\engtitle{.. Prayer to Goddess Shaaradaa ..}## \itxtitle{.. shaaradaa praarthanaa..}##\endtitles #indian \beginstotra \centerline{##\LARGEdvng .. shriisha~Nkaravirachita shaaradaa praarthanaa .. ##} \centerline{\Large Prayer to Goddess Shaaradaa} \endstotra \beginsmallshloka ##namaste shaarade devi kaashmiirapuravaasini | \\ tvaamahaM praarthaye nityaM vidyaadaanaM cha dehi me ## \ \endshloka{1} \begintran ##he shaarade | he devi | namaH te | kaashmiirapuravaasini | he kaashmiira puryaaM vaasinii ## one who lives ##; tvaaM bhavatiiM ahaM praarthaye pra ## very much ##; artha ## 10 A to request ## arthaye uttama purushha eka vachane; nityaM pratidinaM | vidyaadaanaM vidyaayaaH daanaM me mahyaM dehi dadaatu |##\\ \medskip Namaste Saraswati! O effulgent Sarada, worshipped in the city of Kashmir (substitute your city's name here - worshipped in the city of North Brunswick). I pray to you everyday. Please give the pure knowledge. \endtran{1} \beginsmallshloka ## yaa shraddhaa dhaaraNaa medhaa vagdevii vidhivallabhaa \\ bhaktajihvaagrasadanaa shamaadiguNadaayinii ## \ \endshloka{2} \begintran ##yaa shraddhaa ## faith ##; dhaaraNaa ## one who holds, memory ##; medhaa ## intelligence ## vagdevii vaachaH devii vidhivallabhaa vidheH brahmaNaH vallabhaa patnii | bhaktaajihvaagrasadanaa bhaktaanaaM; jihvaayaaH ## of tounge ## agre ; sadanaa ## one who is, lives ##; bhaktajihvaagrasadanaa ## one who graces devotees' speech ##; shamaadi shama dama titikSha ityaadi guNaan.h daayini daatrii |##\\ \medskip You are faith, memory, intelligence, the divinity of speech, the spouse of Creator Brahmaa. You grace the devotees' speech, you are the bestower of inner peace, and all other excellences. \endtran{2} \beginsmallshloka ## namaami yaaminiiM naathalekhaala~NkR^itakuntalaam.h \\ bhavaaniiM bhavasantaapanirvaapaNasudhaanadiim.h ## \ \endshloka{3} \begintran ##yaaminii yaamaa asyaaM santiiti yaaminii iti amaram.h | yaamaH ## restraint, forbearance ##; yaamini ## she is restraint, forbearance ##; naatha ## protector ## lekhaa ## streaks ##; naathalekhaa ## streaks of lightening standing for sparkling knowledge ##; ala~NkR^ita ## decorated ##; kuntalaa ## one with ear-ornaments ##; ## Her ear ornaments are decorated with streaks of sparkling knowledge ##; bhavaanii bhavasya patnii bhavaanii iti amaram.h | bhava lokasya santaapa dukhaanaaM nirvaapaNa ## killing, extinguishing ##; sudhaa amR^itaM nadii ## river ;\\ \medskip I prostrate Yamini, one who is forbearance herself, who has her ears decorated with streaks of sparkling knowledge; who is Bhavaani, who is a river of nectar that extinguishes the torments of worldly life. \endtran{3} \beginsmallshloka ## bhadrakaalyai namo nityaM sarasvatyai namo namaH \\ vedavedaa~Ngavedaantavidyaasthaanebhya eva cha ## \ \endshloka{4} \begintran ##bhandate bhadraM | ## auspicious ##; bhadrakalyaaNii ## One who bestows auspiciousness ##; nityaM prati dinaM saraH prasaraNaM sarvatra astiiti sarasvatii | ## She exists everywhere as a flow (of knowlege) and hence she is Saraswati. ## ## From where? Answer: ## veda vedaa~Nga vedaanta vidyaa sthaanebhyaH |## \\ \medskip Constant salutations to you, O Mother Beneficient! You are the one who exists everywhere as a flow of knowledge originating from the Veda, the auxiliary branches of Veda, Upanishads, and all other forms of Learning. Salutations to you again. \endtran{4} \beginsmallshloka ## brahmasvaruupaa paramaa jyotiruupaa sanaatanii \\ sarvavidyaadhidevii yaa tasyai vaaNyai namo namaH ## \ \endshloka{5} \begintran ##yaa brahmasvaruupaa brahmaNaH svaruupaa yaa jyotiruupaa ## Divine light ##; yaa sanaatanii aadyantarahitaa yaa sarva vidyaanaaM adhi devii tasyai vaaNyai sarasvatyai namaH namaH | vaNyate shabdyata iti vaaNii | ## That which was said, speech ;\\ \medskip Prostrations to that Vani who is the supreme spirit, who is the divine light, who is The Eternal Being, and who is the presiding deity of all learning. \endtran{5} \beginsmallshloka ## yayaa vinaa jagatsarvaM shashvajjiivanmR^itaM bhavet.h \\ j~naanaadhidevii yaa tasyai sarasvatyai namo namaH ## \ \endshloka{6} \begintran ##yayaa vinaa ## without who ## jagatsarvaM ## the whole world ## shasvat.h avyaya ## perpetual, eternal, for ever ## jiivat.h ## living ## mR^itaM ## dead ## yaa j~naanasya adhi devii tasyai sarasvatyai namaH namaH |##\\ \medskip Prostrations to Sarasvati, Without who, the whole world would appear dead (even though living). And who is the presiding deity of knowledge. A person is as good as dead without the learning, Sarasvati. That is the import. \endtran{6} \beginsmallshloka ## yayaa vinaa jagatsarvaM muukamunmattavatsadaa \\ yaa devii vaagadhishhThaatrii tasyai vaaNyai namo namaH ## \ \endshloka{7} \begintran ##muuka ## dumb ## unmattavat.h ## possessed of madness ## adhishhTaatrii ## She is the instrument through which presiding over is done. Or simply presiding. \\ \medskip Prostrations to Vaani Without whom the whole world would appear dumb and demented; who is the presiding deity of speech. \endtran{7} \beginstotra \centerline{##\LARGEdvng .. iti shriisha~Nkaravirachita shaaradaa praarthanaa ..##} \endstotra \newpage \beginstotra \centerline{\Large Appendix philosophical interest } \endstotra \centerline{\large Bhavaani } \endstotra \begintran Why is Saraswati described as Bhavaani? I will briefly quote Sankara on the topic in Rudra bhaashyaM. \endtrans \begintran Bhavaani, Uma are adjectives of the Rudra. Rudra means - One who melts the miseries of worldly life. Since the destruction of ignorance or misery of worldly is only possible with knowledge, it is appropriately said that Rudra-Uma sahita is capable of melting that misery. \endtrans \begintran See Rudrabhaasyam for detailed explanation: namaH somaaya cha. \endtrans \begintran Rudra is sheer power. Bhavaani is all knowledge, self-restraint, control. And, you see, Power is all about Control. \endtrans \beginstotra \centerline{\large Saarada } \endstotra \begintran Saarada means effulgence as was translated in the first sloka of shankara rachita shaaradaa praarthanaa. \endtrans \begintran Namaste Saraswati! O effulgent Sarada,.. \endtrans \begintran Right now, that is, the two months (Oct. 2nd, 1997 - Nov. 29, 1997) where in Sarasvatii puujaa (or Dasaraa festival) falls (aasviiyuja, kaartiika) are called sharad Ritu. During the Sarad Ritu, what do you notice when you drive to work? It is a good day -- neither cold nor hot, but the turnpike is jammed; but no accident! And after turning to the radio, you find out that traffic is crawling due to the radiant splendour (glare) of bhagavaan.h (or one who has a welath -- of radiance) Aditya. That effulgence is called Saaradaa. \endtrans \begintran What does it repesent? \endtrans \begintran Have you ever been in the presence of a learned man - be the subject matter is programming languages, neural networks, analog computers or financial mergers or Veda/Geetaas? In his presence, that subject suddenly seems to be very simple, questions seem to be answered with ease and the whole subject matter appears like simple common sense and you feel an unexplainable power and joy. What is it and Where do you think that brilliance flows? That brilliance is Saaaradaa, That flow is Sarasvatii, Those sounds are Vaanii. \endtrans %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Description/Comments : Prayer to Goddess Shaaradaa % Send corrections to : Siva Pandyaram % Special Instructions : i1m.hdr, i1.inc, idevrom.tex % Site access : ftp://jaguar.cs.utah.edu/private/sanskrit/index.html %---------------------------------------------------------- % Transliteration scheme: ITRANS 5.1 %---------------------------------------------------------- %@@ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ## %% needed in beginning %-----------------------------------------------------------------------