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Thread: Saraswati Puja

  1. #21
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    I always wanted to get my hands on a sitar. Very hard to learn, I understand. Definitely need a teacher.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

  2. #22
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Vannakkam Minotaur; perhaps there are simpler ones from this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_musical_instruments

    One of my kids friends wanted an Indian drum. "What type?" I asked.

    More of the diversity story.

    Nice little sampler I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOxD77LDUQY There are just so many. My favorite two are nadaswaram and thavil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK8QN9MQHIA

    Aum Namasivaya

  3. #23
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Oh it's got to be sitar. Sarod is just as tough, at least. It is fretless, and the strings are so taut they have to be pressed down with the edge of the fingernail.

    I saw a lot of different instruments used in the Arpan performance at The Concert For George. It was really beautiful.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

  4. #24
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    One of my kids friends wanted an Indian drum. "What type?" I asked.
    I'm a lover of the tabla, myself. Although I have to admit that thavil performance was pretty insane right there. How do they move their hands so fast??? I can barely shake a tambourine in time to a song.

    Om namah Shivaya
    "Watch your thoughts, they become words.
    Watch your words, they become actions.
    Watch your actions, they become habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

    ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
    Om Gam Ganapataye namah

    लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
    Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu

  5. #25
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Quote Originally Posted by sunyata07 View Post
    I'm a lover of the tabla, myself. Although I have to admit that thavil performance was pretty insane right there. How do they move their hands so fast??? I can barely shake a tambourine in time to a song.

    Om namah Shivaya
    Vannakkam: Each night at the festival here, just before Ganesha goes on parade around the temple, the priest instructs the nadaswaram, then thavil, then the singer (This community is absolutely blessed to have a really really good thevaram singer) to do solo performances. For the nadaswaram, I close my eyes, I find it so full of melancholy and drive within. Same thing for the singer. But the thavil guy (This year's one was particularly good, only 28 years old, addicted to paan, but wow. So everyone just watches his hands move. Ganesha gets a greak from everyone staring at Him. One of my older acquaintances plays mridangam and if you really want to know how good someone is, you ask this guy.) Its really amazing, and incredibly loud if you're sitting close. It brings a whole new meaning to BANG on the drum.

    Aum Namasivaya

  6. #26
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    hari o
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    I thought to contribute this to the discussion on sarasvatī


    One way of looking at sarasvatī is the following: saras + vatī
    • saras - abounding in or connected with ponds, pools, water; yet specifically 'anything flowing or fluid'
    • vatī or vati is rooted (√) in van - to serve , honour , worship , help , aid ; to attract , seek , win. A second derivation is to love or worship.
      • Yet if we look at this word as vat , it is added to words to imply likeness or resemblance. In this case the resemblance of Her, the flowing or fluid.
    We know sarasvatī as She of the stream, flowing movement. We can consider consciousness as flowing and fluid. She is that quality of the Divine associated with eloquence and learning . We know sarasvatī through speech (vācā) communicated vigor to indra ; in the brāhmaṇas she is identified with vāc. We can consider bringing sarasvatī into our active consciousness , this great flood of Truth consciousness.


    Let's look at her name in another light : sa + ras(a) + vatī
    sa - having or possessing; it is rooted (√) in san meaning procuring , bestowing rasa.

    rasa - is taste or , flavor . It is the principal quality of fluids . Some times we call this rasa the essential
    juice of the body or of any thing, the essence. When we talk of rasa 6 kinds are called out
    ( as we find in āyurved as āyus = life, vital power)
    • madhura - sweet
    • amla - sour
    • lavaṇa - salt
    • kaṭuka - pungent
    • tikta - bitter
    • kaṣāya - astringent
    Now what is not much talked of is the 10 ~tastes~ or character of work , the feeling or sentiment prevailing in it:
    • śṛṅgāra -love
    • vīra - heroism
    • bībhatsa - disgust
    • raudra - anger or fury
    • hāsya - ridiculous , funny
    • bhayānaka - terror
    • karuṇa - pity
    • adbhuta - wonder
    • śānta - tranquillity or contentment
    • vātsalya - paternal fondness
    vatī - we discussed above.

    Sarasvatī is associated with brahmā the Creator of this universe, so we can consider saraswatī as śhakti (or energy) ; the flow of energy that brings on this universe to manifest or unfold. She is the essence ( rasa) of the Universe and is worthy of worship and honor ( vatī ).
    She brings forth or possesses (sa) the essence of (rasa) of creation (va). This va is a name of varuṇa who is described as fashioning and upholding heaven and earth , as possessing extraordinary power and wisdom.

    All this lives within the idea of sarasvatī.

    praṇām
    Last edited by yajvan; 16 July 2011 at 08:08 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  7. #27

    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Thank you yajvan for a truly inspiring post!

    I can only gasp with wonder at the marvels of a language so deeply interconnected. So infused with imagery so rich in philosophy, so Divine.


    Pranam

    Mana

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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    For as long as I can remember, I've longed to refer to God as My Mother, but the patriarcal system I have lived in would not permit it. God seemed distant and inclined to harsh judgements. Under the aspects of Mata Saraswati and Sri Lakshmi, God is loving and gentle and wants me to know her! It is a revelation to me.

    God is always male and GOD (paramatama or parabrahma) is male also.

    You seem like a loving soul. Was there ever a time when you fell in love with a god that was not so gentle or loving and wanted to destroy or wanted to teach someone a lesson?

    Iksvakave

  9. #29
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Quote Originally Posted by iksvakave View Post
    For as long as I can remember, I've longed to refer to God as My Mother, but the patriarcal system I have lived in would not permit it. God seemed distant and inclined to harsh judgements. Under the aspects of Mata Saraswati and Sri Lakshmi, God is loving and gentle and wants me to know her! It is a revelation to me.

    God is always male and GOD (paramatama or parabrahma) is male also.

    You seem like a loving soul. Was there ever a time when you fell in love with a god that was not so gentle or loving and wanted to destroy or wanted to teach someone a lesson?

    Iksvakave

    I have had the same experience, Iksvakave. The male image of God was cold, distant and harsh. I suppose it's all sense perception. But Lakshmi and Saraswati are love and kindness. They invite me to the loving, intimate relationship with God that I'd always sought. I'm glad that you experince the Divine Mother that way, too.
    Om Radha Krishnaya Namaha

  10. #30
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    Re: Saraswati Puja

    Namaste.

    Quote Originally Posted by sunyata07 View Post

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frNTP7Z8tXQ

    I can't believe I've never heard this one! Good luck with learning it.
    I know this is an old thread, but as I was surfing around, I came across it.

    Just to let you know, I learned to play the song. It's really pretty easy.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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