Homage to the Absolute Reality, the source and the embodiment of bliss, the supreme consciousness, here termed as She, the Mother, who is both the magnificent image of the universe and the mirror in which this dazzling reflection appears. (from Tripura Rahasya II, I, 1)

Day Three of Das Mahavidya Navaratri sadhana is devoted to Shri Lalita Devi, known also as Tripura Sundari, Shodashi (Vermillion Hued), and Sri Vidya, Goddess of Wisdom). Lalita means “She who Plays,” and She is thus called “Maha Maya,” as She plays with us and through us in Her lila or divine play.

Tripura means the “Three Cities” of Heaven, Earth and the Netherworld. “Sundari” means “Beautiful Woman,” so Her name means “Beautiful Goddess of the Three Cities.” She is the Supreme Goddess who embodies and transcends the holy trinity and five-fold aspect of the Divinity. According to Vedic astrology, Lalita Devi is related to Mercury (Budha) in the horoscope; we can propitiate Her to strengthen or balance Mercury in the horoscope.

Just as Lalita is the absolute universal power, Mercury’s essence is also to contain and unify. This idea is represented by Mercury’s symbol in the Caduceus (Staff of Hermes), an alchemical emblem of two serpents wrapped around a center rod, representing the union of opposites in the human energetic system when it transcends the illusory world of duality. Mercury is also tri-doshic in Ayurveda, and Mercury is the graha that relates to play which is Lalita’s essence as Maha Maya.

The whole universe is always encompassed by light within and without. Such light is transcendental and is called the supreme Tripura, the supreme goddess. Knowers of the Vedas call her Brahman and Vaisnaivites call her Vishnu. According to Saivites, she is Siva; according to Shaktas, she is Shakti.

As the image is pervaded by the mirror, this world is pervaded by the power of consciousness. All the objects in this universe are illuminated by that light. As the image of a city is not part of the mirror, similarly the universe is not part of consciousness. As an image cannot be separated from the mirror, the universe cannot be separated from consciousness. This is the glory if the real self.

Tripura Sundari says, “Sages, listen to me…This whole universe, like an image in the mirror, is born, it is there, and it annihilates itself. That which is seen by the ignorant as the world is realized by the yogis as pure knowledge. I am called Tripura. Far beyond the world there is an ocean of eternal bliss. In the center of that ocean there is an island of gems, and the midst of that island there is a temple with brilliant illumination. In the inner chamber of that temple is a throne on which is seated Mahatripurasundari, the great Mother Divine, with her five aspects. O highest of seers, that is myself.

By my own primal Shakti, it seems that I am born and will die in the world. In this way my faces are multifarious. I am beyond and above all, Sri Vidya. That which is pure, beyond all the phenomenal world, is the knowledge of the absolute, and to contemplate on that is freedom from duality. When the mind and its modifications flow towards the eternal center, atman, O seers, pure atman is realized. Therefore those practitioners who identify pure consciousness, through which all objects are illumined, alone remove all impurities. Those purified ones remain absorbed in that realization.”

(The above is extracted from Tripura Rahasya: The Mystery Behind the Trinity, translated by Swami Sri Ramanananda Saraswathi (Munagala S. Venkataramaiah).

One of my favorite chants to the Devi is 108 Sacred Names of Mother Divine: Sacred Chants of Devi by Craig Pruess and Ananda which you can preview and download here (#2 “Devi Prayer”): Maa Amba Lalitha Devi~Parashakti Sundari~Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah…