Matangi the Tantric Saraswati

[Guest guest]

In the Hindu pantheon, Goddess Saraswati is universally recognized as

the personification of all knowledge; all arts -- music, dance,

literature, etc.; all sciences, crafts and skills. She is also the

paradigm of total "sattva"; of complete spiritual purity.

 

Goddess Matangi, on the other hand, is a comparatively obscure deity,

barely known outside beyond her role as one of the "Dasha

Mahavidya," or "Ten Wisdom Goddesses" of Tantric lore. In that

context, she is usually known as the Outcaste Goddess, presiding over

all that is polluted or impure, the goddess of scraps and leftovers

(see my introductory post, at message #2683).

 

Here is a nice introduction to the Goddess, written by the artist

Elizabeth Greenleaf, who painted the Matangi Yantra gracing our

homepage this week:

 

"Daughter of hunter-king, Matanga, and of Buddhist as well as Hindu

origin, Matangi's home is deep within the jungle. She is radiantly

dark in color, dressed in red, has the disc of the moon on her

forehead and is usually flanked by two parrots. She is of low caste,

a Chandala. She is known as 'Ucchista-Matangini' ['ucchista'

meaning 'leftover']: The bestower of all boons on the unwashed, and

She asks, in turn, for polluted offerings -- a goddess for our age of

pollution and waste. No vows or preparation of any kind are needed to

ask for her blessing and the uninitiated are welcome. She offers

psychic power and liberation to consciousness bound by social

conformity and conventionality. She nourishes the sixty-four arts and

plays the veena. One can ask her for poetic talent or any other gift

associated with creation."

 

And so we have Saraswati -- Goddess of Purity -- and Matangi --

Goddess of Pollution. On the surface, they could not be more

different. And yet they are (or at least I believe they are) one and

the same: A pure Vedic and a pure Tantric vision of the same Divine

Reality.

 

My analysis begins with the contrasting Vedic and Tantric conceptions

of the Gunas -- the three elements that make up Creation: Sattva (the

spiritual element of uplift), Tamas (the material element of down-

drag), and Rajas (the element of action and motion, shifting between

the other two). Vedic Hinduism characterizes Saraswati as Pure Sattva

(just as Kali is Pure Tamas and Lakshmi is Pure Rajas).

 

According to Tantric Shaktism, however, every manifestation of Devi

(Goddess) involves a different combination of all three elements. In

practice, this means that each Goddess must have both a dark

(fearsome, destructive) side, and a bright (beautiful, compassionate)

side. The dark side destroys ignorance and tears away illusion; the

bright side bestows Supreme Knowledge and spiritual liberation. But

by that analysis, the Vedic goddess Saraswati -- composed as she is

of pure sattvic (spriritual) energy -- must necessarily be an

incomplete representation of Shakti. She is all brightness and no

darkness. And so the Tantric approach to Hinduism offers

a "completed" Tantric counterpart -- the Goddess Matangi.

 

It's really not such an outrageous proposition: The same process

occurred when Tantra "completed" another ancient Vedic goddess,

namely, Lakshmi (or Shree), in the form of the 10th Mahavidya,

Goddess Kamala. As Kamala, Lakshmi -- who is almost always conceived

as a Consort Goddess, co-equal with or (more frequently) subordinate

to, a Male God -- becomes a fully Independent Goddess, a full

manifestation of the Divine Feminine. Rather than being purely

benevolent, She takes on fearsome traits as well -- although She is

still the least fearsome of the Mahavidyas. This Lakshmi-Kamala

connection is widely known and accepted. However, the fact that the

9th Mahavidya, Matangi, is Saraswati, seems to have been mostly

overlooked or forgotten.

 

I want to stress that I'm not holding up Matangi as being "better"

than Saraswati, or even different from Her -- in fact, my feeling is

that She *is* Saraswati, just a different conception of Her. In an

old Club discussion of this point, our longtime member dkSesh wrote

that he agreed with this idea:

 

"Maatangi is the Tantrik form of Saraswathi. Here Maatangi also means

that Saraswathi imparts knowledge on Tantra and Maya as the same

manifestation of Brahman [the Supreme Divine] and is something that

is not to be disliked and gotten ridden of as a Vedantic beginner

thinks but to be worshipped as Brahman. For Brahman is described as

one without the second, which means that Maya must also be another

form of the same Brahman. It's in there on this path, that many

manifestations and traits are removed in a Tantric way unlike the

Vedantic way. Many are violent. The Vedantic sees the violent removal

of a trait differently than a Tantrik. Hence the reason why I called

it an issue of perception -- and for a Tantrik, it's the mother with

her sword, removing the trait a/k/a, the asuras [inner demons]. Hence

the form and the weapons and the differentiated name. Gnanis [those

following the Yoga of Knowledge] don't see the difference but a

Saadhaka [one engaged in worship of a God/dess form] under practice

and pressure for emotional support needs a form that can re-assure

him that the Lord [brahman] is here to kill the trait. Maybe the

requirement for the Lord as Maatangi."

 

Once again, the outcaste/leftover goddess Matangi -- like the pure

Saraswati -- is also a goddess of learning, wisdom, the arts and

sciences. They are identical to the extent that they are both

worshipped using the same bija ("seed") mantra, "Aing" or "Aim."

However, there are some significance differences in the way these two

manifestations of Saraswati carry out their work.

 

The traditional, Vedic Saraswati mainly "represents the knowledge and

virtue of the Brahmin or learned class which never departs from

propriety." Her arena tends to be "ordinary learning, art and

culture." Matangi, on the other hand, "is the form of Saraswati

directed toward inner knowledge. She is Her dark, mystical, ecstatic

or wild form." As an outcaste or residue, Matangi lives beyond the

bounds of convention, propriety and norms of "respectable" society.

 

To deepen our understand this conception, I will next compare the

ways in which these two Goddess forms are conceived.

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

[Guest guest]

* COMPLEXION

 

Saraswati is purely a creature of transcendent spirituality. Usually

depicted as an extremely beautiful and graceful woman, She is pure

white in complexion -- one prayer describes her as being "fair as a

garland of moon rays."

 

Matangi, on the contrary, is very much a creature of manifest nature.

She is also "a beautiful young woman," usually said to be 16 years

old, but is usually shown with "a dark or black complexion."

(Alternatively, for reasons I'll discuss later, she is portrayed with

a blue or green complexion; and sometimes, like Saraswati, She is

shown as white. But her primary forms have very dark complexions.)

 

She is usually conceived as what Indians call a "tribal" -- a member

of one of India's indigenous forest/jungle-dwelling societies.

Specifically, Matangi is said to be a daughter of the Chandalas, a

tribe considered by orthodox Brahmins to be so polluted (as meat-

eating hunter-gatherers) that its name became a synonym

for "outcaste."

 

The message conveyed by the Goddesses' respective complexions is

twofold: On a purely symbolic level, Saraswati's whiteness symbolizes

Her purity, whereas Matangi's darkness (or greenness!) emphasizes her

impurity or pollution. On a societal level, it should also be noted

that there is something of the enduring Vedic color/class/caste

consciousness here: Even in modern India, the old prejudice persists

that a fair-skinned woman is somehow more beautiful than one who is

dark-complexioned.

 

As for clothing, Saraswati is usually depicted "clad in spotless

white apparel, and seated on a white lotus. Her conveyance is a white

duck [or swan]." Mantangi is most often depicted wearing bright red

clothing and ornaments. In Tantra, this is the color of the Divine

Feminine (mystically representing menstrual blood; in contrast to the

Masculine white, mystically representing semen). On a certain level,

then, Saraswati's appearance embodies and endorses the patriarchal,

Brahminical vision of feminine perfection. Matangi's completely

opposes it. To accept Matangi requires a much more complete

acceptance of the primacy and reality of the Divine Feminine.

 

* SEXUALITY

 

Saraswati is a rarity among Hindu goddesses in that she is generally

not associated with fertility (at least in Her modern incarnation; in

Her original conception as a Vedic river goddess, there was certainly

a fertility association); motherhood; or sexuality (although She is

officially Brahma's consort, the primary legend of their marriage

concerns Her cursing Him for trying to consummate it).

 

Though she portrayed as a beautiful grown woman, She is said to be

sweetly innocent, even childlike. In a way, She is Hinduism's closest

approach to Christianity's Virgin Mary -- the very definition of

ideal femininity unsullied by any sexual associations; even thinking

of Her in a sexual context would seem a sort of blasphemy. As an

essentially non-sexual goddess, Saraswati is especially venerated by

monks and celibate seekers - it is not unusual to find a Hindu swami

taking "Saraswati' as part of his monastic name

 

Now contrast Saraswati's image with that of Matangi. Her descriptions

always stress Her "highly developed breasts" and a "very thin waist,"

(recalling the imagery of ancient forest nymphs or apsaras). She is

also portrayed as being wet with perspiration; sometimes with a line

of superfluous pubic hair trailing up to Her navel; as having "wild"

and "intoxicated" eyes and limbs; as walking with the graceful

swaying gait of an elephant; wearing her hair loose and wild like

Kali's.

 

If Saraswati is the paradigm of self-controlled, purely spiritual

Femininity, then forest-dwelling Matangi is the paradigm of

unashamed, untamed natural Femininity. Again, on one level, She is

everything a strict brahmin would find "low class" in an outcaste

tribal woman -- while She proudly wears and even flaunts Her pariah

status. On a deeper level, the stress is on the all-pervasiveness of

the Divine Feminine: If everything is a manifestion of God/dess, then

nothing and no one can truly be impure. Everyone and everything is

essentially Divine.

 

 

 

* INSTRUMENTS

 

Because Saraswati's cult is ancient and pan-Indian, Her iconography

is now completely standardized: She has four hands - two of them hold

a veena (an Indian lute); one holds an aksamala (a string of prayer

beads), and one a pustak (a holy book, often labeled as the Vedas).

Matangi, however, is a less well-known goddess, and so Her

iconography is less settled and more varied (NOTE: Matangi appears in

many forms all over India; I will discuss some of the implications of

this in future posts). Like most Mahavidyas, She wears a crescent

moon on Her forehead, underlining Her status as a form of Parvati.

 

Like Saraswati, she almost always carries a veena, and sometimes a

set of prayer beads. Interestingly, Matangi usually carries Her veena

in one hand, to leave room for a darker arsenal of instruments. I've

found about a dozen diverse descriptions of these other instruments,

but I'll list them all to give a full impression of Her symbolism: A

noose; a sword; a shield; an elephant goad; a club; a skull; a skull-

bowl; a machete; a mace; a pair of scissors.

 

These tools signify that unlike Saraswati, Matangi functions not only

as a bestower of Knowledge, but also as a destroyer of Ignorance.

Again, this reflects Matangi as Saraswati's Kali aspect. As for

iconogaphical settings, Saraswati is usually shown seated in a forest

by a river, with the Himalayas towering in the distance and Her

vehicle, a white swan, by Her side. Matangi, true to Her tribal

persona, is shown in the jungle, flanked by parrots.

 

* SOME DHYANAS [MEDITATION DESCRIPTIONS]

>From "Sakti: A Dictionary of Female In Hindu Mythology," by Subodh

Kapoor:

 

"Lord Shiva is also known as Matang. His Shakti (power) is called

Matangi. Her complexion is dark and possesses a moon on her forehead.

The three-eyed goddess is seated on the crown decorated with jewels.

Her lustre is like a blue lotus and is destroyer of the demons

(forest) like a fire. In each of her four hands, she has a noose, a

mace, an axe and a hook. She is a destroyer of the demons by

enchanting them first with her beauty and a fulfiller of every desire

of her devotees. She is worshipped for the attainment of great

powers, power of speech, happiness in family life etc."

 

Form Exotic India (unattributed):

 

"I meditate on Matangi, who,

Seated on the gem-studded throne,

listens to the sweet utterances of the parrot,

is aglow with youth,

has one foot on the lotus,

has her forehead bedecked with the crescent moon,

plays on the veena,

has a garland of jasmine flowers,

has a fitting bodice adorning her,

wears red garments,

has a conch-vessel,

is inebriated with honey sweet wine,

has the vermilion mark on her forehead adding luster to it.

Matangi, the daughter of sage Matanga,

supportively plays the ruby-bejeweled veena

leisurely in her self-glory

charming in her sweet vocal expression of song

her delicately soft limbs, lustrous like sapphires."

 

Here is a synthesis of dhyana mantras for Her forms as Ucchista

Maatangini (from the Brihat Tantrasaara), Maatangi (from the

Purashcharyaarnava), and Raja-Maatangi (from the Purashcharyaarnava

and Saaradaa-tilaka):

 

"She is seated on an altar and has a smiling face and a green

complexion. Her eyes are intoxicated. Her clothes and all of Her

ornaments are red. Around Her neck is a garland of kadamba flowers.

She is sixteen years old and has very full breasts and a very slim

waist. She holds a skull on Her left side and a bloodied chopping

blade on Her right, and She plays a jewel-encrusted veena. Her hair

is long and wild, and the disc of the moon adorns Her forehead. She

perspires slightly around Her face, which makes Her all the more

beautiful and bright. Below Her navel are three horizontal folds of

skin and a thin vertical line of fine hair. She wears a girdle of

jeweled ornaments, as well as bracelets, armlets, and earrings. She

represents the 64 arts and She is flanked by two parrots."

 

*****************************

Selected sources:

 

* Frawley, Dr. David. "Tantric Yoga and the Ten Wisdom Goddesses,"

(Passage Press, Salt Lake City, 1994).

 

* Kinsley, David. "Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten

Mahavidyas," (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997).

 

* Satpathy, Sarbeswar. "Sakti Iconography in Tantric Mahavidyas,"

(Punthi

Pustak, Calcutta, 1991).

 

* http://www.siddhashram.org

* http://www.srividya.org

* http://www.urday.com

* http://home.sprynet.com/~ttribe/Goddesses%20of%20the%

20Mahavidyas.html

* http://www.greenleaf-ink.com/Matangi.html

[Guest guest]

"she is usually known as the Outcaste Goddess, presiding over all

that is polluted or impure, the goddess of scraps and leftovers"

 

In some Vedic texts, the left overs or residue of sacrificial

offerings ( uccista) are regarded as possessing great spiritual

potency. The Atharva-Veda (11.7.1-3 , 16 ) for example celebrates the

sacrificial residue as containing cosmic creative force.

 

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Nora! That's a very important truth; I appreciate your

adding it to the conversation ...

 

, "thegoddessisinme2002"

<ashwini_puralasamy> wrote:

> "she is usually known as the Outcaste Goddess, presiding over all

> that is polluted or impure, the goddess of scraps and leftovers"

>

> In some Vedic texts, the left overs or residue of sacrificial

> offerings ( uccista) are regarded as possessing great spiritual

> potency. The Atharva-Veda (11.7.1-3 , 16 ) for example celebrates

the

> sacrificial residue as containing cosmic creative force.

>

>

> Om ParaShaktiye Namaha