Lalita Sahasranama

The Lalita Sahasranama is from the Brahmanda Purana. It is sung in praise of the Goddess Lalita Devi, i.e. The Divine Mother or Goddess Durga, in the form, Shakti. Lalitha is the Goddess of bliss, Goddess Parvati. “Lalitha” means “She Who Plays”. In the root form (vyutpatti), the word “Lalitha” means “spontaneous” from which the meaning “easy” is derived and implicitly extends to “play”.

Lalitha Sahasranama is a sacred text comprising 1000 names of Sri Lalithadevi as Hayagreeva Agastya Samvaada (a discussion between Hayagreeva and Agashtya) .Hayagreeva, lord of Knowledge, is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, with head of horse. Sage Agastya is one among Saptharishis. There are several benefits of chanting Lalitha Sahasranama.

Legend

This stotra is seen in the Brahmanda purana in the Chapter on discussion between Hayagreeva and Agasthya. Hayagreeva is an incarnation of Vishnu with the horse head and is believed to be the storehouse of knowledge. Agasthya is one of the great sages of yore who is one of the stars of the constellation great bear. At his request Hayagreeva taught him the most holy 1000 names of Lalitha. Parama shiva is one of the trinity of Hindu pantheons who is in charge of destruction. He married Sathi, the daughter of Daksha. Daksha and Paramashiva were not getting on well and consequently he did not invite Paramashiva for one of the great fire sacrifices that he conducted. However Sathi went to attend the function in spite of Paramashiva’s protest. Daksha insulted her husband and she jumped in to the fire and ended her life. Consequently at the behest Of Paramashiva Daksha was killed and later given life with a goat’s head. However this incident upset Paramashiva and he entered into deep meditation.Sathi took birth as the daughter of the mountain (Parvathy) Himalayas and started doing penance on Shiva for getting him as her husband. The devas faced a very great enemy in Sura Padma who had a boon that he could be killed only by a son of Shiva and Parvathy. So to wake Shiva from his deep meditation the devas deputed Manmatha, the God of love who shot his flower arrows at Paramashiva. Paramashiva woke up and opened his third eye and burnt the God of love into ashes. The Devas and Rathi Devi the wife of Manmatha requested Paramashiva to give life to Manmatha. Heeding their request Paramashiva stared at the ashes of Manmatha.From the ashes came Bhandasura Who made the entire world as impotent and ruled from the city called Shonitha pura.He started troubling the devas.The devas then sought the advice of Sage Narada who advised them to conduct a fire sacrifice. From the fire rose Sri Lalitha Tripura Sundari. She was given in marriage to Lord Kameshwara and made to stay in Sree Nagara at the top of Maha Meru Mountain.

Sree nagara had 25 streets circling it. They are made of iron, steel, copper, lead, alloy made of five metals, silver, gold, the white Pushpa raga stone, the red Padmaraga stone. Onyx, diamond, Vaidoorya, Indra neela (topaz), pearl, Marakatha, coral, nine gems and mixture of gems and precious stones. In the eighth street was the forest of Kadambas. This is presided by Syamala. In the fifteenth street live the Ashta Digh palakas.In the sixteenth lives Varahi alias Dandini who is her commander in chief. Here Syamala also has a house. In the seventeenth street live the different Yoginis.In the eighteenth street lives Maha Vishnu. In the nineteenth street lives Esana, in the twentieth Thara Devi, twenty first Varuni , the twenty second Kurukulla who presides over the fort of pride, twenty third Marthanda Bhairawa, twenty fourth the moon and twenty fifth Manmatha presiding over the forest of love.

In the center of Srinagara is the Maha Padma Vana (The great lotus forest) and within it the Chintamani Griha (The house of holy thought), In its north east is the Chid agni kunda and on both sides of its eastern gate are the houses of Manthrini and Dhandini.On its four gates stand the Chaduramnaya gods for watch and ward.

And within it is the Sri chakra.In the center of Sri Chakra on the throne of Pancha brahmas on the Bindu Peeta(dot plank) called sarvanandamaya(universal happiness) Sits Maha Tripura Sundari.In the Sri Chakra are the following decorations viz., The square called Trilokya mohanam(most beautiful in the three worlds), The sixteen petalled lotus called Sarvasa paripoorakam(fulfiller of all desires), the eight petalled lotus called Sarvasamksopanam(the all cleanser), the sixteen corner figure called Sarva sowbagyam(all luck),the external ten cornered figure called Sarvartha sadhakam (giver of all assets), the internal ten cornered figure called Sarva raksha karam(All protector), the eight cornered figure called Sarva roka haram(cure of all diseases), triangle called Sarva siddhi pradam(giver of all powers) and the dot called Sarvananda mayam(all pleasures).

The devas prayed her to kill Bhandasura. When she started for the war with Bandasura, she was accompanied by the powers called anima, mahima etc, Brahmi, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Mahendri, Chamundi, Maha Lakshmi, , Nitya Devaths and Avarna Devathas who occupy the Sri Chakra.While Sampatkari devi was the captain of the elephant regiment, Aswarooda devi was the captain of the cavalry.

The army was commanded by Dhandini riding on the Charriot called Giri Chakra assisted by Manthrini riding on the chariot called Geya Chakra. Jwala malini protected the army by creating a fire ring around it. ParaShakthi rode in the center on the chariot of Sri Chakra.Nithya Devi destroyed a large chunk of Bandasura’s armies , Bala Devi killed the son of Bandasura, and Manthrini and Dhandini killed his brothers called Vishanga and Vishukra. When the Asuras created blockade for the marching army, Sri Lalitha Tripura sundari created Ganesha with the help of Kameshwara to remove the blockade.Then Bandasura created the asuras called Hiranyaksha, Hiranya Kasipu and Ravana.The Devi created the ten avatars of Vishnu and destroyed them.

She killed all his army using Pasupathastra and killed him with Kameshwarasthra.The gods then praised her.She then recreated Manmatha for the good of the world. This story is contained in the first 84 names of the first 34 slokas of Lalitha Sahasra nama .and all together contains one thousand names. This is also called the Rahasya Nama Sahasra(the thousand secret names).Reading it , meditating on the meaning of the names would lead to the fulfillment of all the wishes of the devotees.

Prerequisites for chanting

Lalitha Sahasranama should be chanted after Taking bath in the morning in the empty stomach in the puja room.One can recite them during evenings also after a bath.

Special days to chant

Fridays, Navami, Shukla Paksha chaturdasi and Pournami, Sankaranthi days, first day of every month and first day of the year, Grahana Samaya(times of eclipse), and on birthdays, Navarathri times both vasantha and sarannavarathri. If one chants this during Grahana times, it gives 1000 times more benefits than during normal chanting It is also good to recite it during Navarathris, both Vasantha and Sarannavarathri.

Different ways of chanting Lalitha Sahasranama

The Lalitha Sahasranama can be chanted in two different ways. The Stotra form and the mantra form. Each nama of this 1000 names itself is mantra and is very powerful. In Stotra form, all 1,000 namas are separated into slokas of a few namams each and recited in this way. In mantra form, each nama is said individually, preceded by “Aum” and followed by “Namah”. When chanted in mantra form, the endings of each nama are generally changed to “e” or “yai”. Mantra form is commonly used during Kumkumarchana offering Kumkum to either Srichakra or to the idol of Lalitha Devi . Both ways, however, are equally effective.

Benefits of chanting Lalitha Sahasranama

Regular chanting of Sree Lalitha Sahasranama is a way of penance and offers long and healthy life. It is an antidote to accidents and untimely deaths. On the full moon day facing the full moon and meditating on Lalitha, if one chants Lalitha Sahasranama, they will be cured of their diseases and mental disturbances if any will be vanished. Those who chant it regularly will be an awakened soul with subtle energies. The divine mother herself protects such individuals and will make him successful in all his endeavors. Regular chanting of Sree Lalitha Sahasranama blesses individuals with vaksiddhi, name and fame. A child less woman, if chants this stotra regularly, offering butter to Lalithadevi, will soon be blessed with a son. The enemies of the devotee, who reads these thousand names, would be killed by arrows by Sharabheswara. Goddess of wealth will live permanently in the houses of those who recite it with faith and devotion continuously for six months.