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Vol II * JULY 2009 * Issue VII

Meditation leads to Ultimate Flowering

Introducing various Masters & Dimensions of Spiritual Sojourn

TM

The Path of
Inner Knowing
The Secrets of
SARASWATI

www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
 MEDITATION TIMES
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A PRODUCTION OF www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
Published by: www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.
Chief Editor/Graphics Layout & Design: Swami Anand Neelambar
Editorial Team: Swami Anand Neelambar, Taoshobuddha
International Contributors: Hadhrat Maulawi Jalaluddin Ahmad Ar-Rowi
Assistant Contributors: Ma Prem Sutra, Swami Dhyan Yatri, Sufi Lakshmi Sahai

For Queries, Comments, and Suggestions and to submit

In This Issue Contributions, you can email the following persons:

Taoshobuddha: taoshobuddha@gmail.com
 Editorial
Swami Anand Neelambar avatar411@gmail.com
 Three Divine aspects of Saraswati
 Goddess Saraswati
 Saraswati the Hindu Goddess of Learning You can also visit
www.youtube.com\taoshobuddha01
 Adoration of the Divine Mother
 Saraswati and Her Consorts www.scribd.com\taoshobuddha

 Saraswati in Hindu History and Culture www.scribd.com\avatar411

 The Divine Mother – Aurobindo
 The Divine Mother – Swami Vivekananda
 My Cosmic Mother’s Face - Yogananda Also you can check the blog at
http://bodhidharmameditation.blogspot.com/
 Mirabai
 Sutras on Beauty - Tagore http://www.taoshobuddhameditations.myeweb.net/

 Hafiz http://meditationtimes.myeweb.net/
 Paramahansa Yogananada
 The Three Samadhis – Sri Chinmoy
 The Role of the Guru – Sri Chinmoy
In our Next Issue
 Reflections on Life – Swami Anand Neelambar

Krishna and Rasa Lila

 EDITORIAL
T
his month we introduce Saraswati in her
multifarious dimensions. We shall
explode the Vedic symbolism and
psychological aspects of Saraswati. As well as
the historical perspective on the controversial
River that bears her name. Saraswati is certainly
much more than meets the eye. The importance
in Veda of the Goddess of learning has been a
perennial source of guidance and inspiration to
all those seeking the deeper meaning of life and
living.
Saraswati is the deity of mysticism and her study
unravels the mysteries of existence. One cannot
hope to comprehend any dimension of life
eternal without the intervention of the icon of
intuition.
Meditation Times is a document of inner life,
mysticism and meditation. And Saraswati
embodies all three aspects of our approach. So it
was only appropriate that we dedicate an issue
of this magazine to Her. It is important to
understand the relation between the River
Saraswati and the Goddess of Knowledge of the
Veda.
We have sought to present Saraswati in her
multi dimensions and hope the earnest seekers
along the sojourn can continue to unravel the
secrets of life eternal.
What we see as Saraswati is not what we as
seekers should be looking at. The purpose of the
icon is to point in an inner dimension. The
worship of Saraswati is merely and only a
ritualistic map. The codes to decipher this map
are found by exploring into the inner mysteries
of life eternal. The map itself contains the codes.
Published by Taoshobuddha Meditations
Trinidad, West indies
And when the codes are understood the lost
secrets of the Vedic
Goddess shall usher
the dawn of a new era
of knowledge that is
not divisive and
destructive but a
knowledge that is
uniting and used for Swami Anand Neelambar
creative exploration.
Then humanity shall enter the realm of the Gods.
We also take this opportunity to celebrate
Masters. And we have merely highlighted some
of the Masters and their works. This is a
continuing process. As every month we
introduce various Masters and paths to spiritual
dimensions.
Each seeker along the sojourn has to uncover his
own path. The Master can only share his
experience of the journey.
We hope you can find something in this issue
that shall give you impetus to make your sojourn
to life eternal a worthwhile and enriching
pursuit. There are many places available where
seekers can find solace and guidance. Ours is
merely a tavern where one can rest for awhile
and again continue his journey.
We wish to promote our recent publication “The
Secrets of Bhakti” by enlightened Master
Taoshobuddha. This is a Sterling paperback
publication. We urge seekers to obtain a copy –
as it is of immense value in unravelling the
mysteries of Bhakti – the mystical path of
Devotion. Our other publications are also
available online at www.ebookmall.com
 Saraswati:
Three Divine Aspects of Mahasaraswati
T
he Vedic concept of Saraswati
was three-fold: First, she is like
the sacred river which gave
birth to the Aryan civilization.
Second, she was vak or speech
personified, as expressed in the Rig
Veda’s Vak Sukta. 'Speech’ basically
refers to the sacred-word or the Vedas
themselves. The third and most
important aspect is Saraswati’s
identification with Gayatri, although
the Gayatri mantra is worship of the
Sun-god, Suryanarayana. The Sun-god
symbolizes three female deities:
Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati, to be
invoked in the morning, noon and
evening respectively.
Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom,
learning, music and all other fine arts.
Both Valmiki and Vyasa were her
ardent devotees. In the Ramayana,
when Brahma came to grant the three
brothers Ravana, Kumbhakarna and
Vibhishana their wishes, the gods
were anxious: What would
Kumbhakarna do once his desires
were granted? So, Saraswati confused
Kumbhakarna so much that when
Brahma asked him what he wanted,
he replied that he wanted to sleep
forever.
The Vishnupurana declares that the
name of our motherland is derived
from the name of Saraswati: “Bharata
is the country wherein resides
goddess Bharati (Saraswati)”. There
are various legends about her origin.
The Kalika Purana says that Saraswati
emerged out of Brahma. After her
birth, she was circumambulating
Brahma, who, in order to watch her
do this, created three more heads for
himself. When she moved upwards,
Brahma created the fifth head. Angry
with this behaviour, Lord Shiva
severed Brahma’s fifth head, which
stuck to Shiva’s hand - which is why
Shiva is also called Kapali.
According to the Brahma Vaivarta
Purana, Saraswati was created by
Krishna from his tongue, symbolizing
Saraswati as the speech-faculty of the
Absolute. She wanted to marry
Krishna, but Krishna sent her to Lord
Vishnu, who is but Krishna’s four-
handed form. Lord Vishnu was
already married to Lakshmi and
Ganga.
Once, after a quarrel, the three
goddesses cursed each other -
Saraswati and Ganga turned into holy
rivers and Lakshmi into the tulsi
plant.
Coming from the puranas to the yogic
system, Saraswati again has a very
prominent place. As in the physical
world, there is a Triveni-Sangam
(confluence of three) within our
subtle-body (Sukshma-Sharira). There
is a Triveni at the spot between our
eyebrows, the ajna-chakra, which is
the actual prayaga. He, whose mind
passes through this Chakra, becomes
one with the Absolute. The three vital
Nadis concur at this point - Ida, Pingala
and Sushumna. Normally people
breathe through Ida or Pingala, the left
or the right nostril but the perfect
yogins breath through the Sushumna
which cannot be perceived by others.
Sushumna is Saraswati, who is antah-
Salila whereas the other two are
Yamuna and Ganga respectively.
Saraswati is the ninth Mahavidya and
is the presiding goddess of the Sun.
According to the Markandeyapurana,
Saraswati is Chit, while Lakshmi and
Kali represent the Sat and Ananda
aspects respectively.
The universe floats on a great ocean
of divine consciousness, the Brahman.
The Tantras say that by worshipping
Saraswati, we can come closer to
Brahman. She can give us worldly
wisdom (apara vidya), but the wise
pray to her for the supreme
knowledge (para-vidya) .
The Chandi says the 16-armed
Mahasaraswati killed the demons
Shumbha and Nishumbha. But
Saraswati is popularly worshipped in
the four-handed form. Her colour is
white, representing absolute purity of
knowledge.
 Goddess Saraswati
S araswati is the Goddess of learning, knowledge
and wisdom. The Sanskrit word sara means
“essence” and swa means “self.” Thus Saraswati
means “the essence of the self.” Saraswati is
represented in Hindu mythology as the divine consort
of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe. Since
knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati
symbolizes the creative power of Brahma. Goddess
Saraswati is worshipped by all persons interested in
knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars,
and scientists.
In Her popular images and pictures, Goddess Saraswati
is generally depicted with four arms (some pictures
may show only two arms), wearing a white sari and
seated on a white lotus. She holds a book and a rosary
in Her rear two hands, while the front two hands are
engaged in the playing of a lute (veena). Her right leg
is shown slightly pushing against Her left leg. She uses
a swan as Her vehicle. There is a peacock by Her side
gazing at Her. This symbolism illustrates the following
spiritual ideas:
 The lotus is a symbol of the Supreme Reality,
and a white lotus also denotes supreme
knowledge. By sitting on a lotus, Saraswati
signifies that She is Herself rooted in the
Supreme Reality, and symbolizes supreme
knowledge. The white color symbolizes purity
and knowledge. The white sari that the
Goddess is wearing denotes that She is the
embodiment of pure knowledge.
 The four arms denote Her omnipresence and
omnipotence. The two front arms indicate Her
activity in the physical world and the two back
arms signify Her presence in the spiritual
world. The four hands represent the four
elements of the inner personality. The mind
(manas) is represented by the front right hand,
the intellect (buddhi) by the front left hand,
the conditioned consciousness (chitta) by the
rear left hand, and the ego (ahankara) by the
rear right hand.
 The left side of the body symbolizes the
qualities of the heart and the right side
symbolizes activities of the mind and intellect.
A book in the rear left hand signifies that
knowledge acquired must be used with love
and kindness to promote prosperity of
mankind.
 The rosary signifies concentration, meditation,
and contemplation, leading to samadhi, or
union with God. A rosary in the rear right
hand representing ego conveys that true
knowledge acquired with love and devotion
melts the ego and results in liberation
(moksha) of the seeker from the bondage to
the physical world.
 The Goddess is shown playing a musical
instrument that is held in Her front hands,
which denote mind and intellect. This symbol
conveys that the seeker must tune his mind and
intellect in order to live in perfect harmony
with the world. Such harmonious living
enables the individual to utilize acquired
knowledge for the welfare of all mankind.
 Two swans are depicted on the left side of the
Goddess. A swan is said to have a sensitive
beak that enables it to distinguish pure milk
from a mixture of milk and water. A swan,
therefore, symbolizes the power of
discrimination, or the ability to discriminate
between right and wrong or good and bad.
Saraswati uses the swan as Her carrier. This
indicates that one must acquire and apply
knowledge with discrimination for the good of
mankind. Knowledge that is dominated by ego
can destroy the world.
 A peacock is sitting next to Saraswati and is
anxiously waiting to serve as Her vehicle. A
peacock depicts unpredictable behavior as its
moods can be influenced by the changes in the
weather. Saraswati is using a swan as a vehicle
and not the peacock. This signifies that one
should overcome fear, indecision, and
fickleness in order to acquire true knowledge.
S araswati is a Hindu goddess of learning. She is the goddess
of speech (Vac), the Flowing-One. She represents the
union of power and intelligence from which organized
creation arises. Saraswati posseses all the learnings of the the
Vedas, scriptures, dancing, musical power and poetry. She
revealed language and writing to man. Her origin is the lost
Vedic river Saraswati. This is the source of her profound
connection to fluidity in any aspect (water, speech, thought,
etc.). She is wisdom, fortune, intelligence, nourishment,
brilliance, contentment, splendour and devotion. This page is
dedicated to this Beautiful Goddess of Intellect.
Origins of Saraswati
The Sarasvati river was one of the major water causeways in
northwest India. The river was navigable in the third and fourth
millennium, BCE, from the Gulf of Khambat (Lothal)
throughout Surkotada and Kotda (Dholavira, close to Bet
Dwaraka) and upward th rough Nara-Hakra-Ghaggar-Sarasvati
channels, right through to Mathura. It flowed directly through
the Marusthali desert, one of the largest deserts in the world.
During the third and fourth millennium BCE, an extensive
civilization lived along its banks . Although considered a part of
the Indus Valley Civilization, these groups of people shared a
different lifestyle and different religious practices. All of the
sacrifices and worship practices were primarily done on the
banks of the river; the river wa s considered the most pure and
auspicious place to do these sacrifices. The river was described
in the Vedas as the "Mother of all rivers."
One such religious practice used the river directly. As each of
us live and interact in this material world, where the majority
of our action s are considered unclean and unhealthy, we
accumulate residues of these actions inside and outside of our
body. The practice entailed submerging the whole body into
the river. As the waters engulf and surround, the purity of the
waters wash away all the foulness from the body, leaving the
body fresh and pure when emerged from the river. Like a clean
slate.
This practice is interesting to note when discussing the
migration of the civilization and the migration of religious
practices. In the fourth millennium, the Sarasvati River was
drying up due to the dryness of the prevailing monsoon winds,
which did not bring enough rain to keep the region moist.
Consequently, the civilization migrated to the Kubha River,
where they renamed the river to the Avestan Sarasvati.
This drying up of the river was a turning point in many of the
beliefs of the people, and is noted in the Upanishads. Here, this
act is explained in a myth. The Gods wanted someone to
transport "fire" or Agni to the sea. The gods entrusted the
Sarasvati River to perform this task. After gaining permission
from her father Brahma, Sarasvati gathered up all her waters,
and formed a body. She then carried the fire to the sea. The
myth holds many symbolic meaning to the religious changes
that were developing with the emergence of the Upanishads, as
well as the physical changes of the river. The fire in reference,
Agni, was the sacrificial fire and served as the link between hu
mans and the gods. Sarasvati's mission was to take this fire and
deliver it to the sea, which can be associated with the ocean of
consciousness, an aspect of the absolute. In doing so, the fire
would become extinguished, and at the same time, would be
removed from the world of man (the relative). The gods
choose the Sarasvati River as the only one able to perform this
task. Due to the purity of her waters, and the fact that she is
water, she is able to accomplish the task.
In this event, Sarasvati has moved from a sacred river, to a
goddess; she is a goddess of purity. She has also deposed of the
sacrifice as the sole mode of reaching the gods and the absolute.
As mentioned in the Upanishads, the sacrifice changes from fi
re and rituals, to internalizing the process. In pursing
knowledge, a sacrifice of the self is necessary to exit from the
karmic world. In this knowledgeable state, the person becomes
liberated through disciplines of the body, breathing, and mind.
As a result, from removing the sacrificial fire and replacing it
with a sacrifice of the self through obtaining knowledge,
Sarasvati has now become the goddess of knowledge and
learning. Also, the conventional modes of ritual movements as
the concentration of the sacrifice was extinguished. In its place,
sounds, such as the sound OM and mantras became the most
important quality. Sarasvati was given the title of music and
speech.
Although the waters of the ancient Sarasvati River are all dried
up, one can still ride on the currents and waves of Sarasvati to
become pure. In the pursuit of knowledge and learning and
through proper use of sound and speech, ultimate purity can
now be achieved: moksa.
Saraswati and the Gods
The Puranas relate Saraswati to Brahma and Vishnu. Most
frequently, she is associated with Brahma. Her connection with
him dates earlier than to any other God. She is portrayed
mostly as his wife and occasionally as his daughter. When
Vishnu's popularity in India increased, myths relating Saraswati
to him appeared.
Saraswati and Brahma: When Saraswati is pictured as a wife of
Brahma, she is usually portrayed as white complexioned,
wearing white or yellow garments, and accompanied by a
peacock or/and a swan (symbols of Brahma).
Origin of Brahma's 5 heads due to Saraswati: Brahma created
Satarupa (Saraswati) out of his own body, and became
enamoured with her. He was looking at her amorously. In
order to avoid his glances, Satarupa turned to the right side
from his gaze. In order to see her then, Brahma created a
second head. As she passed to his left and his rear, in order to
avoid his lustful glances, two other heads of the god
successively appeared. At last she sprang to the sky, and
following her, a fifth head of Brahma was also formed. (From
the Matsya Purana)
Brahma's Great Sacrifice:Brahma decided to perform a great
sacrifice and for that purpose he and his wife Savitri (one of the
names for Saraswati) went to Pushkara. When all the
preparations were made with due rites and ceremonies for
performing the sacrifice, Savitri, detained by some household
affairs, was not in attendance. A priest was immediately
advised to call her. But she replied that she had not yet
completed her dress, nor arranged several affairs. Since
without a wife no advantage could be derived by performing a
sacrifice, Brahma advised Indra to bring a wife from wherever
he could find one. Indra proceeded accordingly and, he found a
milkmaid Gayatri (another name for Saraswati) who was
young, beautiful . Indra seized her and brought to the
assembly. Then Brahma told that he would espouse the
mikmaid and she would be regarded as the mother of the
Vedas. Thus Brahma was united with Gayatri.
At this time Savitri, accompanied by the wives of Vishnu,
Rudra and other gods, come to the place of sacrifice. Seeing
the milkmaid in the bride's attire, Savitri became furious and
cursed Brahma and all the other gods and left. But Gayatri
repaired most of the curses by performing proper
sacrifices.(From the Skanda Purana)
Origin of Saraswati and Her Marriage to Vishnu: Once Krishna
felt an inclination to create and thus sprang from him Radha,
his shakti. Their union produced the mundane egg, which
Radha threw into the numdane waters. Krishna was incensed at
this unmotherly conduct of Radha and cursed her with
everlasting youth and barrenness. At this point, suddently from
the lip of Radha sprang forth a lovely daughter Saraswati of
white complexion wearing yellow dress, bedecked with jewels
and holding a Veena and a book in her hands. Radha again
parted herself into two and her left half was transformed into
Kamala or Lakshmi. At this, Krishna also parted into two and
produced the four-armed Vishnu from the left side of his body.
Krishna gave Sarasvati and Lakshmi to Vishnu as wives. (From
the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana)
Fight Between Saraswati and Ganga: Besides Saraswati, Vishnu
married Ganga. One day Ganga was looking wistfully at her
husband, and Vishnu was reciprocating the glances. This was
too much for Saraswati who began to accuse Vishnu of
partiality. Vishnu left the place to give Saraswati time to calm
herself down. But this only served to anger Saraswati more.
She advanced threatingly to Ganga when Lakshmi intervened.
Lakshmi held Saraswati away from Ganga. Saraswati then
cursed Lakshmi. Vishnu, having found out about what
happened, cursed both Saraswati and Ganga with
transformation into rivers, and also gave both of them to other
husbands. Saraswati was given to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva.
(From the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana)
Saraswati: Iconographic Symbolism
The river imagery of Sarasvati represents a migration from a
world of ignorance or bondage to a shore that represents
enlightenment and freedom. This religious quest represents a
state of transition or rebirth in which a spiritual pilgrim sloughs
off his old self and is born again, free and enlightened.
Sarasvati‟s female form demonstrates the great respect and
recognition that women held in the Vedic tradition. She extols
tolerance, as well as moral and spiritual strength. She can
withstand roughness and bear pain. She is the consort of
Brahma, so this shows that knowledge and creation are in
harmony. Her white complexion and garments point to her
absolute purity. Her four arms represent the four directions,
giving the notion that Sarasvati is all-pervading. The front arms
relate to the manifest world, and the back arms to the
subjective world. She also demonstrates the four aspects of the
personality-the mana, the buddhi, the chitta and the ahankara.
The book symbolizes the totality of knowledge. Placing it in
the left hand means that acquisition and application of
knowledge should be controlled by the softer side of the human
personality. The rosary symbolizes concentration or the
meditative process involved in the acquisition of knowledge.
The swan demonstrates the discriminatory power between
right and wrong, as well as the real and unreal. It states,” live in
the world, but do not be possessed by it. It symbolizes “jiva”
and the “prana” which manifest through the inhaling and
exhaling processes. The swan floats above the water in a state
of samadhi. The peacock represents mundane knowledge that is
unstable and leads to worldly desires. The peacock points to
the chance of ignorant activity taking charge of the human
personality- the dominates the head and the right side. Sarasvati
as she is represented in the middle demonstrates a need for for
a balance between both. The lotus represents supreme
knowledge in activity. It is a symbol of evolution and
detachment. It makes its way through the ocean of life by rising
above its surface--it is the path from the outer being to the
inner being.
The Veena points to the collective sound of all our thoughts
and actions as it is manifest as music in the cosmic universe; it
marks the withdrawal of the senses and the focus needed to
attain knowledge. Placing the left hand on top of the veena
closer to the heart shows that knowledge should be used for the
good of others. Placing the right hand on the bottom shows
that negative knowledge should be kept under control. The
veena points to the potential for the negative and positive
purposes of knowledge--the choice is left to the person as to
which type of knowledge is used.
There is a special type of Veena called Saraswati Veena. The
Sarasvati Veena is one of the oldest instruments of the world. It
is a fretted organ which can produce notes in four octaves.
Four strings are attached to the main bridge and three extra
strings are used to keep count of the „taala‟ or the cycle of
beats. The drum to the right is the sound box, the drum to the
left is used for support. The goal is to create a melodious,
continuous sound or „taanam‟ which awakens the inner senses.
The Veena imparts a vocalized quality, or „Gayaki‟ which
creates the feeling that divinity itself is speaking through the
flow of music. The Veena is considered the spinal cord, and the
creation of music stirs the invocation of knowledge within the
soul.
Saraswati: Connection to Yoga
Sarasvati gives the essence of one‟s self. She provides us with
the mundane and spiritual knowledge of our lives. She is a
representation of the science of life, or the Vedanta, which
attempts to unravel the essentials of human existence and the
universe concealed within. She points to the ultimate aim of
human life which is to realize the true nature of the self even if
it requires an enormous amount of determination,
perseverance and patience. The knowledge that Sarasvati
renders through continual worship, devotion and discipline is
one of an integral vision in which both temporal and spiritual
levels of study are meditated upon, practiced and developed.
Therefore, she allows one to exist in the material world while
striving for the plane of Brahman. The connection one forms
with Sarasvati is one with words and music, which are the very
source of the cosmos, the Brahman. She is the impeller of true,
sweet speech, she is the creative process with the syllable,
„OM.‟ She is the potent quality of sound.
Sarasvati is the ocean of understanding, the consciousness
which vibrates with different types of knowledge. She is the
cause of all movements, the source of spiritual light, remover
of all ignorance and promoter of knowledge. Students that are
here to discover, invent and create a new world fall under
Sarasvati'‟s grace, that is why we must be open and disciplined
to acquire the knowledge which she can give to us. Sarasvati
shows that human destiny involves the refinement of nature.
Being fully human necessitates molding, enhancing and refining
the natural world to make it habitable. Artistic creation as well
as knowledge of the sciences epitomize human culture;
integrated knowledge refines the world into something
beautiful and special.
Saraswati: Rituals and Festivals
Ritual worship of Saraswati in the Bengali Tradition:
The idol is in white , symbolizing purity. The sari of the Deity
is white or yellow dyed in the natural dye made from "Shiuli"
flowers. The place where the idol is kept for the puja is
decorated with Rangoli and the design of a fish is considered
auspicious. A flat low stool made of wood is covered with
yellow cloth and the idol is placed on it, facing East. Then, the
face of the idol remains covered till the priest begins chanting
the mantras at the commencement of the puja. A green
coconut is placed on an earthen pot with a red checked cotton
cloth called "Gamcha". For the actual puja, flowers are used
but the most significant is the Palash or flame of the forest and
marigold flowers. Students place their books in front of the
goddess. The offerings to the goddess are mainly fruits: most
significant are Berries from the wild plum tree. Other fruits
include tapioca. Sweets must include puffed rice, jaggery and
yogurt. Family members bathe early and dress in yellow attire
and assemble in front of the Goddess. The earthen pot is tied
with a string which will be untied only on the next day by the
priest before Bisarjan. A havan puja is done by the priest using
special wood, ghee, joss sticks and incense. There absence of a
burnt smell signifies the success of the puja. A diya or lamp is
also kept lit along with the prasad. A handful of flowers
particularly marigolds and flame of the forest are given to each
devotee to offer to the goddess as "pushpanjali"--Pushp,
meaning flowers and Anjali meaning offering. The offering is
done in batches of devotees who repeat mantras after the
priest. Arati is performed by the priest in the morning and
again in the evening. this is done while chanting sanskrit slokas
and accompanied by the blowing of conch shells and the
beating of drums. The lit lamp used during the Arati is passed
around for each devotee to warm his/ her hand and touch their
heads. Nobody touches books on that day. This signifies that
the goddess is blessing the books placed in front of her that day.
Basant Panchami: is celebrated on the fifth lunar day of the
month of Magh, which is between the moths of January and
February. It is also celebrated as Shikshapatri Jayanti. On this
day, yellow is the predominant color as all are garbed in bright
yellow clothes. This has to do with the onset of spring and the
blooming of yellow mustard flowers in the fields. There is a
great deal of festivity with the flying of colorful kites. It also
happens to be the second most popular festival in Lahore,
Pakistan and the incorporation of this traditionally hindu
festival into modern Islamic culture has an interesting story
behind it.
Temples Dedicated to Saraswati
There are Saraswati temples in Deupatan, Kamalakshi, Thimi,
Bhadrakali and Swyambhu, Neel Saraswati at Gairidhara,
among others in the Kathmandu Valley. Saraswati Temple in
the University of Roorkee. Prthudakeshwara Temples in
Pehowa, Haryana. They were built by the Marathas in honour
of Saraswati. Saradamba Temple in Sringeri. Sarada Temple in
the Neelam Valley in Kashmir. Basar: Situated 50 Kms from
Nizamabad at Basara ,on the banks of river Godavari, the Sri
Gnana Saraswathi Temple is the only temple in South India
dedicated to the Goddess of Learning.
Saraswati: Connection to Other Religions
Sarasvati is well known in a variety of other religions outside of
Hinduism. She appears in Jainism and Buddhism, and has made
her way from India to Japan as well as to other places around
the world.
In Jainism, Saravsvati has been given many titles, a few of these
include: The Dispeller of Darkness & Ignorance, The Remover
of Infatuations, The Destroyer of Miseries and The Bestower of
Knowledge. As in Hinduism, she also stands as a symbol of
purity.
In the transition from early (Theravada) Buddhism to Mahayana
Buddhism, may elements of Hinduism were transplanted into
Buddhism. In early Buddhist mandalas, various divinities were
depicted of Mahayana Buddhism. In those early Buddhist
mandalas, Sarasvati is located in the south-west of the
innermost circle, between Brahma and Vishnu, symbolizing her
close connection with these two deities. In Buddhism, Sarasvati
is the Bestower of Knowledge, Intelligence & Memory; and she
confers wisdom and learning upon her worshippers. She
possesses many forms within Buddhism, including Vajra-
Sarasvati, Vajrana-Sarasvati, Vajra-Sarada and Mahasarasvati.
During a period of Tantric dominance within Buddhism, many
of the Mahayana Buddhist texts were transmitted through the
Himalayan passes to Nepal, Tibet, Java, China and eventually
Japan.
In Tibet, she is known as Vajra-Sarasvati and is often depicted
as wielding a Thunderbolt (vajra). In Japan, the goddess Benten
is seen as a manifestation of Sarasvati. Her full name in
Japanese is Dai-Ben-Zai-Ten or The Great Divinity of
Reasoning Faculty. She is believed to confer power, happiness,
riches, long life, fame and reasoning powers. In later times she
came to be regarded as one of the seven deities of good
fortune. A myth in Japan speaks of a hideous pond dwelling
serpent that terrorized the villages and devoured the children
for miles around. Benten could not bear to witness such
destruction. Therefore she stirred up an earthquake and
hovered above the serpent's lair in the dust clouds.
Descending, she called it forth. At first Benten was filled with
loathing. But the serpent king wooed her with soft and tender
words until her heart was melted, and--making him promise to
mend his savage ways--she married him. It is interesting to note
that Ben-Ten, as goddess of speech was won by words.
Names of Saraswati
Bharati - eloquence; Mahavidya - transcendent knowledge; Vac
- speech; Mahavani - transcendent word; Arya - the noble one;
Brahmi - power of the immense being; Kamadhenu - the wish
cow; Bijagarbha - womb of the seed or womb of the elements
of speech; Dhanesvari - divinity of wealth; Vacdevi - divinity of
speech; Vinapani - the one that holds the vina; Sarada - giver of
essence; Vageshvari - mistress of speech; Brahmi - wife of
Brahma and Gayatri.

ENLIGHTENMENT – according to Dogen, and I agree with him absolutely – IS JUST LIKE THE
MOON REFLECTING ITSELF ON THE WATER. There is no effort on the part of the water, that the
moon has to be reflected. There is no commandment that has to be followed, no doctrines that
have to be practiced; no yoga postures ... so that the moon can reflect itself in the water. There
is not even a desire, not even a longing ... not even a faint longing. And the same is the situation
on the part of the moon – the moon has no desire to be reflected. Both are desireless, but the
reflection happens on its own accord. So does enlightenment. Just in a silent, peaceful
consciousness it suddenly reflects your buddhahood.

Enlightenment is just your naturalness. This is the great contribution of Zen. All other religions
are belief systems, Zen is not. All other religions will ask you to believe in God, in heaven, in hell.
All other religions will have a thousand and one beliefs. Zen has no belief system. Its whole
effort is to discover your natural self, which is covered with the dust of all kinds of good
intentions, of beautiful thoughts, of great beliefs. All that dust has to be cleaned off. And then
you are left alone in your naturalness.
OSHO – Zen Master - Dogen
The Adoration of the Divine Mother
A burning Love from white spiritual founts
Annulled the sorrow of the ignorant depths;
Suffering was lost in her immortal smile.
A Life from beyond grew conqueror here of death;
To err no more was natural to mind;
Wrong could not come where all was light and love.
The Formless and the Formed were joined in her:
Immensity was exceeded by a look,
A Face revealed the crowded Infinite.
Incarnating inexpressibly in her limbs
The boundless joy the blind world-forces seek,
Her body of beauty mooned the seas of bliss.
At the head she stands of birth and toil and fate,
In their slow round the cycles turn to her call;
Alone her hands can change Time's dragon base.
Hers is the mystery the Night conceals;
The spirit's alchemist energy is hers;
She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire.
The luminous heart of the Unknown is she,
A power of silence in the depths of God;
She is the Force, the inevitable Word,
The magnet of our difficult ascent,
The Sun from which we kindle all our suns,
The Light that leans from the unrealised Vasts,
The joy that beckons from the impossible,
The Might of all that never yet came down.
All Nature dumbly calls to her alone
To heal with her feet the aching throb of life
And break the seals on the dim soul of man
And kindle her fire in the closed heart of things.
All here shall be one day her sweetness' home,
All contraries prepare her harmony;
Towards her our knowledge climbs, our passion gropes;
In her miraculous rapture we shall dwell,
Her clasp shall turn to ecstasy our pain.
Our self shall be one self with all through her.

Book Three: The Book of the Divine Mother

Canto II: The Adoration of the Divine Mother

From: Savitri by Sri Aurobindo

 Saraswati and Her Consorts
Extracted from Secret of the Veda by Aurobindo
THE SYMBOLISM of the Veda betrays itself
with the greatest clearness in the figure of the
goddess Saraswati. In many of the other gods
the balance of the internal sense and the
external figure is carefully preserved. The veil
sometimes becomes transparent or its corners
are lifted even for the ordinary hearer of the
Word; but it is never entirely removed. One
may doubt whether Agni is anything more than
the personification of the sacrificial Fire or of
the physical principle of Light and Heat in
things, or Indra anything more than the god of
the sky and the rain or of physical Light, or
Vayu anything more than the divinity in the
Wind and Air or at most of the physical Life-
breath. In the lesser gods the naturalistic
interpretation has less ground for confidence;
for it is obvious that Varuna is not merely a
Vedic Uranus or Neptune, but a god with great
and important moral functions; Mitra and
Bhaga have the same psychological aspect; the
Ribhus who form things by the mind and build
up immortality by works can with difficulty be
crushed into the Procrustean measure of a
naturalistic mythology. Still by imputing a
chaotic confusion of ideas to the poets of the
Vedic hymns the difficulty can be trampled
upon, if not overcome. But Saraswati will
submit to no such treatment. She is, plainly
and clearly, the goddess of the Word, the
goddess of a divine Inspiration.
If that were all, this would not carry us much
farther than the obvious fact that the Vedic
Rishis were not mere naturalistic barbarians,
but had their psychological ideas and were
capable of creating mythological symbols
which represent not only those obvious
operations of physical Nature that interested
their agricultural, pastoral and open-air life,
but also the inner operations of the mind and
soul. If we have to conceive the history of
ancient religious thought as a progression from
the physical to the spiritual, from a purely
naturalistic to an increasingly ethical and
psychological view of Nature and the world
and the gods—and this, though by no means
certain, is for the present the accepted view,
we must suppose that the Vedic poets were at
least already advancing from the physical and
naturalistic conception of the Gods to the
ethical and the spiritual. But Saraswati is not
only the goddess of Inspiration; she is at one
and the same time one of the seven rivers of
the early Aryan world. The question at once
arises, whence came this extraordinary
identification? And how does the connection of
the two ideas present itself in the Vedic hymns?
And there is more; for Saraswati is important
not only in herself but by her connections.
Before proceeding farther let us cast a rapid
and cursory glance at them to see what they
can teach us.
The association of a river with the poetical
inspiration occurs also in the Greek
mythology; but there the Muses are not
conceived of as rivers; they are only connected
in a not very intelligible fashion with a
particular earthly stream. This stream is the
river Hippocrene, the fountain of the Horse,
and to account for its name we have a legend
that it sprang from the hoof of the divine horse
Pegasus; for he smote the rock with his hoof
and the waters of inspiration gushed out where
the mountain had been thus smitten. Was this
legend merely a Greek fairy tale or had it any
special meaning? And it is evident that if it had
any meaning, it must, since it obviously refers
to a psychological phenomenon, the birth of
the waters of inspiration, have had a
psychological meaning; it must have been an
attempt to put into concrete figures certain
psychological facts. We may note that the
word Pegasus, if we transliterate it into the
original Aryan phonetics, becomes Pajasa and is
obviously connected with the Sanskrit pajas,
which meant originally force, movement, or
sometimes footing. In Greek itself it is
connected with pege, a stream. There is,
therefore, in the terms of this legend a
constant association with the image of a
forceful movement of inspiration. If we turn to
Vedic symbols we see that the Ashwa or Horse
is an image of the great dynamic force of Life,
of the vital and nervous energy, and is
constantly coupled with other images that
symbolise the consciousness. Adri, the hill or
rock, is a symbol of formal existence and
especially of the physical nature and it is out of
this hill or rock that the herds of the Sun are
released and the waters flow. The streams of
the madhu, the honey, the Soma, are said also
to be milked out of this Hill or Rock. The
stroke of the Horse’s hoof on the rock
releasing the waters of inspiration would thus
become a very obvious psychological image.
Nor is there any reason to suppose that the old
Greeks and Indians were incapable either of
such psychological observation or of putting it
into the poetical and mystic imagery which was
the very body of the ancient Mysteries.
We might indeed go farther and inquire
whether there was not some original
connection between the hero Bellerophon,
slayer of Bellerus, who rides on the divine
Horse, and Indra Valahan, the Vedic slayer of
Vala, the enemy who keeps for himself the
Light. But this would take us beyond the limits
of our subject. Nor does this interpretation of
the Pegasus legend carry us any farther than to
indicate the natural turn of imagination of the
Ancients and the way in which they came to
figure the stream of inspiration as an actual
stream of flowing water. Saraswati means, “she
of the stream, the flowing movement”, and is
therefore a natural name both for a river and
for the goddess of inspiration. But by what
process of thought or association does the
general idea of the river of inspiration come to
be associated with a particular earthly stream?
And in the Vedait is not a question of one river
which by its surroundings, natural and
legendary, might seem more fitly associated
with the idea of sacred inspiration than any
other. For here it is a question not of one, but
of seven rivers always associated together in
the minds of the Rishis and all of them released
together by the stroke of the God Indra when
he smote the Python who coiled across their
fountains and sealed up their outflow. It seems
impossible to suppose that one river only in all
this sevenfold out flowing acquired a
psychological significance while the rest were
associated only with the annual coming of the
rains in the Punjab. The psychological
significance of Saraswati carries with it a
psychological significance for the whole symbol
of the Vedic waters.
Saraswati is not only connected with other
rivers but with other goddesses who are plainly
psychological symbols and especially with
Bharati and Ila. In the later Puranic forms of
worship Saraswati is the goddess of speech, of
learning and of poetry and Bharati is one of her
names, but in the Veda Bharati and Saraswati
are different deities. Bharati is also called Mahi,
the Large, Great or Vast. The three, Ila, Mahi
or Bharati and Saraswati are associated together
in a constant formula in those hymns of
invocation in which the gods are called by Agni
to the Sacrifice.
Ila sarasvati mahi, tisro devir mayobhuvah
Barhih sidantvasridhah
“May Ila, Saraswati and Mahi, three goddesses
who give birth to the bliss, take their place on
the sacrificial seat, they who stumble not,” or
“who come not to hurt” or “do no hurt.” The
epithet means, I think, they in whom there is
no false movement with its evil consequences,
duritam, no stumbling into pitfalls of sin and
error. The formula is expanded in Hymn 110
of the tenth Mandala:
Ano yajnam bharati tuyam etu,
ila manusvad iha cetayanti
Tisro devir barhir edam syonam,
sarasvati svapasah sadantu.
“May Bharati come speeding to our sacrifice
and Ila hither awakening our consciousness (or,
knowledge or perceptions) in human wise, and
Saraswati, - three goddesses sit on this blissful
seat, doing well the Work.”
It is clear and will become yet clearer that
these three goddesses have closely connected
functions akin to the inspirational power of
Saraswati. Saraswati is the Word, the
inspiration, as I suggest, that comes from the
Ritam, the Truth-consciousness. Bharati and Ila
must also be different forms of the same Word
or knowledge. In the eighth hymn of
Madhuchchhandas we have a Rik in which
Bharati is mentioned under the name of Mahi.
Eva hyasya sunrita, virapshi gomati mahi
pakva shakha na dashushe
“Thus Mahi for Indra full of the rays,
overflowing in her abundance, in her nature a
happy truth, becomes as if a ripe branch for the
giver of the sacrifice.”
The rays in the Veda are the rays of Surya, the
Sun. Are we to suppose that the goddess is a
deity of the physical Light or are we to
translate “go” by cow and suppose that Mahi is
full of cows for the sacrifice? The psychological
character of Saraswati comes to our rescue
against the last absurd supposition, but it
negatives equally the naturalistic
interpretation. This characterisation of Mahi,
Saraswati’s companion in the sacrifice, the
sister of the goddess of inspiration, entirely
identified with her in the later mythology, is
one proof among a hundred others that light in
the Veda is a symbol of knowledge, of spiritual
illumination. Surya is the Lord of the supreme
Sight, the vast Light, brihaj jyotih or, as it is
sometimes called, the true Light, ritam brihat.
And the connection between the words ritam
and brihat and is constant in the Veda.
It seems to me impossible to see in these
expressions anything else than the indication of
a state of illumined consciousness the nature of
which is that it is wide or large, brihat, full of
the truth of being, satyam, and of the truth of
knowledge and action, rtam. The gods have this
consciousness. Agni, for instance, is termed
ritacit, he who has the truth-consciousness.
Mahi is full of the rays of this Surya; she carries
in her this illumination. Moreover she is
sunrita, she is the word of a blissful Truth, even
as it has been said of Saraswati that she is the
impeller of happy truths, codayitri sunritanam.
Finally, she is virapshi, large or breaking out
into abundance, a word which recalls to us that
the Truth is also a Largeness, ritam brihat. And
in another hymn, (I.22.10), she is described as
varutri dhisana, a widely covering or embracing
Thought-power. Mahi, then, is the luminous
vastness of the Truth, she represents the
Largeness, brihat, of the superconscient in us
containing in itself the Truth, ritam. She is,
therefore, for the sacrificer like a branch
covered with ripe fruit.
Ila is also the word of the truth; her name has
become identical in a later confusion with the
idea of speech. As Saraswati is an awakener of
the consciousness to right thinkings or right
states of mind, cetanti sumatinam, so also Ila
comes to the sacrifice awakening the
consciousness to knowledge, cetayanti. She is
full of energy, suvira, and brings knowledge.
She also is connected with Surya,t heSun, as
when Agni, the Will is invoked (V.4.4) to
labour by the rays of the Sun, Lord of the true
Light, being of one mind with Ila, ilaya sajosa
yatamano rasmibhih suryasya. She is the mother
of the Rays, the herds of the Sun. Her name
means she who seeks and attains and it contains
the same association of ideas as the words
Ritam and Rishi. Ila may therefore well be the
vision of the seer which attains the truth.
As Saraswati represents the truth-audition,
sruti, which gives the inspired word, so Ila
represents drishti the vision. If so, since drishti
and sruti are the two powers of the Rishi, the
Kavi, the Seer of the Truth, we can understand
the close connection of Ila and Saraswati.
Bharati or Mahi is the largeness of the Truth-
consciousness which, dawning on man’s
limited mind, brings with it the two sister
Puissances. We can also understand how these
fine and living distinctions came afterwards to
be neglected as the Vedic knowledge declined
and Bharati, Saraswati, Ila melted into one.
We may note also that these three goddesses
are said to bring to birth for man the Bliss,
Mayas. I have already insisted on the constant
relation, as conceived by the Vedic seers,
between the Truth and the Bliss or Ananda. It
is by the dawning of the true or infinite
consciousness in man that he arrives out of this
evil dream of pain and suffering, this divided
creation into the Bliss, the happy state
variously described in Veda by the words
bhadram, mayas (love and bliss), svasti (the good
state of existence, right being) and by others
less technically used such as varyam, rayih
rayah. For the Vedic Rishi Truth is the passage
and the antechamber, the Bliss of the divine
existence is the goal, or else Truth is the
foundation, Bliss the supreme result.
Such, then, is the character of Saraswati as a
psychological principle, her peculiar function
and her relation to her most immediate
connections amongst he gods. How far do
these shed any light on her relations as the
Vedic river to her six sister streams? The
number seven plays an exceedingly important
part in the Vedic system, as in most very
ancient schools of thought. We find it
recurring constantly, - the seven delights, sapta
ratnani; the seven flames, tongues or rays of
Agni, sapta arcis, sapta jvalah. these seven forms
of the Thought-principle, saptadhitayah, the
seven Rays or Cows, forms of the Cow
unslayable, Aditi, mother of the gods, sapta
gavah; the seven rivers, the seven mothers or
fostering cows, saptam atarah , sapta dhenavah, a
term applied indifferently to the Rays and to
the Rivers. All these sets of seven depend, it
seems to me, upon the Vedic classification of
the fundamental principles, the tattvas, of
existence. The enquiry into the number of
these tattvas greatly interested the speculative
mind of the ancients and in Indian philosophy
we find various answers ranging from the One
upward and running into the twenties. In
Vedic thought the basis chosen was the number
of the psychological principles, because all
existence was conceived by the Rishis as a
movement of conscious being. However
merely curious or barren these speculations
and classifications may seem to the modern
mind, they were no mere dry metaphysical
distinctions, but closely connected with a living
psychological practice of which they were to a
great extent the thought-basis, and in any case
we must understand them clearly if we wish to
form with any accuracy an idea of this ancient
and far-off system.
In the Veda, then, we find the number of the
principles variously stated. The One was
recognised as the basis and continent; in this
One there were the two principles divine and
human, mortal and immortal. The dual
number is also otherwise applied in the two
principles, Heaven and Earth, Mind and Body,
Soul and Nature, who are regarded as the
father and mother of all beings. It is
significant, however, that Heaven and Earth,
when they symbolise two forms of natural
energy, the mental and the physical
consciousness, are no longer the father and
mother, but the two mothers. The triple
principle was doubly recognised, first in the
threefold divine principle answering tot he
later Sachchidananda, the divine existence,
consciousness and bliss, and secondly in the
threefold mundane principle, Mind, Life,
Body, upon which is built the triple world of
the Veda and Puranas. But the full number
ordinarily recognised is seven. This figure was
arrived at by adding the three divine principles
to the three mundane and interpolating a
seventh or link-principle which is precisely that
of the Truth-consciousness, Ritam Brihat,
afterwards known as Vijnana or Mahas. The
latter term means the Large and is therefore an
equivalent of Brihat. There are other
classifications of five, eight, nine and ten and
even, as it would seem, twelve; but these do
not immediately concern us.
All these principles, be it noted, are supposed
to be really inseparable and omnipresent and
therefore apply themselves to each separate
formation of Nature. The seven Thoughts, for
instance, are Mind applying itself to each of the
seven planes as we would now call them and
formulating Matter-mind, if we may so call it,
nervous mind, pure mind, truth-mind and so
on to the highest summit, parama paravat. The
seven rays or cows are Aditi the infinite
Mother, the Cow unslayable, supreme Nature
or infinite Consciousness, pristine source of
the later idea of Prakriti or Shakti, - the
Purusha is in this early pastoral imagery the
Bull, Vrishabha, - the Mother of things taking
form on the seven planes of her world-action
as energy of conscious being. So also, the seven
rivers are conscious currents corresponding to
the sevenfold substance of the ocean of being
which appears to us formulated in the seven
worlds enumerated by the Puranas. It is their
full flow in the human consciousness which
constitutes the entire activity of the being, his
full treasure of substance, his full play of
energy. In the Vedic image, his cows drink of
the water of the seven rivers.
Should this imagery be admitted, and it is
evident that if once such conceptions are
supposed to exist, this would be the natural
imagery for a people living the life and placed
in the surroundings of the ancient Aryans, -
quite as natural for them and inevitable as for
us the image of the “planes” with which
theosophical thought has familiarised us,—the
place of Saraswati as one of the seven rivers
becomes clear. She is the current which comes
from the Truth-principle, from the Ritam or
Mahas, and we actually find this principle
spoken of in the Veda, - in the closing passage
of our third hymn for instance, - as the Great
Water, maho arnas, - an expression which gives
us at once the origin of the later term, Mahas, -
or sometimes mahan arnavah. We see in the
third hymn the close connection between
Saraswati and this great water. Let us examine
a little more closely this connection before we
proceed to the consideration of the Vedic cows
and their relation to the god Indra and
Saraswati’s close cousin the goddess Sarama.
For it is necessary to define these relations
before we can progress with the scrutiny of
Madhuchchhandas’ other hymns addressed
without exception to the great Vedic deity,
King of Heaven, who, according to our
hypothesis, symbolises the Power of Mind and
especially the divine or self-luminous Mind in
the human being.
 Re-discovery of River Sarasvati
E veryone agrees that Rigveda was perceived on
the banks of River Sarasvati. In one rica, the
Rigveda notes:
sarasvati saptathi sindhu maataa
(sarasvati as the mother of seven rivers; sindhu means
'natural ocean frontier, river'.)
As Sarasvati connotes the roots of Hindu civilization,
Coedes' (French epigraphist's) work on Hinduised
states of southeast Asia, show that Hindu migrated
eastwards along the Indian Ocean Rim to set up the
largest Vishnu Mandiram of the world in Nagara
Vatika (Angkor Wat). Hindumahaasagar is the only
ocean so named after the Hindu Rashtra. This is an
evocation of an extraordinary span of time from
Vedic times to the early centuries of the Common Era
when Hindu culture reached many shores along the
Indian Ocean rim which extends over 63,000 miles.
The story of the discovery of Vedic River Sarasvati
Importance of the river
T he river figures in the Mahabharata, and flows
north of the Kurukshetra battlefield. The epic
writers however, also noted it‟s drying up and
the resultant desertification of the land, recording for
posterity that the river was “disappearing into the
desert” and was later “lost.” It is truly noteworthy that
when in modern times British archaeologists mapped
the Indus Valley sites, they found most were located
round the dried-up Ghaggar-Hakra (Sarasvati), which
is why modern Indian archaeologists feel it should be
re-named the Sarasvati civilization.
The Indus Valley civilization was so named because
the first site discovered by Sir John Marshall in the
1920s, Mohenjo Daro or “mound of the dead,”
happened to be situated in the Indus Valley.
and a riverine, maritime civilization of ancestors of
the present-day Hindus everywhere has been made
possible by a remarkable coalition of scientists of a
number of disciplines ranging from archaeology to
glaciology. Rishi Gritsamada among Rigveda rishis,
calls Sarasvati as mother, river and devi (ambitame,
naditame, devitame sarasvati). This shows that Sarasvati
had attained the stature of a devi, divinity even in
Rigvedic times. Why was she, a river, called a
mother? Because, she nurtured a civilization on her
banks. A civilization evidenced by over 2,000
archaeological sites out of a total of 2,600 sites of the
so-called Indus Valley Civilization, making it
appropriate to call it Sarasvati Civilization.
Archaeological excavations and a series of scientific
discoveries have established beyond doubt that the
evolution of Indian civilization was indigenous and
that the Sarasvati was once an over-ground reality,
flowing from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean.
Thereafter, more discoveries were made and
eventually as many as 2600 sites were unearthed
between Iran in the west, Turkmenia, Bactria and the
Pamirs in the north, beyond Delhi into western UP in
the east, up to the Godavari in Maharashtra in the
south, encompassing over one million square
kilometers. The culture goes back to around 7000 BC
in Mehrgarh (Pakistan), which shows evidence of a
strong agricultural economy and the presence of
granaries for storing surplus grain. In its mature
phase, this culture spawned the great cities of
Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Lothal, around 2600
BC.
To this day, Mohenjo Daro startles us with the quality
of its urban planning, water supply and drainage
systems. The more recently discovered Dholavira
created elaborate stone gateways and water harvesting
structures, and is deservedly renowned for creating
the world‟s first sign-board in the Harappan script.
Lothal had a port with a dockyard and granaries. Yet
by 1900 BC, the Indus-Sarasvati cities were being
abandoned and an eastward shift in population took
place. This is reflected in the Sanskrit literature, with
increasing importance bestowed upon the Ganga and
Yamuna. Saraswat Brahmins preserve a tradition of
their southward migration, while Gaud Saraswat
Brahmins say they came South via Gaud (Bengal) after
the Sarasvati disappeared. There is no evidence of
invasion, or even substantial inward migration, but a
How was River Sarasvati re-discovered?
T he modern quest for the Sarasvati began in the
1970s when American satellite images showed
traces of water channels in northern and
western India that had disappeared long ago.
Thereafter, Dr. Vakankar together with Moropant
Pingle established the invisible river‟s route through
satellite imagery and archaeological sites along its
route. The Sarasvati project was vetted and cleared by
eminent archaeologists and geologists, and an earnest
search for the lost river launched in 1982.
For instance, in 1995, scientists of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC) found that water was
available in the Rajasthan desert at depths of merely
50 to 60 metres, as a result of which agriculture was
possible even in the extreme summer months. The
Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI),
Jodhpur, mapped the defunct course of a river
through satellite and aerial photographs and field
studies. In fact, satellite imagery has given the river
scientific teeth. It seems to have originated in Kailash
Mansarovar and emerged on the plains from the
Siwalik Hills at the foothills of the Himalayas in
Himachal Pradesh, flowed through the Ghaggar valley
in Haryana and the Rajasthan desert, on to Hakra in
population shift following the loss of a major water
source. It seems reasonable to conclude that the
Rig Veda was composed by people who called
themselves „Arya‟ (noble) long before 2000 BC,
when the Sarasvati was a mighty river, and that
Harappa was one of their cities. One clinching
evidence is the finding of the Vedic fire altar in
several Harappan buildings (homes) and seals showing
yogic meditation postures. The discovery of Vedic
River Sarasvati sounds the death-knell of an
indological myth called Aryan Invasion/Migration
Theory.
the Cholistan desert (Sindh, Pakistan), before
reaching the Rann of Kutch through the Nara Valley
and falling off into the Arabian Sea.
Since the Ghaggar Valley is eight to twelve kilometers
wide at many places, it is obvious the Sarasvati was
truly a great river. Earthquakes and floods changed
the course of the Ghaggar and its tributaries
frequently, and satellite imagery together with
ground morphological studies confirm that it too
originated in the Siwalik Himalayas before flowing
into the Arabian Sea. This was the „lost‟ Sarasvati.
Scientific studies suggest it dried up around 2000 BC,
which makes it a contemporary of the Indus Valley
civilization, and gives the Rig Veda a greater antiquity
than previously suspected, as the Sarasvati was a
powerful river when the seers composed the Vedic
mantras.
After Dr. Wakankar‟s demise in 1996, the Vedic
Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Pratishthaan, Jodhpur (regd.)
continued the project, by roping in the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO), whose chairman Dr.
Kasturi Rangan and Regional Remote Sensing
Services Centre (RRSSC) director Dr. J.R. Sharma
displayed a gratifying interest in the project. The
Jodhpur RRSSC conducted three major scientific
seminars on the subject and analyzed satellite images
of IRS 1-century, thus mapping the entire course
from Kailash Mansarovar to Gujarat.
Meanwhile, after the Pokharan blasts on 11 May
1998, the Isotope Division of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC) led by Dr. S.L. Rao took
water samples from 800 deep wells within a radius of
250 kms. of Pokharan. Their findings, published in
Current Science, showed there was no nuclear
contamination of the ground-waters. Normally, when
a neutron or hydrogen bomb implodes (3 bombs
were imploded), huge amounts of tritium (an isotope
of hydrogen H3) are released. Yet the tests showed
very small traces of tritium, which are normally
found in any body of water together with H2O, a
tribute to the meticulous care with which Indian
scientists conducted the tests.
BARC also made some amazing discoveries. First, the
waters tested were potable; second, they derived
from Himalayan glaciers; third, they were between
8000 to 14000 years old; and finally, the waters were
being slowly recharged through aquifers from
somewhere in the north despite the fact that records
showed only very scanty rainfall in the semi-arid
region of Marusthali. BARC thus confirmed ISRO
findings about the river, and this was an unintended
fallout of Pokharan!
Archaeologists from the Shimla Circle did excellent
work in 2003-2004, reporting three sites and a
Re-birth of River Sarasvati and National Water Grid
P rojects related to the re-discovery of Vedic
River Sarasvati have been transformed as
projects to revive the great river to fulfill the water
Buddha vihara in Adi Badri alone. Dr. Vijay Mohan
Kumar Puri, an expert on Himalayan glaciers,
reported finds of metamorphic rocks on the terraces
created by Himalayan glacial River Sarasvati and
proved that Adi Badri was the site where the river
entered the plains from its Himalayan home. Adi
Badri is just 20 kms. from Jagadhri (Yamuna Nagar)
and 70 kms. from Dehradun (Paonta Saheb) or
Kurukshetra. Further, Dr. Puri proved the origins of
Sarasvati from Rupin-Supin glaciers north of Paonta
Saheb, where a Yamuna tear occurred on account of
plate tectonics and caused a lateral shift of the
Shiwalik ranges and consequent eastward migration of
the Yamuna, a tributary of Sarasvati, taking the
Sarasvati waters to join the Ganga at Prayag and
create the Triveni Sangam.
These excavations proved that Adi Badri was the spot
where a Himalayan glacial river entered the plains.
The Sarasvati originated from the Svargarohini glacier
mountain. Already the revived river has reached upto
Danan in Barmer, Rajasthan, and will reach the Rann
of Kutch in a few years. Plans are already afoot to
take it upto the Sabarmati with Sharada
(Mahakali-Karnali) river glacial runoffs.
Given the magnitude of the findings, scholars like Dr.
Karan Singh and Dr. Kasturi Rangan suggested the
Ministry for Culture examine the Vedic texts and the
work done by ISRO to prove the course of the River
Sarasvati. There is a case for expediting the project,
through excavations to reveal the evolution of
civilization on the banks of the river.
supply needs of 20 crore people in Northwest India
and to make the Thar desert fertile again. These
projects have also led to the demand for a National
Water Grid to make every river of India a perennial
river and provide water for everyone, for generations
to come.
Dr. D.K. Chaddha, Chairman, Central Groundwater
Authority, Union Ministry of Water Resources,
validated BARC findings of potable water 30 to 60 m
below the ground, through ground morphological
studies. A Rs. five crore Sarasvati Project was
sanctioned to drill test tube wells along the identified
course. ISRO located the test sites on the basis of a
palaeochannel (old course) shown in satellite images;
the existence of a tectonic fault line; and the
proximity to an archaeological site.
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, director, Sarasvati Nadi Shodh
Prakalp, author of a seven-volume encyclopaedic
study of the river, pointed out that there are over
2,000 archaeological sites along the banks of the
Sarasvati as compared to only 600 on the banks of
Sindhu. The sites identified by ISRO were drilled in
25 places, with special drilling equipment from Japan,
in order to precisely position the drills based on
latitude and longitude data provided on toposheets.
Barring one drilling due to faulty positioning of the
drill, all explorations were successful and yielded
sustainable tube wells at a depth of merely 30 to 60
m, with potable water. Dr. K.R. Srinivasan,
Director, Central Groundwater Board, explained in a
detailed monograph that it was possible to create one
million sustainable tube wells in central Rajasthan
alone of the Sarasvati River basin, a project taken up
by the state Government.
Sustainability of these tube wells necessitates a
recharge through the surface waters of the Rajasthan
Canal, which is being extended into Gujarat. In turn,
Gujarat will share some Narmada waters with
Rajasthan. It is an irony that while Punjab and
Haryana dispute over the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal
(SYL), Punjab has been forced to release waters into
the Sarasvati Mahaanadi Roopaa Nahar in order to
save the dams which are located on fault-lines
crisscrossing the entire Sutlej-Beas river basin, on
account of ongoing plate tectonic activity. Thus,
waters are flowing in the 40 feet wide, 12 feet deep
Sarasvati nahar, causing the sand dunes to disappear as
the banks of the reborn Sarasvati are greened by
forests! Nearly 10 lakh acres of land has already been
brought under cultivation.
At present, State Governments are showing more
interest in the Sarasvati than the Centre. In October
2004, a Sarasvati Sarovar in Haryana was dedicated to
the nation, and on Karthik Purnima the following
month itself, more than two lakh pilgrims took a
sacred dip in the waters of the 83 m. long, 83 m.
wide and 11 ft. deep Sarovar. The waters were
harvested through eleven check dams, an example of
water-shed management and also ecological
conservation of forests, apart from the development
of a Vedic herbal garden.
As of now, it will take about two years for the waters
of the Sarasvati to reach Gujarat. The interlinking of
rivers as part of the National Water Grid is also
presently left mainly to the initiative of State
Governments, as witnessed in the moves to start
Kali-Parbati SindhChambal and Ken-Betwa link
projects. A revivified Sarasvati has the power to
magically transform the face of north-western India.
The river will flow up to Sabarmati (Ahmedabad)
river once the Mahakali-Karnali-Sharada waters are
transported across an aqueduct over the Yamuna and
linked with the Sarasvati.
President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has expressed
interest in the potential this heritage river has to
revive the regions through which it will flow. After
visiting the Sarasvati Darshan Exhibition at Jagadhri,
Yamuna Nagar, on 20 April 2003, Dr. Abdul Kalam
invited experts associated with the project to make a
presentation regarding the archaeological artifacts
recovered from various digs as well as the findings
through satellite images. A delegation led by Dr. S.
Kalyanaraman explained how scientific investigations
proved the historical existence of the river.
The Sarasvati springs from Himalayan glaciers in
Har-ki-dun in Uttaranchal and emerges at Adi Badri, a
sacred spot 30 km. north of Jagadhri, through the
foothills of the Shiwalik ranges. About 5000 years
ago, the river traversed a distance of over 1600 km.,
through Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab,
Rajasthan and Gujarat, to reach Sindhu Sagara at
Prabhas Patan (Somnath), as asserted in the
Mahabharata and other ancient texts. Then, around
3500 years ago, tectonic changes caused
river-migration and the desiccation of the river,
which has been convincingly established through
satellite image analyses, geomorphological studies,
BARC findings based on tritium analysis of
ground-water resources in the Sarasvati River Basin in
the Rajasthan Marusthali desert, which will support
construction of over one million tube-wells for
potable water after recharging the groundwater
aquifers using surface channels of the reborn river.
Sarasvati old and new: work to be done
H aving inspired and facilitated the rich
cultural and material civilization of the
Vedic „Arya‟ people, the Sarasvati was
immortalized by her grateful offspring as Goddess of
knowledge and wisdom.
Given the tangible reality of the river, it is worth
looking at the archaeological finds made in the
Sarasvati Basin and contiguous areas, and see the
connection between the ancient settlements and the
river‟s course. During 2002-2003, the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) decided to
excavate major sites from over 2,000 sites identified
after establishing the entire 1600 km. course of the
river from the Himalayas to Gujarat. Some major
This is a $120 billion project that is part of the
proposed National Water Grid.
Thus, what began as a historical quest for a
supposedly mythical river has materialized as a reality
with the potential to transform the lives of peoples
along its route, once again, as in the past.
The Sarasvati can make the water-starved north-west
fertile and transform the desert into verdant pastures,
as the Rajasthan Canal draws waters of the Sutlej and
Beas from the Harike Reservoir and takes them up to
Danan in Barmer district. The foundation tower at
Mohangarh (55 km. west of Jaisalmer) calls the 40
feet wide channel Sarasvati Mahanadi Roopa Nahar,
because the Sutlej was originally its tributary. The
National Water Development Agency plans to extend
this canal up to the Rann of Kutch and the Sabarmati
by adding Sharada waters through an aqueduct across
the Yamuna, thereby creating a National Water Grid.
Thus, waters from Mansarovar can reach Sabarmati
by constructing a 200 km. channel.
sites thus identified included Adi Badri, Bilaspur,
Sadhaoura, Mustafabad, Bhagawanpura, Thanesar,
Raja-Karn-ka Qila, Mirzapur, Pehowa, Kalayat,
Kaithal, besides ongoing excavations at Banawali,
Rakhigarhi and Dholavira. These excavations are
now establishing the cultural chronology of India‟s
ancient past.
Investigations by the Geological Society of India
show that nearly 4000 years ago plate tectonics
caused migration of Sarasvati‟s tributary rivers, the
Sutlej and Yamuna. As a result, the Yamuna captured
the waters of Sarasvati at Paonta Saheb in Himachal
Pradesh (this is the origin of the story of Balarama
changing the course of the Yamuna by pulling the
river towards him with his plough!). Then, taking a
tear in the Shiwalik ranges, the Yamuna
migrateeastwards to join Ganga at Prayag, forming
the eternal Sangam of three rivers, one of which is
„invisible.‟ As for the Sutlej (Sutudri of the Rig
Veda), it took a 90-degree turn at Ropar, 50 km.
north of Chandigarh, and migrated westwards to join
the Sindhu.
In our contemporary era, there is a real chance that
the primordial river may be reborn and flow 1600
km. from Kailash Mansarovar to Somnath (Prabhas
Patan). In May 2004, the ASI excavated an ancient
terrace of the Sarasvati and found high-grade
metamorphic rocks belonging to the palaeo-glaciated
regions of the Central Himalayas. A terrace is a level
shelf of land interrupting a declivity, i.e., steep
slopes above and below.
At Nausharo (Pakistan) two terracotta figurines of
female figures were unearthed. The neck ornaments
were painted golden-yellow, the hair black, while
the parting of their hair was pigmented red (to
simulate the sindoor of married women), and these
powerfully indicate the sheer continuity of Indic
culture from its origins 7000 years ago. At a
conference of the World Association of Vedic
Studies (WAVES), 2003, Prof. B.B. Lal revealed that
a journalist was tutored to ask him if the figurines
could have been forged by interested parties seeking
to prove the convergence of the Vedic and Sarasvati
civilizations! Prof. Lal replied that the images were
found by French archaeologist Jarrige, in Pakistan, so
the question should be directed to them!
S'ivalinga were also found at Harappa and terracotta
models in Kalibangan. So was s'ankha wide bangle
found at Nausharo dated to 6500 BCE. The s'ankha
industry is a continuing industry for the last 8500
years. At Tiruchendur (Gulf of Mannar), the total
turnover of West Bengal Handicraftd Dev. Corpn. is
Rs. 50 crores acquiring s'ankha to make s'ankha
bangles which are a must in every bengali marriage.
No wonder s'ankha adorns the hand of Narayana and
is used as Panchajanya by Srikrishna. Today, Adi
Badri in Haryana, where Sarasvati emerges on the
plains, has been converted into a pilgrimage-heritage
site with a 83 m x 83 m sarovar with bathing ghats,
set in a scenic valley, under the benevolent gaze of
the Adi Narayan, Kedarnath and Sakti Mantra Devi
temples. Yet it is also a heritage site from the point
of view of water-harvesting and watershed
management. The Sarasvati waters, like those of
the Ganga, are clear and pure and without any
contaminants. President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
visited an exhibition near Jagadhri in April 2004,
where satellite images, revenue records and other
evidence was showcased to establish the reality of the
river. Recording his impressions in the Visitors‟
Book, he wrote: “Delighted to see the hard work in
realizing the reality of epic information.”
Dr. R.S. Bisht, former director, ASI, who excavated
Dholavira and supervised the search for the Sarasvati
in 2001, emphasized that the Sarasvati was a reality:
“The overwhelming archeological evidence of
ancient settlements along the course of what was
once the Sarasvati River proves that our earliest
civilizations were not confined to the Indus river
alone. Those who wrote the Vedas on the banks of
the Sarasvati were the same as the Indus Valley
people.”
Work has begun to decipher the so-called Indus
Script. Kalyanaraman has noted that the epigraphs
are hieroglyphs in mleccha language (the same
language used by Yudhishthira and Vidura in
Mahabharata discussing about the shellac palace –
laakshaa griha – to trap the pandavas). The
hieroglyphs refer to the repertoire of metal smiths
and smithy – furnaces, minerals, metals and alloys
and continue to be used on Sohgaura copper plate
and on punch marked coins all over Bharata.
 The Divine Mother
Excerpt from The Dance Of The Cosmic Gods by Sri Chinmoy.

Mahasaraswati

Thy Heart of music-Fire

consumes our drowse,
Nowhere our journey ends.
Thy patience unknown all souls
must learn from Thee
To march through immortal lands.
We hurt Thy Heart's arabesque supreme of bliss.
Ever unplumbed is thy Truth.
Our sheaths' afflicted roots imbibe thy Grace;
In Thee the tapestry of Truth.
All worlds with ignorance blind immerse in Thy Light,
O Queen of perfection-seal
Thy birth of Lore supreme within us bursts
And makes us eternal, free.

T he fourth aspect of the Mother divine is

Saraswati or Mahasaraswati. Maheshwari is
the Mother of immensity, Mahakali is the
Mother of aspiration and Mahalakshmi is the Mother
of sweetness, beauty, fragrance and harmony. But
Mahasaraswati is the Mother of perfection,
knowledge and wisdom. When we walk along the
mental paths when we start our journey in the mental
world, the first thing we do is invoke this Mother,
Mahasaraswati. With her blessing we commence our
mental journey and in all our mental and intellectual
life we carry her sweetest, highest blessing. Perfect
perfection she demands from her devotees.
This Mother is a cosmic musician, a supernal
musician. She plays on the vina and, while playing,
she offers transcendental Delight to Brahma. Brahma
is the Creator and Saraswati is his consort.
Each god and goddess has a secret, special name. This
secret name we call the seed-sound. Each cosmic god
and goddess has adopted one special sound in order to
fulfil God's cosmic Play. God's soundless sound we
know is anahata. The outer life is an open book; but
the inner life is a secret life, a life of sweetness and
divine enjoyment. We know that Lord Krishna has
hundreds of names in the outer world: Krishna, Gopal
and others. But in the inner world, for his devotees, he
has a spiritual name or seed-sound. That seed-sound
is Kling. If we can say Kling most powerfully and
soulfully, from this seed-sound Krishna's divine Joy,
divine Love and divine Beauty can be seen and felt
inside our heart.
The seed-sound of Kali is Kring. You can repeat
"Kali, Kali, Kali," but sincere seekers who want to
make the fastest progress should repeat Kring very
powerfully. Kali you can say softly, but if you say
Kring softly, it will have no effect. You have to say
Kring with tremendous power so that you feel that
your whole being is vibrating with the sound that you
are producing from your heart. At that time, Mother
Kali will immediately stand in front of you with her
boundless power, boundless compassion and fastest
speed to help you reach the Goal. Of course, please
try to bring to the fore your divine dynamic aspect as
you chant. While you are using this mantra please do
not have undivine qualities inside you. If the utterance
is perfect, immediately the result will be most
powerful, most soulful.
Then, if you want to invoke the seed-sound of
Maheshwari you can say Hring most soulfully. The
seed-sound of Lakshmi is Sring. If you want divine
beauty, cosmic beauty, inner beauty and harmony,
then you have to invoke Mahalakshmi. If you want
perfection, patience, inner wisdom and inner light for
everything you do, for that you need to invoke
Saraswati. Her seed-sound is Ohing.
These four goddesses represent the four major aspects
of the Mother Divine, her four transcendental forms.
These four aspects are for all divine seekers, and if a
seeker wants to, he can invoke all four aspects at the
same time. But individual seekers usually approach
just one particular aspect of the Divine Mother.
You can say that each individual has his own way of
approaching the Goal or a certain connection with one
of these aspects of God. If we worship the particular
aspect that is meant for us, then we will be very
successful in our life. But if we need perfection and
we pray to the wrong goddess, then it will only take
more time for us to achieve what we need.
It is true that we can reach God through our aspiration
and get perfection, power, knowledge and everything.
But our capacity is very limited, and often we cannot
or do not dare to get everything. If we feel that
something will suit our nature and satisfy our soul or
feed our inner hunger for the time being, then we
should pray to a particular aspect of God.
If we want immensity, then we have to pray to
Maheshwari. If we want to go to the Highest with
utmost speed, then we have to pray to Mahakali. If we
want to bring beauty and harmony into our life, then
we have to pray to Mahalakshmi. If we want
perfection in minute detail in everything, then we
have to pray to Mahasaraswati. But whichever path a
seeker prefers, at the end of his journey, he will
ultimately see that he has fulfilled all these four
aspects of the Mother Divine.

Vivekananda - Divine Mother

"The calm sea is the Absolute; the same sea in waves is Divine Mother. She is time, space, and causation. God
is Mother and has two natures, the conditioned and the unconditioned. As the former, She is God, nature, and
soul (humanity). As the latter, She is unknown and unknowable. Out of the Unconditioned came the trinity god,
nature, and soul, the triangle of existence...

A bit of Mother, a drop, was Krishna, another was Buddha, another was Christ. The worship of even one spark
of Mother in our earthly mother leads to greatness. Worship Her if you want love and wisdom."

-- Swami Vivekananda, Inspired Talks, July, 1895.

Manifestations of Her glory show in power of immeasurable might,

Throughout the universe, powers that swell the sea of birth and death,
Forces that change and break up the Unchanged and changed again.
Lo! Where shall we seek refuge, save in Her?

-- Swami Vivekananda, from "Hymn to the Divine Mother"

 Sri Aurobindo on the Divine Mother

I n 1927 Sri Aurobindo wrote an essay about the Divine Mother; this can be found in Volume 25 of the
Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, pp.1-41. Here is an excerpt from that work (p.24-25):

The Mother not only governs all from above but she descends into this lesser triple universe.
Impersonally, all things here, even the movements of the Ignorance, are herself in veiled power and her
creations in diminished substance, her Nature-body and Nature-force, and they exist because, moved by
the mysterious fiat of the Supreme to work out something that was there in the possibilities of the Infinite,
she has consented to the great sacrifice and has put on like a mask the soul and forms of the Ignorance. But
personally too she has stooped to descend here into the Darkness that she may lead it to the Light, into this
Death that she may turn it to godlike Life, into this world-pain and its obstinate sorrow and suffering that
she may end it in the transforming ecstasy of her sublime Ananda. In her deep and great love for her
children she has consented to put on herself the cloak of this obscurity, condescended to bear the attacks
and torturing influences of the powers of the Darkness and the Falsehood, borne to pass through the
portals of the birth that is a death, taken upon herself the pangs and sorrows and sufferings of the creation,
since it seemed that thus alone could it be lifted to the Light and Joy and Truth and eternal Life. This is the
great sacrifice called sometimes the sacrifice of the Purusha, but much more deeply the holocaust of the
Prakriti, the sacrifice of the Divine Mother.

My Cosmic Mother’s Face

Paramahansa Yogananda

Fairy dream faces, like fresh flowers,

May bloom in the vase of my gaze for my soul to see;
But the Face that vanished behind space
Cannot be replaced by any of these.

There are faces of transcendent beauty,

Faces of exquisite charm, faces tender and true;
There are faces of sweetness and wisdom,
But there’s none like the face of You.

There are faces tainted by fires of lust,

Faces the wise cannot fathom, faces a child cannot trust.
There are faces of beauty, steeped in glory through and through;
But O Cosmic Mother, they are dim beside You.

There’s the violet, the lily, the lotus, the rose;

Fragrant flower-faces blooming under the snows;
 There are faces of stars, and the moon and the sun.
But for me there’s One Face evermore, only one.

After my search through aeons unnumbered,

The never-ceasing streamlets of my dreams
Have melted in Thy silver ocean-face,
Where smiling love forever softly gleams.

Countless silver rays of living beauties

Have melted into one transcendent grace –
The beauties of a million, million ages –
To make, at last, Thine omnipresent face.

Without Thy face, there is no light for me

In all the unplumbed depths of land or seal
Thy beauty-rays are rainbowed over all
Eternity, while planets rise and fall.

On the lips of laughter, on roses in the dawn,

It is Thy smile forever glowing there-
An immortelle of glory, heavenly sweet
With fragrance of unceasing, selfless prayer.

On the calm lake of my breathless bosom,

Where ripplets of desire no more
Play little games like children,
The glimmer of Thy face is spreading o’er.

In the cleansed mirror of my memory,

In the deep crystal pool that is my heart,
I see Thine omnipresence trapped for me-
Of my own self forevermore a part.
As I, awakening, pass through gates of light,
Thy wisdom-face is all my soul can see.
Faded, the pale pleasure-stars of dream skies,
In the omniscient light enfolding Thee.

Auroras, lights squeezed from shimmering hives of atoms,

Flashing feelings, burning vitalities, worlds of flame,
Dumb stones and speaking minds – all melted together
To form Thy one face and to spell Thy one name.

My vision, withdrawn from viewing pulsating centuries,

Throws its countless eyes within to search eternity;
And all I seek, O Cosmic Mother, all I crave forever,
Is the light of one face – the face of Thee!
 Mirabai
Mirabai (also known as Meera) was born in 1504
A.D. at Chaukari village
in Merta District of
Rajasthan. As a young
child Mirabai would
spend her time playing
with a small image of
Krishna. Nobody
understood her
infatuation. But to
Mirabai this doll was a
living embodiment of
Krishna. From an early
age Mirabai dedicated her life to the worship and
praise of her beloved Krishna. However, depsite
her life of intense devotion, she faced great
difficulties from her family who didn't respect the
amount of time she would spend in devotion to
Krishna.
Her father, Ratan Singh, was the second son of
Rao Dudaji, a descendent of Rao Jodhaji Rather,
the founder of Jodhpur. Meera's mother died
when she was ten year old. She then came to live
with her grandfather who died in 1515. Her
father's elder brother Vikram Deo who succeeded
to the throne arranged her marriage with Prince
Bho] Raj, the eldest son of Rana Sanga of Chitter.
This marriage raised Meera to a very high social
status as the ruler of Chitter was considered to be
the leader of the Hindu princes. But luck didn't
favor Princess Meera. By 1527 A.D. she had lost
her father, her husband and her fatherin-law as
well. Meera, who dedicated her life to Lord
Krishna, accepted these bereavements as a matter
of course
At the time Meera was born there was widespread
political and social turmoil in India. Bloody
conflicts for petty selfish gains, disrespect for
human life and hatred for others was a norm.
Meera was bewildered and at a loss to understand
all that was going on all around. She was in search
of peace which she found in Chaitanya's Vaishnav
Panth and dedicated her life to the love of Lord
Krishna.
Mirabai began to devote most of her time in
prayer and worship and did not pay any attention
to the etiquettes of a royal household. This led her
to be subjected to great hardships and
punishments. These physical hardships became
intolerable and after praying to Krishna, she left
the palace for good and went to the pilgrimage of
Mathura, Vrindavana and finally to Dwarika.
Mirabai was a born poetess. She expressed in a
beautiful style her intense and deep love of God.
She composed hundreds of poems in a simple,
unpretentious style. They are full of vivacity and
feelings. No poetess in the history of India enjoys a
greater respect than Meera. Her poems have
gained a unique popularity and are sung by the
rich and the poor alike, even to this day. She spent
her life dancing In trance and singing the attributes
of her Beloved Krishna. Mirabai left this mortal
world in 1550 to be united with her beloved
Krishna. She was a great Hindu woman saint and
will always be remembered.
"Mirabai was a devotee of the high, higher, highest
order. Among the saints of India, she is absolutely
unparalleled. She composed many, many bhajans,
which are prayerful songs to God. Each song
Mirabai wrote expressed her inspiration,
aspiration and sleepless self-giving."
- Sri Chinmoy
 Sutras on Beauty
by Tagore

Beauty is truth's smile

when she beholds her own face in
a perfect mirror.

Beauty is truth's smile

when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.

Beauty is in the ideal of perfect harmony

which is in the universal being;
truth the perfect comprehension of the universal mind.
 Hafiz
Life of Hafiz
Hafiz is one of the world’s most beloved poets, he is
affectionately known as the “Tongue of the Invisible”
and the great Poet-Seer Ralph Waldo Emerson
himself remarked that “Hafiz is a poet for poets.”
The poems of Hafiz have a beautiful and musical
quality, which also embody a great spontaneity. In a
myriad of poetic ways, Hafiz expresses the spiritual
experiences of a mystic, in love with his Beloved. Yet
he achieves this in a playful and enchanting way, like
other Sufi poets, Hafiz weaves themes of ambiguity
into his poems. Often he will use secular
images such as wine, drunkenness and
human love, however these are just
symbols for the divine experiences which
Hafiz is alluding to.
Hafiz was born in the beautiful city of
Shiraz in Persia (now Iran ). As a young
child he was called Shams –ud-din
Mohammed. Hafiz proved to have a
prodigious talent for literature. At an early age he
successfully memorized the Qu’ran, and this is why
he took the pen name of “Hafiz” – Hafiz means one
who has memorized the entire Qu’ran by heart. As
well as studying the Qu’ran Hafiz was also introduced
to the other great Sufi poets such as Rumi, Farid –ud-
din Attar and Saadi, these Sufi poets would later
have some influence on the poetry of Hafiz.
A famous story about Hafiz tells how he fell in love
with a beautiful woman. He saw her in his local area
whilst delivering bread. He became so enchanted
with love for this woman that he could think of
nothing else. Hafiz started to write love poems
dedicated to his sweetheart, and these became
famous throughout Shiraz. Unable to live without his
beloved, Hafiz resolved to undertake a 40 night vigil
at the tomb of Baba Kuhi'. Babu Kuhi was a famous
poet who promised to fulfil 3 desires of anyone who
could stay awake for 40 nights at his tomb.
On the first night Hafiz had a vision of the Angel
Gabriel. He was so enchanted with her beauty, he
resolved to seek only God who would by nature be
infinitely more beautiful than any human form.
Gabriel then revealed to him where he could find a
spiritual master who would be able to lead him
towards God. This master was Muhammed Attar,
who lived a humble life in Shiraz.
From this point Hafiz became a prodigious poet
producing hundreds of poems which expressed a
seekers longing for union with the
divine. His poetry made Hafiz famous
and he gained the respect and love of
many local inhabitants. However his
ecstatic and unorthodox poetry gained
him the displeasure of the ruling Muslim
orthodoxy. Because of this Hafiz twice
had to flea the city of Shiraz, on many
occasions he was only saved by his sharp
wit.
At the age of about 60, his Master Attar, finally
granted Hafiz his life long desire - union with God.
From this point Hafiz’s poems reflected a new
consciousness, no longer was there any sense of
separateness from God.
Hafiz wrote about 5,000 poems, although
unfortunately these were never written down and
therefore there is some scholarly dispute about the
authenticity of some poems. In the West Hafiz has
only become famous in the last century. One of the
most important early translations was by Gertrude
Bell in 1897. Recently there have been new
translations and versions by authors such as Daniel
Ladinsky. These have helped Hafiz become a well
renowned poet in the West. The poetry of Hafiz has a
universal attraction. It is said Hafiz once stated,
“No one could ever paint a too wonderful picture
of my heart or God.” - Hafiz
 Paramahansa Yogananda
P aramahansa Yogananda is one of the greatest
spiritual figures of the twentieth century, and
also was one of the first Spiritual Masters to
bring the Yoga of the East to the
aspiring West.
Paramahansa Yogananda is one of the
greatest spiritual figures of the
twentieth century, and also was one of
the first Spiritual Masters to bring the
Yoga of the East to the aspiring West.
Yogananda was born in Gorakhpur,
Bengal in 1893. Originally his name
was Mukunda Lal Ghosh. He was
given the name of Yogananda after
his initiation as an Indian Swami
(monk).
Yogananda means "Bliss" through
yoga (divine union with God) The
title "Paramahansa" was given by his Guru Sri
Yukteswar . Paramahansa means literally "Supreme
Swan". It is given to Swami's who have established
constant communion with God.
From an early age Yogananda was fascinated with
meeting spiritual Saints and seekers. His
autobiography recounts many riveting occasions of
meetings with different Saints, (including
Master Mahasaya, who was the author of "The
Gospel of Ramakrishna." ) Even as a young child
Yogananda spent many hours in meditation, aspiring
to attain God - Consciousness.
At the age of 17 Yogananda became a disciple of
Swami Sri Yukteswar who expertly guided him along
the spiritual path. Sri Yukteswar was a direct disciple
of Lahiri Mahasaya Lahiri Mahasaya is credited with
reintroducing the ancient art of Kriya yoga into
modern society. After several years of strict spiritual
training in his Masters hermitage, Yogananda was
inspired to travel to America. With the blessings of
his Guru Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda travelled to the
West, in order to share the spiritual traditions of India
and his own inner realisations.
In America, Yogananda founded the
Self Realization Fellowship, which
served as the organisation
committed to his teachings.
Yogananda also gave many lectures
on spiritual themes throughout the
country. Yogananda taught that
although outer customs of religion
may be different, the underlying
principles are the same. He
also taught that the essence of any
religion and spiritual practice was
the Love of God and to realize the
true nature of your own divine Self.
Yogananda also did much to show
the underlying unity between
Hinduism and Christianity, in doing
so he helped bridge the gap between
East and West. Less well know perhaps is the poetry
of Yogananda. However books such as “Songs of the
Soul” and “Whispers from Eternity” reflect the poetic
vision of this great Spiritual Master.
During his life Yogananda was able to meet with
many prominent spiritual, cultural and political
figures. For example, during his period of running a
school in India, he was able to meet the Bengali
Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. In the mid
1930s he was able to meet Mahatma Gandhi at his
ashram in Wardha. His autobiography also tells of
fascinating meetings with spiritual illuminaries such
as Sri Anandaymoyi Ma and Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Yogananda was also the first Indian Swami to meet
with a US President (C.Coolidge in 1927)
On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda entered
mahasamadhi, leaving behind a profound spiritual
legacy. His writings and life continue to give
countless inspiration to many Truth - Seekers and
God – Lovers.
 The Three Samadhis
The following excerpt was taken from The Summits of God-Life: Samadhi and Siddhi
by Sri Chinmoy.
T
here are various minor samadhis, and
among the minor samadhis, savikalpa
samadhi happens to be the highest. Right
after savikalpa comes nirvikalpa samadhi, but
there is a great yawning gulf between savikalpa
and nirvikalpa. However, even though savikalpa
samadhi is one step below nirvikalpa, we do not
use the term ‘lower’. We do not call savikalpa
samadhi lower than nirvikalpa; they are two
radically different samadhis. Again, there is
something even beyond nirvikalpa samadhi
called sahaja samadhi. But savikalpa and
nirvikalpa samadhi are the most well-known
samadhis.
In savikalpa samadhi, for a short period of time
you lose all human consciousness. In this state
the conception of time and space is altogether
different. With the human time you cannot
judge; with the human way of looking at space
you cannot judge. In that samadhi, for an hour
or two hours you are completely in another
world. You see there that almost everything is
done. Here in this world there are many desires
still unfulfilled in yourself and in others.
Millions of desires are not fulfilled, and millions
of things remain to be done. But when you are in
savikalpa samadhi, you see that practically
everything is done; you have nothing to do. You
are only an instrument. If you are used, well and
good; otherwise, things are all done. But from
savikalpa samadhi everybody has to return to
ordinary consciousness.
Even in savikalpa samadhi there are grades. Just
as there are brilliant students and poor students
in the same class in school, so also in savikalpa
samadhi some aspirants reach the highest grade,
while less aspiring seekers reach a lower or a
middle rung of the ladder, where everything is
not so clear and vivid as on the highest level.
In savikalpa samadhi there are thoughts and
ideas coming from various angles, but they do
not affect you. While you are meditating, you
remain unperturbed, and your inner being
functions in a dynamic and confident manner.
But when you are a little higher, when you have
become one with the soul in nirvikalpa samadhi,
there will be no ideas or thoughts at all. Here
nature’s dance stops. There is no nature, only
infinite Peace and Bliss. The Knower and the
Known have become one. Everything is tranquil.
Here you enjoy a supremely divine, all-
pervading, self-amorous ecstasy. You become
the object of enjoyment, you become the enjoyer
and you become the enjoyment itself.
Nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest samadhi that
most spiritual Masters attain, and then only if
they have achieved realisation. It lasts for a few
hours or a few days, and then one has to come
down. When one comes down, what happens?
Very often one forgets his own name. One
forgets his own age. He cannot speak properly.
But through continued practice, gradually one
becomes able to come down from nirvikalpa
samadhi and immediately function in a normal
way.
There were spiritual Masters in the hoary past
who attained nirvikalpa samadhi and did not
come down. They maintained their highest
samadhi and found it impossible to enter into
the world atmosphere and work like human
beings. One cannot operate in the world while in
that state of consciousness; it is simply
impossible.
Generally, when one enters into nirvikalpa
samadhi, one does not want to come back into
the world again. If one stays there for eighteen
or twenty-one days, there is every possibility
that he will leave the body. But there is a divine
dispensation. If the Supreme wants a particular
soul to work here on earth, even after twenty-
one or twenty-two days, the Supreme takes the
individual into another channel of dynamic,
divine consciousness and has him return to the
earth-plane to act.
Sahaja samadhi is by far the highest type of
samadhi. In this samadhi one is in the highest
consciousness, but at the same time he is
working in the gross physical world. One
maintains the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi
while simultaneously entering into earthly
activities. One has become the soul and at the
same time is utilising the body as a perfect
instrument. In sahaja samadhi one walks like an
ordinary human being. One eats. One does the
usual things that an ordinary human being does.
But in the inmost recesses of his heart he is
surcharged with divine illumination. When one
has this sahaja samadhi, one becomes the Lord
and Master of Reality. One can go at his sweet
will to the Highest and then come down to the
earth consciousness to manifest.
After achieving the highest type of realisation,
on very rare occasions one is blessed with sahaja
samadhi. Very few spiritual Masters have
achieved this state—only one or two. For sahaja
samadhi, the Supreme’s infinite Grace is
required, or one has to be very powerful and
lucky. Sahaja samadhi comes only when one has
established inseparable oneness with the
Supreme, or when one wants to show, on rare
occasions, that he is the Supreme. He who has
achieved sahaja samadhi and remains in this
samadhi, consciously and perfectly manifests
God at every second, and is thus the greatest
pride of the transcendental Supreme.

Spiritual Masters are those rare beings who have realised there oneness with the Supreme, - the
highest transcendental Consciousness. Spiritual Masters have not only realised their true self but
also work selflessly to inspire humanity to seek the divinity within themselves.

A real spiritual Master is able to expedite the progress of his/her disciples through their close
connection to God and the grace of God.

Spiritual Masters have taught the timeless spiritual truths in a variety of ways, Their teachings
reflecting the environment and period in which they live.

Great Spiritual Masters like Krishna, Buddha and Jesus Christ have led to the formation of
religions dedicated to following the teachings of these avatars. Each spiritual master has offered
their own unique path towards the highest Truth. However although the outer forms may differ
the ultimate realisation is the same.

Sri Chinmoy
 The Role of the Guru
By: Sri Chinmoy

A real spiritual Master is one who has attained God-realisation. Everyone is one with God, but the
real spiritual Master has established his conscious oneness with God. At any moment he can enter
into a higher consciousness and bring down messages from God to those disciples who have faith in
him. The Master, if he is genuine, represents God on earth for those seekers who have real aspiration
and faith in him. He has been authorised or commissioned by God to help them. The real Teacher, the
real Guru, is God Himself. But on earth He will often operate in and through a spiritual Master. The
Master energises the seeker with inspiration and, in the course of time, through the infinite Grace of
the Supreme, offers the seeker illumination.

1. You make a mistake when you take the Master as only a person, as the human body. You have
to feel that the real Master is inside the physical. Why have my disciples come to me? It is
because their real Master, the Supreme, is inside me. The Supreme is also inside them, but in
them He is still sleeping whereas in me He is fully awake. The Master and the disciple are like
two friends who have the same capacity, but one is sleeping and needs help in getting up
before he can manifest his capacity. The Guru is somebody who will come and touch his
brother's feet and caress his head and say, "Please get up. It is time for us to work for our
Father."

2. When a Master accepts someone as a disciple, he accepts that person as part of himself. If the
discipleis imperfect, then the Master also remains imperfect. In the disciple's perfection lies the
Master's perfection. I always say that I have no individuality, no personality. It is my disciples'
achievements that will take me either to Heaven or to hell. I have the capacity to remain all the
time in Heaven, but they can easily drag me to hell at every moment because I have accepted
them as my own.

3. A real spiritual Master tries to bring to the fore the inner divinity of the disciple from deep
within the disciple's heart. He knocks at the disciple's heart-door and awakens the divine child
in him, which we call the soul. He tells the soul, "You will look after the other members of the
family—the physical, the mind and the vital—and take care of them. They are making
mistakes constantly. Now give them new life, new meaning, new purpose."

4. It is the spiritual Master's job to make his disciples feel that without love, without truth and
light, life is meaningless and fruitless. The most important thing a spiritual Master does for his
spiritual children is to make them consciously aware of something vast and infinite within
themselves, which is nothing other than God Himself.
5. The highest transcendental Truth is within our hearts, but unfortunately we have not yet
discovered it. So I ask my disciples to go deep within and meditate on the heart, which houses
the soul. Eventually they learn how to contact the soul and start listening to its dictates. At that
time they have begun to make real progress toward discovering their highest and deepest Self.

6. If one is already developed, that is to say, if one has been practising the spiritual life in
previous incarnations and is in a position to listen to the dictates of his own inner being, it is
not absolutely necessary for him to have a spiritual Master. In that case he has only to go deep
within and practise the spiritual life most sincerely. Since he doesn't want a Master's help, he
has to depend entirely on himself and on the boundless Grace of God. But we have to know
that the spiritual path is very arduous; only on rare occasions have people realised God
without the help of a spiritual Master. Most spiritual Masters themselves took help from
someone for a day or a month or a year or ten years before they realised God.

7. As we need teachers for our outer knowledge—to illumine our outer being—so also we need a
spiritual Master to help and guide us in our inner life, especially in the beginning. Otherwise,
our progress will be very slow and uncertain, and we may become terribly confused. We will
get high, elevating experiences, but we will not give them adequate significance. Doubt may
eclipse our mind and we will say, "I am just an ordinary person, so how can I have this kind of
experience? Perhaps I am deluding myself." Or we will tell our friends, and they will say, "It is
all mental hallucination. Forget about the spiritual life." But if there is someone who knows
what the Reality is, he will say, "Don't act like a fool. The experiences which you have had are
absolutely real." The Master will encourage and inspire the seeker and give him the proper
explanations of his experiences. Again, if the seeker is doing something wrong in his
meditation, the Master will be in a position to correct him.

Enlightenment cannot be anything else other than entertainment ... universal

entertainment, a laughter that knows no bounds, no limits. You laugh, and
the trees laugh, and the cuckoos laugh, and the clouds laugh, and the stars
laugh, and the laughter goes on spreading ….when the mind is gone you are
just like a small child. Laughter will arise without any effort on your part. At
least I am a break from the whole past, and in the future I want my people to
be laughing buddhas. Serious ones we have seen enough of, they have not
been able to transform humanity. Let us try another direction – of
nonseriousness.

Osho –– Zen Master Dogen

REFLECTIONS OF LIFE
Photography by Swami Anand Neelambar