Svayamprabhā Śāṇḍilī Devī
Svayamprabhā Śāṇḍilī Devī is a radiant devī. She lives on Śṛṅgavān Parvata, the northernmost of the six varsha-parvatas (the mountain ranges that divide the lands) of Jambū Dvīpa. Her name Svayamprabhā means “self-luminous”, which points to a light that is her own.
The Mahābhārata names her in the Bhīshma Parva, Chapter 8, in Sañjaya’s account of the shape of the world.
Her home on Śṛṅgavān Parvata
Śṛṅgavān Parvata, also called Śṛṅgavanta, is the sixth of the six varsha-parvatas that divide Jambū Dvīpa from east to west. Other mountains of this kind shelter yakshas, nāgas, gandharvas or siddhas. Śṛṅgavān is different. It is the home of the devas alone:
kevalam dēvatala nīvāsasthānam
This means “only the dwelling place of divine beings”.
The mountain has three peaks:
- A maṇi-maya peak, made of jewels.
- An adbhuta suvarṇa-maya peak, wonderfully made of gold.
- A peak decorated with many ratna-maya buildings, made of gems.
Svayamprabhā Śāṇḍilī Devī lives on this mountain of three peaks. Her shining presence suits the jewel-and-gold nature of the mountain itself.
The meaning of her names
- Svayamprabhā means “she who is self-luminous”. Her light comes from within and is not borrowed from anything outside her.
- Śāṇḍilī is her second name.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, Chapter 8