According to Tantra, the Divine Mother has ten forms: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneswari, Bhairvi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala, Matangi, and Kamala. Shodashi is also called Rajrajeshwari and Tripurasundari. According to the 'Lalitha-sahasra-nama', Shodashi is the most benign and purest form of the Divine Mother. One can worship this deity in a clay image or in a young girl about the age of 16. According to the 'Narada Pancharatra', one day Kali became mad at Shiva and took the form of Shodashi - literally, a 16-year-old girl and a paragon of beauty. The Divine Mother takes various forms according to time and situation. Creation, preservation, and destruction are all Her play. When killing demons, she takes a destructive form, but She assumes a benign form for Her devotees.
On 5 June 1872, the night of Phalaharini Kali Puja, Ramakrishna worshipped Shodashi, the third form of the Divine Mother, in Sarada. Years before, he had begun his sadhana by worshipping, 'Adyashakti', or the Primordial Power, in the image of Bhavatarani Kali of Dakshineswar. Finally, on that new moon night in 1872, he worshipped the same Adyashakti in the living form of Sarada. Thus he completed his sadhana by offering to her the results of all his spiritual practices.
This important event awakened Sarada's divinity, manifested his own spiritual relationship with Sarada, and made clear the role she would play in the future. By performing the Shodashi Puja, Ramakrishna signified that the Adyashakti had taken form as Sarada Devi.
[The short meditation mantra of the Goddess Shodashi is:
'Balarka-mandala bhasam chatur-bahum trilochanam;
Pasha-ankusha-sharan-chapam dharayantin shivam shraye.
The worship mantra of Shodashi is:
"Hring tripurasundaryai namah"]
-Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play
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