Lalitā Sahasranāma Was Composed in Kañchi at Least a Thousand Years Ago
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Researches in Sahaja Yoga Śhrī Lalitā Sahasra-nāma ‘The Thousand Names of the Supreme Goddess’ Researches in Sahaja Yoga – No. 2 ‘The collective should research the scriptures and books written by enlightened souls and should produce books supporting Vishwa Nirmala Dharma.’ H.S.H. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. ‘Sahaja Yoga’. ‘The Goddess Saraswatī carries books of knowledge to suggest that the scholar must create books out of the eternal truths discovered during his pursuit of knowledge.’ ‘Swadhishthan Chakra’ All our publications are available to download free from symb-ol.org This work is surrendered at the Divine Lotus Feet of Her Supreme Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, in the hope that, through connection to Her, some Pure Knowledge may emerge through this limited human brain. Om Twameva sākṣhāt Śhrī Lalitā sākṣhāt Śhrī Ādi Śhakti Mātājī Śhrī Nirmalā Devyai namo namaḥ ‘Salutations to the Supreme Devi, who is incarnated on this Earth as Her Supreme Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.’ Contents Preface ...................................................... ........ 4 Introduction ................................................. ........ 5 Sanskrit Pronunciation ...................................... ...... 12 Commentaries on the LSN .................................. ...... 19 Background notes ........................................... ...... 20 (1) Śhrī Vidyā ....................................... 20 (2) The Fifteen-syllabled Mantra .................... 21 (3) Shri Chakra ..................................... 22 (4) Tantra .......................................... 23 (5) Three Granthis and Mandalas ................... 24 (6) Anushtubh metre ............................... 28 (7) Philosophies alluded to in the LSN ............... 29 (8) The Five Functions of the Divine ................. 30 (9) Tripura Sundari – meaning ...................... 31 (10) The Story of Śhrī Lalitā .......................... 34 Dedication and Meditation ................................. ...... 39 Sahasra-nāma Stotram – the 1000 names as a poem ...... ...... 40 A List of the 1000 names with commentary ................ ...... 76 Appendix (1) Shri Mataji’s commentary on the first 183 names ..... 254 Appendix (2) Introductory Verses ........................... ..... 279 Appendix (3) Phala Shruti (Final Chapter) ................... ..... 288 Appendix (4) Books on LSN and related topics .............. ..... 303 Appendix (5) The Fifteen-syllabled Mantra ................. ..... 310 Appendix (6) 15-syllabled Sahaja Yoga Mantra .............. ..... 316 Appendix (7) Śhrī Chakra .................................... ..... 318 Abbreviations Also: ‘An alternative translation is…, this can also mean’ LSN Lalitā Sahasra-nāma SN Sahasra-nāma (1000 names) p. Page number… 3 Why do we need another edition of the Lalitā Sahasra-nāma? There are some excellent English editions of the Thousand Names of Śhrī Lalitā with commentaries, and this book is intended to supplement rather than supplant them. On page 303 is a list of some of the available editions with a brief resumé of each, explaining their advantages and disadvantages. One drawback of many editions is that the original poem is not given in Roman script, so westerners would be unable to recite it, although it may be best recited as a poem. Some editions give the list of names in the dative case (ending in –āyai or –e) which is not ideal for Sahaja Yoga mantras. Sometimes the Sanskrit is not hyphenated, making long names difficult to decipher, eg.: Navavidrumabimbaśhrīnyakkāriradanachchhadā or: Nava-vidruma-bimba-śhrī-nyak-kāri-radanach-chhadā. These points are mentioned in the critique of each edition. It is hoped that the small amount of commentary in this book, while not attempting to rival the very scholarly commentaries such as the Theosophical Society’s or DKP’s editions of the LSN, will help to bring out how precisely the names describe Our Divine Mother Shri Mataji’s Incarnation on this Earth. Chris Marlow. Kerala, July 2018. 4 Śhrī Lalitā Sahasra-nāma Stotram Shri Mataji used the Lalitā Sahasra-nāma (LSN) in many Pūjās and Havans, especially in the early days, and recommended Sahaja Yogis to learn and recite the LSN at various times. Her 108 Names are taken from it. It seems to help develop the quality of Bhakti -‘devotion’, so essential to our ascent. There is a transcript of Her commentary on the first 183 names at a Pūjā in Brighton, UK in 1982 on page 254. The Lalitā Sahasra-nāma (LSN) is one of the greatest poems of Sanskrit literature, and it is probably best 1recited as such. Apart from its wonderful rhythm and sononance, the poem has great wit and humour in the word plays: Sanskrit abounds in double meanings and assonances and the LSN utilizes this to the full. It is a masterpiece of composition, partly due to its being the only Sahasranāma –‘1000 names’ where no small ‘filler’ words (cha, tatha, etc.) are added to fit the names into the metre. 1 With its easy flowing rhythm it goes well to a plain melody (see page 11 for suggestions) and may be recited in under an hour. Chanted individually in a mantra form, the Thousand Names can take three hours or more. 5 The rhythm fits the rules of 2Anushtubh metre almost perfectly. The other comparable, though much simpler, Sahasranāma is that of Śhrī Viṣhṇu in the Mahābhārata. The LSN is probably the longest Sahasra- nāma ever composed, due to the many 3lengthy names. But more important than this entertaining literary style is the content of the poem, which is the Highest Spiritual Knowledge, known as Śhrī Vidyā. This is the 4Tantra of the Supreme Goddess, which as Sahaja Yogis we have been fortunate enough to have been taught first hand! Tantra is the technique of raising the Kuṇḍalinī Śhakti through the Chakras to the top of the head where the union of the Ātma with the All-pervading Parabrahman-‘Supreme Consciousness’ gives us Self- realisation, and we become sā-yugya- a part of the Body of the Goddess ourselves. ‘Lalitā’ means ‘playful’, and this poem worships ‘Her whose sport is the Universe’, the One who ‘creates this world as a drama’. As all the Deities are mere aspects of Her, what is the need to praise any other? 2 See note on ‘Anushtubh metre’ p.28. 3 The LSN has 182½ verses compared to the Viṣhṇu SN’s 104 and Śhrī Mahākālī SN’s 161. Many of the long names are at the beginning and the first hundred names take up one fifth of the 182 verses. 73 of the names are a complete line of 16 syllables (Floccinoccinihilipilification, considered the longest word in English, has only 12 syllables) and a further 251 names have at least 8 syllables. 4 See note on ‘Tantra’ p.23. 6 “The Goddess Shri Lalitâ is the Goddess of Beauty. She is the joy- giving – Sarv’ânanda-mayâ –‘Gives the joy from everything’. In every created world, in every particle, in every form, there is a power which gives us joy. This power of joy is the power of Shri Lalitâ. She is called as Mahā Tripura-sundarî’ “ Bija Mantras, 14-10-78 “My second name is Lalitâ. When the vibrations rise, the vibrations which you are feeling on your palms, that is Lalitâ Shakti. It is full of beauty and love… People have completely distorted the idea of Lalitâ Shakti. They say that it is the power of destruction. But it is not at all correct. This power is extremely beautiful, creative and artistic.” Meaning of Nirmala 31-12-80 Her Worship is also the easiest, requiring only a sincere devotion, and not dependant on rigorous protocols as some other Deities are. She creates everything in this Universe and so no aspect of life is repugnant to Her; Indeed it seems that a happy balanced existence, fulfilling our duties and enjoying the pleasures of normal married life without attachment, is helpful to the attainment of the highest felicitude, which is complete absorption into Her Blissful Nature. She is Param’ānanda-mayi -’whose Nature is Supreme Bliss’, so that while all aspects of life are Her, they are also illusory, the only reality being Her Nature as Supreme Blissful Consciousness (Param Chaitanya). She is a married woman, and Her desire for unification with Her husband, Śhrī Kāmeśhwara- a name for Śhrī Sadā-śhiva, the Eternal Spirit- is reflected in human beings as the Kuṇḍalinī, the Pure Desire for unification with the Supreme Spirit. She is a mother and the love She has for us, Her children, is to expedite 7 our spiritual evolution. The Truth is that we are the Spirit, and that our Spirit is but a tiny drop of Her, the Ocean of Supreme Consciousness within us; She directs us towards this realisation. The Thousand Names is part of the Śhrī Lalitā Mahātmyam -‘Glory of Śhrī Lalitā’ which is found at the end of later versions of the Brahmāṇḍa Purāna. It is similar in form to the Devī Māhātmyam in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and contains the story of the Goddess being invoked by the Devas to help them win back Heaven from the demons and the ensuing battle which culminates in the destruction of the demon Bhaṇḍ‛āsura. Within the story are several praises of the Goddess including this Thousand Names, along with some detailed information on the 1Śhrī Chakra and other methods of worshipping the Goddess. The Śhrī Lalitā was probably written after the Saundarya Lahari; another great poem recommended by Shri Mataji which expounds ‘Śhrī Vidyā’. Śhrī Vidyā is the knowledge and worship of the Supreme Goddess, including the use of the fifteen-syllabled mantra (q.v.) and the worship of the Śhrī Chakra (q.v.). This knowledge is associated with Kañchi in South India, the home of the main monastery founded by Śhrī Ādi 2Shankarāchārya. It seems likely that the Lalitā Sahasranāma was composed in Kañchi at least a thousand years ago. 1 The Śhrī Chakra is a mystical diagram used in the worship of the Goddess, and is the symbol of Vishwa Nirmala Dharma. See Appendix 7, p.318. 2 Śhrī Ādi Śhankarāchārya was born in Kerala in... continued on next page... 8 There are some very erudite commentaries on the LSN and the Saundarya Lahari, two of the main texts dealing with Śhrī Vidyā and Tantra.