Shree Maa: The Guru and the Goddess, the Complete Text and Translation of Kasyapa Sutra and Srigurugita and Lalita Trisati Book

She is the Guru. She is the Goddess. She is the inspiration for thousands of spiritual aspirants in many parts of the world. Now, here in one book, are collected some of the most important teachings of that being known by devotees in many countries as Shree Maa, the Respected Holy Mother.

In conformity to the scriptural injunction, "True knowledge bestows humility," her most important and noticeable attribute is humility. Even while commanding the respect of giants of industry, of political leaders around the world, she refuses to spend a penny on herself. She lives in the most humble surroundings, eats a simple diet, sits for worship at least eight hours a day, and lights a candle daily for all of those who are oppressed or perplexed. She has no mission, she has no institution, she allows no politics, no seminars, fund-raisers, nor charges for anything that goes on around her. And she shares so abundantly. Wherever she resides, her house is a temple, and people gather to worship with her.

The Guru and the Goddess includes three important works which are used for study and sadhana in Shree Maa' s Ashrams. The first is a translation and commentary of the Kapsaya Sutras, which appeals to both gyanis and bhaktas alike. Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda give a complete description of how these principles apply in our lives. Every now and then Shree Maa breaks into song, Swamiji translates and tells teaching stories from the sadhus of India, and the Satsanghas combine the teaching of Sanskrit grammar, with the music and joy of a personal relationship with the teacher.


The second section is a Sanskrit text and translation of the Guru Gita. Through devotion to the Guru we gain inspiration to make changes in our values, and therefore, our goals change. As the goals evolve, we find new paths by which to reach them. When we look around, we are new people, pursuing new destinations, with new associations, reflecting new ideals. This is the process of the Guru Gita.
The third section is a Sanskrit text and translation of the Lalita Trishati Stotram, a definition of Sri Vidya, an explanation of the Sri Cakra Yantra, and exposition of three hundred names of the Divine Mother, indicative of three hundred divine attributes which seekers can strive to emulate.

These three teachings combine to make intellectual understanding a foundation upon which to erect our devotional practices. The practices move the aspirant from the intellectual contemplation of the whys and hows of creating a discipline, to the practical applications of actually sitting for recitation of the Sanskrit texts, how to sit, how to breathe, how to become one with the Guru, one with the Goddess.

Kasyapa Sutras

The Sapta Rishis - the seven primordial sages - are mysterious figures whose spiritual luminescence has fired the Hindu imagination for thousands of years. Said to have been born directly from the mind of God, these seers imparted the Sanatana Dharma - the eternal truth rooted in the divine essence of our being - to the earliest race of humanity. One of them, legend says, shone so brilliantly with inner light that his contemporaries called him a human sun. His name was Kasyapa.
The Kasyapa Sutras offer us a glimpse of the immense wisdom of this ancient saint. They also reveal his humanity, for like teachers today he kept class notes, a syllabus of topics he intended to cover in his lecture. These sutras represent the quintessence of the insights he would elaborate as he sat down to teach his eager students.

In a series of delightful evening talks, Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda wade into an eddy in the vast flood of Kasyapa' s divine knowledge. As Swami explains the inner significance of Kasyapa' s ancient sutras, Shree Maa listens intently, interrupting from time to time to illuminate a point. When we students find ourselves veering too sharply toward the dry bank of mere intellectual understanding, sometimes she spontaneously breaks into song, intensifying the atmosphere of devotion.

Guru Gita

For every desire which an individual pursues, there is someone to demonstrate the means to it' s attainment. In Sanskrit this is called a Guru. Every time an individual becomes inspired to take a new course of action, the example who conveyed that inspiration is a Guru. Gurus are examples which instruct, inspire, somehow cause us to change the objectives we pursue and/or the paths to their attainment.

The Guru is the example which inspires and instructs in the course of union with God. It is in accordance with this ideal of perfection that the Guru Gita calls the Guru "Supreme Divinity". He manifests the goal. He demonstrates the path. He illuminates the darkness, and thereby he becomes the purest reflection of one' s highest aspiration.

Throughout the scripture we find an admonition to perform seva to the Guru, selfless service as an expression of love. Seva is different from work in that the performer feels privileged to demonstrate the intensity of love by performing an action, while a worker maintains some expectation to receive in return.
Through seva to the Guru, selfless service as an expression of love, we earn the privilege of learning and practicing more of karma yoga, and when our fickle minds stop creating modifications of the objects of consciousness, then we too realize the soul' s inherent union with divinity. We become the Guru. We become Supreme Divinity.

Lalita Trishati Stotram

Lalita is another name for our Divine Mother. It means Beautiful, Playful and Beloved. She is beautiful as there is no other vision to compare with the divinity of existence. She is playful, because everything that is perceivable is part of the lila of God, the manifestation of divine drama upon the stage of consciousness. She is beloved because all other love has an element of selfish attachment, but the Love of God is pure love.

Lalita distinguishes the individual forms and names of objects and relationships in this existence. In order to look into your eyes to tell you how much I love you, I must step back from our union into the duality of our love. Lalita, the beloved, is the One I see.
All the karma of creation She orders. All actions of existence are authored by Her. It is for Her that we do everything, knowingly or unknowingly. We are constantly seeking to manifest expressions of our love to Her. When we are successful, She grants Her approval, and as a loving Mother, She gives us the fruit of our righteous conduct. When we fail to tread the path of dharma, She lets us know immediately, and sends to us the conflict and confusion born of impropriety.

But Lalita has another quality which extends beyond the Philosophies of Tantra and Vedanta. She is a living Goddess, and Her three hundred names are composed in the modern (classical) Sanskrit in this stotram.

Whatever fruit may be derived from the offerings and songs and continuous recitations of other mantras, that fruit will be multiplied by ten million qualities for those (who worship with) these three hundred names.

Call upon the Divine Mother, sing Her names, and become inspired to greater achievement. She is our Beautiful, Playful, Beloved Mother. She grants the fruit of all karma.