Paradevi (परादेवता, IAST: Parādevatā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “The supreme deity, the highest divine being”. Parā (supreme, transcendent) joined with devatā (deity, divine being) affirms that Lalitā is not one deity among many but the absolute, encompassing divinity from whom all other gods derive their luminosity and power.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The term devatā in Sanskrit carries a richer sense than mere 'god' — it denotes a luminous, self-bestowing principle; by qualifying it with parā, the name claims that Lalitā is the source-deity, the devī of all devatās. This is consonant with the Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa's declaration that all male and female divinities are but rays of the one Parādevatā. Philosophically the name bridges theistic devotion and non-dual metaphysics: the devotee who adores Parādevatā is simultaneously adoring the ground of all being.

Parādevatā is an epithet of Śrī Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī and also appears in Durgā and Kālī stotras as a universal epithet of the supreme Goddess; as a given name, Parādevī (a close variant) is used in Rajasthan and Gujarat, while Paradevi or Parādevi appears in South India. Pronunciation: pa-raa-de-VA-taa.

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Scriptural source

Paradevi 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, Paradevi aligns with the Uttara phalguni nakshatra, under the Kanya rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 1.