Dhyana Shlokas

Dhyana means meditation.
A Dhyana sloka explains the form on which one has to fix his/her mind during dhyanam(meditation)

Shloka1
Sindhuraruna vigraham trinayanam manikya mouli spurath 
Thara Nayaga sekaram smitha mukhi mapina vakshoruham,
Panibhayam alipoorna ratna chashakam rakthothpalam vibhrathim,
Soumyam ratna gatastha raktha charanam, dhyayeth paramambikam.

Meaning
Meditate on that Ambika,
Who has a body of the colour of saffron,
Who has the three graceful eyes,
Who has a jeweled crown,
Adorned by the moon,
Who always has a captivating smile,
Who has high and firm breasts,
Who has wine filled cup made of precious stones,
And reddish flowers in her hands,
Who forever is the ocean of peace,
And who keeps her red holy feet,
On a jeweled platform.

Shloka2
Arunam Karuna thrangitakshim dhrutha –pasangusa-pushpabana-chapam,
Animadhibhi-ravrutham mayukai –raha mityeva vibhavaye Bhavanim. 

Meaning
I imagine of my goddess Bhavani,
Who has a colour of the rising sun.
Who has eyes which are waves of mercy,
Who has bow made of sweet cane,
Arrows made of soft flowers,
And pasanugusa in her hands,
And who is surrounded,
By her devotees with powers great,
As personification of the concept of “aham”

Shloka3
Dyayeth padmasanastham vikasitha vadanam padma pathrayathakshim,
Hemabham peethavasthram karakalitha-lasadhema padmam varangim,
Sarvalangara yuktham sathatham abhayadam bhaktha namram bhavanim. 
Srividyam santhamuthim sakala suranutham sarva sampat pradhatrim.

Meaning
Meditate I do,
On her who sits on a lotus,
On her who has a smiling face,
On her who has long eyes like the lotus leaf,
On her who glitters like gold,
On her who wears red cloths,
On her who has a golden lotus in her hand,
On her who grants all desires,
On her who is dressed with perfection,
On her who gives protection,
On her who has soft heart to her devotees,
On her who is Sri vidya,
On her who is forever peaceful,
On her who is worshipped by gods,
And on her who gives all wealth.

Shloka4
Sakumkumalepana –malikachumbi-Kasthurikam,
Samanda hasithekshanam sashra chapa pasangusam,
Asesha jana mohinim –maruna malya bhoosham bara,
Japa-kusuma-basuram japa vidhou smarathembikam.

Meaning
Meditate on her,
Who applies saffron on her body,
Who applies musk attracted by bees on her,
Who has a beautiful smile,
Who has with her bows, arrows and Pasangusa,
Who attracts all the souls,
Who wears red garland,
Who wears ornaments great,
And who is of the colour of the red hibiscus,

Story behind Lalitha Sahasranama

Parama shiva is one of the Trimurthys. He is the lord of destruction. He married Sathi, daughter of Daksha. Daksha out of ignorance could not realize that lord Shiva is a supreme power. He saw lord Shiva as a mere son-in-law.  He could not appreciate his pastimes on meditation and other spiritual activites. He thought Shiva is not capable and did not invite him for a great fire sacrifice ceremony conducted by him. However Sathi went to attend the function though it's against Shiva’s advise. Daksha insulted her husband in that fire ceremony. Sathi could not bear it. So she jumped in the fire of yoga and ended her life. This incident upset Shiva. He destroyed Daksha yagna with help of Veerabhadra and went into deep meditation. Sathi is born again as daughter of the mountain(Parvathy) king. After attaining adulthood, she wished to marry Shiva and started penance. Shiva and Parvathy indulged in a prolonged penance for each other. Meanwhile other devas had to face a very great enemy called Sura Padma. He had a boon that only a son of Shiva and Parvathy can kill him. Devatas felt helpless at the never ending penance of Shiva and Parvathy. So to wake up Shiva from his deep meditation the devas deputed Manmatha, the God of love. Manmatha shot his flower arrows at Shiva. That disturbed Shiva's meditation and he woke up in anger. He opened his third eye and burnt Manmatha(God of love) into ashes. The Devas and Rathi Devi the wife of Manmatha requested Shiva to give life back to Manmatha. Their intention was to bring love between Shiva and Parvathy and hope that they give a male child who can help them in the fight with Sura Padma. But the plan failed miserably. Shiva was still very disturbed. He stared at the ashes of Manmatha. Then Bhandasura emerged from those ashes. He  made all the world impotent and ruled it from the city of Shonitha pura. He has a boon that he can absorb half of his opponent's if challenge him in a fight. Due to this, he became unconquerable. He started troubling the devas. The devas then sought the advice of Sage Narada who advised them to conduct a fire sacrifice (yagna) with fire that is outside of our brahmanda (Chidagni). From the fire rose Sri Lalitha Tripura Sundari.

The devas prayed her to kill Bhandasura. Because her power is infinite, she is not effected by Bhandasura's boon. She was accompanied by the powers called anima, mahima etc, Brahmi, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Mahendri, Chamundi, Maha Lakshmi, Nitya Devaths and Avarna Devathas who occupy the Sri Chakra. While Sampatkari devi was the captain of the elephant regiment, Aswarooda devi was the captain of the cavalry. The army was commanded by Dhandini riding on the Charriot called Giri Chakra assisted by Manthrini riding on the chariot called Geya Chakra. Jwala malini protected the army by creating a ring of fire around it. ParaShakthi rode in the center on the chariot of Sri Chakra. Nithya Devi destroyed a large chunk of Bandasura’s armies, Bala Devi killed the son of Bandasura, and Manthrini and Dhandini killed his brothers called Vishanga and Vishukra. When the Asuras created blockade(Jaya vighna yantra) for the marching army, Sri Lalitha Tripura sundari created Ganesha with the help of Kameshwara to remove the blockade. Then Bandasura created the asuras called Hiranyaksha, Hiranya Kasipu and Ravana. Lalitha Devi created the ten avatars of Vishnu and destroyed them. She killed all his army using Pasupathastra and killed him with Kameshwarasthra. The gods then praised her. She then recreated Manmatha for the good of the world. This story is explained in the first 84 names of the first 34 slokas of Lalitha Sahasra nama.