Śaraccandranibhānanā शरच्चन्द्रनिभानना (129)
Her face appears like the moon in spring season. Śarad means second half of October, November and first half of December. In a natural horoscope, each rāśi represents a solar month. Two solar months make a ṛtu and six ṛtu-s make a year. During śarad ṛtu (autumn or fall season) the moon appears brighter and without blemishes. Please refer nāma 133 also.
Śātodarī शातोदरी (130)
She has thin waist. These two nāma-s (129 and 130) are connected to Her kāmakalā form, the details of which will be discussed in kāmakalā rūpā (nāma 322) .
Śāntimatī शान्तिमती (131)
She is never harsh to Her devotees. She tolerates certain acts of Her devotees that are not considered appropriate. Śanti means peace. She appears peaceful and tolerates only certain acts of Her devotees. She too has a tolerance level. Once that level is crossed by Her devotees, She does not hesitate to initiate corrective measures. The corrective measures are carried out through Her ministers like Aśvārūdā or Vārāhi Devi-s.
With this nāma, Her act of benediction ends. Nāma-s 132 to 155 discuss Her as Nirguṇa Brahman or Her formless form. Worshipping Her as Nirguṇa (without attributes or qualities) form is considered as an important aspect of worship and the result of such worship is described in nāma-s 156 to 195. It is also interesting to note that Vāc Devi-s have chosen to discuss her nirguṇa worship first and saguṇa (with attributes) worship later (196-248).
Nirādhārā निराधारा (132)
She is without support. She does not depend upon anybody. Chāndogya Upaniṣad (VII.24.1) asks “That which is infinite is immortal and that which is finite is mortal. It rests on its own power – or not even on that power (as it depends on nothing else, not even its own power). This is known as nirādhārā.
Śaktī is worshipped both internally and externally; but internal worship leads to quicker realisation. External worship is further divided into two categories- Vedic and Tantric. Internal worship is also divided into two categories, one is with form and another is without form. Worshipping Her internally without attributing any form is considered to yield desired results leading to quicker realisation of the Self.
The pure form of consciousness is Śaktī. Śiva Sūtra (1.1.) says caitanymātmā. This means that pure consciousness is Ātma. Only by worshipping Her, detachment from saṁsāra becomes possible, which ultimately leads to liberation.
Nirañjanā निरञ्जना (133)
Añjanā means a black paste (eye liner or collyrium) that is applied to eyes of women. Hanuman’s mother’s name is Añjanā. “Añjanā nandanaṁ vīraṁ” says a verse. When añjanā is applied to eyes, they look beautiful. Her eyes look beautiful without añjanā is the textual meaning. But añjanā also means ignorance as ignorance is always compared to darkness and knowledge to light. Nir means without. She is without ignorance. Vāc Devi-s would not have coined this nāma to mean that She is without ignorance. Ignorance and knowledge are associated with human and not with the Divine Mother as She is the embodiment of knowledge. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (VI.19) gives answer to this argument. It Says ‘niṣkalaṁ, niṣkriyam, śāntam, niravadyaṁ, niranjanaṁ”. This means that Brahman has ‘no form, no action, no attachment, above reproach and without any blemish’. It also says niranjanaṁ which means without any blemish. Therefore it is to be inferred that Lalitāmbikā is the Brahman. This nāma says that Her formless (nirguṇa Brahman) form is without any blemishes. Please refer nāma 354 for further details.
In Kuṇḍalinī meditation, when one reaches ājñā cakra, one will be able to see light. In the initial stages, this light may have some blemishes and these blemishes vanish along with the practice. This is called Her blemish less form, as Kuṇḍalinī is Her subtlest form.
Nesh
September 29, 2023 07:09 AM
Namaste. Regarding nāma 131, I’ve seen two spellings around, the one given here and śāntimatī. For clarity, is the first vowel long or short?
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Krishna
October 04, 2023 01:10 AM
The long vowels are used to represent the feminine gender. Thank you for pointing out the mistake and I have made the necessary corrections to the article.
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