Here 'Bhavaani' is the, vocative case; it apostrophizes the
Supreme Mother with one of her names. 'Tvam' means Thou and in the sentence functions as
the grammatical subject of what is to follow. But, 'Bhavaani' is also a verb in the
first person singular future tense, which means 'may I become' and 'tvam' means
'Thou'. The first two words of the prayer can also mean 'May I become Thou'.
Sri Sankara
says that as soon as the Supreme Mother hears these first two words of her devotee's
prayer, without waiting for what was to follow, she immediately (tadaiva) bestows on him
identity with herself, nijasaayujyapadaveem.
Giving up the duality consciousness (dvaitabhaava)
of a servant, (daasa), the, devotee attains the Advaita stage of oneness
with the Supreme. That is the ultimate goal of bhakti.
One way of worshipping God is to consider our body as the temple of God and
whatever we do as itself worship of God. In another prayer, one addressed to Siva,
Sri Sankara bids us think as follows in relation to Siva:
My inner atman is Thou alone. My buddhi is thy consort. My praanas are thy
companions. My body is thy temple. The way in which I enjoy the things of the senses
is thy worship. My sleep is samaadhic contemplation of thee; my wanderings are
the circumambulation of Thee, All that I talk is praise of thee. Whatever I do is worship
of thee.
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