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Saubhagyabhaskara - Commentary On Lalitha Sahasranamam

Saubhagyabhaskara is a commentary on Lalitha Sahasranamam by Bhaskararaya in 18th century CE. The literary work is important for understanding of the tantric tradition. Lalita Sahasranama, a hymn of a thousand names of the Goddess Lalita, is traditionally appended to the Brahmanda Purana.

Saubhagya Bhaskara states in the introduction that worship of the Goddess is the only method for attaining all human desires, and the repetition of the thousand names of the Goddess is the best way to approach her. The technical terms mentioned in the introductory part of the hymn are explained with profuse quotations from several tantric texts, and the exposition draws support from other texts.

Faith is explained as the belief that the statement of the preceptor is the supreme truth. Mantra and vidya are distinguished, respectively, as related to male deities and female deities. The mantras are classified into five groups – monosyllabic, two-syllable, having three or nine syllables, having ten or twenty syllables, and having more than twenty syllables.

The names in Lalitha Sahasranamam are said to be arranged in such a manner as to include many other meanings besides the ordinary meaning. The special feature of the text is that it is free from blemishes such as the presence of insignificant letters like eva, ca, and so on, and there is no repetition of the same names, as is to be found in other texts of a thousand names.