576) Mahaniyaa महनीया -
After a few names of a bit caution and not discouragement , we now proceed to the unobstructed straight path.
Mother is Illustrious.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमामख 580
577) Mahaa-kaamesha-nayan-kumuda-aalhaada-kaumudi महाकमेशनयनकुमुदाल्हादकौमुदी - And She becomes moonlight which gladdens the Kumuda flower pair of the eyes of the devotee. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 403
578) Mahaa-kaamesha-mahishi महाकामेशमहिषी - The Queen of Shiva.The word Mahaa is used to distinguish this Shiva from the Shiva of Trinity. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 233
Next we consider Mother's worship as Shakti. Here She is supposed to be a wife of Shiva as per Hindu conception.
It must be very clear born in mind that this is not Maai, the Finalmost Mother.
579) Mahaakaali महाकाली - ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 751
Mahaa means "great" and Kaala means "Time-Destroyer" or "Fate". She is called so , because She is greater than even Time-Destroyer, and Fate.
580) Mahaa-kailaasa-nilayaa महाकैलासनिलया - Residing in the great Kailaas, the abode of Shiva. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 578
581) Mahaa-ganesha-nirbhinna-vighnayantrapraharshitaa
महागणेशनिर्भिन्नविघ्नयन्त्रप्रहर्षिता - She is delighted at the great Ganesha's breaking the obstacle formed of the magic figure.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 78
Impurities, wasteful action and evil company being eliminated, if one devotes oneself to Mother, Mother showers the Grace of destruction of all doubts.The magic figure which mean insoluble problems as creation of universe, life after death, re-incarnation.etc. cease to frighten or confuse the devotee and to form barriers, in relation with or progress towards Mother.
Magic figure which forms the main obstacle is the delusion and limitedness, which confines the soul to a certain restricted field of thought, imagination, emotion and action, etc. Beyond this little square like the four sides of a well in which the frog lives, he cannot peep.Everything else that surpasses those limits is not believed as existing or even possible. It is this magic square which is responsible for so much misunderstanding,alienship, hatred, differences, atheism, quarreling and all the evils. That pitiable little worldworm finds his heaven and salvation in that little magic square. This square and infatuation of the square is broken by (1) destruction of doubt about Mother's existence (2) the conviction about the infallibility of Karma Law (3) the conviction that there is a method and a remedy (4) practice with faith, viz., that he is capable of achieving final success through that remedy.
582) Mahaagraasaa महाग्रासा - The great devourer.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 752
583) Mahaa-chatush-shashti-koti-yogini-gana-sevitaa महाचतुःषष्टिकोटियोगिनीगणसेविता Served by great sixty four crores of bands of yoginis (energy-deities-attendants). ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 237
There are eight principal Divinities, expressed by the name of Ashtamurthi. Each one has eight Shaktis. This makes up sixty four Shaktis and each Shakti has one crore maid servants known as Yoginis.
584) Mahaa-tantraa महातंत्रा - The greatest Tantra.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र ,नाम क्रमांक 226
585) Mahaa-taandava-saakshini महाताण्डवसाक्षिणी - ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 232
On every faculty, every power , every sinew, every nerve, every drop of blood , every pore and every hair being made perfect, capable of doing the maximum work and being immortalised, what else can there be but that the devotee dances in the highest ecstasy, being relieved from all pains , sorrows, miseries and the whirlpools of birth and death !! Mother witness the unique dance and Herself gets absorbed in the ecstasy experienced by the devotee.
586) Mahaa-tripura-sundari महात्रिपुरसुंदरी - The great Tripura-sundari. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 234
The great ordainer of the three conditions of creation, preservation and dissolution. The implied meaning is "She that will again create, preserve and dissolve." Mahaa is used to convey the idea of "again and again," about creating universes after universes.
587) Mahaa-devi महादेवी -The great Mother.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 209
588) Mahaapadmaatavisamsthaa महापद्माटवीसंस्था - Residing in the great forest of lotuses.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 59
589) Mahaa-paataka-naashini महापातकनाशिनी - Destroying great sins. ललितासहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 214
The highest expiation of all sins, whether committed knowingly or unknowingly, is brought about by the remembrance of the Lotus Feet of the Mother. In the Saubhaagya-ratnaakarसौभाग्यरत्नाकर and other works, in the chapter on expiation, the rules for repeating the Panchadashi पंचदशी mantra, according to the different nature of the sins sought to be expiated, are explained.
In the matter of expiation, the Mai-istic view is this :-
Never waste your energy on brooding over what is done. Be boldly prepared to suffer for the wrongs you have done. As soon as you refuse to resort to the remedy of expiation, you get extremely alert in daily routine (like people with little availability of doctors).Utilize the same energy, time ,money and means that you spend over expiation, towards bettering yourself with determined will.It is doubtful whether the expiation which is usually done through ceremonies and mortifications, becomes finally efficacious.As the last issue it is the mind that is required to be brought to quietude. It is the mind that has to be made strong enough, not to yield to temptations resulting in sins. If mind can to be made reconciled, no expiation ceremony is needed. If the mind after the most expensive laborious and mortifying expiation returns to the same despondency and painful brooding, every sacrifice is wasted.
Don't worry and don't go on calculating your sins and merits. They are bound to be there , so long as there is living and imperfection. They only show where you stand. Forego the rewards of your merits and be prepared for punishments for your sins. Go ahead. Be busy with securing Grace on practising devotion, perfecting self-control, developing your outlook of temporariness of painful and pleasant conditions and circumstances, being more practical and seeing the unreality of imaginary miseries and fears, gaining spiritual wisdom, and evolving your latent superior faculties and powers. Put your heart and soul, with all means available, to master the art of the safest and speediest running of your mechanism, rather than the art of bringing about most favorable compromises with people, whom you injure on creating repeated accidents.
590) Mahaa-paashupata-astra-agni-nirdagdha-asura-sainikaa
महापाशुपतास्त्राग्निनिर्दग्धासुरसैनिका - She burnt up the army with the fire of the astra (weapon ) called Mahaapaashupata(महापाशुपत) . ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 81
After that the grace has been fruitful to this extent She burns away the army, which means the long lingering undetectable Vaasanaas the fundamental rootlets of different desires.
Please differentiate "vanquishing" and "burning" as the latter means total annihilation and not mere control. The army of Daityaas ( demons)means mental modifications due to ignorance. The fire of Mahaapaashupataastra महापाशुपतास्त्र means the burning power created as a result of belief and practice of the non-duality arising from and increasing with devotion.
591) Mahaa-pujyaa महापूज्या -Mighty object of worship.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 213
Mother is also worshipped, by Shiva and other deities, through images of several elements. The most prominent of these elements are: 1) Stone 2) Gold 3) Silver 4) Copper 5) Brass 6) Crystal 7) Gems 8) Pearls 9) Coral 10) Lapis 11) Lazuli 12) Tin 13) Adamant and 14) Iron, etc. Surya ( the God Sun ) worships Mother through the idol, made of gems.
To say that idolatry cannot help an aspirant is as foolish as to say that only idolatry can help. Every name needs a form for the realisation of the object represented by the name. The substance on which that form is projected may be anything. An idol can be either in the physical form of some material element, or in mind or in space outside or in heart or in the brain-stuff, etc. Two forms are however noteworthy; one in lifeless matter at one end and the other in living beings themselves, as in the case of Guru-worship , Shiva-Shakti worship,, Kumaari worship, etc.
592) Mahaa-pralaya-saakshini महाप्रलयसाक्षिणी -Witness of the great dissolution. After that the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh perishes, She is the witness of the great dance of Mahaa Shiva at the time of the great dissolution. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 571
593) Mahaa-balaa महाबला -The great might. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 222
Bala means physical strength, Virya, physical and mental capacity as a result of the protection of semen and celibacy. Aishvarya means strength of Bala and Virya, and also the strength of thousands of others dependent for their life on Her sweet will.
594) Mahaa-buddhih महाबुध्दीः - The great intelligence. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 223
When the intelligence is directed towards Her, nothing remains to be known. "On knowing which, the whole universe is known."Or, from whom, one obtains highest (Mahat) intelligence.
595) Mahaabhairavapoojitaa महाभैरवपूजिता - ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 231
Worshipped by great Bhairava, the deity of exertion. This names is suggestive of the triple activity of Mother, as Bha means Bharana or Creation, Ra means Ramana or protection and Va means Vamana or destruction.
596) Mahaa-bhogaa महाभोगा- The great enjoyment. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 219
Rati is the ruling emotion during enjoyment and Bhogaa is bringing about of the fructification of the emotion in suitable conditions. The bringing about of the circumstances required for enjoyment, the capacity of enjoyment and the enjoyment itself, is the making of Mother.
In a word, the enjoyer, the enjoyed and the enjoyment, is She, the Finalmost Mother.
597) Mahaa-mantraa महामंत्रा- The greatest Mantra.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 227
598) Mahaa-maayaa महामाया - Greater than the goddess of illusion.ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 215
Maa मा means 'not' and yaa या means "which". Maayaa माया means, "not what appears or as appears." Maayaa mainly works through two processes ,viz., Avaran अवरण(covering the Truth) and Viksep विक्षेप(perverting the truth). Like a mirage, She shows many aquatic scenes where there is no water, or shows unreal things as real, just as we see an additional unreal moon on pressing our eye corner. Sometimes She does not show the real thing, just as when well is covered with grass. Wine, women, wager(gambling), wealth(ill-gotten) are the best servants and residences of Maayaa. Half truth, hypocrisy, temptation etc. are the means. Maayaa is name given to that working agency, which blinds fold worldly people and makes them pursue their mad pursuits so wildly as to be lost in their own false dreams.And there are some human errors which are so universal, that spiritual man very funnily say, that Maayaa has left none without subjecting them to Herself, be it even temporarily.Funny human nature arising out of ignorance of truths or inexperience of facts or infatuation, is said to be the working of Maayaa. Many devotees in Hindu Mythology, who got proud have been described, as most ridiculously humiliated through Maayaa and made wiser, by Mother.
Maayaa ( not Mother ) causes even deities to be baffled, " That divine Shakti Maayaa forcibly draws away the minds of even sages and leads (them)into confusion." "She, who always always makes him who is possessed of knowledge ( of his real nature )to b devoid of knowledge and throws him into confusion,egotism,doubt;She who subsequently compels him again and again, to undergo the stages of anger,distress,greediness, infatuation etc.She who leads him into sensual and sexual desires and makes him burn with anxiety day and night, producing sometimes pleasure and sometimes pain, is called Maayaa (the great universal Illusion-Maker).
Maayaa is the personified form of Illusion-creating energy and Mahaamaayaa may be taken to mean the vanquisher of Maayaa, or She that deludes the deluding Maayaa to save Her devotees, or She to whom Maayaa is subordinated. As a rule, Maayaa while continually deluding the universe, entwines one and all. Looked at from an abstract view, this means that unless a protective force is there, the natural motion is downward. A man drowns and a stone falls below, unless there is contrary strenuous force. This Maayaa entangles all except Mother's devotees. Ishvar (The Creator of the Universe), himself is said to the subject to Maayaa. What then to speak of others ?
Maayaa deludes the whole universe and Mahaamaayaa deludes Maayaa, because in cases of those with whom She is pleased, She, surpassing the imaginations of Maayaa, brings about the most wonderful achievement. This achievement is, that Her devotees turn from falsity to truthfulness, from godlessness to godliness, from personal to universal outlook, and so on. Judging most subtly, Mahaamaayaa is also a Maayaa, as She makes you mad-blind, infatuated and addicted (to Shree Maayaa or Maai, i.e., the Great Mother, although not to one's self and not to the little worldly things. Maayaa also means affection and my-ness. The word Maayaa also means pride and compassion; we can therefore take Mahaamaayaa to mean" highly compassionate and remover of pride."
599) Mahaa-yantraa महायंत्रा - The greatest Yantra. ललिता सहसनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 228
600) Mahaa-yaaga-kramaa-radhyaa महायागक्रमाराध्या Worshiped by the method of Mahaayaaga, i.e., great sacrifice. ललिता सहस्रनाम स्तोत्र, नाम क्रमांक 230
