Sahasranama position 169 of the 1,072 names

Maha-Maha

महा-महा

Mahā-Mahā

What Maha-Maha means

Maha-Maha is name 169 in the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama, the 1,072-name devotional text to Maa Kali. The Great beyond the great, the supreme vastness beyond conception.

Also spelled

  • Source transliteration: MAHA-MAHA

Sanskrit names travel into English in several romanizations. This page keeps the common spelling, the IAST form, and the source transliteration together so the same name is discoverable under each spelling readers use.

Meaning and elaboration

Meaning: The Great beyond the great, the supreme vastness beyond conception.

Elaboration

The name Maha-Maha directly expresses Kali's immeasurable greatness. "Maha" means "great," and when it is repeated as "Maha-Maha," the force of the name deepens into "the Great of the great," "the Greatest," or greatness in its most absolute sense.

Supreme Magnitude The repetition marks a superlative state, showing that her greatness exceeds every measure and comparison. She is not merely great; she is the source, embodiment, and fulfillment of all greatness. A single "Maha" is not enough to contain the scale being pointed to here.

Beyond Conception Maha-Maha points to a cosmic scale beyond ordinary understanding and beyond the reach of the senses. It speaks to her as the Absolute, the Parabrahman in the Shakta tradition, a reality so immense that the ordinary mind cannot grasp its true nature. She is the boundless cosmic expanse, the endless void that contains all possibilities.

The Source of All Qualities This name implies that every other form of greatness, whether physical, intellectual, or spiritual, arises from her. She is the primordial source from which all manifest greatness in the universe draws its essence. In that sense, she is the ultimate principle of magnification, presence, and power, encompassing and surpassing all other manifestations.

Philosophical Implication Religiously and philosophically, "Maha-Maha" invites devotees to contemplate her infinite nature and move beyond limited concepts of divinity toward the unbounded supreme reality. It encourages a shift from linear, dualistic thinking to a non-dual (Advaitic) understanding of the Divine as all-pervading, all-consuming, and infinitely vast.

Text and sources

The name list follows the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama as compiled for this project. The English meaning and elaboration are interpretive notes for devotional study, not a translation of a single critical edition.

Read the editorial method and source notes →

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