Conclusion of Lalita Saharanama: PHALA SRUTI [8-23]

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8. [...] One can bathe in the Ganges and all other holy waters

numberless times;

 

9. One can institute crores [tens of millions] of Lingas in the

Avimukta ksetra;

 

10. One can give away crores of gold pieces to learned Dvikas during

the solar eclipse;

 

One can perform innumerable horse sacrifices on the banks of the Ganges;

 

11. One can dig multiple wells in arid tracts;

 

One can feed Brahmanas every day by the crore in times of dearth and

famine;

 

12. One can do all of these things, with supreme faith, regularly, for

a thousand years -- and the resulting Punya [spiritual merit; "good

karma"], multiplied infinite times, would only equal that gained by

reciting this hymn [the Lalita Sahasranama Stotra]!

 

13. The supreme Punya that results from the recitation of even a

single name from this secret Sahasranama ...

 

14. ... destroys the accumulated sins of the reciter. There is no

doubt about this.

 

15. All sins -- both of omission (of daily prescribed duties) and of

commission (i.e., of prohibited acts) -- are surely destroyed! Listen,

O Kumbha-Sambhava!

 

16. No one in all the Fourteen Worlds is capable of committing a sin

that cannot be removed by reciting even a single name of this

Sahasranama, which is the antidote for all sins!

 

17. One who desires to cleanse herself/himself of all sins by any

means other than this Sahasranama could be compared to the person who,

seeking to rid themselves of the cold, climbs into the snows of the

Himalayas.

 

18. If a devotee recites this Sahasranama daily, Sri Lalita is pleased

and confers upon that devotee her/his desired objectives.

 

19. In fact, how can one who does not recite this hymn even be called

Her devotee? If s/he is unable to recite it daily, let her/him recite

it at least on auspicious days.

 

20. For example, on Sankranti day, during the summer and winter

solstices, on the three Birth Holidays (i.e. one's own, one's

spouse's, and one's children's), on Navami (the 9th or 14th day of the

bright fortnight), and on Fridays.

 

21. This Sahasranama should be recited espacially on the Purnamasi

(Full-Moon) Day, as one meditates upon Mother Lalita as seated within

the disc of the Moon.

 

22. And in worshiping Her with the five kinds of Upacharas, one should

also recite this Sahasranama. All diseases that afflict such a devotee

will be destroyed, and s/he will obtain a long lease on life.

 

23. This process, called the Ayuskara Prayoga (that which tends to

prolong life), is mentioned in the Kalpas.

 

[...]

 

(TO BE CONTINUED)