Mahavidya (महाविद्या, IAST: Mahāvidyā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “The great, transcendent divine knowledge”. From mahā (great, supreme) and vidyā (knowledge, wisdom, a sacred science), Mahāvidyā honors Lalitā as the supremely great wisdom — the knowledge that encompasses and transcends all other knowing.

Meaning, etymology & significance

In the Tantric tradition, the Daśa Mahāvidyās are ten sovereign forms of the Goddess, each a complete embodiment of a liberating wisdom. As Mahāvidyā, Lalitā is identified with this category at its highest — she is not one vidyā among ten but the great knowledge that underlies them all. She is the wisdom that the Vedas and Tantras point toward without ever fully containing.

Mahāvidyā is a name honored across Śākta, Tantric, and Vedāntic traditions and is also used as a given name for girls in India. Pronounce as ma-HAA-vid-yaa; variants include Mahavidya and Maahavidyaa.

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Scriptural source

Mahavidya 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, Mahavidya aligns with the Magha nakshatra, under the Simha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 6.