LALITA JAYANTI
February 23, 2021
Power in Simplicity
Oh Lalita,
you stand outside the walls of time and space.
Indeed your secret is that you are the wall’s,
and you are time and space itself.
You are the one where time and space meet.
To you we bow.
The delicate power beyond compare.
Lalita is commonly known as Tripuri Sundari, Sundari means the beautiful woman. Tripuri means the one who is beautiful in the three worlds. Lalita is the feminine essence that receives and cools the fire of the sun. She is the cooling receptive lunar energy that balances the fire of Agni.
Her mantras are cooling and are the opposite of her sister Bhairavi’s which are heating.
Lalita promises a receptive comforting place to the fires of our ambition, we may have to get a view of her face through the fires that surround us if we are to get her Darshan (vision). And this exactly is her lesson, to cool down into the very simple and innocent sweetness, perhaps forgotten and secret.
Her mantras and mudras are cooling and softening, so much so, as to melt into the magical corners of our being. The face of Lalita can not be seen through the fires that surround us. Our ambitions, ‘urgencies’ and active impulses are made to rest if we are to see where Lalita is.
Hers is the rising sun
that has been cooled by the night forces.
Her seat is upon a lotus flower
that grows out of the Nabi chakra (navel)
of Shiva.
The forces of fire are implied by this lotus emanating from the fire Chakra and Lalita is the Cooling Moonfire of Tejas that sits atop the hot fire of Agni. Lalita’s beauty is the Soma that results when Agni and Tejas unite. Poems and scriptural verses describe her as having a milky complexion, along with full breasts and a smile that can break the trance of Shiva’s concentrated meditation. She is the ultimate alluring beauty and lunar promise.

Triple meanings
Tripuri Lalita, as she is called, means the one who is beautifully delicate and soft in the three worlds. She is the beauty on the third element hidden between extremes of opposites. Lalita has a twilight gaze!
When Night and day unite, they create the mystical magic of twilight. When Rajas and Bindu unite. That is, the red blood and egg of the woman and the white seed man, then they create Soma which is life – this Tantric law of circuitry holds true in all levels of divided opposites in all the worlds.
Tripuri Lalita then, is the Beauty of these three worlds of Rajas, Bindu and Soma.
For this, she is known as Raj Rani or Rajeshwari, which means, Queen of Kings and Kingdoms.
She represents Mata the subject.
She represents Mana, the instrument.
She represents Maya, the object.
These 3 M’s represent the secret of all yogic investigations.
Lalita means the delicate soft one and she embodies the power of softness. We might very easily associate power as something active and expressive, but Lalita is the reverse and is the very peak of receptive power. The beauty that the poems and scriptures ascribe to her, receives the mightiest of the mighty revelations in the tale that follows.
Stories of Lalita
The legend tells that it was Lalita who subdued the Asura named Bhanda. It is a deeply interesting story that tells of polarities. Bhanda was born of Shivas rage when Kama the god of desire tried to lure him out of his Samhadi (deep spiritual trance). The gaze of Shiva burned Kama to ashes in an instant. But one of Shivas attendants tried to revivify desire by mixing the ashes of the burned up god of desire with the last remaining semen that could be found in the 3 worlds. It had been expelled exactly the moment that Kama thad been turned to ash, causing all desire in the 3 worlds to go dry and flaccid. With the paste, the Gana (spirit attendant of Shiva) began creating Kama again.

The last ejaculation before passion died represents an inner yogic pursuit on the many layers of ones being. It was ejaculated at the exact moment Chandra and Rohini were losing sight of each other. When the Moon starts to move out of the star of his beloveds constellation – the Red star Rohini – then there is a tear cast by the Moon and that is the Moons last ejaculation.
This lunar event occurs periodically on Lalita Jayanti. Every yearly Lalita Jayanti, is connected to this constellational event through geometrical lines of celestial force. The upcoming Lalita Jayanti happens to be in the exact constellation where Chandra (Moon) and Rohini who are the greatest of all Lovers, lose each other’s gaze.
It is a ritual day
of studying the original wound
upon the softest place within.
As the paste carried the energy of Shivas raging glare and an ejaculation devoid of Love, the revivified Kama was most powerful but equally most destructive. The revivified Kama was renamed Bhanda, which means ‘stop’, this name was cried out as he raped and pillaged his way through the universe.

Bhanda replicated the moonlit celestial realms in a murky shadowy reflection. All the Gods and Goddesses were mirrored destructively in Bhanda’s version. The destructive counterparts of the Gods and Goddesses, waged deathly war upon those they resembled in the Moonlit celestial realms.
Bhanda asked the obliging Shiva for a powerful mantra. Shiva gives to those who asks, as he is Bola, full of tenderness and compassion for those who approach to the mountainous heights where he dwells, knowing as he does, how arduous the journey is, Shiva never refuses.
Bhanda got the mantra from Shiva which would make Bhanda immediately receive half the power of those who oppose him. These was no way he could be defeated, along with his own great power and being able to imbibe half that of the numerous enemies he was creating, Bhanda became invincible.

Lalita approached Bhanda and he laughed straight in her face. Soft and delicate as her name suggested, Bhanda roared with laughter from the belly, at the absurdity of such a delicate creature as Lalita coming to defeat him. He was somewhat captivated by her beauty and thought that he would have her the way he had had so many beauties. He realized this beauty of Lalita was something unusual and didn’t realise that what he was actually about to enter into was a painful demise.
Bhanda was wild in sexual rapture and wrestled for aeons with the goddess, never gaining admittance to her delicate moon temple. Every time the mighty Bhanda would apply his strength he would ejaculate. He ejaculated the many Asuric (evil) forces that are told of in the epics. For example, he ejaculated Ravana into being, and so the Goddess Lalita breathed out Hanuman and Raam – and the well-known defeat took place.
Bhanda was burning with desire but could not prevail with his fiery power upon his lunar adversary. His desire would not dwindle and he ejaculated a second time. This time he ejaculated the well known foe Hiranyakashipu, and once again the well known story took place as Lalita breathed out from parted lips his defeater – Prahlaad and Narashima.
A third ejaculation lead to the Buffalo headed Mahishasura being expelled from Bhanda, as the famous story of the end of Navaratri tells. Lalita breathed out the Godess Durga upon lionback and the Buffalo headed beast was defeated as in the well known story.
The fight went on for endless aeons and Lalita played with Bhanda’s desire. He grow frail as his power was ejaculated for ages gone past, each destructive force meeting its opposite. Never ceasing to give up the fight with the Goddess, until perhaps when the power to fight exhausted.
The last expulsion did not come, as Bhanda grew weak and impotent. He tried desperately to emit one more painful ejaculation, knowing that it would be the last. Lalita laughed at him sweetly and said his name, ‘Bhand’, which also means ‘the one who has stopped ejaculating. Her laughter causes her body to ripple erotically and Bhanda responded to the beauty before him by one last attempt to worship her.
Lalita played with him, allowing him closer but not close enough, as he ejaculated for the last time his power left him and the Great War was over. He watched the Goddess Lalita walk away as he expired.
Lalita is the woman
within every woman that is desired,
she is the one who calls forth
the milk of creation
with her captivating and desired gaze.
Lalita is known as the ultimate slayer of badass beasts. Her fingernails when clipped, are said to give birth to the cycles of time along the ages.
Creation, preservation and destruction are all under her charm.
The creator and the preserver grovel at her feet and lose their crowns.
Shiva was too proud and so Lalita stamped upon his belly and took her Moonlit seat upon the fiery lotus that erupted out of the Nabi chakra.
The power of her softness is so great that the creator, the maintainer, and the destroyer fall at her feet, or get stamped underfoot.

The World of the three Granthis
The trinity of creator, preserver and destroyer all fall at the feet of Lalita beauty. She opens the doors to the secrets of three worlds which cannot be got with active force, but by receptive lunar power.
The granthis are the closed doors in oneself that are made up of psycho physical knots of energy, they mask the potentials of the portals of the chakras to receive and give. A Granthi can exist as Surya Granthi which obscures the active force, and a Granthi can exist as Chandra Granthi, which obscures the receptive force.
The Gods
of the three worlds
worship Lalita.
Brahma is connected to the Brahma Granthi, which is the knot at the creative chakra that relates to the unconscious. Brahma is often called the creative force; he is the underworld root that creates the fruit. The underworld is known as Patala in Tantric law.
Vishnu is often described as the force of preservation and the lord of the earthly realm of Bhumi. The Vishnu Granthi is the knot at the area of the heart, that is loosened and opened by the Yogis.
Shiva is often called the destroyer, his Granthi is in the third eye, it destroys reality through the storage of information, belief and opinion.
Shri Vidya

The Shri Vidya is a symbolic system of wisdom that deserves mention when speaking of Lalita. The Shri Chakra is a yantra (representation) of the Goddess. Initiates of Shri Vidya would say that the diagram is the Goddess herself. It is a initiatic and secret practice of working with the geometrical Yantra and Mantra amongst other things.
The Shri Chakra is composed of 9 triangles. Most commonly shown with 5 pointing down and 4 pointing up. Depending on what way it is viewed, and in which position it is viewed, the Shiri Chakra has an impact on the energy body. It is a tool for moving energy when one knows of its uses.
It is not something that is written about, although the mantras and the diagram may be widely available these days.
Visualizing the Shri Chakra and finding upon the psychic and physical body, the points where the lines intersect, reveals a world of energies for example, relating the mantras to the geometry of the Shri Chakra is a very mathematical and geometric pursuit that brings rather and order to the different spiritual bodies. Some practitioners of Tantra work a lifetime with the Shri Vidya system and its far reaching branches. Branches that are said to grow beyond the three worlds.
In the commercial age of Tantric practices, many schools offer instructions and so called initiations into Shri Vidya. They may offer powerful practices and confess of ancient lineages.
In truth
the initiation into Shri Vidya
is only given after 9 months
of continuous contemplation of the diagram.
That means, without sleeping or moving.
This is the time it takes to create a life in the womb and all the Mahavidyas are traditionally approached with a 9 month Tapasya.
9 months of active work and then 3 months of inactivity to absorb what has been learned, a time of dilation to relax the strenuous effort of 9 months of sadhana is often undertaken in complete darkness.
So the sadhana of all the Mahavidyas requires 10 years, if one were to do them consecutively, of course they can be spread out over a lifetime.
Some of the sadhanas of the Mahavidyas seem more extreme than the others. some are done only at night. Some require pilgrimage, some require staying in one place.
Mantra and the Moon
Hrim, La, Ka, Sa,
Hrim, La, Ha, Ka, Sa, Ha,
Hrim, La, i, e, Ka
These are the commonly known Mantras of Lalita of the Shri Vidya. They can be uttered in such a way as to open the receptive currents and equally in another way to emphasize the active currents.
15 Bija sounds that relate to the both the 15 days of the descending and ascending Moon, depending on how they are said.
30 intonations = 15 x 2. Sometimes 15 syllables are spoken on the inbreath and relate to the ascending Moon phase. Sometimes 15 syllables are uttered on the outbreath of the waning half of the Lunar month. Sometimes the order is reversed. The effects are different and are studied by Tanntrics.
Some directions of energy nourish while others deplete. This law of force is what tantrics study and come to see.
This knowledge is helpful in relating Tantricly to the quality of each moon phase. Her mantra also changes intonation with the character of the Lunar month. This knowledge is kept by Tantrics and is applied in healing and ritual. It is the Law of Raag (rhythm) and following and aligning oneself with the ever changing Raags of nature.
So each Moon day in the lunar month, has a mantra that governs its particular and unique expression. And who is that expression , she is Lalita, her ever flexible secret is that she moves with the tides of nature, she is the woman in all, that learns to listen to nature’s every changing note. She has no fixed formula to adhere to at the expense of nature, she is the original witch woman who sees the magic of nature’s secrets.
The Tantric attempts to see magic.
When it unfolds within,
then it unfolds without,
and the third element
that is the un-folder,
is Lalita.
One of Lalita’s names is Sodasi, it means the Blooming 16 year old maiden. The extra number on the 15 is the magic number of Lalita. It is the 16th element of Raag, which means the one who moves with the rhythm of nature that is whispered by the Moon. Lalita is that one, that magic mysterious Moonlit one.
If you would like to know more about the Dasha Mahavidyas, check out out series.
If you would like to join the Lalita Jayanti Rituals,