Sharada Parameshweri-

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"Goddess Saradamba represents the Saguna Brahman as Jaganmata, the

Great Mother of the universe. She is also guru-rupini, as She showers

Her grace on the devotees through the person of the Jagadguru. She is

worshipped as Gayatri, Savitri and Sarasvati, the Goddesses of the

Gayatri Mantra, and is also identified at various times with

Mahesvari, Mahalakshmi and Mahasarasvati, the Great Goddesses of

Puranic Hinduism. She is most often worshipped as Brahmavidya, the

personified Goddess of Brahman Knowledge, and as Vagdevi, Ila,

Bharati and Sarasvati, the ancient Vedic Goddesses.

 

She holds in Her four hands, a jar containing amrita, the nectar of

immortality, a book, signifying Knowledge, a rudraksha-mala, and the

Chinmudra, signifying the advaita-tattva. Thus, She represents

Brahmavidya, and is conceived as not different from Brahman Itself.

 

Interestingly, these adornments in Her hands are identical to those

that Dakshinamurti, the eternally youthful, silent Guru, holds. Both

Devi Sarada and Guru Dakshinamurti are sometimes also pictured

holding a Veena in their hands.

 

In the advaita tradition in particular, and Hinduism in general,

Brahman is worshipped both as the God and as the Goddess, and both

with human form and without. Brahman is not limited by gender or

form. Saguna Brahman can be equally He or She, because Brahman is

beyond such human characterization. In the words of Swami Sri

Chandrasekhara Bharati, "All forms belong equally to the essentially

formless Brahman."

 

That is why Sri Sarada reigns alone in Sringeri. In temples which are

organized according to the Agamas, the Devi is usually worshipped

along with the Svami, Her Divine Consort. But Saradamba, as

worshipped by Adi Sankaracharya himself, includes all the Devatas and

transcends them. In the Prapancasara, Adi Sankaracharya describes

Goddess Sarada as Brahmavidya, which is identical to the

Incommensurable Brahman Itself.

 

As Brahman, She encompasses the Trimurtis, Siva, Vishnu and Brahma

and their Saktis, respectively known as Uma, Lakshmi and Sarasvati.

This is brought out well in the various Slokas composed in Her honor,

by the Sringeri Acharyas over the ages. She is sometimes addressed as

Sarasvati, sometimes as Isvari, or as Sri, and at other times, even

the specific attributes of the Trimurtis are attributed to Her.

 

The idea is that She is identical to the essentially formless

Brahman, and therefore is the basis of all these specific forms. To

denote the fact that She is not limited by human form, She is also

worshipped as the Sriyantra, the mystic diagram described in the

Bhavana Upanishad, and is identified with Kamala and Lalita

Tripurasundari, the Supreme Goddesses of Srividya. Hence, She is also

called Sarada Parameswari, and the Lalita Sahasranamam and the Lalita

Trisati are recited in the daily worship in the Saradamba temple. "

 

FROM KANCHI KAMAKOTI PEETHAM

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hari om tat sat!