Sri Vidya and Gita, a comparison

May 20, 2005

What Bhagawat Gita occupying the position as a jewel in Mahabharata in Mantra Sastra Lalitha Sahsranama occupies the same place.Of all bhashyas that are written for Lalitha Sahasranama one written by Bhaskararaya is considered to be of the highest order.He lived abt 3500 years ago and wrote several books of which his Lalitha Sahasranama bhashyam,Varivasya Rahasya elucidating the greatness of PanchaDashakshari mantra,Sethupandham which deals with Nithya-Shodashikarnava bhashya all these are considered to be of primal contribution to Sri Vidya.Both Brahma Vidya and Sri Vidya are the same.Mantra,Tantra,Yantra all are encompassed in Sri Vidya.Yantra is the description of Mantra.Sri Vidya mantra is called Panchadashashari.Main Yantra is Sri Chakra.For attaining Mantra Siddhy mantra,yantra and tantra are essential.

Before starting the Bharata War Sri Krishna advised Arjuna to pray Sri Durga and arjuna prayed like this:

Vedasruthy-mahapunye,brahmanye jada vedasi I

Twam Brahma-Vidya vidyanam mahanithra cha dehinam II

Savitri Vedhamatha cha thatha vedanta uchayathey I

Sthuthasi thwam mahadevi visuddhey-antharathman II

Jayo bhavathu may nithyam twat prasathathranagire II

Arjuna was a great chum of Krishna.A baktha of Lord Siva.An Upasaka of Devi.So he was advised by Krishna to offer prayer to Durga to betow victory in the war.One who with great devotion recites Lalitha Sahasranama will make the presiding deity showering Her blessings on the aspirant and devotion will make Her to show the other forms of all Deities.She is Sarva-Devi-Swaroopini.She is the primal energy and she is Brahma,Vishnu and Siva(Srishti karthree brahmaroopa,gopthree govinda rupinee I

Samharini Rudraroopa threythanakareeswari II

Sadasivanugrahatha panchakrithya-parayana II Slokas 63 and 64 of Lalitha Sahasranama) All can recite Lalitha Sahasranama and women hv equal right in this.(Sarva varnathykaracha nareenam yogya yeva cha).It is a sacred one never swerve from the path of Dharma and easy to do and imperishable.What Lord Krishna said in Gita (9.2) is equally appicable to Sri Vidya.There is similarity between Gita and Lalitha Sahasranama just like the parallel of Sri Krishna and Lalitha Devi which an ardent Upasaka can understand.(Kathachit Lalitheyshani bhum roopa krishna vigraha).A child who was playing with Gopis with His melodious flute could also show Viswa Roopa to Arjuna with protruding teeth, a mouth as big as the earth resembling Kali devi.( kaalosmi lokakssayakrit pravrddho lokan samahartum iha pravrttahI

Thamshtrakaralani cha they muhani,Ma they vyatha ma cha vimoodabhavo dhrushtva riipam Gorameethrung mametham..Ch.11).In this way unless both feary and benign roopas could not be seen in tandem the fear psychosis cant be eradicated.Full knowledge is impossible.Krishna never says that He won't give sufferings to His devotees.But He says that I will give them sufferings and at the same time the will to bear those troubles so as to make them worthy devotees and make them warriors.This was for this reason Kunti used to pray to the Lord to give her sufferings frequently so that always she will be attuned to Krishna mentally.( Vibhatah: sandhu tha: saswath thathra thathra Jagat Guro- Bhagwat 1.8.26) Those who get the love of Krishna will undergo lot of troubles and sufferings though He will protect them ultimately..The same is the case with Lalita Devi.Though She is extremely beautiful and compassionate She also takes the forms of Maha Kali,Mahishasuramardhini etc creating

terror.( SUMANGALI SUKHAKARI SUVESHATYA SUVASINI) and ( Pasulokapayankari,veera ghoshty priya,Mahakali,Chandamundaasura-nishuthini,thaithya hanthry,Daksha yagnavinasini).

Of course there are people who dismiss all these as Puranic stories which hv no relevance to the present day world.To a certain extent I too d to this view.For this Sankara says people may think that in this age it is not practical to get siddhis as the present day people are not fit for taking arduous journeys in this line but it is not correct so long as there is no dispute abt the existence of the Supreme Being at any time anybody can acquire siddhis provided the aspirant follows the rules relating to that with immense faith and concentration and the will to achieve without fear.Sri Ramakrishna has established this fact.From Guru one gets deeksha, from deeksha the mantra and from mantra siddhi.In this there is no change in any age.If proper Guru is not found God Himself can be considered as the Guru and the aspirant can carry on in his journey.Of course it is easier to recite the nama of Lalita than embarking on the path of spirtual upliftment as the same

requires lot of discipline which I hv described earlier.So no need to repeat the same.But a devotee can get the blessings of Lalita by reciting Her thousand namas and there be no doubt abt that as it contains mantra in nama roopa.As I said Sri Vidya is nothing but worshipping Lalitha Devi and for which yantra,panchadasakshari mantra japa etc are all needed and the same has the potential to raise the Kundalini(Serpent Power) that is lying in a coiled form at the base of the spine of all and once raised if properly guided will lift the aspirant to great heights over a period but if not properly done the consequences will be disastrous.But reciting the sahasranama as a daily prayer has no such problems and that will also equally beneficial.Only thing is the paths are different and so the effects.

Hare Krishna,

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