is she capable - post 1

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

Generally we, Sri vaishNavaas consider 'saraswathee' as a secondary level

dhEvathai and do not consider the worship of her as that much important. Let us

see few points here about this secondary dhEvathai.

 

As a first step in the very morning we are advised to see our own hand - kara

dharsanam - as we open our eyes after a good night's sleep. It is also said

that following are the things we can have a look at first, in the day, as we

open our eyes in the morning, from the bed

1. Our own right hand palm

2. A mirror (so that we see ourselves)

3. One's own wife

4. The gOpuram of a temple

5. The sun or a light

6. Gold or gold jewelry

7. The green field etc.

[for ladies also same right palm to see - only for seeing palmistry hands are

changed according to the gender]

[for ladies it is not said in the saasthraas, that it is good to see your

husband's face in the very morning]

 

It is also advised that while seeing the hand, think about [or recite] this

slOkam.

 

kara agrE vasathE lakshmee kara moolE saraswathee |

kara madhyE thu gOvindha: prabhaathE kara dharsanam ||

 

meaning: In the morning see the hand [your own hand] [for that reminds you to

recall] and remember lakshmee, saraswathee, and gOvindhan, for,

* In the edge of the hand or fore fingers lives lakshmee, the periya piraatti.

* In the corner of hand or in the hind hand or near the wrists where palm meets

the wrists resides saraswathee, the god of vaak - voice, or education.

* In the center of palm resides gOvindhan, [my krishNa].

 

So in the morning, the sri vaishNavan [or for that matter all others also] is

asked to think about perumaL, piraatti, and the vaak dhEvi. That also reminds

us, as the second thought of the day, on the importance of the hands through

which tool, all work is done for the rest of the day. So it can also be said as

paying gratitude to the tool in the morning [which is what a big celebration on

aayudha pooja or saraswathi pooja in the month of September].

 

Similarly when we start the very first stage of learning alphabets in the

childhood, called akshara abhyaasam in sanskrit, we are also taught another

slOkam by our parents as well the bruhaspathi -

 

saraswathee namasthubhyam vara dhE kaama roopiNee |

vidhyaa aarambham karishyaami sidhDhir bhavathu mE sadhaa||

 

meaning: hey saraswathee dhEvee, [the athidhEvathaa for vaak or learning], [also

one who is in the form of learning], please grant me this boon according [to my

desire], I prostrate to you and start my education [or the learning process],

please make it a success.

 

Next slOkam taught while starting the akshara abhyaasam or learning alphabets is

 

gnaana aanandha mayam dhEvam nirmala spatika aakruthim |

aadhaaram sarva vidhyaanaam hayagreevam upaasmahaE ||

1st slOkam of sree hayagreeva sthOthram by sri nigamaantha mahaa dhEsikan

 

meaning: I bow to that lord hayagreevan - one who has the horse like neck,

* who is also the embodiment of wisdom and happiness,

* who also has a spotless clean body like the spatikam - crystal,

* who is also the basis of all education.

 

May be as you grow and do the prapaththi to sreeman naaraayaNan through the

guidance of a sath aachaaryan, then the first two slOkams [out of 3 above] may

become a bit irrelevant. But one definitely undergoes in the early stages of

life, the above two slOkams. Any later day prapannan can check with their

parents whether they have gone through these two slOkams or not before

contradicting me.

 

Also I wish to recall a beautiful slOkam from sri yaadhava abhyudhayam of sri

nigamaantha mahaa dhEsikan.

 

sa kavi: kathyathE srashtaa ramathe yathra bhaarathee |

rasaa bhaava guNee bhoothair alankaarair guNOdhayai: ||

slOkam 5 chapter 1

 

meaning: [as given by sree uththamoor swamy - freely translated by MGV and hence

seeks pardon for any mistakes] That person is called a kavi who can create rare

literary creations, in whom bhaarathee - the vaak dhEvi or saraswathee - resides

with love, and gives him

* deep tastes of rasaas like srunkaara etc,

* suitable matter to evoke these rasaas,

* alankaaraas,

* characters [guNaas],

* vyangayaa meanings [suggested meanings and spotted meanings] and

* matter not so important to fill in gaps if any, etc.

 

So unless a person has the grace of saraswathee one can not be a kavi - why a

kavi - even a simple education also may not be achieved.

 

Dear bhakthaas, now a doubt comes to your mind why this person is elaborating

all these, which we all know. I want to raise a doubt on the capabilities of

saraswathee. That is why all these poorva peedikai - prelude to that. What is

the question etc we will see in next post.

 

Dhaasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.