Tripura Sundari
Tripura Sundari - Lalita, Shodashi - is the third Mahavidya and the goddess at the centre of Sri Vidya. The Lalitopakhyana of the Brahmanda Purana tells how she arises from the fire of consciousness (Chidagni) to defeat the asura Bhandasura, and the Lalita Sahasranama is the thousand-name hymn of her tradition.
Shodashi, Lalita and Tripura Sundari are one goddess in most Sri Vidya lineages but not always at the same station: Shodashi is specifically the sixteen-syllable vidya and the sixteen-year-old form, while Lalita is the goddess of the Lalitopakhyana. The planetary, elemental, zodiacal and tarot values here are a modern Western overlay; the tradition's own account is the Sri Yantra, the Sahasranama and an initiatory transmission.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Venus
Offerings
- Offerings
- Rose flowersSaffronKumkumSandalwood pasteSweetsFruitLotus flowers
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- LalitaShodashiRajarajeshwariSri Lalita Tripurasundari
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- Beauty of the Three WorldsThe Sixteen-Year-OldQueen of the Three CitiesQueen of Queens
- Symbols
- Sri yantraSugarcane bowFlower arrowsNoose and goadMirrorCrescent moon
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneLuminous devotionalAddressLalitaShodashiRajarajeshwariRelationshipThe beauty that is also the structure of the worldWarningThe sri vidya is an initiatory path not a borrowed aestheticResonanceThose drawn to sri vidya and to the work of non duality
- Modern Practice
Sri Vidya is an initiatory path: the practitioner receives the fifteen- or sixteen-syllable vidya from a guru and worships the Sri Yantra with the Lalita Sahasranama and the Khadgamala. The aesthetic of Sri Vidya - beauty, auspiciousness, non-duality - is often borrowed without the initiation, which the tradition itself does not regard as her worship.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- BeautyDesireSovereigntyNon dualityThe three worldsBlissConsciousness
- Mythology Summary
Tripura Sundari - Lalita, Shodashi - is the third Mahavidya and the goddess at the centre of Sri Vidya. The Lalitopakhyana of the Brahmanda Purana tells how she arises from the fire of consciousness (Chidagni) to defeat the asura Bhandasura, and the Lalita Sahasranama is the thousand-name hymn of her tradition, with the Saundarya Lahari as its great devotional poem. She is the beauty of the three cities, the three states and the three worlds, and her diagram is the Sri Yantra.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsRedPinkGoldWhiteScentsRoseSandalwoodJasmineSaffronMetalsGoldSilverAnimalsLionSerpentDeer
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