Aṣṭamūrti (अष्टमूर्ति, IAST: Aṣṭamūrti) is an Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who manifests as the eight cosmic forms”. Aṣṭa means 'eight' and mūrti means 'embodied form,' together declaring that Lalitā assumes the eightfold expression of the cosmos — earth, water, fire, air, ether, sun, moon, and the sacrificing soul — within her single divine person.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The eight mūrtis are classically associated with Śiva's cosmic manifestations, yet here the Lalitā Sahasranāma applies the title to the Goddess, affirming her identity with the totality of phenomenal creation. Each of the eight represents a fundamental principle through which consciousness clothes itself in matter and energy. By bearing this name, Lalitā is honoured as the matrix from whom all elemental existence proceeds.

Aṣṭamūrti is also a celebrated epithet of Lord Śiva found in earlier Śaiva texts, lending the name a rich, cross-traditional resonance; its application to Lalitā signals the non-dual unity of Śakti and Śiva. As a given name it is occasionally used for girls, often spelled Ashtamurthi or Ashtamurthy in South Indian usage.

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Scriptural source

Aṣṭamūrti appears in the Lalitha Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Lalitha.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Aṣṭamūrti aligns with the Krittika nakshatra, under the Mesha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 4.