Tribhuvaneśvarī

Tribhuvaneśvarī means “Sovereign of the Three Worlds”. She is the supreme form of the Parādevī (the highest Devī) praised in the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. She is the para-brahman who is both nirguṇa (beyond qualities) and saguṇa (with qualities). She is the final cause of all creation, preservation and dissolution. She lives in Maṇidvīpa, in an ocean of amṛta (nectar) beyond all worlds.

The Trimūrti, Brahmā, Bhagavān Viṣṇu and Mahāśiva, are born from her. They carry out their tasks in the cosmos only through her śakti (power). She is also known as Lalitā Tripurasundarī and as Bhuvaneśvarī. The Navākṣara mantra is given to her.

Identity and nature

Tribhuvaneśvarī is both the nirguṇa brahman beyond all form and the saguṇa Devī who is near to all. In the Devī Bhāgavata she tells Brahmā:

“One brahman alone is real; there is no second. I am that brahman. The apparent duality between śakti and śaktimān arises from māyā. In truth we are inseparable — like fire and its heat, like water and its coolness.”

She is at the same time:

• Sarvajñā: all-knowing, the only one who knows everything in all three worlds.
• Sarvaśaktimatī: the owner of all powers.
• Kāraṇa-kāraṇa: the cause of all causes. She is not only a first cause but the ground beneath everything.
• Nityā: eternal, with neither birth nor death.
• Sarvavyāpinī: all-pervading, present in every atom of existence.

(Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 6)

The vision in Maṇidvīpa

The best-known picture of the Devī in the Devī Bhāgavata is her appearance in Maṇidvīpa, as the Trimūrti saw her. She sat on her royal throne on the jewel island, in the ocean of milk. Her brightness was greater than crores of suns. Her form was gracious, beautiful and kind, and she was the mother of all worlds. The Trimūrti had turned into women on entering her realm. They offered deep stotras (hymns of praise) and received her grace.

Brahmā asked her: “Are you truly the puruṣa or the strī? Are you nirguṇa or saguṇa? What is your true nature?” She answered with her final teachings on advaita (non-duality) and śakti. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 2–6)

The three forms

The Devī shows herself as three Mahāśaktis, matching the three guṇas:

All three Mahāśaktis are her own vibhūtis (partial shows of her whole self). She tells the Trimūrti: “Śiva is not different from Viṣṇu, and Viṣṇu is not different from Śiva; those who see a difference between them go to naraka (hell). In the same way Brahmā too is to be seen as not different. All three of you have arisen from my own part (svāṃśa).” (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 6)

Yoganidrā: her form of cosmic sleep

In the account of the slaying of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, the Devī as Yoganidrā covered the eyes of Bhagavān Viṣṇu during the mahāpralaya (the great dissolution). She kept him in cosmic sleep while the asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha threatened Brahmā. Brahmā praised her with a great stotra, and Yoganidrā left the eyes of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He woke and slew the two asuras. The earth, called Medinī, rose from the medas (marrow-fat) of the slain asuras. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 1, Chapter 7)

The Devī Yajña of Bhagavān Viṣṇu

After the Trimūrti had received their own śaktis and homes from the Devī, Bhagavān Viṣṇu later performed the first Devī Yajña, a great yajña given to Tribhuvaneśvarī. During this yajña an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) blessed Bhagavān Viṣṇu. It said that he would be the most honoured among the devas, that his avatāras would be honoured in every age, and that her Mahāśakti would always go with him in each of his avatāras. For example, Śrī Nārasiṃhī goes with the Narasiṃha avatāra, and Vārāhī with the Varāha avatāra. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 13)

The questions of Janamejaya

After his sarpa-yāga (snake yajña), King Janamejaya asked Veda Vyāsa who the supreme being is. Vyāsa pointed Janamejaya to Tribhuvaneśvarī. This talk is the reason for the whole Devī Bhāgavata. Janamejaya asked about the Devī’s home, her nature, her bond with the Trimūrti and the meaning of her being. Vyāsa’s answers fill the twelve skandas. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 1)

The Navākṣara mantra

A key gift of Tribhuvaneśvarī in the Devī Bhāgavata is the Navākṣara mantra, the mantra of nine syllables. She gives it to Bhagavān Śiva and tells Brahmā and Bhagavān Viṣṇu to receive it too. She declares that this mantra is kāma-mokṣa-pradam, the giver of both worldly wishes and mokṣa (liberation). It is a bīja-mantra (seed mantra) that is deeply rooted in the Śrī Vidyā tradition. (Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 5–6)

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 1–4
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 1, Chapter 7
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 1, 2–6, 5–6, 13