The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
34. śāntā 35. brāhmī 36. parāniṣṭhā
She who is tranquil.
She who presides over speech.
She who is the Supreme End, the supreme abidance.
When the fear of birth and death is transcended, there is total peace. Birth and death are the reason for unrest and turmoil in human lives. The moment birth and death are transcended, peace is present effortlessly. Unrest begins with birth, continues till death, and resumes with rebirth. When the cycle of birth and death is broken, there is no cause for unrest. Peace alone prevails. The three factors that cause human suffering – physical ailments, natural calamities, and karmic forces – will lose their power on us. We remain at peace because we are no longer pressured by them. The peace mantra (śānti śānti śānti) is chanted thrice to address each of the three factors that cause suffering. Peace being Her very nature, Devī can bestow peace on us.
She is not only peaceful (śāntā), She is also brāhmī, expansive and all-pervasive. She bestows the state of brāhmī, a state of total peace, to those who worship Her. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna also refers to the brāhmī sthiti in Chapter 2.72, a state that one hopes to attain at the time of death. However, one need not wait for death to experience brāhmī sthiti. It can be experienced even while alive. Because this state of Being is related to brahman, it is called brāhmī. Since brahman is ever present, brāhmī sthiti is also ever present. It is a state that neither rises nor sets.
Devī is not only śāntā and brāhmī, She is also amma9sai parāniṣṭhā, the Absolute, the Supreme End beyond which there is nothing. niṣṭhā means the absolute end or completion. Kaṭhopaniṣad (1-3-11) states: “Beyond the great ātmān is the Un-manifested; beyond the Un-manifested is the Puruṣa (the Cosmic Soul); beyond the Puruṣa, there is nothing. That is the end that is the final goal.” Since there is nothing beyond Devī, She is parāniṣṭhā, the Absolute, the ultimate state of Consciousness. Our goal is to attain that Supreme state of Devī.