Guest guest Posted January 9, 2000 Report Share Posted January 9, 2000 Dear Aravind, Thanks for your valuable input. Ravi ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Sat, 08 Jan 2000 18:10:28 CST Aravind Krishna <seeksha msr Re: maata~Ngii Dear Ravi, I thought of elaborating on Matangi in two places, Bhrahmavidhyaamba (The deity at ThiruveNkaadu where mataN^ga rishhi had his ashram) and Miinakshhi posts. Just to add some points, The nAmAs ShyaamaLaa, Maatangi and miinakshi represent the same deity. First she incarnated as ShyaamaLaa along with lalitaa. Shyaamalaa is the minister of Lalitaa, 'mantriNI'. ' mantriNI nyasta rAjya dhUH' She destroyed the son of bhaNda named 'vishaN^ga' in the battle. mantriNI ambA virachita vishhaN^ga vadhatoshhitA (There is a little confusion in this. In Brahmanda puraaNa when elaborating on the battle it is said that vishaN^ga was defeated by vaaraahi the commander in chief of lalitaa's army, but in sahasranaama we read vishhaN^ga vadha was done by mantriNI. In such disputes its better to consider sahasranaama) She is seated on geya chakra or giiti chakra ratam besides lalitaa who is seated in Sri chakra ratam. geya chakra rathA rUDha mantriNI parisevitA Devas saluted her with 16 names when she manifested from the sugarcane bow of lalitaa. They are (e.m klI.m sauH) OM sa.mgiitayoginyai namaH OM shyaamaayai namaH OM shyaamaLaayai namaH OM mantranaayikaayai namaH OM mantriNyai namaH OM sachiveshannyai namaH OM pradhaaneshyai namaH OM shukapriyaayai namaH OM viiNaavatyai namaH OM vaiNiikyai namaH OM mudriNyai namaH OM priyakapriyaayai namaH OM niipariyaayai namaH OM kadambeshyai namaH OM kadambavanavaasinyai namaH OM sadaamadaayai namaH (I have given it in naamaavaLi format for the ease of performing archanaa). Dikshitar has sung this swarUpam of Devi in the raaga kannada, 'giiti chakra ratha stitaayai guruguha nuta shyaamaLaayai namaste namaste ....' If you note the word maataN^gi is not in this sixteen names, Devi manifested as the daughter of mataN^gi later. As matanga was a chandaaLa she is known as uchista chandaaLi. 'mati' is bhuddi or intellect. mata is thought. First thought manifests and then we try to convey that through sound. Devi in the form of 'naada' or the eternal subtle sound shapes the thoughts in the form of words (MAtanga). Such bhudi shakti is known as maataN^gi. This is the reason why she is the deity of sangiitam or naadopasanaa. Dishshitar's life serve as a standard testimony as to how a person gets to jiivan mukti through naadopaasanaa. To visualize, maataN^gi is seated under a kadambaa tree with viiNaa in her hands. A parrot is seen on her shoulder that sings in tune with her viiNaa gaanam. Such a dhyaanam itself is extremely pleasing. She holds similar status as lalitaa and hence called as raaja maatangi. KaaLidaasa was an ardent devotee maataN^gi. His shyaamaLaa daNdakam begins visualizing the above form of Devi. MaaNikyaviiNaamupalaaLayantiiM madaalasaaM maJNjuLavaagvilaasaam.h | maahendraniiladyutikomaLaaN^giiM maataN^gakanyaaM manasaa smaraami || This hymn deals in detail the swarUpa of MaataN^gi. Devi navamaNi maala, Ananda lahari and tripura sundari stotram also have verses on shyaamaLaa. (If you visit Rajaraajeshwari temple in Madras(NangallUr), this form of shyaamaLaa is beautifully seen in the kolu maNdapam) She is one among the ten vidhyaas. (Shadagopan Sir has elaborated on that). Mantra mahodhari explains in detail about her mantraas and its prayoga. Her sahasranaama is available in brahmaanda puraaNa itself. Hayagriiva reveals her 1000 names before lalitaa sahasranaama. She is worshipped in the nineth aavaraNa along with lalitaa in sri chakra. A separate chakra is also there for shyaamaLa with AvaraNa shaktiis. The entire tail of lalitopakyaanam has been sing in simple tamil songs by 'Sri niilakanta shivan', The incarnation of devi as shyaamaa is beautifully explained in the kambOgi krithi 'sangiita yogini shiva shankari mantriNi yaana shyaamaLai vanduditaaL' (unfortunately I don't remember the entire song) You know about miinakshi more than I do. Regards Aravind ____ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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