Lalita Chandika Temple
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Namaste. This is the next of several posts designed to help you experience Lalita Ambika Devi in everyday life.
We are on the eighth name of Lalita Devi - Rāga Svarūpa Pāśāḍhyā
Jai Maa!
रागस्वरूप-पाशाढ्या
Rāga Svarūpa Pāśāḍhyā
This eighth name of Mother continues with the description of Mother's form, and in particular, what She holds in her left hand.
The word rāga means a wish, a desire, a love, an affection or even an attachment or passion. The word svarūpa means form, so rāga svarūpa indicates that Mother comes to us in the from of pure, universal love, affection, and compassion. That is Her inherent nature.
The word pāśā is a rope, rein, or noose and āḍhyā means holding onto, or he/she who holds.
So rāga svarūpa pāśāḍhyā literally means affectionate, loving Mother who holds a noose (a noose of love, a noose of affection) and that noose is held in Her left hand.
But what is the spiritual symbology of a rein, a noose, or a rope? As a reminder, the depiction of any Hindu deity is a gallery of symbols and so it is quite useful to look at the symbolism of the deity to understand and integrate their essence into your heart.
So a noose is a weapon that the Goddess uses to bring us closer or to restrain us.
When we pray to Mother, when we do sadhana and worship Her, She draws us closer to Her with Her pure love and endless compassion. She holds us close to Her as we are mesmerized in devotion.
Inevitably in our human life, we are pulled by dual forces of pleasure and pain and love and hatred.
Mother uses that noose to keep us drawn to Her in this battle of duality.
As we worship Her, the duality that is so apparent in our normal everyday life will subside into an endless sea of love. This is how She uses Her noose.
There is no greater desire than to Love, for it is existent in the form of "bonds" in the most minute of atoms on up to the will to live in complex organisms.
Everybody loves, but the quality of love varies by individual based on their values. For those that are selfless - their love is demonstrated by an enormous contribution to the world and humanity.
Amma is a beautiful example of selfless love as She gives and gives endlessly to Her children through Her loving embrace. As a result, Her organization fourishes and has grown by the millions as devotees flock to Her.
For those who are selfish, their love is only focused on how the world events and external situations impact their own life, their own agenda, for they are the only ones that matter in their own minds.
People with worldly love like this are destructive - in organizations, in relationships, in everything around them. Watch and notice how everything eventually falls apart in their presence.
What Mother does with that loving noose is to tug at us occasionally to wake us up and remind us to be more focused on Her. I call it a "tug of transformation" for She will rope us in and remind us to open our hearts and minds, to give up selfish attachment, and to demonstrate more pure universal love in all of our dealings.
So don't be upset if you get a "tug" and get "roped in" through some sort of transformational life event. It is all Mother and she is doing Her magic with the greatest of love, affection, and compassion, for she is Rāga Svarūpa Pāśāḍhyā.
This is Mother - the Loving One who holds the noose of affection in Her hand.
Let's bow in gratitude to Rāga Svarūpa Pāśāḍhyā.
Just Look - Just Notice - Just Become
A few actions for you to consider .....
Recall some transformational events in your life - things that happened that shocked you, or forced you to deal with something unanticipated. Can you see this was Mother's hand at drawing you closer to Her?
Pull out a journal and analyze a few of these transformational situations. How long did you linger in agony? How long did it take for you to draw closer to Mother? Do you see that with time you get more agile in letting go?
Look at your life and take note of all the things you do as an offering of universal love to the world and humanity vs. all the things you are purely attached to for selfish reasons. Are you balanced? Is there anything you should consider changing? .
Jai Maa!
Rāga Svarūpa Pāśāḍhyā Ki Jai!