48. Īkṣitrī ईक्षित्री

Īkṣitṛ means beholding or seeing. This means that She is observing all the activities of every person. She does not observe only the actions; She also observes every thought process that comes to the mind of every person. As realization happens only through mind, She is more concerned with one’s mind. The organs of action do not perform without instructions from the mind. As far as humans are concerned, mind is the most predominant factor that determines every action. Mind is the root cause both for happiness and miseries. The mind is capable of swinging to extreme ends.

In Law of Karma, thoughts are considered as more important than actions. One’s thoughts can be judged from direct eye contact. A Guru generally evaluates his disciples not only from his energy level, which also depends upon one’s mind, but also through direct eye contact. Eyes not only see, but also speak and this can be observed by spiritually evolved persons.

This nāma affirms Her status as Brahman, as Brahman alone remains as a witness. Nothing goes unnoticed by Brahman.

49. Īkṣaṇasṛṣṭāṇḍakoṭiḥ ईक्षणसृष्टाण्डकोटिः

She is capable of creating the universe by mere sight.

Lalitā Sahasranāma 620 Aneka-koṭi-brahmāṇḍa-jananī अनेक-कोटि-ब्रह्माण्ड-जननी also speaks about Her ability to create. But Lalitā Sahasranāma does not say that She creates by mere looks.

Commentary on Lalitā Sahasranāma 620 can be read here.

This Triśatī nāma subtly conveys the Divine Will to create. Aitareya Upaniṣad opens by saying “In the beginning this was, but the absolute Self alone.  There was nothing else whatsoever that winked.  It (Brahman) thought “let Me create the worlds”. 

50. Īśvaravallabhā ईश्वरवल्लभा

Vallabha here means husband. This nāma says that Śiva is Her Consort.

In Her every form, Śiva becomes Her Consort. If She is Śakti, He is Śiva; If She is Kāmeśvarī, He is Kāmeśvarā; If She is Parameśvari, He is Parameśvara; If She is Rājarājeśarī, He is Rājarājeśarā; If She is Bhairavi, He is Bhairava; If She is Pratibhā, He is Prakāśa. They never leave each other. Even in Her Māyā form, She is known as Prakāśa vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpinī, where Prakāśa refers to Śiva.

Saundaryalaharī verse 36 says that Her devotees are able to see Śiva in Her ājñā cakra, which is the reflection of Her mind. This means that Śiva has fully occupied Her mind. She is also adored as Śiva (LS 53) and Śrī Śiva (LS 998).

51. Īḍitā ईडिता

She is praised by Vedas, Vedānta-s, Upaniṣad-s and Scriptures. Vedas worship Her in the name of Gāyatrī, etc. Vedānta worships Her in the form of Māyā. Scriptures worship Her in various forms such as Caṇḍi, Durgā, etc.

There are two important Upaniṣad-s, which reveals some of Her subtleties. One is Devyupaniṣad. The first part of this Upaniṣad is in the form of Devi answering a question submitted to Her by all gods and goddesses, “Who are You?” Second part is in the form of gods praising Her.

Three mantras are revealed in this Upaniṣad. One is Pañcadaśī. Second is Navākṣarī (om aiṁ hrīṁ klīṁ cāmuṇḍāyai vicce ॐ ऐं ह्रीं क्लीं चामुण्डायै विच्चे) and third is ekākṣara Bhuvaneśvarī (hrīṁ ह्रीं). It is also said that if this Upaniṣad is recited ten times, he or she will be relieved from all miseries.

The other important Upaniṣad is Tripuratāpini Upaniṣad, which reveals another important mantra known as sadākṣarī. This mantra comprises of first verse of Durgā sūktaṃ, ṃrityuñjaya mantra (tryambakaṁ yajāmahe) and Gāyatrī mantra (leaving vyākṛti-sand adding paro rajase savadom at the end) together make 100 bīja-s (sadākṣari) and when this is recited, it is supposed to ward off all miseries.  Durgā refers to Her act of protection, both physical and mental. Following is the mantra:

 त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम्।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् म्रित्योर्मुक्षिय मांरुतात्॥
तत् सवित्र् वरेण्यम्।भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ।
परो रजसे सवदोम् ॥
जातवेदसे सुनवाम-सोम-मरातीयतो निदहाति वेदः।
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्व नावेव सिन्धुं दुरितात्यग्निः॥

tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭivardhanam |
urvārukamiva bandhanān mrityormukṣiya māṁrutāt ||
tat savitr vareṇyam|bhargo devasya dhīmahi |
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt| paro rajase savadom ||
jātavedase sunavāma-soma-marātīyato nidahāti vedaḥ |
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśva nāveva sindhuṁ duritātyagniḥ ||

This is considered as one of the powerful mantras. Thus, She is praised everywhere and by every means.

52. Īśvarārdhāṅgaśarīrā ईश्वरार्धाङ्गशरीरा

Ardhāṅga means half the body. This could refer to Ardhanārīśvara form of Śiva and Śakti. In this form, Śiva has given His left side of the body to Her. If we look at this form, onto our left, body of Śakti will be visible and onto our right body of Śiva will be there. Why Śiva has chosen to give His left side to Her? The logic is that human heart is placed in the left side of the body. He functions only through Her heart. Śrī Rudram also speaks about this form. It says:

य ते रुद्र शिवा तनूरघोरा अपापकाशिनी।

ya te rudra śivā tanūraghorā apāpakāśinī |

Meaning: O! Rudra! Your body which is fair and full of kindness (referring to Her) and destroys sin…..

Saundaryalaharī verse 23 talks about Ardhanārīśvara form.

53. Īśādhidevatā ईशाधिदेवता

She is Goddess to Īśvarā.

This nāma can be interpreted in many ways.

Śiva holds Her as His own Goddess and given Her all His powers. Īśa has several meanings such as possessing, supreme, master, husband, etc. Īśa also means numeric 11. This nāma then says that She is the Goddess to eleven Rudras. It is also said that ekādaśa (11) Rudra-s are born out Ardhanārīśvara form of Śiva and Śakti. In this sense, She becomes the mother of ekādaśa Rudra-s.

There is also a reference to this in Śrī Rudram. Verse 10.2 says, “śiva tanuḥ शिव तनुः” where tanumeans a slender woman. Then this verse of Śrī Rudram can be explained as “O! Rudra! The eternal remedy for rebirths, the one who has become one with Rudra, the most auspicious form of Parāśakti, please show us this most auspicious form of Yours” (Ardhanārīśvara form).

This nāma could also mean the interdependency of Śiva and Śakti. They mutually adore each other and because of this mutual adoration, worldly activities happen without any disturbance.

54. Īśvarapreraṇakarī ईश्वरप्रेरणकरी

Preraṇa means setting in motion, referring to the creation of the universe. Śiva is pure Light and He is transcendent (beyond the reach of normal human experience) Consciousness. He is in the form of Light. He is Brahman. Śiva desired to create. Since He is Consciousness, He thought that he would create the universe through His Power; thus Śakti came into existence. Śiva created Śakti by carving out His Absolute Power of Authority and transferred it to Her. Thus Śakti becomes the dynamic aspect of Śiva. Then comes three powers icchā, jñāna and kriya śakti-s. The process of creation begins only after She came into being. Only because of Her, Śiva is able to create the universe. She diffuses the Light of Śiva. Only because of Her, Prakāśa of Śiva gets reflected in the universe and this distribution is called Vimarśa, the creative aspect of Śakti. The entire universe is born only from Śakti.

This nāma says that She alone sets in motion, the creative power of Śiva to manifest the universe.

55. Īśatāṇḍavasākṣṇī ईशताण्डवसाक्ष्णी

Śiva dances ferociously at the time of cosmic annihilation, which is also known as mahākalpa. When Śiva dances fiercely at the time of great dissolution (mahākalpa) and none was around exceptParāśakti, who just witnesses this terrible act of Śiva.  The great dissolution means the universe ceases to exist and nothing remains except Śiva and Śaktī.  The dissolution is called the fourth act of the Brahman, the other three being creation, sustenance and destruction.  The difference between destruction and dissolution is noteworthy.  Destruction is transmigration of a soul.  The soul leaves the body to be born again.  Death is only for the physical body.    Dissolution or annihilation or the deluge means the death of entire physical body as well as all the souls.  When dissolution happens, nothing exists.  Everything dissolves into Śiva in the presence of Śaktī, who witnesses the great dissolution. 

{Further reading on the cosmic dance of Śiva:  At the time of annihilation, signalling the end of a cosmic cycle Kālāgni Rudra embraces the universe in dance of death and destruction. This is called tāṇḍava.  Śiva dances to the drum beats causing every single object in all the universes merge into a divine unity.  The fire that burns the universes dissolves into water, water into wind, wind into akash, akash into multitude of deva-s and deva-s into the Brahman.  At this stage puruṣa and prakṛti are separated and merge into Śiva.  Śiva alone exists witnessed by Śaktī. This dance of Śiva is called pulsating process of creation and annihilation.}

56. Īśvarotsaṅganilayā ईश्वरोत्सङ्गनिलया

She is seated on the lap of Śiva.

She sits on the left thigh of Śiva.  This is the form of saguṇa Brahman.  Śiva is Prakāśa and Self illuminating and Śaktī is His vimarśa.  It is good to meditate upon this posture. 

Īśvara means the supreme ruler.  Knowledge is said to be the form of Śiva.  Perception of heart and mind is the knowledge.  Here all the qualities of the saguṇa Brahman are covered.  This is saguṇa Brahman because it talks about forms and qualities.  Nirguṇa Brahman does not have form and attributes.  When māyā or illusion is still associated with Brahman it is called saguṇa Brahman.  This saguṇa Brahman is called Śaktī or Prakāśa vimarśa mahā māyā svarūpinī.  The desire of the Śiva to create the universe is executed through Śaktī, the auspicious form of the Supreme ruler Śiva.  This nāma actually talks about static and kinetic form of energies in unison.  This also could mean the creation of the universe.

57. Ītibādhāvināśinī ईतिबाधाविनाशिनी

She removes misfortunes. This does not mean that She will remove karmic imprints. She removes misfortunes of those who have surrendered to Her. From the moment of surrender, no further karmas accrue to that devotee.

She Herself says “Those who forsaking attachment take refuge in me, and ever worship me with devotion, by the method of divine yoga, having compassion on all beings, tranquil, self-controlled, free from envy, humble, ascetic, of vows performed with their minds fixed on me, whose lives are in me, delighting in narrating my wisdom……and even those who are devoid of these characteristics, if they repeat my name ever devoted to me, I quickly destroy in the same birth, even mountains of misfortunes by the lamp of wisdom.” 

58. Īhāvirahitā ईहाविरहिता

She has no desires or She is devoid of desires. She has everything. There is nothing that is required by Her. This is the quality of Brahman. She is full of contentment and this contentment is reflected in Her face, in the form of gracious and pleasing smile.

She has attained left part of Supreme Śiva. She becomes half of His form, She sits on Her lap. Even during great annihilation, She alone remains witnessing the process of annihilation initiated by Śiva. The only desire that She can think of is becoming Śiva Himself. Even this has been achieved by Her. LS addresses Her Śivā and Śrī Śivā.

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gītā (III.22), “There is nothing worth attaining, unattained by Me.”

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (IV.iii.21) talks about two desireless situations for a man. One, when he is embraced by his wife and another is when he embraces Supreme Self. This is called the state ofaticchandas, free of worldly desires. This is based on the fact that during these moments, one does not know anything at all, be it internal or external. This state automatically arises during Self-realization.

59. Īśaśaktiḥ ईशशक्तिः

She is the Power of Śiva. As discussed earlier, only Śiva has Absolute and Independent Power of Authority known as Svātantryaśakti. Only with this Power, Śiva creates, sustains, destroys, conceals and re-creates. These five acts of Śiva are not done by Him directly, as full of Pure Consciousness. When He is full of Pure Consciousness, He becomes static. At the same time, He has to create the universe and sustain it. Since Śiva is anuttara (Supreme, the highest reality, beyond which there is nothing and whose source of origin remains unknown), He needed dynamic energy for His acts. Thus Śiva created Parāśakti and gave Her all His Powers. Thus Śiva’s Svātantryaśakti is Parāśakti.Saundaryalaharī verse 1 also speaks about this.

This has been already discussed in nāma 54.

60. Īśatsmitānanā ईशत्स्मितानना

She has broad smile in Her face. She is contended; She has Śiva with Her. She has occupied His left half. She takes the liberty of sitting on His left lap. She has many sincere devotees. She has innumerable gods and goddesses to carry out Her commands. Because of all these, She is full of Bliss which is also known as ānanda śakti and this Bliss gets reflected in Her face as smile.

One’s mind gets reflected in the form of smile and through eyes. Face clearly reflects one’s mental status.