Khaṭvāṅgādipraharaṇā (खट्वाङ्गादिप्रहरणा, IAST: Khaṭvāṅgādipraharaṇā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She armed with the skull-staff and other weapons”. Khaṭvāṅga is the skull-topped staff, ādi means 'and others', and praharaṇā refers to weapons or instruments of striking — together they describe Lalitā at the Viśuddha level as armed with the formidable implements that destroy ego and impurity.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The khaṭvāṅga, associated with Śiva and the fierce Kāpālika tradition, is a weapon that simultaneously symbolizes death of the ego and mastery over time and mortality. That Lalitā wields it along with other weapons signals that her grace is not only gentle but also fiercely protective, capable of dismantling the deepest karmic bondages. The phrase ādi ('and so forth') acknowledges the full armory of her divine power.

This is a descriptive compound epithet from the Lalitā Sahasranāma relating to her iconographic form at the Viśuddha cakra; its length makes it primarily a liturgical name rather than a personal one.

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Scriptural source

Khaṭvāṅgādipraharaṇā 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, Khaṭvāṅgādipraharaṇā aligns with the Shravana nakshatra, under the Makara rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 6.