Mahapatakana­shini (महापातकनाशिनी, IAST: Mahāpātakanāśinī) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “Destroyer of the greatest sins”. Composed of 'mahā' (great), 'pātaka' (sin, transgression), and 'nāśinī' (she who destroys), this name reveals Lalitā's supreme power to annihilate even the gravest of karmic stains.

Meaning, etymology & significance

In dharmaśāstra, 'mahāpātaka' refers to the five gravest categories of sin including brahminicide and theft of sacred gold — transgressions considered nearly impossible to expiate by ordinary means. The suffix 'nāśinī' comes from the root 'naś,' meaning to perish or be destroyed, placing the Goddess in the role of absolute liberator. Lalitā's grace is thus celebrated as exceeding all karmic law, dissolving even the deepest accumulated wrong.

This epithet in the Sahasranāma assures devotees that sincere surrender to the Goddess dissolves bondage that no ritual alone can remove. As a given name, its compound length makes it more suitable as an epithet than a daily personal name.

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Scriptural source

Mahapatakana­shini 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, Mahapatakana­shini aligns with the Magha nakshatra, under the Simha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 4.