In honor of Divine Mother Sharadambike !

[Guest guest]

Our Jagadguru Adi shankara Bhagvadapada was a Devi Worshipper par

excellance. He has composed many hymns in praise of gods and

goddesses !

 

In his famous Sharada Bhujanga stotram, Adi Shankara bhagvadapada

sings thus :

 

Sri Saradambaal : Sarada Bhujangam

 

kaTAkShedayArdrAM kare jnAnamudrAM

kalAbhirvinidrAM kalApaissubhadrAM

pUrastrIM vinidrAM purastungabhadrAM

bhaje shAradAMbA majasraM madambAm

 

 

With a merciful look, a knowledge sign in the hand,( chin mudra)

Ever awake with fine arts, auspicious with girdle,

A city dame, without sleep, on the thungabhadra front,

I worship shaaradaambaa, ever my ambaa.

 

In this verse from 'Sharada , our beloved Acharya is offering

prayers to Sharada Devi at Sringeri on the banks of

Tungabhadra ! What does 'Sringeri' means where our beloved Acharya

established one of his mutts? Sringeri in Sanskrit in fact means a

snake and a frog.

 

It was after he saw the rare sight of a hooded king cobra giving

shade to a pregnant frog, saving it from the burning rays of the sun,

that Adi Sankara chose this mountain location for establishing

a " Peeta " . A place that makes the worst of enemies help each other is

a place where a temple for the Goddess should come up, Adi Shankara

felt.

 

Also , there is another legend associated with the presiding Deity

of Sringeri Temple, Saradhambike ? Goddess Saradamba was originally

installed by Adi Sankaracharya, as a Sriyantra carved on a rock,

with a sandalwood image of the Goddess. According to tradition,

preserved in most Sankara-vijayams, the origin of the Sarada temple

in Sringeri is traced to the debate that Sankaracharya had with

Bharati, the wife of Mandana Misra. Bharati is considered to be an

incarnation of the Goddess Sarasvati, who challenged Sankaracharya

to debate. After he had answered all her questions, She gave him the

boon that She would stay on at Sringeri, where Sankaracharya

established his first monastery!

 

in this context , i am reminded of two great personalities of two

Shankara mutts - Both had a name in 'common' - one was The

Chandrasekhara ARASWATI OF KANCHI and The Chandrasekhara BHARATI

OF SRINGERI! PL LOOK AT THE SUFFIXES - 'BHARATI' AND SARASWATI '

Names of the Goddess of Llearning and wisdom !IT IS ONLY FITTING

THAT BOTH SPIRITUAL LUMINARIES SHOULD HAVE THE GODDESSES NAMES AFTER

THEM !

 

one last point ! One of the names of Goddess Saraswati is 'Medha ' -

one who has 'medha' is called 'medhavi' - in sri vishnu

sahasaranama , Sri vishnu's nama is 'medhavi '

 

medhAvI

 

One who is capable of powerful memory.

 

Sri Sankara gives the following definition -

 

" medhA bahugrantha dhAraNa sAmarthyam, sa yasya asti sa medhAvI -

medhA is the ability to grasp several ideas on different subjects at

the same time; One who has this ability naturally is medhAvI " .

 

 

please join me in honoring Goddess Sharadambike to grant us

intelligence , memory , and Viveka !