Lalita Priyadipika- Splendours of The World Mother (A Modern Commentary to Lalita Sahasranama)

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The infinite cannot be caged into the words but the words can direct our perception towards the infinite. This simple logic had been exhaustively utilised by the ancient seers in developing the many wisdom paths. The way of the Sahasranama is an epitome of this logic. Sahasranama means thousand names. In its true sense, it is a set of thousand pointers to the inquiring self which points towards the mother Omnipresence. Thus, Lalita Sahasranama is a set of thousand pointers in the direction of self-realisation. This book series, Lalita Priyadipika is a commentary on each of the aforementioned pointers. Priya means sweet and Dipika means that which sheds light, a lamp. Thus, the present book series is aimed at shedding light onto the thousand names of Lalita. The present volume, Vol.1, covers an in depth exploration of the first 111 names of Lalita Sahasranama.

Bio: Formally, I pursued my postgraduation in Physics from IIT Madras and I am presently pursuing research in the field of Quantum-Physics. Since childhood, I have been passionate about the nature of the creation. I found my thirst quenched in two fields discovered by humanity: Physics and Spirituality. All my explorations include ideas from both these fields.

In the ancient lore that flourished in the land of Bharat (India), there is one particular branch of wisdom which lived through the test of time. That is the worshipping of the lord through the thousand names. This is called the way of the "Sahasranama". "Sahasra" means thousand (or sometimes infinite) and "Name means a name. The worship of the lord with thousand names is performed by uttering each name through the vocals and meditating on its meaning while hearing the utterance. It is the proclamation of this wisdom-branch that such a meditation can dissolve one's individual self in the universal self of the one Omniness through the seemingly many wonders of creation.

The source of all is often described as male aspect of the Omniscient lord (Purusa) whereas the splendors of that Omniscient lord are often described as the Female aspect (Prakrti). She is also known lovingly as the "World Mother or Lalita'. Lalita' Sahasranama (LS) are the thousand names that address the many qualities of the world mother and help an aspirant who wishes to experience the variegated marvels of the almighty.

The scriptures of ancient India can be divided into Veda, Itihasa, Purana, Upanisad, etc. All of these take their roots in the Veda. It is in one of the puranas, called Brahmanda Purana (the parable of cosmic egg) that the text of LS can be seen. It occurs as an episode of teaching given by lord Hayagriva (horse Faced incarnation of lord Visnu) and sage Agastya. Many eminent scholars of the past concluded that this teaching is highly esoteric and occult in nature. Thus, LS forms a core of Vedic wisdom. Not only that, it forms the core of another enigmatic branch of wisdom called TANTRA and yet another one by the name Sri Vidya. All these paths of wisdom culminate in the ONE omniscient as expounded by the LS. No wonder it is common to so many branches of wisdom.

This series "Lalita Priyadipika" is an attempt to crack the associated enigma and unveil the hidden side of the most revered ancient literary piece of all times (LS). The goal is to explore the nature of all the thousand names that are found in the original text of Lalita Sahasranama with a sincere effort. The exploration will be in considerable depths. Word-to-word meaning of each of the names is given First. This is followed by an explanation of the stanza containing the name and then a detailed exposition of the manifold nature of the name. This is achieved through the way of synthesis.

The present volume, Volume-1, consists of names 1-111. Further volumes are planned and hopefully by the grace of Lalita, they will be brought out soon.

This work is dedicated to the one "I AM" in all the readers - the Omniscient ONE and my Guru Master E.K.

**Contents and Sample Pages**