Lalitha Sahasranama names 181-190
Lalita Sahasranama meanings per name
181. Mṛtyu-mathanī
Meaning - She churns mṛtyu (death). She alleviates the fear of death.
Many a time this name is interpreted to mean that the Supreme Mother relieves the devotee from the misery called death. If so, then devotees should be living eternally on this earth across eons? However we do not see this happening. Therefore we should delve into the inherent deeper meaning that is contained within this name.
Every being right from an infant has a sub-conscious fear of death. Such fear has its origin in our samskaras (past impressions, tendencies). There are many who spend sleepless night out of fear that they could die in their sleep.
For washing away this fear of death from her children, the Divine Mother is Mṛtyu-mathanī. Living without the fear of death is an immense boon.
The sacred text ‘Bhagavatam’ stemmed out of this fear of death. Emperor Parikshit, who was cursed to die within 7 days, developed immense fear of death. To alleviate his fears, Suka Maharishi preached him the entire Bhagavatam.
Upon listening to this, Parikshit lost his fear and welcomed death. Overcoming this fear is no ordinary achievement.
Within the Mahabharata there are 3 extremely important portions- the Sanat Sujātīyam, the Bhagavad Gita and the Vishnu Sahasranāma. Amongst them, the Sanat sujātīyam contains elaborate discussion about mrutyu (death). It declares that death is nothing but smriti rāhityam (loss of memory) and pramadam, where the inner being forgets the body that it had taken so far.
To alleviate this fear of death, Mrutynjaya swamy is also worshipped through the mantra -
Aum tryambakam yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puśṭi-vardhanaṃ |
Urva rukamiva bandhanan mṛtyor - mukshīya māmrutat |
Meaning - O Lord! You are sweet smelling (sugandhi) and bestow good health. Further very easily You dispel the fear of death. Please free me from this fear of death but not from the experience of Amrita (nectar, bliss).
182. Niṣkriyā
Meaning - She is over and above action (kriya).
She is beyond karma-akarma and vikarma.
This nama looks at Her from the nirguna (formless) angle. Being formless, She is only a witness to all the actions.
Actions of self-realized people, who do not take cognizance of their body, do not create karma.
183. Niṣparigrahā
Meaning - She does not accept anything as She needs nothing.
Parigraha means to accept in charity (dānam). She, who is eternally giving, never has a need to take anything.
The fifth chapter of Bhagavad Gita states -
Nādatte kasyachit pāpaṃ na caiva sukrtam vibhuh
Ajnānenāvritaṃ jnānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavah
Meaning - The Lord does not accept anything. He does not take even the merits (punya) or sins (pāpa) of any being nor does he give merit (punya) or sin (pāpa). It is only our actions that cause merit or demerit.
Aparigraha vrata is a very meritorious ritual in which the person undertaking the vrata does not accept anything from other beings. He will pluck the fruits from the forest and collect the grain that has fallen down in the fields, as they do not belong to any body and he sustains purely on this.
184. Nistulā
Meaning - She is unequalled. Being the form of the self (atma swaroopa) there is nothing with which She (her beauty, bliss) can be compared or weighed.
Soundarya Lahiri extols Her as -
Tvadīyam soundaryaṃ tuhinagiri-kanyē tulayituṃ
kavīndrã: kalpante kathamapi virinchi-prabhrutayah
Meaning - O Divine Mother! O daughter of the snow capped Himalayas! Your beauty is beyond comparison. Brahma and others try to describe and weigh your beauty but they are not able to find any comparison against which they can measure it.
The word ‘tulayitum’ means ‘beyond measure’. Not merely Her physical beauty, Her bliss (ananda, Soundarya) is also immeasurable.
Up to now, Her Supreme Essence has been extolled in many wonderful ways. This set of names end with a final declaration that She is unequalled in every aspect (Nistula). The depth of teaching and knowledge shared in the last few names are unequalled and beyond measure. Trying to ascertain a value or a measure to these names is impossible.
In the next few names, the method of worshipping Her as Durga is being taught. From lessons on Vedanta, Lalita Sahasranama now moves back into the methods of worship (Upasana marga) and Her gross form (vigraha roopa).
185. Nīlacikurā
Meaning - She has long black hair.
This is again a description of her physical aspect. This name re-iterates the blackness of Her hair as in the name ‘Campakāśoka-punnāga-saugandhika-lasat-kacā’.
Black colour of the hair symbolizes dispelling the fear of death and ignorance.
186. Nirapāyā
Meaning - She is beyond danger/risk (apāyā). She is indestructible.
After reaching Her, there can be no more dangers. Divine mother will pull the aspirant out of dangers involved during the process of Sadhana.
Upāya refers to planning and direction while apāya refers to the danger. It is said that for every plan (upaya) the risks involved (apaya) should be calculated and only then the task should be initiated. However this rule does not apply to spiritual purposes as it is free from dangers.
In the chapter 6 of Bhagavad Gita, the Lord says- na hi kalyana-kṛt kascid durgatim tāta gacchati which means, ‘One who performs good deeds is never troubled by evil’.
Even trivial efforts put in towards spiritual practices as well as the least service rendered to others does not go for a waste.
187. Niratyayā
Meaning - It is impossible to override Her dictates.
Guru’s orders (ajna) should be adhered to at all times and under all circumstances even if the remark/ order has been said jocularly or casually. Such should be the faith in the Guru. No one has an authority to override His dictates.
Let us recollect a short story related to this. The Navanathas were special messengers of *** and followed Datta tradition. The first Navanatha was Matsyendrianath and the second was Gorakhnath. It is said that when a barren woman approached Matsyendrianath for help, He blessed her with some Vibhuti. Not knowing its value, she threw it in a garbage bin. A small infant emerged out of this vibhuti and for 12 years a cow (go) reared him. Thereafter Matsyendrianath took him away and he came to be known as Gorakshakanath or Gorakhnath. He was a disciple of Matsyendrianath.
Once the Guru- disciple who were wandering, reached the outskirts of a town where they camped for a couple of days. At noon, Gorakhnath went to town to collect alms (bhiksha). He offered to his Guru the entire bhiksha that he had received. Matsyendrianath ate all that was brought and very casually remarked that he wanted more of it. The next second Gorakhnath went back to the same house and begged for alms. He pleaded with the lady that it was for his master. Hesitatingly, she gave him some more of that particular food preparation. Matsyendrianath ate it up completely and once again remarked- ‘I wish there were some more of this delicious food.’
Unhesitatingly Gorakhnath went back to the same house even though his Guru had just made a mere passing remark about the food. This time however the lady demanded some compensation for the food and asked Gorakhnath to offer one of his eyes. Without a second thought Gorakhnath cut off one of his eye and offered it to her. He was more worried that he was delaying in serving his master. He tied a cloth around his eye lest his master notice the missing eye. Receiving the bhiksha brought by his disciple, the master enquired about the cloth tied across his eye.
Gorakhnath tried to dissuade him from doing so but then finally had to tell the entire truth. The Guru said- ‘O is it so? Let me have a look at the wound’. Gorakhnath untied the bandage. What a surprise! His eye was unharmed! This brought about a complete transformation in Gorakhnath and led him to greater levels in spiritual progress.
188. Durlabhā
Meaning - She is extremely difficult to obtain.
Among the millions living in this planet, only a select few are lucky to know Her and to strive to reach Her. This itself is enough to prove that She is durlabha- very hard to attain/ reach. The intent is not to put fear in the mind of the devotee but to make him/her aware of the degree of strenuous efforts that are required to be put in order to reach Her.
189. Durgamā
Meaning -
1) She is beyond the reach of this physical body.
‘Gama’ means ‘the path to be traversed’. One cannot walk on this spiritual path with the physical body. The mind and the intellect (buddhi) walk on this path. This physical body is a very important tool that aids in this.
She can be easily reached through internal worship (antar yāga). External worship is just an aid to inner worship but is not an end in itself. Where the mind and intellect do not participate in the external worship, no results can be obtained.
2) She destroyed the Demon Durgama (Durgamāsura) and hence is addressed as Durgamā.
190. Durgā
This is one of the prominent names of Divine Mother.
Meaning -
1) She cannot be reached by those who are eternally drowned in sorrow and grief.
Any worship or penance done to reach Her when the mind is sorrowful is unproductive. This is because the mind and the intellect (buddhi) will be focused on the sorrowful thoughts and will cease to contemplate upon Her during worship.
The 3 names Durlabha, Durgama and Durga teach us that mental efforts are extremely crucial if one is truly desirous of reaching Her. In effect, all 3 names have the same meaning.
2) Durga also suggests that She destroys all problems, impediments and grief of those who worship Her with full faith and dedication.
In this hymn in Chandi (or Durga) Saptashati, the Divine Mother is praised as -
Durge smrta harasi bhitimaśeśa jantoḥ
Swasthaih smrtamati matīva shubhām dadāsi
Dāridra duhkha bhayahārini kā twadanya
Sarvopakarkaranaya sadādrachittā
Meaning: O Mother! Even the worst problematic impediments and situations will simply vanish if the person just once calls out your name ‘Durga’. Such is the protection that you offer, not just to humans, but to all forms of beings. You dispel fear and instill confidence. You bestow good intellect and knowledge on to those who are truly aspiring for it. There is no power greater than You which can drive away poverty (dāridra) and grief (dukha). All this is possible because your heart is replete with love, compassion (daya).
This is the power of Her name. This is the true meaning of the name Durga.
Praying to Durga at the time of commencement of a journey is a common practice in most places. That She will take care of all the impediments along the way and ensure a peaceful and safe journey is the faith behind this practice. Such a practice should not be limited to merely train and air travels. Life is a journey. In this journey, we should pray to Her to clear all obstacles in the path and to safely take us to our destination.
Durga Devi split herself into 9 forms for the destruction of demons. These forms are known as Nava Durga.
Yasyām bimbita ātmatattvamagamāt sarveśwarākhyām śubhām
Yā viśwat jagadātmanā pariṇatā yā nāma rūpāshrayā
Yā mūla prakrtir gunatrayavatī yā nanata śaktih swayam
Nitā vrutta navātmika jayatu sad Durgā nava kārinī
Meaning - All of us are reflections of Her form. She is the mirror within which we are seeing ourselves and thus this world exists. She has turned Herself into this universe. She is the cause for this creation. In this creation that is full of form and name, She has taken on a form. The entire visible nature (Prakriti) is Her form and so She ensures a never-ending abundant supply of all materials and sources in it. The five basic elements (pancha bhootas) are also Her forms. She is the endless energy that renews itself every day or every second. She is endless, forever young and vibrant and ever-powerful. She is Nava Durga (the 9 forms of Durga).
The following is a 9th verse Adi Shankaracharya’s composition - Dakshinamurty stotram
bhūr-ambāmsi-analo-nilo-(a)mbaram aharnātho himāmśu: pumān
iti-ābhāti carā-cara-ātmakam-idam yasyaiva mūrti-ashṭakam
This hymn states that the Lord splits himself into 8 forms and is known as Ashtamurti. Even Lalita Sahasranama describes the Divine Mother as Asthamurti. These 8 forms together with her Atma swaroopa (form of the self) total nine. Then She is known as Nava Durga.