Mahalavanyashevadhaye (महालावण्यशेवधि, IAST: Mahālāvaṇyaśevadhiḥ) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who is the treasury of supreme, incomparable beauty”. From mahā (great), lāvaṇya (loveliness, grace, beauty), and śevadhiḥ (treasure-house, treasury), this name proclaims Lalitā as the inexhaustible storehouse from which all beauty in creation flows.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The word lāvaṇya in Sanskrit encompasses not merely physical beauty but the luminous, salt-like (lavaṇa) quality that makes a person or thing irresistibly attractive and pleasing — a subtle inner radiance. Śevadhiḥ, meaning a treasure-chest or repository, conveys that this beauty is not incidental but the very essence the Goddess holds and bestows. Together, mahā-lāvaṇya-śevadhiḥ declares Her to be the original, infinite source from which all grace and loveliness in the universe are drawn.

This profound epithet belongs to Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī, the embodiment of transcendent beauty, in the Lalitā Sahasranāma. The dative form śevadhaye signals an oblique grammatical case; the nominative śevadhiḥ is less naturally adapted as a standalone given name, though Lāvaṇyā is a widely used and beautiful derivative name inspired by this epithet.

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Scriptural source

Mahalavanyashevadhaye 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, Mahalavanyashevadhaye aligns with the Magha nakshatra, under the Simha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 2.