Samatā

An Exposition of Lalita and Vishnu Sahasranamams

By: Dr. Ramamurthy Natarajan

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

An exposition of Similarities in Lalitā Sahasranāma with Soundaryalaharee, Saptashatee, Viśṇu Sahasranāma and Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta. There are lot of Purāṇas and Stotras about every God/ Goddess in Hindu religion. This provides liberty to the devotees to imagine the God/ Goddess in the form of his/ her choice. However, when these Purāṇas and Stotras are studied in depth it is very clear that they all convey the same sense. In one place it is Nārāyaṇa and in another place it is Nārāyaṇī. Somewhere it is as Ardhanārīshvara – i.e. The left half of Śankara is Śrīdevī and in another place he is Śankaranārāyaṇan – i.e. Nārāyaṇa sharing the body - left half with Lord Śankara. Logically this clearly implies that both Shreedevee and Nārāyaṇa are one and the same. Likewise there are lots of similarities between Stotras about different Gods/ Goddesses. It may not be a surprise that Lalitā Sahasranāma has similarities with Soundaryalaharī and Saptashatī, because all the three are about Śrīdevī. But how about Viśṇu Sahasranāma and Śrīmad Bhagavad Gīta. Primarily they are supposed to talk about Lord Viśṇu, but still they also talk the same language – about Śrīdevī. Hence it can be concluded that there is only one God. Whichever form of God we worship we are in the path to liberation. Devotees can imagine the form of that God in the way they like and worship. Let Śrīdevī shower her choicest blessings on the readers.