Lalitha Sahasranamam(41-45)

41 INDRAGOPAPARIKSHIPTASMARATUNABHAJANGHIKA
Her calves are like the Sapphire studded quiver of the god of love

Here her calves are mentioned to understand the concept of power and strength.When we walk,or run the calves move with a rythmn and this rythmn is produced due to the flexing of the muscles which is again controlled by the nervous system and this nervous system is controlled by the will of a person and can we see the will of a person.the answer would be NO.so is the concept of con sciousness which is very subtle but still enormous in its strength and the power it generates similiar to the existence of a consciousness behind the manifestation of all thought, there is a pure existence prior to the rise of names and forms as the universe. There is a power in Brahman which is not independent of it, but which can be inferred from the various effects that it produces, in the form of ether, etc., just as we infer the existence of heat in fire by means of its burning capacity,and the strength that the calves possess. This power is not the same as Brahman, even as heat is not the same as fire. It is possible by certain methods to inhibit the burning power of fire without destroying the fire itself; yet we know that we cannot separate heat from fire at any time. This power of Brahman which is existence cannot therefore be considered to be different from it; else, it would become non-existence. Also, it is not existence in the sense of Brahman; hence essenceless. It is therefore indeterminable in character - Sad-asad-vilakshana - different from what is existence and non-existence. The Vedanta proclaims that in the beginning of things there was neither being nor non-being, but there was an indescribable something which looked like darkness. Even this darkness should have existence as its basis, because, without it, even darkness would not be possible. Even ignorance is something that we superimpose on what is existence. Thus there is no cause for any duality between Brahman and its power, even as there is no distinction between a man and his strength. This power is the same everywhere, but appears to be different due to the difference in the intensity of the manifesting media. We therefore, do not count Sakti or power by itself, nor do we consider it as the same as Brahman. Hence it is Maya which is Anirvachaniya, that which cannot be described in words, nor thought of by the mind, because language and thought are the expressions of Maya itself.So the clear distinction has to be made which by itself is not possible so by considering the calves the power to manifest,lays hidden and will remain till it is identified.

"Paraa jenu rudhram dwigunasara garbhoy girisuthe

Nishanghou Unghe thee vishamavishikho bhada –maakrutha"

is said in soundarya lahiri

42 GUDHAGULPHA
With hidden ankles

The ankles are said to be hidden because they represent the vedas.The concept in the vedas are also hidden. so the emphasis of unknown is stressed here.The vedas are considered to be her ankles because The Vedas may be regarded as the source and fountain to which the later developments of thought can be traced.The accounts of sages, anchorites and kings which the Vedas furnish, formed the beginnings of the elaborate Itihasas or epics, and the Puranas. The social rules and customs of the time of the Vedas became the cornerstones for the systematisation of conduct and law in the Smritis or Dharmasastras. The social, political and religious institutions were all meant to help the gradual evolution of the individual, according to each one's capacity and aptitude, towards the realisation of spiritual universality.

The same is reflected in soundarya lahiri as well.

"Sruthinam murdhano dadhati thava yau sekharathaya

Mama'py etau Matah sirasi dayaya dhehi charanau;

Yayoh paadhyam paathah Pasupathi-jata-juta-thatini

Yayor larksha-lakshmir aruna-Hari-chudamani-ruchihme"

Oh mother mine,Be pleased to place your two feet ,

Which are the ornaments of the head of Upanishads,

The water which washes them are the river Ganges,

Flowing from Shiva’s head,And the lac paint adorning which,

Have the red luster of the crown of Vishnu,On my head with mercy

43. KURMAPRISHTAJAYISHNUPRAPADHANVITA
Her instep is arched like the back of a tortoise

Here the very essence of treading in the path of truth is stressed.The path to perfection can be trodden only after one’s encountering several threats and temptations. The example of Nachiketas shows that he was even cursed to death and was tempted severely in his attempt at adhering to righteousness and truth of the spirit. In the process of the search for Truth, the subjective propensities and objective tendencies show their heads in concrete forms and either tempt or threaten the aspirant. For an aspirant of weak will, advanced spiritual practices are very near impossibility. A person believes in what he sees and experiences and not in what he does not see and does not experience. He has love for certain things and fear for certain others, because he has faith in the value of those things, as they are the objects of his direct experience. He, however, does not believe in super-sensuous realities, because they are not the objects of his direct experience. Love for comforts and hatred for pain and sorrow pull the aspirant from two opposite sides, and he is left at sea. It is here that the strong weapon of will and discrimination should come for one’s help. One has to clear the way in the midst of these oppositions that are inevitable in one’s struggle for transcending one’s individuality in the Absolute.so the hard shell of the tortoise is compared with for the will which we should possess when adhering to the path of righteousness.

see the hint of irony in soundarya lahiri

Padham the kirhtinam prapadham apadham Devi vipadham

Katham nitham sadbhih kutina-kamati-karpara-thulam;

Katham vaa bahubhyam upayamana-kaale purabhida

Yad adhaya nyastham drshadi daya-manena manasa.

Oh, Goddess Devi,

How did the poets compare,The foreside of your merciful feet,

Which are the source of fame to your devotees,

And which are not the source of danger to them ,

To the hard shell of tortoise,I do not understand.

How did he who destroyed the three cities,Take them in his hand,

And place them on hard rock*,During your marriage?

44.NAKHADHIDHITISAMCHANANAMAJANATAMOGUNA
Her bright rays from her nails dispels the ignorance/darkness(tamo guna) form the mind of her devotees.

Meditating on the feet of Devi dispels ignorance

When one is meditating on her the ignorance vanishes.so what happens when ignorance vanishes.That which is soundless, touchless, formless, changeless, tasteless, eternal, odourless, beginningless, endless, greater than the cosmic intellect, the permanent being, is known, one is liberated from the mouth of death.
So attain liberation by holding her feet and singing her praises as seen in soundarya lahiri

Nakhair naka-sthrinam kara-kamala-samkocha sasibhi

Tarunam dhivyanam hasata iva te chandi charanau;

Phalani svah-sthebhyah kisalaya-karagrena dhadhatam

Daridhrebhyo bhadraam sriyam anisam ahnaya dhadhatauYour moon like nails,

Oh mother who killed Chanda,Which makes the celestial maidens,

Fold their hands in shame,Forever tease your two feet,

Which unlike the holy trees in heaven,

(Which by their leaf bud like hands,Give all they wish to the Gods,)

Give the poor people wealth and happiness,Always and fast.

45.PADADVAYAPRABHAJALAPARAKRTSARORUHA
The soles of her feet are so beautiful that they put to shame the lotus.

The soles of her feet are so beautiful because of the atmas reaching out to her and her feet becomes their residence and they get transformed as atman.When all the desires that are lodged in the heart are cast off, the mortal experiences the Immortal, and it becomes Brahman, here itself. Moksha is the realisation of that which exists always and everywhere. Therefore, it can be realised at her feet, provided the obstructions to this realisation are removed. These obstructions are called desires for objective experience. Removal of desires means the same as the destruction of the mind. The realisation of the Self does not involve a movement towards any external condition, but it is the extinction and transcendence of personality in the Absolute. It is like a drop dissolving in the ocean, or rather the ocean itself becoming aware that it is ocean.