! )N::ð dðv:i s:rsv:t:i v:aj:ðeB:v:aüej:n:iv:t:i . D:in:am:ev:*y:v:t:Ø ..
OM praõo devã sarasvatã vàjebhirvàjinãvatã dhãnàmavitryavatu
EIGHTH NIGHT
The Goddess Of Success
j:y: s:rsv:et: j:y: s:rsv:et: j:y: s:rsv:et: p:aeh m:am:Î .
Â:i s:rsv:et: Â:i s:rsv:et: Â:i s:rsv:et: rx: m:am:Î ..
jaya sarasvati jaya sarasvati jaya sarasvati pàhi màm
÷rã sarasvati ÷rã sarasvati ÷rã sarasvati rakùa màm
SALUTATIONS to the Supreme Divine Mother, who is the substratum and the ultimate goal of all this universe. Salutations to the Mother, the Brahma Rupini, who is the mysterious indescribable power of the Transcendent Reality. Our adorations again and again to Her, the Supreme Shakti, the Adi Shakti, the Para Shakti, who manifests as Saraswati, grants us all release from this phenomenal existence of pain and death by conferring upon us the Supreme Knowledge of Para Brahman.
The entire visible creation, all phenomena, Anantakoti Brahmandas, beyond human ken are all the wondrous and glorious manifestations of Mother Saraswati. She is the Primal Power aspect of the Supreme Being, who is beyond all comprehension, and it is She that first manifests Herself as the mysterious Nada, and is, therefore, worshipped as Nadarupini Saraswati. She is Chidrupini or Shabdarupini also, because She is the very embodiment of the Supreme Pranava. The Transcendental Existence is pure Consciousness. It is motionless, actionless, Nishkriya. There is not the least movement or vibration. It is Nishpanda and there arises no sound, no action, no movement in it. It is Ashabda, Nishpanda, Nishkriya. In this infinite mass of consciousness, Ananda Ghana, the Vedas declare how there first manifests one point of primal stress. This point of stress in the mass of consciousness is the mysterious Bindu, the origin of all things that are and the Bindu expresses itself as the Nada. The Adi-spanda manifesting as the point of stress in the mass of infinite consciousness expresses itself as Nada, and this is the great Mother Saraswati. And therefore it is, as we saw, that the Mother is conceived of as the pure, spotless Being clad in white, where there is no variation of any colour and bearing the Veena which embodies, as it were, the force of all Nada. From Nada, which is the primal sound, in the form of pure Dhvani, gradually the entire manifestation starts as articulate sound. The articulate sound is Vak, and Vak is expressed as the Varna or the letter, and combinations of letter-sounds go to form the word or the Nama, and the Artha of this Nama, the meaning embodied in the name becomes expressed as the form. Whatever we see in this phenomenal universe is of the nature of formfulness. This phenomenon, which is Ananta-rupa is ultimately in the nature of infinite effects of the Primal Shabda Brahman, or Mother Saraswati, having gradually progressed through these various phases as Dhvani, Vak, Varna, Nama and then Rupa. And this Transcendental Essence of all manifested creation is also specially manifest in this world of men and things. This is what we shall see today. For, when we had the occasion during the previous days of adoring the Mother in Her aspects as Durga, the powerful, the dissolver of Namarupa, and as Lakshmi, the preserver, protector and sustainer of all Namarupa in Trikala, we referred to Them not only in Their original cosmic aspects but also in their manifest aspects upon this plane of man and his activities in this Vyavaharic world, and also as they were inwardly manifest in the consciousness and in the personality of the seeker, Jiva, progressing upon the inner path of Yoga Sadhana towards the goal of perfection and reunion with the Supreme Soul called Para Brahman. Even so when we come to consider the Mother as She may be manifest in this world of men and things we find that the Goddess Saraswati though manifest upon this external world of Vyavahara and the various activities of man, yet She is not quite so much manifest as the Supreme Para Shakti as Durga and Lakshmi, and there is a reason for this, for the Mother is, as it were, at the two terminals of the cyclic process of involution and evolution back down to the Primal Sours. We have seen how Mother is the creative impulse. She is the one who presides over the coming into manifestation of the unmanifest Transcendent, and as such in the world Her function is primary and then She withdraws into the background. Once things have come into manifestation and the Nameless has taken Namarupa, then She recedes, handing over the further processes to Her other aspects manifest through the Goddess Lakshmi and the Goddess Durga. Therefore it is that we are more aware—our notice is more drawn towards the play of Shakti in Its preservative aspect; for this is spread over the field of time, for we find this is a continuous process. Therefore naturally the attention of man is more fixed upon this aspect and also upon the final play of the Mother as the dispassionate dissolver of all names and forms. And there is this very natural and understandable reason for this state of affairs, i.e., for the other two aspects being more in the attention and consciousness of man, and the reason is that due to the Mamata or ‘mineness’ and the intense attachment born out of mineness that man has towards Namarupa, towards the objects of this universe, he is specially interested in their sustenance, in their continuing in existence, and his attention is especially shocked and is arrested by their going out of existence. His intense attachment due to mineness does not like the idea of its dissolution. He is grieved and his attraction, therefore, brings the process of dissolution to loom very large in his mind. He is always aware of it and fears it and therefore it occupies his mind. He actively participates in this function of Mother as Lakshmi, in preserving things which he feels to be ‘mine’. But, the creativity of thing which spontaneously springs from Mother Saraswati, once it is done, it is taken for granted and it does not occupy the positive attention of man, and therefore, the presence of the Mother as Saraswati-Tattva is not so much recognised. But it stands to reason that She is indispensably there. Because, but for creation, things will not exist to get attached to. From the very nature of things the Mother who is taken for granted is an indispensable factor for everything which has come into being.
The Secret of Success
She is not only the outflow of the process of creativity, She is also all commencement, because commencement is that point from which creativity starts; and therefore in Hindu society the Mother is worshipped as all Arambha. Everything that starts is attributed to the grace Of Goddess Saraswati. It is a very peculiar factor that side by side with Mother as Saraswati, presiding over all Arambha or beginning, the devout Hindu also worships the special aspect of the Deity as Ganapathy. But here Ganapathy too is an aspect—but a negative one—of Arambha. For, He also represents Wisdom, but Mother represents creative aspect of wisdom and the special worship of Ganapathy, which is more known than the worship of Saraswati, is done more with the intention of warding off obstacles, whereas the positive aspect of worship that She may bestow by Her grace success on all things started is always centralised upon the adoration of Mother Saraswati. Let us consider how in this aspect Mother is manifest in this visible universe of man. Day after tomorrow for instance, we will see a special occasion when Mother is invoked and adored as the Deity presiding over all commencement. For, it has come down through holy tradition that Vijaya-Dasami is set apart for Vidyarambha—commencement of studies whether science or arts, on this day of Vijaya-Dasami is considered extremely auspicious and conducive to fruition. All musical instruments, and everything connected with creative art, all things connected with these creative processes in the communal life of man, is the object of adoration and worship on this Vijaya Dasami Day, and we find that the manifest form of the word, of the letter, as embodied in books, is decorated and it is worshipped in the traditional form, and after adoring Mother on the 9th, on the 10th day at a proper Muhurtha these books are taken out and the Vidyarambha commences.
This is upon the plane of the external activities of man; side by side we will find, and especially in this Ashram, that the inward commencement of spiritual life also is signified on this day by the spiritual aspect of this Arambha in the form of Upadesha. As you know, the mystic sound takes the form of Vak, Varna. All Mantras are mysterious occult combinations of these Varnas. A Mantra is a mass of localised Saraswati-Sakti and the Japa of the Mantra bestows transcendental knowledge upon the Sadhaka. This aspect of Saraswati is given to all seekers in the form of Mantra Upadesha. This is also the starting point of the inner spiritual evolution in the Sadhaka. The pure Spatika Mala which She holds stands for the practice of the Vedic knowledge which She holds in the form of the Pustaka in the other hand.
In the wider life of mankind in this world, when we view it through his understanding of the play of the Para Sakti in Her aspect as Saraswati, we will find that whatever creative activity goes on in this world is ultimately an attribute of Mother Saraswati. Therefore, the scientific researches carried on both here and in the super-scientific Occident, and discoveries that result from these scientific researches and the inventions which they make out of the discoveries of scientific laws and all the applications of such inventions are therefore the play of Divine Mother Saraswati.
Scientific researches, discoveries, inventions and the manufacture of various appliances based on such inventions—these are the direct manifestations of Mother Saraswati.
We have also said that side by side, Mother is there as commencement, and therefore, She is the supreme spiritual point of commencement of the day; that is, when the four Praharas of the night are ended and night recedes and a fresh new day commences in the solemn moment of the sacred Brahma-Muhurtha. There you have the fullest manifestation of Saraswati. It is permeated by the spiritualising power of Jnanadayini Saraswati. The new year also for this selfsame reason is an auspicious moment pervaded with the Spiritual Power of the Divine Sakti in Her aspect as Saraswati. The commencement of any new business, for instance, should he done with the devout adoration of Mother Saraswati. For then, She will out of Her grace bestow success on the new enterprise. It is only Her play that makes possible the founding of any new institution or commencement of any new enterprise. This is also a manifestation of Mother Saraswati, and it is a very common sight particularly here, at Ananda Kutir, that any commencement is first of all solemnised by invoking the blessings of Mother Saraswati. Also the commencement of every new phase, during the process of the construction for instance, the digging of the foundation-laying of the corner-stone, is preceded by the worship of Mother Saraswati.
Similarly, all trades and all activities are to be done in a spirit of devout worshipfulness and in a spirit of Puja of the Mother as Saraswati, and to a great extent this practice is followed, at least to my knowledge, in almost all the business houses in South India. I have noted it is the other aspect of the resultant money that is more remembered and regarded in the Maharashtra state, where business people are more the votaries of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, rather than of Saraswati. But either way, the worship goes to the Supreme Deity. But we must realise that all these movements in human activity are but the play of Para Shakti in Her Various forms, be it Lakshmi, Durga or Saraswati. Realising this, we must approach all activity and we must engage in all activity in a devout spirit, in a solemn and devout Bhava, of pure Puja of Parashakti and thus alone we shall he able to utilise even the activities of Vyavahara for the evolution of our spiritual life. If this is done, we shall find that we shall not have much room to complain about the lack of opportunity and the absence of enough time for the man of the world to engage in worship, meditation and Yoga Sadhana, because it is a failure to recognise the spiritual nature of all activities and to perceive the Hand of Mother in all activities.
It is this that makes man to think that he cannot do Spiritual Sadhana and there are no hopes of his Spiritual Illumination. This is a sad mistake, for the devout Hindu and the Indian genius conceives all life as a means to the Supreme end of Self-realisation. To the devout Hindu, life has no greater meaning than that of an opportunity afforded to the Jiva to quickly finish his evolution and reach the goal of human life, viz., Self-realisation. Therefore we must try to live as such, for there is nothing secular to the Hindu, and to him all movements are the manifestations of the Divine Mother and activities are a continuous worship of Para Shakti, and realising this, we must change our entire attitude towards activity. We should not feel that we are fallen, or we are far from the spiritual Reality, in our secular activities, and spend the life regretting for the lack of opportunity for Sadhana. On the other hand, all work should be done in a spirit of joy, in a spirit of enthusiasm, and in an elevated state of mind, for one must know all is Matri Puja. Therefore one should do it in a spirit of inspired worshipfulness and we will find that there is no need for man either to change his profession or place or to run away to a forest and try to live an exclusive life of the conventional mode of Nivritti. If the time comes for a life of seclusion and meditation, well and good, but if this is not possible, as is the case with the vast majority, there need be no regret, for, indirectly, everything is Yoga, and everything is spiritual Sadhana, once the correct attitude is adopted and the proper view of things is accepted. This is the special truth which we may find revealed through the nine days’ adoration of the Divine Mother. If the hand works, eyes see, nose smells, ears hear and tongue utters—all these movements are the worship of the Mother in Her Dynamic aspect. And to remind us of this, our wise ancients have given us this rare blessing, privilege of the Navaratra Puja of the Blessed Divine Mother. Therefore it is the primary duty of all mankind, the children of the Divine Mother, not to forget this great privilege conferred upon them of continually worshipping the Mother in and through all life’s activities.
Let us rejoice in having this gift of human birth and in having this gift of capacity to act and move for the glorification of the Mother. We have in our hand a rare opportunity for attaining the highest goal of Self-realisation and if we make use of this outer form of Mother’s Worship in the form of spiritualised activity, later on we shall be graced by the Mother; She will bestow upon us the inner form of this worship in the form of contact with sages and in the form of their grace, Upadesha and Diksha. She will come in the form of Mantra, and as we progress, She will manifest Herself as the supreme Dhyana, which is the gateway to illumination and ultimately She will illumine our consciousness as Samadhi, for Her ultimate manifestation in the individual is as Samadhi and Self-Knowledge. When thus She manifests Herself, the goal of life is achieved, our life’s work is done, our worship of Mother is complete and then we shall have no more to do but to enjoy the Supreme Perennial Bliss of the Para-Brahman, this mysterious Shakti that the Mother is.
O Mother! Who meditates on you together with Vashini and others who bestow eloquence and who are like the fissure of moon-stone (Sasimani) in lustre, he becomes the author of great literary master-pieces, which are charming in their expressions and whose words are sweet due to the fragrance of the lotus of Saraswati’s mouth.
s:ev:*:ieB:v:aüc:aö S:eS:m:eN:eS:l:B:¤,ec:eB:
-v:úeS:ny:a½aeB:stv:aö s:h j:n:en: s:öec:nt:y:et: y:H .
s: kt:aü kavy:an:aö B:v:et: m:ht:aö B:¤,ec:eB:-v:üc::ðeB:v:aügdðv:iv:dn:km:l:am::ðdm:D:ØròH ..
savitrãbhirvàcàü ÷a÷imaõi÷ilabhaïgarucibhi-
va.N÷inyàdyàbhistvàü saha janani saücintayati yaþ
sa kartà kàvyànàü bhavati mahatàü bhaïgarucibhi-rvacobhirvàgdevãvadanakamalàmodamadhuraiþ
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