ṭvadiyābhir vagbhiḥ ṭavajanani vācām śtutiriyam

ṭvadiyābhir vagbhiḥ ṭavajanani vācām śtutiriyam (The One Absolute Alone Exists And Shines)

These are the words of śankara, the paraclete of unitive understanding, said in deep humility and devotion while imploring the grandeur of lalitā-parābhattārikā in verse 100 of his śaundarya-laharī. The implored is vāg-ḍevī, the ultimate source of speech, and śankara is imploring Her (puruśikā) with words that originate from Her (ṭvadīyābhir vāgbhiḥ). It is simply like the act of returning Her own power (gift) back to Her. He illustrates this devotion through vivid analogies: like waving a small flame to the Sun, the source of all light (nīrājana-vidhiḥ); offering the Moon, the source of nectar, oblations (arghya-racanā) using drops of water melted from ‘Moonstones’ (candrakānta-śila); and appeasing the deep vast ocean (jala-nidhi) with offerings of water. lalitā-parābhattārikā is not merely a feminine deity alongside a supreme male divinity, but the ‘Absolute Cosmic Being’ (brahman) from whom all individual life emanates.

Any duality that appears to exist is unreal for an ādvaita-vādin. The wisdom-seeker trying to praise śrī-lalitā is only an illusion. The apparent difference between the worshipper and the worshipped is an illusion. All that exists and shines is only Her. One of the most famous declarations of ‘Absolute ādvaitic Oneness’ is found in the ḍevī-māhātmya (ḍurgā-saptaśatī) Chapter 2: ‘ekaivāhaṃ jagatyatra dvitīyā kā mamāparā’ : ‘I alone exist here in this universe; who second to Me is there besides Myself?’ The manifestation is ṃahā-lakshmī (ṃahiśāsura-mardinī), the combined radiance of the holy-trinity (brahma, viśṇu, ṛudra) and all other divine competencies like varuṇa, āgni, vāyu, īndra, and so on, merged into a single, luminous, world-spanning Form.

In one more instance in the ḍevī-ṃāhātmya, Her manifestation was described as ‘an incomparable brilliance that arose from the bodies of all the divinities; unifying into one ‘Supreme Female Form’, Her brilliance filled all three-worlds. In ādvaitic and śāktā philosophies, this signifies that all individual cosmic-powers are merely fragmented rays of a single, unified Supreme-Energy.

ātulaṁ tatra tat-tejaḥ sarva-deva-śarīra-jam
ekasthaṁ tad-abhūn-nārī vyāpta-loka-trayaṁ tviṣā

In one more instance, in a verse from the same chapter from ḍevī- ṃāhaātmya (2.52):

ṇiḥśvāsān mumuce yāṃśca yudhyamānā raṇe'mbikā
ṭa eva sadyaḥ saṃbhūtā gaṇāḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ

This directly correlates with the foundational ūpaniśadic doctrine of eko’ham bahusyām (I am One, let Me become Many). While the immediate context of the verse is a heroic narrative, lalitā- parābhattārikā exhaling to create hundreds of thousands of warrior-hosts (gaṇas), it operates as a vivid, narrative-driven metaphor for the ūpanishadic philosophy of Cosmic-Creation and Divine-Immanence. The singular, non-dual Divine Mother (āmbikā) spontaneously projects countless forms (śata-sahasraśaḥ) from Her own being. She does not summon external mercenaries; Her creation originates internally and emanates outward directly from Her breath.

This correlates with the ūpaniśadic version: so 'kāmayata, bahu syāṁ prajāyeyeti (ṭū.2.6.1); chāndogya: ekamevādvitīyaṃ (6.2.3). In texts like the praśna and brihadāraṇyaka ūpaniśads, prāṇa (vital-breath) is identified with brahman, the primordial kinetic energy through which the unmanifest universe comes into being. śrī-lalitā uses Her ṇiḥśvāsa (breath) to form Her armies. Breath is the subtle link between the Unmanifest (ṇirguṇa) and Manifest (śaguṇa). Her mere breath is potent enough to manifest entire legions, symbolising how the Cosmic realm is spun out from the subtle breath of the Absolute.

lalitā śahasranāma (lś.281) describes how the entire cosmic cycle of creation and dissolution happens through the mere opening and closing of the Mother's eyes. ūnmeṣa-nimiṣotpanna-vipanna- bhuvanāvalī : Creating and destroying multiverses (bhuvanāvalī) requires zero effort for the Divine; it occurs naturally as a biological reflex, like a blink (ūnmeṣa-ṇimiṣa). śahasra-śīrśa vadanā sahasrākśī sahasrapāt : ‘She who has thousands (infinite) heads, faces, eyes, and feet’; directly echos the vedic purusha sūkta: śahasra śīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasrapāt. This verse combines the philosophical grandeur of śākta ṭantra with the cosmic vision of the puruśa-sūkta. What appears on the surface as an action sequence on a physical battlefield is simultaneously a philosophical enactment of śākta ādvaita (Non-dualism of Energy).