The sun and the moon become ear studs or rings for Sri Mata! Her gait is slow and dignified like that of the female Swan! She is decked with all ornaments. She is seated on the lap of Kameswara! She has totally surrendered herself to Him! She is seated in the center of Meru and is the chief of Sri Nagara! She is inside the house of Chintamani and sits on “Pancha Brahmasana”! She is in the forest full of lotus flowers and prefers the ‘Kadamba Vana!’ She is at the center of the ocean of Amrit and goes by the name of Kamakshi whose glory is sung by all groups of Devas! “ Thatanka yugalibhuta thapanodupa mandala, marali mandagamana mahalavanya sevadhihi, sarvaruna navadyangi sarvabharana bhushita, Siva Kameswara ankastha Siva swadhina vallabha, Sumeru srunga madhyasrha Sriman Nayika, Chintamani grihantastha Pancha Brahmasana sthitha, Maha padmatavi samstha Kadamba Vana vasini, Sudhasagara madhyastha Kamakshi kamadayini, Devarshi gana sanghata sthuyama natma vaibhva” Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotra continues to record the exceptional attributes of Sri Rajarajeswari Devi!
While Lord Siva is endowed with three eyes, the third in his forehead, Lord Vishnu is described as having the Sun and the Moon as his two eyes,”Ravi sasi nayana!”. Sri Mata, sister to Lord Vishnu too has the Sun and the Moon for Her two eyes! Though Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotra describes the Sun and the Moon as Her “thatankas” or earstuds, Sri Sankara conceives them as Her left and right eyes responsible for day, night and the in between “sandhya kala.” Says Sankara, “ O Mother! Your right eye is the Sun and hence it creates the day! Your left eye being the Moon, creates the night! Your third eye, like the half bloomed golden lotus is responsible for the “Sandhya kala” in between the day and night!”
The third eye in Sri Mata's forehead is the eye of Fire! It is therefore the creator of ‘Sandhya’ both in the morning and evening! Sri Sankara suggests that Devi is the creator of Time in its different units like the fortnight, month, season or Ritu, yuga and kalpa and hence She transcends Time and is in unaffected by its variations! In his “Annapurnashtaka” Sankara refers to Devi as “ Chandrarkagni samana kundala dhari Chandrarkavrneswari”--the one who has the sun and the moon as her earrings or studs--kundalas and the one who combines the hues of both the sun and the moon!
Sri Mata is said to reside in the center of the Sun's disc! “ Bhanumandala madhyastha Bhairavi Bhagamalini!”. She combines within Herself the duties of the Trimurtis, Brahma, Vishnu and Mheswara! She creates as the creator Brahma, protects as Vishnu and destroys like Siva! She has also the rare power of “Tirodhana” or concealment as well as showering Grace! Thus She is called “Panchakritya Parayana!” “ Srushtikarthri Brahmarupa gopthri Govinda rupini samharini Rudrarupa Tirodhana kariswari Sadasivanugrahada Panchakritya Parayana”
As Parabrahma swarupini, Sri Mata is the primum mobile who is the root cause of everything in the universe! She is the embodiment of Time but not affected by it! She is “Kala Swarupini” and at the same time “ Kalatitha” transcending Time! Sri Sankara, in this sloka, explains how Her eyes, the sun and the moon, are utilized by Devi to bring in the different units of Time! As usual, Sri Sankara describes every part of Devi's face and the significance it has for Him!
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