Nirmadā निर्मदा (158)
She is without pride. Mada means pride. When someone has something that others do not have, it gives rise to pride. She has everything and everything comes out of Her (hiranya garbha or the golden egg or womb. It is the matrix of the imperishable substance, the Brahman. It is said to be the luminous 'fire mist' or ethereal stuff from which the universe was formed and generally applied to Brahma. This is described in the Rig-Veda as born from a golden egg, formed out of the seed deposited in the waters when they were produced as the first modifications of the Self-existent.) There is no necessity for Her to become proud of something.
Madanāśinī मदनाशिनी (159)
She destroys pride of Her devotees. Annihilating pride is one of the preconditions for realizing the Brahman. What is followed is preached. She is without pride and She wants Her devotees also to be without pride.
Niścintā निश्चिन्ता (160)
She is without worries. Worries arise out of recollecting the past. Since She transcends time and space, She does not have a past. It can also be said that in spite of the responsibility of administering the universe, She is without worries because, She has intelligently delegated Her work to Her ministers like Vārahī and Śyāmalā. This can be known while worshipping Śrī Cakra through navāvaraṇa pūja. This is in confirmation of nāma 155 Nīriśvarā,
Nirahaṃkārā निरहंकारा (161)
She is devoid of ego. Ego arises out of three guṇa-s viz. sattva, rajas and tamas, already discussed in nāma 139. Nirguṇa, which says that She is without these three guṇa-s. Since She does not have guṇa-s, it implies that She is devoid of ego.
Nirmohā निर्मोहा (162)
Moha means bewilderment, perplexity, distraction, infatuation, delusion, etc all leading to follies. She is without any confusion, a product of mind. Mind is the most important factor in realising God. Only the attunement of mind to thoughtless state leads to Self-realization. Īśa upaniṣad (verse 7) asks “when a person knows that he himself has become everything and knows oneness of things, how can he hate or love anything?” Love and hate leads to confusion. Kṛṣṇa says, (Bhagavad Gīta XIV.22-25) “One who is unwavering and undisturbed through all these reactions of the material qualities remaining neutral and transcendental, knowing that the modes alone are active; who is situated in the self and regards alike happiness and distress; who looks upon a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye…such a person is said to have transcended the modes of nature’. Such a person does not have confusion (nāma 162), ego (nāma 161) and worries (nāma 160).
Mohanāśinī मोहनाशिनी (163)
She destroys such confusions in the minds of Her devotees. When a devotee is without confusion, he moves forward in the spiritual path. Īśa upaniṣad (7) says, ‘ekatvam anu pashyataḥ’ which means seeing everywhere the same thing, the Brahman. It was seen earlier that Śakthī alone is capable of taking one to the Brahman. When Śakthī, who is also called māyā moves away, leaving a person before the Brahman (Śiva) She enables him to realize the Brahman by himself. Self illuminating Brahman is realized only when illusion (māyā) is destroyed.
Nirmamā निर्ममा (164)
She does not have self concern. If there is self concern, one identifies himself as different from the Brahman. This is called dualism and should not be pursued. If one looks at this nāma from the point of view of the first nāma Śrī Mātā, as the Supreme Mother she does not care for Herself. Her concern is only about Her children, all the living beings in this universe. From the point of view of the Brahman, self-concern is yet another quality that is being negated here.
It is interesting to note that commencing from nāma 164 one nāma says that She does not have that quality and the next nāma says that She destroys such qualities in Her devotees. For example nāma 166 is niṣpāpā (without sins) and the next namā 167 is pāpa-naśinī (destroys sins of Her devotees).
September 14, 2023 08:09 PM
Expanded meaning of verse 162 of Lalitha Saharanama अजा क्षयविनिर्मुक्ता मुग्धा क्षिप्र- प्रसादिनी । अन्तर्मुख- समाराध्या बहिर्मुख- सुदुर्लभा ॥१६२॥ Ajaa kshayavinirmukthaa mugdhaa kshipra-prasaadhinee antharmukha-samaaraadhyaa bahirmukha-sudhurlabhaa ||162|| Devi who is eternal takes the desired form based on our flow of prana. That’s why prakriti means she assumes the awareness based our spiritual maturity. Why prana. This is because your mood depends on how you breath. Refer to Hindu meditation books for more information. Essentially, she is indestructible in her nature as she is liberated from the cycle of the universe therefore as ‘’prakrti’’ she is accessible everywhere . That is with form or no form. Like her child Lord Ganesh. Devi’s face shows a caring nature as mother she always strives to liberate her children from the noose of karma as long the devotee surrenders to her. She provides protection from negative influences The meaning of vinmukti comes from the Marathi Sanskrit scripture Subhashini as a mantra to help overcome difficulties by pleading with Devi in a 108 mantra three cycle recitation every day especially during Navarathri . This sloka meaning is also referenced indirectly in Kanakadhara stotra of Adi Sankara where Devi calms in the presence of Lord Vishnu and gets intoxicated by his presence Sarva badha Vinirmukto mantra ॐ सर्वबाधा विनिर्मुक्तो धन-धान्य सुतान्वितः। मनुष्यो मत्प्रसादेन, भविष्यति न संशयः॥ This sloka is a Mahalakshmi sloka .Devi express that with her help for removal of all barrier as well as there is no any types of the doubt that ones life will be filled with wealth, grains (food) and children. Devi face shows a caring nature as mother she always strives to liberate her children from the noose of karma as long the devotee surrenders to her. She has no intent to injure her devotees and tries to soften the inevitable obstruction or pain and create a sense humility with her devotee by making all look beautiful in nature like the bumble be which essentially hums around the Devi with sweet smelling nectar. Devi like a mother runs to her child asking the child to focus on her to such an extent that salvation can be bestowed immediately. That means you are urged to be Bhavani. Which means instant consciousness as described in the Bhavani Ashtakam Devi says the fruit of her presence is to look within. She has to be realized by internal search and exploration. This is based on the theory that Ātman resides within. This is where many would require assistance of guru for moksha. There are many around who provide detailed guidance here. My favourite is Sri Ramana Maharishi.