Imagine my sense of joy and fulfilment, when, recently, Swamiji Yogamaya-ji of ADY called me, while I was attending the Chaturmasya puja on the ADY campus, to tell me that I can participate in the editing of Dr. V. V. Buxi's book - an English translation of the Saubhāgya Bhāskara Bhāṣya on Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram.
This was, in fact, the last trigger in a series of "coincidences" since Feb. 2024 when I joined the Trayee chanting classes. I moved then from being a casual listener (= Śrotṛ) to a student of the text.
Recently, someone even gifted me a 1700-page book set of talks on the Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram. This book is largely based on the Saubhāgya Bhāskara Bhāṣya!
As a student of Sanskrit and Hindu Scriptures, I find the Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram a unique composition with a musical cadence and verbal splendour with long strings of descriptions that tell the story of the Devī so poetically! Indeed, some of the 1000 names are as long as a full pāda or even 2 pādas (there are 4 pādas in Anuṣṭup)!
One of them is, for example,
(This universe is fully soaked in the radiance of Devī, who is of the reddish hue of Dawn).
Now, the worship of Devī is a very special tradition in Sanātana Sharma. Worshippers of the female deity are called Śāktas or Devī Upāsakas. A very famous Devī Upāsaka was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
There are numerous holy shrines scattered from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari in India, dedicated to the Mother Goddess. We worship her twice every year during the 9-day Chaitra and Sharat Navarātras. In addition, we worship her during Basant Panchami, Varamahalakshmi, Gouri-Ganesha, Deepavali-Lakshmi Puja and so on!
So, worshipping God as the Universal Mother is ingrained in us Hindus. Also, in the Kenopanishad, it is clearly stated that the Supreme Being who confers powers even on the gods like Agni (fire) and Vayu (wind) is Devī Umā!
***
The very first name in the Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram is
Śrīmātā
A very simple meaning of this would be "the Divine Mother".
However, to me, having begun to educate myself over the past few months on the Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram, it means something tremendous.
As the Divine Mother who is the Supreme Being, Devī has created this entire universe and everything in it. Including me: my parents (thereby giving through them my affectionate upbringing), and providing me all my sense faculties; as well as all the external stimuli for enjoyment, material pleasures and possessions- all beauty and delight that exists all around me.
I should therefore see the presence of Devī in every flower, sunset and smile; every colour, taste and touch; every friend, teacher and even enemy! Every celebration, reward and gift. Every birth, death, danger and catastrophe!
The various meanings for the word Śrī given in the Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram commentary state that all this creation adds up to the meaning of the first part,
Śrī.
But then:
What gives happiness? Happiness is a feeling within me. So the key factor for happiness is NOT what is outside me, but my own propensity to feel happiness. That begins with being alive, being conscious, and being connected with the "faculty of happiness" or "a state of bliss". The Sanskrit word for this is Ānanda. This is given to me by my mother in the womb itself. That means every conscious living being is infused with this faculty of Ānanda by the Universal Mother Devī or Śrī Lalitā Tripurasundarī.
Mātā.
So the chemistry that is happening around me is a combination of
Śrī + Mātā.
After the study of Śrī Lalitā Sahasra Nāma Stotram and after making progress in my Sādhanā under the Guru, I will realise that the key to the fullest realisation of my potential is (A) being centred in the faculty of bliss (B) while experiencing life all around. The first part is given at birth by Mātā. The second part is created by Śrī.
That is why the first name is ŚrīMātā.
And my truest prayer is expressing gratitude, for this grace, to the Universal Mother.
Do you see my line of thought?
🙏🙏🙏
॥ श्रीमात्रे नमः॥
