yantra or a shrIcakra/meru that is worshipped in your house?

 

Regards.

[Guest guest]

Dear sir:

 

it looks like the murthi you have is Devi Bhuvaneshwari... the

absence of the sugarcane bow and the flowery arrows would rule out

either Lalita or Raja Rajeshwari

 

, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk>

wrote:

> Namaste all

>

> Since in this group there are several knowledgeable

> devotees and upAsakas of ambaa, I am asking this question

> which is personally important for me. I have a silver murti

> (2.5 in. in height) in my daily puja of ambaa. She has been

> referred to as Raja Rajeshvari in our family as far as my

> memory goes. My father used to refer to Her that way. But

> after I read Soundaryalahari, especially the fourth shloka,

> I began to have doubts whether there is something more I am

> missing.

[Guest guest]

Respected Sir,

 

Could you tell me..is chandra prabhai is on her head, top left side,

and is srichakra in purna meru form is also placed in front of

her...if yes is your answer, then it is bhuvaneshwari as many of the

old families in tamilnadu worshipped her.

 

regards

sriganeshh

[Guest guest]

> , "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk>

>

> > Now tell me. Is She Raja Rajeshvari or Lalitha or

> > Bhuvaneshvari? Though it is easy to take all are the same,

> > I would like to know whether this particular type of

> > combination of features in the murti categorise Her in any

> > way.

>

 

I did not follow all the emails in the thread, so if this has been

stated earlier please ignore.

 

With the description that was in the initial email the mUrti would

be Bhuvaneshvari. Having said that there are some things to consider,

 

It is a traditional practise to attribute a personal name to the

Bhagavan mUrthi-s that are worshiped at home, like how they do in

temples. Even in panchayatana puja murthis that are worshipped for

several generations, the murthi names are passed on. When you have

more than one salagrama, baNa linga or other muthis it gives a

personal identity to each murthi if you attribute a specific name.

Owning to this practise the archA murthi could be named

rajarajeshwari, even if the mUrthi laxaNa refer to Bhuvaneshwari.

This is very common in families who pass on mUtis for generations.

In most cases you could trace the family hailing from a place were

the presiding deity has that name.

 

(A relative of mine has a baNa linga and a beautiful matching idol

of ambA (dvibuja) and in the puja and they address the murthi

as 'tripurasundari sameta vedapurisha parabrahmaNe namaH'. Tracing

the family heritage they found that their ansistors were from

Thirukazikundram and the deities were named after the presiding

deities of that place.)

 

 

Aravind

[Guest guest]

Namaste Ganapathyji:

 

as usual, it is a pleasure to read your explanation and elucidation

of the dhyana shlokas. I do have one observation on your later

comments. You say that Raja Rajeshwari and Lalita are synonymous.

>From the Transcendental aspect, absolutely true. But from a

representational aspect, I would like to point out two differences:

 

1. Lalita is represented as having her left foot on the ground while

the Empress(Raja Rajeshwari) has her right foot on the ground; the

other leg being folded, in each case.

 

2. Lalita is sometimes represented as having being seated on the lap

of Kameshwara while the Empress is always shown alone.

 

I have been told that in the case of point 1, the left leg down

signifies the acceptance of the vamachara mode of worship while the

right leg down signifies the acceptance of only the traditional vedic

mode of worship. Of course, these have all been blurred in recent

times and both modes have been used for both aspects of Shakthi.

 

Obviously, I would love to hear from all of you on this.

 

Thanks and pranams

Ganesh

 

, ganapathy = = vijaya

<srividya101> wrote:

>

> namasthe

>.................

>

> Therefore any murti without Pushpa Bhanam and a bow made of

sugarcane suggests that it can't be considered as Lalitha or Raja

rajeshwari ( Both are synonymous ).( This is a separate topic )

Mostly it should be Bhuvaneshwari and the Dhyana Shlokam of

Bhuvaneshwari would be discussed in the next mail ambaa willing.

>

>

>

> Corrections are most Welcome

>

>

>

> Regards

>

>

>

> ganapathy

>