Srimatha and Gomatha

Just as there are Gomatha, Bhumatha and Janakamatha, there is also Srimatha who is a mother. The Parasakthi who is the very life of all the other three mothers as well as all the sentient and insentient things in the world is Srimatha. It is by the milk of grace that flows from her that the Janakamatha and Gomatha are able to give milk. It is by that grace too that Bhumatha gives the wealth of water and grains.

In Lalitha Sahasranamam, Gomatha has been mentioned as a name for Srimatha. The very first name in Sahasranamam is Srimatha. In the ‘Namavali’ (the row of names), the names Gurumurthih and Gunanidhih occur. In the Sthala purana of Therazhundur (Thanjavur district, Tamilnadu), it is said that Ambal, the Srimatha had actually come there as Gomatha. There is also a story which combines in it five or six Sthala puranas according to which Ambal’s brother Maha Vishnu later came there as Gopalakrishna, protected her when she was in the form of a cow and gave her in marriage to Parameswara, the Pasupathi.