Lalitopākhyāna

The Lalitopākhyāna is the great narrative of the Upasaṃhāra Pāda (Uttara Bhāga) of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa. It runs from Chapter 5 to Chapter 43. It tells how Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī appeared, how she married Kāmeśvara, the city of Śrī Nagara, the great war against Bhaṇḍāsura, and the full teaching of Śrī Vidyā. This includes the Pañcadaśī mantra, the Śrī Cakra, the nine mudrās and the Lalitā Sahasranāma.

Bhagavān Hayagrīva tells the whole narrative to the ṛshi Agastya at Kāñcīpura.

Agastya and Hayagrīva at Kāñcī (Chapter 5)

The great ṛshi Agastya was a master of the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas, and his very nature was brahmānanda (the joy of Brahman). He made a long pilgrimage to the holy tīrthas and lands of Āryāvarta. He saw people suffering, bound by the ignorance of saṃsāra (the cycle of rebirth). He felt great compassion, and he longed to know what path could lead them to moksha.

His pilgrimage brought him to Kāñcīpura, the great holy city of Parāśakti. There, in the Eka-āmra Vana (the grove of the holy mango tree), he worshipped Ekāmreśvara (Śiva) and Kāmākshīdevī. Moved by Agastya’s tapas, Bhagavān Janārdana (Vishṇu) appeared before him in the form of Hayagrīva, the horse-headed form of wisdom. He had four arms that held a śaṅkha (conch), a cakra, an akshamālā (rosary) and a pustaka (book). His body shone and filled all directions with light.

Agastya bowed down again and again and sang his praise. Then he asked: “O Bhagavān Hayagrīva, if you are pleased, tell me, by what means can the bound people of the world gain moksha?”

Hayagrīva was pleased. He said that Indra had once asked him this same question. The answer was the Lalitopākhyāna, the narrative of Lalitādevī, and he had told it to Indra in full. Now he told it again to Agastya. So the Lalitopākhyāna has a double frame: Hayagrīva to Indra in the past, and Hayagrīva to Agastya at Kāñcī.

Four teachings on dharma (Chapters 6 to 9)

Before the main narrative, Hayagrīva gives four teachings on dharma.

  • Hiṃsā-niyama (Chapter 6): the rules about killing living beings, what is allowed and what is forbidden, and the degrees of adharma.
  • Steya-niyama (Chapter 7): the rules about theft and taking what does not belong to you.
  • Pāna-niyama (Chapter 8): the rules about drinking alcohol and taking intoxicants.
  • Para-strī-niyama (Chapter 9): the dharma about the wives of other men, the weight of this pāpa (sin) and the ways to be freed from it.

These four are the four great adharmas (catuhpāpas).

Mohinī and Malakāsura (Chapter 10)

The main narrative begins at the churning of the milk-ocean, the Kshīrasāgara-manthana. After Dhanvantari came out with the pot of amṛta (the drink of deathlessness), the daityas seized it. Bhagavān Vishṇu had worshipped Lalitādevī with steady meditation on her. He took the form of Mohinī, the form that enchants all, and by a trick gave the amṛta only to the devas.

The daitya Malakāsura did not give up. He tried to take the amṛta by force, and Mohinī killed him.

After the devas had gone, Śiva himself was drawn by the unmatched beauty of the Mohinī form and followed her. From this meeting Mahāśāstṛ was born. He is also called Hariharaputra and Śāstā, and he is worshipped as Ayyappa. Mahāśāstṛ is thus the son of both Vishṇu (in the form of Mohinī) and Śiva.

Bhaṇḍāsura’s birth (Chapter 11)

Bhaṇḍa was born from the ashes of Manmatha through the divine play of Gaṇeśa. He received varas (boons) from Śiva. Brahmā gave him his name. Śukrācārya made him king of Śoṇitapura.

Lalitā appears and the devas sing (Chapters 12 and 13)

Lalitādevī came out of the yajñāgni (the sacrificial fire). The devas sang the great Lalitāstava Rāja.

The divine wedding (Chapters 14 and 15)

Kāmeśvara appeared, and Lalitā and Kāmeśvara were married.

The march of the armies (Chapters 16 to 20)

Lalitādevī leads the divine armies in the great campaign against Bhaṇḍāsura.

  • Chapter 16: The whole army of Lalitādevī sets out from Śrī Nagara in a victorious procession, the Sasena vijayayātrā. Lalitā carries her weapons, the pāśa (noose), the aṅkuśa (goad), the sugarcane bow and the five arrows, as a divine warrior.
  • Chapter 17: The armies of Daṇḍanāthā-Vārāhī, Lalitā’s commander, and of Śyāmalā-Mātaṅgī, Lalitā’s minister and the Gīta-Yoginī, march with their great forces.
  • Chapter 19: The Cakrarāja ratha (chariot), Lalitā’s great chariot, is described, with the devas placed at each position.
  • Chapter 20: The chariot of Kāmeśvara, the Kiricakra ratha, is described.

The battles (Chapters 21 to 30)

Chapters 21 to 30 tell the battles one after another. Each of Bhaṇḍāsura’s commanders is defeated by a form of the power of Lalitādevī. Then Bhaṇḍāsura himself comes into the last battle and uses his most terrible weapons. Lalitādevī meets each one with a stronger weapon from the Śrī Cakra. Chapter 30 tells how Bhaṇḍāsura and Śoṇitapura are destroyed by the Mahāpāśupatāstra.

Śrī Nagara, the divine city (Chapters 31 to 37)

After the victory, the Lalitopākhyāna describes the divine city of Śrī Nagara, also called Tripurā, in great detail. It has seven rings of moats and seven walls made of different materials, from the Śarkarā prākāra to the Muktā prākāra. At each moat stand the guardian daughters of Mātaṅga. There are divine forests, the courts of the Dikpālas, the Mahāpadmāṭavī, and at the very centre the Cintāmaṇi Gṛha, where Lalitā and Kāmeśvara live.

The teaching of Śrī Vidyā (Chapters 38 to 43)

The last part of the Lalitopākhyāna is the full teaching of Śrī Vidyā upāsanā (worship).

  • Chapter 38 (Pañcadaśī): The Mantrarāja-sādhana. It gives the order of all mantras, names the Pañcadaśī as the highest, and speaks of its three kūṭas, its dhyāna (meditation), its japa (repetition) and its results.
  • Chapter 39: The four forms of Kāmākshī at Kāñcīpura, Brahmā’s great Kāmākshī-stotra, and the Kāmakoti Pīṭha.
  • Chapter 40: The divine līlās of Kāmākshī. Pārvatī covers the eyes of Śiva and darkness falls on the whole world. Then come her tapas at Kāñcī and the Bhairava episode.
  • Chapter 41 (Śrī Cakra): The Śrī Cakra as the mantra of Lalitā, the Shoḍaśī Vidyā, ways of pūjā with different flowers and their results, and the Trimaṇḍala sādhana.
  • Chapter 42: The nine mudrās of Śrī Vidyā: Āvāhinī, Saṃkolinī, Vidrāvinī, Ākarshiṇī, Unmādinī, Mahāṃkuśa, Khecarī, Bīja and Yoni.
  • Chapter 43 (Lalitā Sahasranāma): The five forms of dīkshā, the Lalitā Sahasranāma (the thousand names), and the shoḍaśopachāra pūjā.

Sources

  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Upasaṃhāra Pāda (Uttara Bhāga), Lalitopākhyāna, Chapters 5 to 43