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Agnideva
02 June 2007, 10:06 PM
Namaste.

This thread is inspired by a previous short but beautiful post (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=12684&postcount=12) by Atanuji on Anandamayi Ma. The thread is on Holy Mothers (female saints and sages) and their teachings. Please feel free to add to the thread as you see fit. As Anandamayi Ma has been mentioned already, let us begin with her.

Jai Ma.

Agnideva
02 June 2007, 10:12 PM
http://www.anandamayi.org/photos/masc10.jpg
Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982 CE)

"With earnestness, love and goodwill carry out life’s everyday duties and try to elevate yourself step by step. In all human activities let there be a live contact with the Divine and you will not have to leave off anything. Your work will then be done well and you will be on the right track to find the Master. Just as a mother nourishes her child with all possible care and affection and makes him grow up into a healthy boy and a handsome youth, so you will find the subtle touches of the Divine Mother shaping your inner life and making you reach your full height and stature. Whatever work you have to do, do it with a singleness of purpose, with all the simplicity, contentment and joy you are capable of. Thus only will you be able to reap the best fruit of work. In fullness of time, the dry leaves of life will naturally drop off and new ones shoot forth."

http://www.anandamayi.org/

Agnideva
03 June 2007, 09:08 AM
http://www.life-times.co.uk/images/woman_meditating.jpg
Vak Ambrini

Maharishika (female sage) Vak Ambrini is the mantra drshta of the Devi Sukta of the Rigveda. Her realization of the Divine Mother was so complete, it is said, that she composed this hymn as the Divine Mother Herself. The Devi Sukta, also known as Vak Sukta, is one of the most important Vedic hymns of the Shaktas.

Devi Sukta
Hymn of Divine Mother
Rigveda Samhita X.125

1. I move with the Rudras and also with the Vasus,
I move with the Adityas and all the Devas.
I support both Mitra and Varuna,
Indra and Agni and the twin Ashvins.

2. I uphold Soma the exuberant;
I uphold Tvastar, Pusan, and Bhaga.
I pour wealth on the offerer of oblation,
the worshiper and the pious presser of Soma.

3. I am the ruling Queen, the amasser of treasures,
full of wisdom, first of those worthy of worship.
In various places the Divine powers have set me.
I enter many homes and take numerous forms.

4. The man who sees, who breathes, who hears words spoken,
obtains his nourishment through Me alone.
Unrecognizing Me, he yet dwells in Me.
Listen, you who know! What I say is worthy of belief.

5. It is I Myself who announce and utter the tidings
that Devas and men alike rejoice to hear.
The man I love I make increase in strength.
I make him a priest, a sage, or a learned seer.

6. It is I who draw the mighty bow of Rudra,
that an arrow may pierce the hater of the Holy Word.
Among the people I arouse the struggle
and I have permeated Earth and Heaven.

7. At the world's summit I bring forth the Father.
My origin is in the Waters, in the ocean.
Thence I am spread through all existing worlds
and even touch the heaven with my forehead.

8. I breathe out strongly like the wind while clasping
unto Myself all worlds, all things that are.
I tower above the earth, above the heavens,
so mighty am I in My power and splendor!

AUM.

Agnideva
04 June 2007, 06:44 AM
http://www.belurmath.org/image/SriSaradaDevi.jpg
Sarada Devi (1853-1920 CE)

Some sayings of Mother Sarada Devi:

God is one's very own. It is an eternal relationship.
Ordinary human love results in misery. Love for God brings blessedness.
One who makes a habit of prayer will easily overcome all difficulties.
As wind removes the cloud, so the Name of God destroys the cloud of worldliness.
My child, you have been extremely fortunate in getting this human birth. Have intense devotion to God. One must work hard. Can one achieve anything without effort? You must devote some time for prayer even in the midst of the busiest hours of the day.
Do the Master's work, and along with that practise spiritual disciplines too.
Work helps one to keep off idle thoughts. If one is without work, such thoughts rush into one's mind.
One must perform work. It is only through work that the bondage of work will be cut asunder and one will acquire a spirit of non-attachment.
One should always discriminate and strive hard for the realization of God.
Even water, which has a natural tendency to flow downwards, is drawn up to the sky by the sun's rays. In the same way, God's grace lifts up the mind which has got a tendency to run after sense objects.
Through spiritual disciplines the ties of past karma are cut asunder. But the realization of God cannot be achieved without ecstatic love for him.
It is idle to expect that dangers and difficulties will not come. They are bound to come. But for a devotee they will pass away under the feet like water.
Can you call a person who is devoid of compassion a human being? He is a veritable beast.
I tell you one thing - if you want peace, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.
When a man sees defects in others, his own mind first gets polluted. What does he gain by finding faults in others? He only hurts himself by that.
All teachers are one. The same power of God works through them all.
I am your true mother, a mother not by virtue of being your guru's wife, nor by way of empty talk, but truly the mother.
I am the mother of the virtuous as well as the wicked.
If my son wallows in the dust or mud, it is I who have to wipe all the dirt and take him on my lap.
My son, if a thorn pricks your foot, it hurts me like a spear entering my heart.
Never fear, and whenever you are in distress just say to yourself, "I have a mother"http://www.belurmath.org/srisaradadevi.htm

atanu
04 June 2007, 10:40 AM
Namaste.

This thread is inspired by a previous short but beautiful post (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=12684&postcount=12) by Atanuji on Anandamayi Ma. The thread is on Holy Mothers (female saints and sages) and their teachings. Please feel free to add to the thread as you see fit. As Anandamayi Ma has been mentioned already, let us begin with her.

Jai Ma.


Yes, Agnideva,

A relevant post. Nowadays I have become a cry baby -- I have a lump in the throat.

Ananadamayi Maa came as a bride to my maternal grandfather's home. She was definitely not a good housewife-- she could not be. My mother says that Maa was most of the time lost and she would eat bucket after bucket of boiling kheer directly from the fire.

My father was an atheist and we never visited Maa, when She was in Delhi. Only once, goaded by other lady relatives my father took us to Maa's ashram, where she met us for about two-three minutes before we were displaced by Madam Gandhi (Mrs. Gandhi) and her team.

I forgot all about it. In 1982, I began my service life in Baroda, where initially I shared a guest house room with a friend. One night we did not sleep. Lying on our respective beds, in the darkened room we kept on talking about Anandamayi Maa, sharing our stock of stories. The whole night we were full of Anandamayi Maa.

Next morning, which was a Saturday or a Sunday as far as I remember, the newspaper carried the news of her leaving her body. And I remembered that She indeed had blessed me, she had put her soft small palm on my head.


Jai Jai Ma

Om Namah Shivaya

Agnideva
04 June 2007, 11:26 AM
A relevant post. Nowadays I have become a cry baby -- I have a lump in the throat.

Ananadamayi Maa came as a bride to my maternal grandfather's home.

Jai Jai Ma
Om Namah Shivaya
Namaste Atanu,

You are truly, truly blessed to have had Anandamoyi Ma in your family, whether you saw much of her or not. Thank you so much for sharing your most beautiful story with us.

I am probably far more of a cry baby than you, although I don’t allow that to come through enough in my posts. Every time I even so much as see Anandamoyi Ma’s picture, it brings a tear to my eyes – I can feel the compassion that she spread among the people around her.

When I posted that picture of Anandamoyi Ma, I found several others where she was younger lady. But, I picked that particular picture because it spoke to me very personally.

Jai Ma.
OM Namah Shivaya.
~A.

saidevo
04 June 2007, 11:27 AM
Namaste Atanu.

Thank you for sharing a wonderful personal tale and experience. You are really blessed and well on your path of Advaita.

sm78
04 June 2007, 11:35 AM
Yes, Agnideva,

A relevant post. Nowadays I have become a cry baby -- I have a lump in the throat.

Ananadamayi Maa came as a bride to my maternal grandfather's home. She was definitely not a good housewife-- she could not be. My mother says that Maa was most of the time lost and she would eat bucket after bucket of boiling kheer directly from the fire.

My father was an atheist and we never visited Maa, when She was in Delhi. Only once, goaded by other lady relatives my father took us to Maa's ashram, where she met us for about two-three minutes before we were displaced by Madam Gandhi (Mrs. Gandhi) and her team.

I forgot all about it. In 1982, I began my service life in Baroda, where initially I shared a guest house room with a friend. One night we did not sleep. Lying on our respective beds, in the darkened room we kept on talking about Anandamayi Maa, sharing our stock of stories. The whole night we were full of Anandamayi Maa.

Next morning, which was a Saturday or a Sunday as far as I remember, the newspaper carried the news of her leaving her body. And I remembered that She indeed had blessed me, she had put her soft small palm on my head.


Jai Jai Ma

Om Namah Shivaya

I echo other's feelings and thank you for sharing this personal tale about Anandamoyi Maa.

Also inspiring is the fact that the Atheism Bug which has bit our race for more than 5 decades now could not cast much of a spell on you.

Agnideva
05 June 2007, 11:11 AM
http://www.smitindia.org/images/muktai.jpg
Muktabai (13th century CE)

Muktabai was a saint of the Varkari Sampradaya, and a yogini of the Natha sampradaya. She was also the sister of Jnanadeva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnanadeva), author of the Marathi exposition on the Bhagavad-Gita, called the Jnaneshvari.

Though He has no form

Though He has no form, my eyes saw Him,
His glory is fire in my mind that knows,
His secret inner form invented by the soul.
What is beyond the mind has no boundary.
In it our senses end.
Mukta says: Words cannot hold Him,
Yet in Him all words are.

Where darkness is gone I live

Where darkness is gone I live,
Where I am happy.
I am not troubled by coming and going,
I am beyond all vision,
above all spheres.
His spirit lives in my soul.
Mukta says: He is my heart's only home.

http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/M/Muktabai/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/dharmachintan/sant/mukta.html
http://www.samachar.com/features/17024-literature.html

Agnideva
06 June 2007, 04:11 PM
http://membres.lycos.fr/tamoul/images/auvaiyar.jpg
Auvaiyer Ma (9th century CE?)

Auvaiyer Ma was a Saivite saint, a siddha yogini, and a devotee of Ganesha and Kartikeya. As a young woman, it is said, she wished not to be arranged into marriage, and prayed that she be turned into an old woman, so no one would want to marry her. Her prayers apparently came true, and she spent the rest of her life in pursuit of philosophy and devotion.

Vinayaka Ahaval
by Auvaiyar Ma

Cool, fragrant lotus feet
with anklets tinkling sweet,
gold girdle, flower-soft garment
setting off the comely hips,
pot-belly and big, heavy tusk,
elephant-face with the bright red mark,
five hands, the goad, the noose,
blue body dwelling in the heart,
pendulous jaws, four mighty shoulders,
three eyes and the three required marks,
two ears, the gold crown gleaming,
the breast aglow with the triple thread,
O Being, bright and beautiful!
Wish-yielding elephant, born of the
Master of Mystery in Mount Kailasa,
mouse-rider, fond of the three famed fruits,
desiring to make me yours this instant,
you like a mother have appeared before me
and cut the delusion of unending births.
You have come and entered my heart,
imprinting clear the five prime letters,
set foot in the world in the form of a guru,
declared the final truth is this, gladly,
graciously shown the way of life unfading.
With that unfailing weapon, Your glance,
You have put an end to my heinous sins,
poured in my ear uncloying precepts,
laid bare for me the clarity
of ever-fresh awareness,
sweetly given me Your sweet grace
for firm control of the senses five,
taught how to still the organs of action;
snapped my two-fold karma and dispelled
my darkness, giving, out of grace,
a place for me in all four states;
dissolved the illusion of triple filth,
taught me how to shut the five
sense gates of the nine-door temple,
fixed me firm in the six yogic centers,
stilled my speech, taught me
the writ of ida and pingala,
shown me at last the head of sushumna.
To the tongue of the serpent that sinks and soars
You have brought the force sustaining the three
bright spheres of sun, moon and fire --
the mantra unspoken asleep in the snake --
and explicitly uttered it;
imparted the skill of raising by breath
the raging flame of muladhara;
explained the secret of immortality,
the sun's movement and the charm
of the moon; the water lily's friend,
the sixteen states of the prasada mantra;
revealed to me in thoughtful wisdom
the six-faced form and the meanings four;
disclosed to me the subtle body
and the eight separate modes of being;
the orifice of Brahman opened,
giving me miraculous powers,
by your sweet grace, and mukti, too;
revealed my Self to me and by Your grace
swept away accumulated karma,
stilled my mind in tranquil calm
beyond speech and thought;
clarified my intellect, plunged me
in bliss which is the common ground
of light and darkness.
Boundless beatitude You have given me,
ended all affliction, shown the way of grace:
Siva eternal at the core of sound,
Sivalinga within the heart,
atom within atom, vast beyond all vastness,
sweetness hid in the hardened node.
You have steadied me clear in human form
all besmeared with holy ashes;
added me to the congregation
of Your servants true and trusty;
made me experience in my heart
the inmost meaning of the five letters;
restored my real state to me;
and rule me now, O Master of Wisdom,
Vinayaka. Your feet alone,
O Master of Wisdom, Vinayaka,
Your feet alone, are my sole refuge.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/lg/lg_ch-17.html
http://membres.lycos.fr/tamoul/auvaiyar.htm

Znanna
06 June 2007, 07:52 PM
http://www.smitindia.org/images/muktai.jpg
Muktabai (13th century CE)

Muktabai was a saint of the Varkari Sampradaya, and a yogini of the Natha sampradaya. She was also the sister of Jnanadeva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnanadeva), author of the Marathi exposition on the Bhagavad-Gita, called the Jnaneshvari.

Though He has no form

Though He has no form, my eyes saw Him,
His glory is fire in my mind that knows,
His secret inner form invented by the soul.
What is beyond the mind has no boundary.
In it our senses end.
Mukta says: Words cannot hold Him,
Yet in Him all words are.

Where darkness is gone I live

Where darkness is gone I live,
Where I am happy.
I am not troubled by coming and going,
I am beyond all vision,
above all spheres.
His spirit lives in my soul.
Mukta says: He is my heart's only home.

http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/M/Muktabai/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/dharmachintan/sant/mukta.html
http://www.samachar.com/features/17024-literature.html



Love never dies


ZN

Agnideva
08 June 2007, 05:26 PM
http://www.koausa.org/Saints/RupaBhawani/RopaBhawani1.jpg
Rupa Bhawani (1620-1720 CE)

Rupa Bhawani was a Shaivite saint and yogini of Kashmir. She was initiated into kundalini yoga by her father, and went on to compose many mystic poems called vakhs. Like many other female saints, she was married, but did not desire family life. Eventually, she left her husband’s home in search of self-realization.

I dashed down into the nether regions

I dashed down into the nether regions and brought the vital breath up;
I got its clue out of earth and stones;
Then my kundalini woke up with nada;
I drank wine by the mouth,
I got the vital breath gathered it within myself.

I did not come on this earth as a seed

I did not come on this earth as a seed,
To fall in the circle of births,
I am not the elements
Earth, water, fire, air and ether
I am beyond the primordial Universal Self and the individual self,
I am the Supreme Consciousness.

Selflessness is the sign of the selfless

Selflessness is the sign of the selfless;
Bow down at the door of the selfless.
The selfless are of the highest authority,
The kings of the time and the wearers of the crest and crown.

http://www.koausa.org/Saints/RupaBhawani/index.html
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/B/BhawaniRupa/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupa_Bhawani

Agnideva
10 June 2007, 10:54 AM
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/images/Gargee.jpg
Gargi Vachaknavi (9th century BCE?)

Gargi Vachaknavi was a famous philosopher and a Brahmavadini (knower of Brahman). The story goes that the Emperor of Videha, Janaka, had held a debate to discuss philosophy. Many great philosophers had arrived to debate the illustrious Sage Yajnavalkya. In the assembly, Gargi was the only female. The questions she posed of the great sage in assembly are preserved in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

From the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (III.6.1) of the Shukla Yajurveda:

Then Gargi, the daughter of Vachaknu, asked him, “Yajnavalkya”, she said, “If all this is pervaded by water, by what is water pervaded?”

“By air, O Gargi”.

“By what is air pervaded?”

“By the sky, O Gargi”.

“By what is the sky pervaded?”

“By the world of the Gandharvas, O Gargi”.

“By what is the world of the Gandharvas pervaded?”

“By the sun, O Gargi.”

“By what is the sun pervaded?”

“By the moon, O Gargi.”

“By what is the moon pervaded?”

“By the stars, O Gargi”.

“By what are the stars pervaded?”

“By the world of the Gods, O Gargi”.

“By what is the world of the Gods pervaded?”

“By the world of Indra, O Gargi”.

“By what is the world of Indra pervaded?”

“By the world of Viraj, O Gargi”.

“By what is the world of Viraj pervaded?”

“By the world of Hiranyagarbha, O Gargi”.

“By what is the world of Hiranyagarbha pervaded?”

He said, “Do not, O Gargi, push your inquiry too far, lest your head should fall off. You are questioning about a Deity that should not be reasoned about. Do not, O Gargi, push your inquiry too far.”

Thereupon Gargi, the daughter of Vachaknu, kept silent.

-----

From the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (III.8.1-12) of the Shukla Yajurveda:

Then the daughter of Vachaknu said (to the assembly), “Revered Brahmanas, I shall ask him (Yajnavalkya) two questions. Should he answer me those, none of you can ever beat him in describing Brahman.”

“Ask, O Gargi”.

She said, “I (shall ask) you (two questions). As a man of Benaras or the King of Videha, scion of a warlike dynasty, might string his unstrung bow and appear close by, carrying in his hand two bamboo-tipped arrows highly painful to the enemy, even so, O Yajnavalkya, do I confront you with two questions. Answer me those”.

“Ask, O Gargi”.

She said, “By what, O Yajnavalkya, is that pervaded which is above heaven and below the earth, which is this heaven and earth as well as between them, and which they say was, is and will be?”

He said, “That, O Gargi, which is above heaven and below the earth, which is this heaven and earth as well as between them, and which they say was, is and will be, is pervaded by the Unmanifested ether.”

She said, “I bow to you, Yajnavalkya, who have fully answered this question of mine. Now be ready for the other question.”

“Ask, O Gargi".

She said, “By what, O Yajnavalkya, is that pervaded which is above heaven and below the earth, which is this heaven and earth as well as between them, and which they say was, is and will be?”

He said, “That, O Gargi, which is above heaven and below the earth, which is this heaven and earth as well as between them, and which they say was, is and will be, is pervaded by the Unmanifested ether alone.”

“By what is the Unmanifested ether pervaded?”

He said: “O Gargi, the knowers of Brahman say, this Immutable (Brahman) is That. It is neither gross nor minute, neither short nor long, neither red colour nor oiliness, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor ether, unattached, neither savour nor odour, without eyes or ears, without the vocal organ or mind, non-luminous, without the vital force or mouth, not a measure, and without interior or exterior. It does not eat anything, nor is It eaten by anybody. Under the mighty rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, the sun and moon are held in their positions; under the mighty rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, heaven and earth maintain their positions; under the mighty rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, moments, muhurtas, days and nights, fortnights, months, seasons and years are held in their respective places; under the mighty rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, some rivers flow eastward from the White Mountains, others flowing westward continue in that direction, and still others keep to their respective courses; under the mighty rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, men praise those that give, the Gods depend on the sacrificer, and the manes on independent offerings (Darvihoma). He, O Gargi, who in this world, without knowing this Immutable, offers oblations in the fire, performs sacrifices and undergoes austerities even for many thousand years, finds all such acts but perishable; he, O Gargi, who departs from this world without knowing this Immutable, is miserable. But he, O Gargi, who departs from this world after knowing this Immutable, is a knower of Brahman. This Immutable, O Gargi, is never seen but is the Witness; It is never heard, but is the Hearer; It is never thought, but is the Thinker; It is never known, but is the Knower. There is no other witness but This, no other hearer but This, no other thinker but This, no other knower but This. By this Immutable, O Gargi, is the (Unmanifested) ether pervaded."

She said, “Revered Brahmanas, you should consider yourselves fortunate if you can get off from him through salutations. Never shall any of you beat him in describing Brahman”. Then the daughter of Vachaknu kept silent.

http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/brhad_III-06.html
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/brhad_III-08.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargi_Vachaknavi

yajvan
11 June 2007, 06:00 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~~

Namaste ,
what is beautiful about the story , King Janaka offered 1000 cows, each with gold on their horns to the muni of greatest wisdom of the vedas.

Yajnavalkya, before the questioning began, told his sisya to gather the cows and take them home. This was his confidence of the Veda's and of his knowledge of Brahman. This obviously got the attention (angst) Of the other Brahmins.

To consider oneself capable , even with the King Janaka, a wise man of scriptures, is considered Bold. Yet his technique was that of being reserved, but compelling to have others question him. He says' I bow down before and pay tribute to the best vedic scholar, however I am desirious of possessing the cows'. Indirectly he is asking for the questioning of others to begin with him. Thus begins the Asvala Brahmana in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Very much worth the read.

pranams,

atanu
29 July 2007, 10:29 AM
Agnideva has made this thread into a collector's item.

Regards

Agnideva
29 July 2007, 10:36 AM
Namaste Atanuji,

Agnideva has made this thread into a collector's item. Regards
Thank you. More holy mothers are yet to come! :)

Regards,
A.

Agnideva
01 August 2007, 10:38 PM
http://www.desikan.com/blogcms/media/1/20061221-andal_drawing_5.jpg
Andal Godai Devi (9th century CE)

Andal was a Vaishnava Alvar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azhvar) saint, and a devotee of Krishna. She is considered by Sri-Vaishnavas an incarnation of Bhudevi (Mother Earth), an eternal consort of Vishnu. Andal considered herself the bride of Ranganatha (Krishna), and would not hear of marriage to any human man. Every day, it is said she would carefully make a flower garland to be offered to the image of the Lord, but would first wear it herself before offering (symbolically signifying her daily marriage to the Lord). Andal has left behind two devotional works in the Tamil language called Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli.

-----

The full moon day of Margazhi is here

The full moon day of Margazhi is here
What an auspicious day it is!

O dear ornamented girls
who thrive in Brindavana,
overflowing with prosperity
Come along, let us go bathe,
Come along if you so desire.

Narayana --
The son of Nandagopa,
whose sharp spear is readily so cruel --
The young lion of Yashoda,
whose eyes are so full of love --
With dark body
red eyes
face like the sun and moon
Narayana alone
will give us
The drum!

So join us, so that the people
Of the world will celebrate.

O Great Deep Ocean

O great deep ocean,
the Lord entered into you,
mixed and churned you,
deprived you of your nectar.
That Lord of illusion
entered into me too,
churned me,
deprived me of my essence.
Go to the serpent who is the Lord's couch,
tell him of my endless sorrow
that he may plead for me.

In the morning’s small hours we come to adore

In morning's small hours we came to adore
Those golden lotuses, Your feet: why?
Born are we in the cowherd caste
But You must take us in your own employ.
Not only for today do we seek Your drum
But for ever and ever, seven times seven births!
Would be one with You, work only for You —
Change all our other wishes, Lord!

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andal