Lalita Sahasranama

The Lalita Sahasranama (“Thousand Names of Lalita”) is the supreme hymn of the Shri Vidya tradition, enumerating the thousand names of the Goddess as Lalita, “she who plays” — the supreme Shakti of the Shri Chakra.

Content

Set within the Brahmanda Purana as a dialogue of Hayagriva and Agastya, the hymn moves through the Goddess’s cosmology, her embodiment of the mantric alphabet (matrika), her rule over the chakras of the subtle body, and her identity with the fifteen-syllable Panchadashi mantra. Each name is a doctrinal statement; Bhaskararaya’s 18th-century commentary, the Saubhagya Bhaskara, is the classic guide.

Significance

The Sahasranama functions as the doctrinal summary of Shri Vidya: its names encode the tradition’s ritual, philosophy, and mantra-shastra. It is recited daily in Shakta households and temples, particularly in South India, and forms part of the broader Lalita liturgy alongside the Lalita Trishati.

Verification notes

• The text’s embedding in the Brahmanda Purana gives it Smartha and Shakta authority; its final redaction is medieval.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).