Sahasranama position 515 of the 1,072 names

Sarva Sammoha Karini

सर्व सम्मोह कारिणी

Sarva Sammoha Kāriṇī

What Sarva Sammoha Karini means

Sarva Sammoha Karini is name 515 in the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama, the 1,072-name devotional text to Maa Kali. The Enchantress Who Bewilders All, captivating the entire cosmos with her divine illusion.

Also spelled

  • SarvaSammohaKarini
  • Source transliteration: SARVA SAMMOHA KARINI

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 Enchantress Who Bewilders All, captivating the entire cosmos with her divine illusion.

Elaboration

Sarva Sammoha Karini means "She who thoroughly deludes and enchants all." This name reveals Kali's vast and pervasive power to cast divine illusion (Maya) over the whole cosmos and all beings within it.

The Power of Divine Illusion (Maya) Sarva Sammoha Karini embodies Maya not as a merely negative deception, but as the divine creative power through which the world appears real and differentiated. She is the architect of the cosmic play, the subtle illusion that gives rise to duality, time, space, and individual identity. Her "bewilderment" (Sammoha) is the very condition in which creation unfolds, making the unmanifest appear manifest and the One appear as many.

Universal Enchantress As the "Karini" (the doer or maker) of "Sarva Sammoha" (universal bewilderment), she enchants every layer of existence. This enchantment is not malevolent. It is the very means through which the lila, the divine play, unfolds. From the smallest atom to the widest galaxy, all remain under the spell of her creative Maya, experiencing the world as solid, distinct, and separate from the ultimate reality.

Spiritual Implication For the spiritual seeker, recognizing Kali as Sarva Sammoha Karini is an important step. It means that liberation (moksha) comes through seeing beyond this divine bewilderment and piercing the illusion of separateness to realize the underlying unity. Though she casts the veil, she also holds the power to lift it. Through that enchantment, she leads the soul through cycles of experience, ripening it through lesson and trial until it is ready to perceive reality as it truly is. In that sense, her bewildering power serves a higher and transformative purpose.

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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