Encounters with Maa Saraswati?

[c.smith]

Hari Om!

Curious as to other members experiences with Maa Saraswati. Would you be so kind as to share stories of how She presents Herself in your life or other stories of relevance? Have seen bits and pieces spread throughout the forums, but would like a focused effort if possible. My most sincere apologies if this has been duplicated elsewhere. In such case, moderator is free to delete this post.

Jai Jai Hanuman!

[ShivaIsLord]

Namaste (this is the correct greeting, right?)

The other day I was writing some essays for english class (I waited until the last possible day to write all five). I wrote the first three, and it was really hard and took quite a while. Even though I'm a Muslim, I remembered that Saraswati was the goddess that my Hindu friend prays to for help with school, so I quietly asked her to help me write my essays. The last two essays (which were the hardest ones, or so I thought they would be) were surprisingly easy and I completed them very quickly.

Either I was wrong about Saraswati before, or Allah has a sense of humour.

[saidevo]

namase Smith and other members.

To understand how mA sarasvatI and her consort brahmA manifest in us, how we encounter them at every moment of our life, we need to understand their nature.

• In the name sarasvatI (notice the long vowel in tI), saras means 'anything that flows' and atI means 'to pass by, to elapse, pass over, to pass on, to pass through, elapse'. Thus the terms especially refer to the flow of water and speech.

• BrahmA and SarasvatI stand for manas--mind, and vAch--speech respectively. The human mind creates, both good and evil, like BrahmA; and SarasvatI flows through the human tongue as speech. Since we cannot speak out all that we think of, vAch--speech, is a reduction of our thoughts into words.

• The following story about the birth of SarasvatI is from brahmANDa purANam, ch.43 highlights these truths:

BrahmA got ready for creation, and while in meditation sattvaguNa--sublime quality began swelling up in his mind wherefrom a girl was born. BrahmA asked her who she was. She answered: "I am born from you. You fix for me a seat and duties." Then BrahmA told her that her name was SarasvatI and ordained that she should stay on the tip of everybody's tongue. You dance especially on the tongues of learned people. You should also exist on earth in the form of a river, and assuming a third form you should live in me too." Sarasvati agreed to this.

• Many of us are doing pUja to her, chanting her stutis--adorations and mantras and meditating on her. Although only some of us might have experientially felt her presence, she is present in everyone of us, along with BrahmA, every waking and dreaming moment of our life.

• She is the wisdom that flows through us and helps us get over or face difficult situations. She is the voice of conscience that calls on us to check the flow of the rajas and tamas guNas in us. She is the muse that inspires us in our thoughts, speech and writing.

In short, we as humans represent the combination of BrahmA and SarasvatI, in our thoughts, words and actions.

[Mana]

हरिः ओम्


Namaste c.smith,


My first encounter with Maa Saraswati was at 19 years old, I had what was then termed as a rising of manic energy, on an enormous scale,
this was accompanied by a strong vision as to the nature of reality; this was accompanied by a realisation as to the dynamic nature of genetic code
dna, in its current modelled form. The interconnections between humans and other life forms due to it nature; the fractal interconnected nature
of everything. Very difficult to comunicate

I now see that this was a gift from Maa Saraswati, much of what I saw then, is now becoming realised by science. My Sister is a Philosophical
Doctor of Genetics, she confirms this. Although I think She still finds it difficult to assimilate. I am still just her strange crazy brother it is her way of
explaining this to her self.

I have only very recently received meaningful guidance as to how to deal with this, and even work with it; up until then I had been purely
following my instinct.


praṇāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[Mana]

हरिः ओम्


Namaste Saidevo,


Thank you kindly for this wonderfully informative posting, it is fascinating for me to read and rings close to my heart, for what has been
for me the lack and want of a language with which to express these happenings, I have now found in the beautiful structure of sanAtana
dharma.

Your explanation is most beautiful!

We cannot forget her help as she is very present when one improvises on a musical instrument, another form of divine speech, without
her blessing the flow, misses the mark!


praṇāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[Dhira Simha]

Hari Om!

Curious as to other members experiences with Maa Saraswati. Would you be so kind as to share stories of how She presents Herself in your life or other stories of relevance? Have seen bits and pieces spread throughout the forums, but would like a focused effort if possible. My most sincere apologies if this has been duplicated elsewhere. In such case, moderator is free to delete this post.

Jai Jai Hanuman!

SarasvatI holds a special place in my heart! Her image is very close to a prominent deity in Russian mythology: the Swan-Queen (Tsarevna-Lebed'). Perhaps you would be interested to read this post:

This is a fragment from my public lecture �Russian-Vedic Parallels� which I gave at SOAS some three years ago. I demonstrated how one can translate a passage from a Russian verse by Pushkin only with the help of Sanskrit, using a method similar to the one applied in deciphering ancient texts (i.e. Shumerian etc.)

Complex Russian text analysed with the help of Sanskrit

[saidevo]

namaste Mana.

Yes, how did I forget about music, when the origin of the English term is in muse? SarasvatI is the preceptor of the 64 arts, of which is music one. A list of these 64 arts is given at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_art

I have posted an explanation of her form at:
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=448
with further details at:
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/sarasva...f_learning.htm

Thanks for pointing out the omission.

[Mana]

हरिः ओम्


Namaste,


What a delightful thread this has become, thank you c.smith for its inspiration. Pleased to meet you, Dhira Simha how fascinating!
I know so very little of Russian culture and language, it is an amazing revelation for me, quite an inspiration.

Thank you for your beautiful explanation saidevo, I enjoyed reading it immensely.

I am reminded of this speech that I heard a while back; I think the author describes well the old English muse or the idea of genius
not being the person, it is so true that the Western focus upon the ego has destroyed so many of our artists and talents. It is almost
as if one must suffer, in order for their work to be valid.

Elizabeth Gilbert: A new way to think about creativity.

An interesting perspective and one that should maybe be taken note of in India, given the recent rise of Bollywood.



praṇāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[JaiMaaDurga]

Namaste,

I too am grateful for this thread.. an Internet forum in a sense is
wonderfully appropriate for praising Her, such a wonder of technology and
communication would scarcely be possible without Her gifts.

Here I wish to beg my fellow members' indulgence and ask rhetorically:

How can the pipal tree help one to reach a greater understanding of Her?
What is the connection?

I look forward to your thoughts on this,

JAI MATA DI

[Dhira Simha]

Namaste,

How can the pipal tree help one to reach a greater understanding of Her?
What is the connection?

JAI MATA DI

Namaste. I am very impressed that you turned your thought to the Pippala tree which has a Latin name Ficus religiosa.The idea of the sacred tree of life is one of the most ancient concepts. If you really want to understand it please read more about this. In Skr. the Pippala tree is clearly associated with this idea. One of its names is aśvattha meaning literally "under which horses stand". There is an interesting story behind this. Just to give you a glimpse of it, ponder on this traditional and recurring Russian embroidery symbolising the World Tree
in the form of a female goddess.
I think our Hindu brothers will also recognise this motif.
Now, how does SarasvatI enter here? Pippala is also known as the Bodhi tree: or the tree of wisdom and enlightment. The connection with SaraswatI is quite transparent. But this is only a small bit of satyam.
Look at this picture of a willow tree:
The resemblance with Pippala is striking! This could be taken as a coincidence if not for the following facts: Willow is a very prominent tree in mythology. I suggest you do your own research. In Greek mythology willow was a symbol of a feminine deity. One of the names of Artemida was ligogesma "wrapped in willow". The goddess Hera was born under a willow tree. There are many other interesting links. Importantly, willow grows near water and its sweeping branches usually touch the water. Think on connection of SarasvatI with water. In a very important Kauśītāki Upaniṣad (which is connected to Rig Veda) in the world of Brahman there is a tree ilya which grows by the river vijara "not growing old, ever young". Now compare ilya and ilā meaning "flow; speech; the earth". SarawatI appeas always with a peacock. In many languages, including Russian the name for pacock is pava and it also means river. Read about peacock significance in mythology as a symbol of immortality. Incidentally, this was also a symbol of the goddess Hera. And now take the Rus. name for willow: iva. The sound /l/ has a tendency to turn into /w/ in many languages particulary Polish where they have a letter ł is read as /w/. The Eng. "willow" also relates here with the addition of the initial (called prosthetic) w. This is not all. In Russian the usual name for willow is plakuchaya iva. Now, compare this with the other name of the sacred Pippala tree plakṣa. These are only a few hints to set you mind working!