Sahasranama position 125 of the 1,072 names

Parama

परमा

Paramā

What Parama means

Parama is name 125 in the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama, the 1,072-name devotional text to Maa Kali. The Utmost Reality, the Supreme and Primordial Truth.

Also spelled

  • Source transliteration: PARAMA

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 Utmost Reality, the Supreme and Primordial Truth.

Elaboration

The name Parama means "the highest," "the utmost," "supreme," or "primary." Applied to Mahakali, it affirms her as the ultimate ground of the cosmos, the foundational reality from which everything arises and in which everything rests.

The Supreme Principle Parama shows that Kali is not simply one deity among many, but the transcendent and immanent principle underlying all existence. She is the source, sustainer, and final dissolver of all that appears. In this sense, she stands beyond every cosmic hierarchy and every philosophical conception of the divine. She is Parabrahman, the supreme truth beyond all attributes.

Beyond All Qualities (Nirguṇa) As Parama, she transcends all dualities and limitations, including qualities (guṇas), forms (rūpas), and names (nāmas). She is the unknowable and unmanifest (Nirguṇa) reality that exists prior to all creation and manifestation. She is the primordial void, the absolute silence from which all sound and form arise.

The Primordial Truth (Ādi-Satyā) Parama reveals Kali as the primordial truth (Ādi-Satyā), existing before time and space. She is the deepest nature of reality itself, the consciousness that pervades and governs the universe. All other deities and manifestations are expressions or reflections of this one supreme and primordial essence, Mahakali herself.

The Ultimate Goal (Param-Pada) For the spiritual seeker, to approach Kali as Parama is to recognize her as the ultimate spiritual goal (Param-Pada), the highest state of realization and liberation. To merge with Parama Kali is to enter absolute non-duality and realize one's own essential identity with the Supreme Self.

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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