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yajvan
16 December 2008, 05:15 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

Namaste

from a previous post...


And who is this sati?
We can look at satī सती , She is considered Truth (sat) personified. This connnects nicely to atanu's 'residual truth' offered above.
Satī सती also means good and virtuous; this word satī later becomes suttī, a faithful wife; satī is also fragrant earth.
sāti साति too, is gaining, winning or acquisition - what is key here is sa. This sa स by itself is considered a noun for Śiva and/or Viṣṇu; a noun for knowledge, or meditation.
If we extend the a and make it sā सा it becomes giving, bestowing, granting. And who does this? Lakṣmī or Gaurī, sā another name for them both.

As mentioned satī is grounded in sat सत्- truth, being, existence, that which really is, entity or existence , essence (sāra) and culminates in sattā which is (feminie) existence, being, and brings us back to satī.
Hence satī & sattā + sat : satī ( Śrī Devī ,Pārvatī, Gaurī, Śaivī is śakti) + sat (Śiva¹, Maheśvara) together , are One or Paramārtha - the highest purpose, Paramātman or the Supreme Self, many call Parameśvara the Supreme Lord that is unsupassible (anuttara - without equal).
Extending the conversation a bit more.
We know that sitā is the wife of Śrī Rām. We also have this word sītā सीता. This word sītā is a furrow , the track or line from ploughing. Also note:
sita सित - is bright, white, the bright half of the month when the moon returns to full; it also means bound.
Sitā सिता too is invoked as presiding over agriculture or the fruits of the earth; it is also white sugar.

And sitā is also known as sāvitrī (note the sā, as we will pick up on this in a moment), she is known as indra-patnī or the wife of indra.
As his wife, She was recognized even before ṛṣi Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa epic and her association with Śrī Rām.

Now wait a minute , we were disussing satī … why mention this sitā , where is the connection? From the last post above on satī, I mention:


Satī सती means good and virtuous; this satī is also fragrant earth.

What is the connection? Its said that sitā emerged from the earth when King Janaka was plowing (sītā) the field during a ritual to invoke rains i.e. to prepare it for a sacrifice to obtain progeny. Because of this She also became known as ayoni-jā or 'not womb-born'. She was born from the furrow, from the earth plowed by the King ~ of the fragrant earth (satī) ~.

Satī and sitā are connected. And what connects them? This si सि has its root in sā सा. We mentioned:


sa स by itself is considered a noun for Śiva and/or Viṣṇu; a noun for knowledge, or meditation. If we extend the 'a' and make it sā सा it becomes giving, bestowing, granting. This sā is also a noun for Lakṣmī or Gaurī, sā another name for them both.

And what then of sarasvatī? She too must be connected. Her name includes sa ; sara is a lake, a pool, waterfall and She is known or connected to rivers.
Yet ths sāra is essence, the best part, the chief ingredient of anything - and that is sattā or Being.
Her name in components is a thing of beauty sa-rasa-va-ti: sa we know i.e. a noun for Śiva and/or Viṣṇu; a noun for knowledge, or meditation + rasa¹ is the best or finest or prime part of anything , essence ( note ra-sa is just sa-ra in reverse) and also means precious ,valuable. And va is auspiciousness, strong, powerful, and ocean-water. We can look at vati¹ as it means likeness or assemblence of 'like or as'.

She is the essense, the best of everything - the Ocean of Being (sa). It is She who is the essense of our being and existence. How so? When we consider our makeup of food composed of rasa¹. When we consider our SELF as 'sa', it is Śiva, the core of Being.

This sā सा and sa स are quite profund and is found in many bīja mantra-s due to its connections to Śiva-Viṣṇu & the connection to the various forms of śakti e.g. lakṣmī, gaurī, sitā, satī, sāvitrī, dākṣāyaṇī, sarasvatī.
Hence sā is another form of Śrī Devī, Śaivī is śakti is Śrī Devī and many find Her in a multitude of places¹.

pranams

words and additional posts

rasa रस is associated with taste. Those tastes recognized in Ayurveda are madhura or sweet, amla or sour, lavaṇa or salt, kaṭuka or pungent, tikta or bitter, and astringent or kaṣāya. Yet rasa is the constituent fluid or essential juice of the body, some call ojas ओजस् - vigor , energy , ability , power.
ti stands for iti - or iti refers to something that has been said or thought , or lays stress on what precedes is my undersanding , but am not sure it applies in sarasvatī's name. I look to stand corrected.
Multitude of places: Other places that discuss Śrī Devī in other forms i.e. the daśa mahāvidyā-s or the 10 great ( Maha) forms of power or knowledge (vidyā) see HDF post http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3226 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3226)