SuklAmbara-dharam-viShNum-SaSi-varNam-caturbhujam|
prasanna-vadanam-dhyAyEt-sarva-vighnOpaSAntayE||
SrI gurbhyOnamaH
namaskAram
God incarnation Sri Adi Sankara
Bhagavatpada, while praying to Ambal, humbly submitted to Her using the phrase
SrutInAmagamyE suvEdAgamajna. In contrast, I am a very ordinary person and am ajnana
personified. I believe that, it is beyond my capacity to even think of venturing
into this task of interpreting Ambal’s sahasra namas. However, I
am entirely convinced that, She is the one, who is guiding my thoughts.
In spite of my ajnana, I am praying
to her
sarvacaitanya rUpAm tAm AdyAm vidyAm
ca dhImahI budhiM yA naH pracOdayAt
before venturing into this bruhat karya.
As Maha-bhaktha-kavi Kalidas prayed
to Amma
cETI bhavannikhila khETI kadamba
vanavATIShu nAki paTalI
kOTIra cArutara kOTI maNI kiraNa kOTI
karambita padA|
paTIragamdhi kucaSATI kavitva paripATI
magAdhipa sutA
ghOTIkhurAdadhika dhATI mudAra mukha
viTIrasEna tautAm ||
(dEvi aSvadhATI)
I also pray to Her for fluent writing
skills!!
vaMdE gajEndra vadanam| vAmAnkArUDha
vallabhASliSHTam|
kuMkuma parAga SONam| kuvalayanIjAra
kOrakApIDam||
(AryA dviSati)
tanyatE vistArayatE iti tantra - Tantra
is one which describes an elaborate procedure for any prayer, japa, yaga, homa
etc., Several tanras for both aihika and paaramaardhika pleasures
are available in our sastras. There was a time when these tantras were
such that, they either grant only iha-loka pleasures or only para-loka pleasures. Adi Sankara in Soundaryalahari
mentions that, it is at this time Amma requested Pasupathi
for a tantra that grants both to her devotees (catuShaShTya tantraiH
sakalam -Soundarya Lahari).
varNitam naivam SakyEyam
SrIvidyAShODaSaksharI|
brahmavidyA svarUPa hi
bhukti-mukti-phala-prada||
(vamakESvara tamtra)
Such a tantra named Sri-Vidya which
gives both bhukti and mukti was given by Parama Siva
in Dakshinamurthy svarupa. Brahma vidya is the one,
which teaches that the entire mobile, immobile, visible, invisible creation is
from the one and only one Sat-Cit-Ananda-Brahma. Since SriVidya
given by Dakshinamurthy is a tantra that ultimately enlightens
the sadhaka with such EkamEvadvitIyam Brahma, the eternal
truth, it is considered to be a Brahma vidya.
SriVidya is taught by Dakshinamurthy,
who is Brahma-vidya personified. Lalita sahasranama stotra is
like a sutra to SriVidya. Several details pertaining to SriVidya
and related mantra rahasyas are hidden in this stotra. The
episode of Hayagriva svami teaching Lalita sahasranama to
Lopamudra-pati, Agastya muni is narrated in Brahmanda purana.
Sastras are of two
types. One explicit, the other being subtle. Explicit or prakata sastras
deal with the science of objects that could be perceived with indriyas. Subtle
sastras or guhya or rahasya sastras on the other hand, go
beyond the perception of indriyas. Guhya, guhya-tara, guhya-tama are
secretive, more secretive and most secretive, respectively. For example, dharma
sastras are guhya sastras, mantra sastras are guhya-tara
while Brahma vidya and tattva vidya are guhya tama sastras.
Since the Lalita sahasranama stotra has all the three, it is referred to
as a rahasya sahasranama stotra.
Just reciting the stotra mechanically
is an effort in futility. There
are enough electrical/electronic players for this purpose. One
must do the stotra parayana with sraddha.
yadEva vidyayA karOti ShraddhayOpaniShadA
tadEva vIryavattaram bhavati
chAndOgyOpanishad (1.1.10)
Involvement with utmost dedication is
Sraddha. Let us do the sAdhana of trying to understand these namas with
Sraddha. SrI tyAgarAja
sang talapulanni nilipi nimiShamaina tAraka rUpuni nija tattvamulanu telisi
rama ciMtana sEyavE O! manasA!! In a similar way, as we try to understand
the stotra, if we are able to fix our minds on Amma with
at least one nama, I would consider the purpose of this bruhat kAryam
to have been served.
Praying that She blesses me
to complete this pavitra and punya karyam successfully,
SrImAtrEnamaH
