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Devi Stuti · Sutra 11 of 23

Modesty as Protection

ಲಜ್ಜಾ · Lajja. Guruji on the verse that bows to the Devi as modesty.

ಯಾ ದೇವೀ ಸರ್ವಭೂತೇಷು ಲಜ್ಜಾರೂಪೇಣ ಸಂಸ್ಥಿತಾ
ನಮಸ್ತಸ್ಯೈ ನಮಸ್ತಸ್ಯೈ ನಮಸ್ತಸ್ಯೈ ನಮೋ ನಮಃ

Yā devī sarvabhūteṣu lajjārūpeṇa saṃsthitā
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaḥ

That Devi who abides in all beings in the form of modesty: salutations to Her, again and again.

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Humility, refinement, reserve, modesty.

To this Devi Shakti, present in every class of creature in the world in the form of lajja, that is humility, refinement, reserve and modesty, salutations, salutations, salutations.

Lajja is a beautiful power that comes out of our inner awareness. It takes the form of reserve and shows itself in our life and on our body as a good, natural quality. Notably, modesty and reserve are a stronger bodily quality in women than in men.

These days, though, some people treat modesty as a weakness (weakness and carelessness).

Example: “Why be shy? Why hold back? Let’s be carefree and live shamelessly.” Saying this, they smoke cigarettes, get high, drink, take drugs, turn everything upside down, speak badly and pick fights. “Why should I feel shame or modesty? What do I gain from it?” That is some people’s mindset.

But modesty gives our life at least some guidance: a good path, discipline, order.

It is the power of the Devi, the Adi Shakti, that gives us this discipline and shows us good guidance.

Modesty is not bad. It is a refined (sophisticated), improving quality, a special quality within us that stops our life from falling.

Lajja does not mean that we must be ashamed or shrink.

Example: some people, when they sit down to eat and look at the food on the plate, feel a gut reaction from their inner awareness and hold back (a gut feeling). This means the neurons in our brain, through the mind, are expressing reserve: this is not good for us, not good physically, mentally or for our health.

In the same way it sometimes signals danger. At such times, in the form of reserve and modesty, it leads us to a safe path.

Likewise, if you touch the tiny insects that crawl on the ground, they too curl up in reserve. Some insects roll into a ball and stay safe that way.

So modesty and reserve carry the meaning of safety.

In India, a shameless person is called someone without good qualities, a bad person, a person of bad character. It is not a good word. Such people are called nirlajja, shameless.

Shameless people live without limits, without boundaries, without rules and regulations, without reserve. They think they can do whatever they like, anything at all, and they live without modesty or shame.

Just as there is a gut feeling inside the body, there is a gut feeling in the inner mind too. In thoughts, in feelings and in many situations, a person feels reserve and shame, and sinks and shrinks. We do not want all that.

But because of certain events and situations in the body, harmful effects may slowly build up inside.

Because we keep producing them slowly; we keep programming ourselves that way. The harmful effects on our state of mind from today’s small habits become the causes of tomorrow’s big harms.

So you activate reserve, modesty and lajja within yourself, and it becomes a kind of protective armour for us. We stop still, right there.

When we walk and slip or stumble, we feel a little embarrassed.

Those without modesty, whatever happens, do whatever they please and stay foolish in their own way (careless).

The Yoga Sutras say: be restrained, cultivate good qualities, and practise the yamas and niyamas widely with discipline.

So the Devi’s power, spread widely in the form of modesty, keeps the body safe and shields the mind (protection). It shows its meaning in many ways.

When we have no desire for something, our body and mind produce and show a feeling of reserve. That is lajja. In this form the Devi is the power of modesty, a shield that keeps every body and mind safe. So no one should be shameless.

Because one should not break the definitions and rules of a place, a time and a law.

Living by suppressing and trampling the sense of what is right in our body and mind, its words, the voices of the inner mind: that is a shameless life.

There is a call of the inner mind, a call of infinite consciousness, a call to a rhythmic life: an initiated way of living. We should live a life bound by initiation, with natural qualities.

When we walk with such natural qualities, we have many experiences we understand, and some we do not.

Lajja is something that is felt, and when it is felt we should step back a little.

So now and then in life we need to step back a little. Drawing in becomes necessary, and this state of necessity too is a form of the Mother.

As the motherhood of existence, as the Mother within us, she protects us naturally, gives us safety and gives us a shield (protection).

This sutra says “lajja rupena samsthita”: in the awakening state we walk with a disciplined restraint that comes from within.

With a disciplined mind (systematic), we can attain success, prosperity and completeness at every stage of life.

Lack of restraint and shamelessness mean the same thing. Modest restraint is a quality of character. Through it the Devi’s power makes our body and mind perfect in every way, makes our whole life perfect in every way, and gives us protection.

Translated from Guruji’s Kannada notes on this sutra. The Devi Stuti talks are on the Spiritual Conscious YouTube channel. All 23 sutras are also in a free book, The Devi Within (PDF).

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