Thus Spake the Divine - Bhavanitvam

Thus Spake the Divine

Bhavanitvam

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava highlights Ambal’s compassion towards devotees. She is so compassionate that She grants what the devotee wants even before he completes his prayer. Acharya’s 22 nd Shloka of Saundarya Lahari reveals this extreme compassion of Ambal.

There is absolutely no need to pray to Ambal for fulfilling our needs. She knows everything. Neelakanda Dikshita, in his Ananda Sagara Sthavam, pleads to Ambal, “Mother Meenakshi! If I don’t speak out the sorrows of my mind, they irritate me within. That’s why I pray to you, not that you don’t know. I am praying only to soothe the itching sensation inside me”.

Even without our asking, Ambal blesses us with many things. First is good intellect that leads to virtuous thoughts, which results in we doing good deeds. After that automatically comes wealth and resources to do good for the society. The same love flows towards everyone. Without true love within, we may address people as “Brothers and Sisters” and give sermons on equality. But all these are just empty words, so long as there is no Bhakti towards Ambal.

Only when we consciously become aware of the magnificent grace of Ambal are we filled with the true feeling that “She is the only Mother of all living beings on this earth; we are all, including all animals and birds, are Her children; therefore, we are all brothers and sisters in true sense”. Once we realise Her true form, there will never be any hatred or animosity within us. Even when something goes wrong, we will try to correct it with compassion, rather than entering into a conflict. By worshipping Ambal, we get the feeling that the entire world is one family. Mooka Kavi says people, who are bestowed with Kamakshi’s grace, make no discrimination between friends and enemies.

Ambal’s grace takes us to the height of wisdom from where everything looks the same. We reach one step further when the feeling of She being our Mother and we being Her children vanishes and we feel that “She is everything”. Advaita Wisdom dawns on us that it is One Supreme Power, who has manifested into all innumerable substances; differences lie only in forms and what is inside is only That One”. Mooka Kavi describes in his Shloka that to a person, who is blessed with Ambal’s grace, even forest looks like home; friend and foe look alike (“Shiva Shiva Pashyanthu Samam”).

The mother-child relationship in our mind vanishes at some point in time with Her grace. Acharya brings this out with a satire in Saundarya Lahari. According to it, the devotee starts praying, “Bhavani Tvam...” and before he can even complete, Ambal bestows the state of “Bhavanitvam” on him. (Bhavani Tvam Dhase means “I want to be your slave.” Bhavani means Ambal.)

There are eight important names of Shiva, which include Bhavan. Bhavani is Consort of Bhavan. In Bhavani Tvam, Tvam means “your”. By mere stating of these two words “Bhavani Tvam” Ambal grants one “to be what he wants”. Bhavanitvam means “I become You”. The devotee seeks Bhavanitvam after attaining Advaita Wisdom that everything is Brahmam. Therefore, the moment he starts pleading to be blessed for being Her slave, She makes him one. Before he can even complete his prayer “Please bless me to become your salve”, before even uttering the last word, Ambal bestows Her grace on him saying that “Yes my child! I bestow Bhavanitvam on you! I and You are one and the same!” Bhavanitvam means attributes of Bhavani or Ambal. The devotee absorbs the traits of Ambal and unifies with Ambal Herself! This demonstrates the magnitude of compassion that Ambal possesses.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.