Interview with Manorama
by Lisa Dawn Angerame
For Yoga City NYC, March 2013
It is said that the trinity of the Goddess, devi, is represented
by Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga. The first in the trinity, Saraswati, is the
Goddess of language, learning, speech, art and music and is the force of
creativity. It is late March and nature is hard at work. The trees are coming
back to life, the flowers are blooming, and creativity is abound. Sanskrit
scholar Manorama, who is kicking off her 2013 Drenched in Devi tour, invokes Saraswati
at the beginning of any endeavor she undertakes and here is how we can too.
Lisa Dawn Angerame: What does Saraswati represent?
Manorama: Saraswati represents purity, fluidity and the
awakening to our own creative potential. There’s a verse in Sanskrit that likens
Saraswati to the pure jasmine flower. And there’s something about that verse
that really speaks to me. She’s likened to this incredibly pure, beautiful,
fragrant flower. Her radiant beauty nourishes us through the creative process
by giving us everything in this life and by standing by our side through all manifestation.
LDA: What is Saraswati’s essence?
Manorama: Her essence is purity, but not purity in the context
of puritanical, and not purity in the context of chaste although she might
represent that as well at times. Rather, it’s the kind of purity of sacred
essence. Saraswati represents our link with that holy essence that is our core.
She is the deity that guides us to truly connect by standing in our Self and
then allowing manifestation to move through us from that grounding.
LDA: What does Saraswati mean to you personally?
Manorama: Saraswati is definitely one of my patron deities. I
am devoted to Sanskrit and she is the Goddess of Sanskrit and language overall.
Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, my guru’s tradition, is also linked with Saraswati.
His formal name is Brahmananda, but Saraswati is the lineage name. And his
mother was called Saraswati, which is a sweet connection. When I invoke the
goddess through mantra, I instantly feel more luminous. Saraswati gives me, and
all of us, the needed energy to fulfill all our dreams in life.
LDA: How can we invoke Saraswati?
Manorama: Here is a simple mantra:
Om Aim Saraswatayai Svaha
Say this mantra 108 times per month while waving a small tea light, in
what is called aarti. You can say 108 repetitions at one time or break the
reps up into multiples of 9. For example, you would say 27 repetitions of the
mantra per week which would total 108 at the end of the month. Bring any kind of white flower to an image of
Saraswati. If you don’t have an image you can offer the flower as a kind of
mental puja, where you extend the flower to her internally. It’s really about
your offering, your reverence, so that you extend some of your energy and then
she extends back and gives you fulfillment in that area.
LDA: How will invoking Saraswati help my practice?
Manorama: Our job as the student is to ask what is truly being
meant by the imagery. Invoking
mantras to Saraswati calls to your own creative essence asking the energy to
move through you and link up with the one vibration of the universe. It is like
invoking a river of energy that flows underneath you that is ever connected
with all. Saraswati doesn’t determine the creation, she just gives you access
to your own storehouse of creative energy that is both satisfying and
fulfilling. When you are connected with your source energy your creation has an
immortal and eternal quality. The body passes, the mind shifts, but something about
you remains eternal. When creativity syncs with your soul, what manifests
through you is eternal.
Invocation to Goddess
Saraswati
Translation by Manorama
Ya
Kundendu-Tusarahara-Dhavala Ya Subhra-Vastravrta
Ya
Vinavara-Danda-Mandita-Kara Ya Sveta-Padmasana
Ya
Brahmacyutasankara-Prabhrtibhir Devaih Sada Vandita
Sa Mam Patu Saraswati
Bhagavati Nihsesa-jadyapaha
***
Goddess Saraswati who is pure
like the jasmine flower, bright like the moon, shimmering like snow and who
wears white clothing, whose hand is adorned with the excellent stick, vina
(music), and who has a white lotus as her seat, and who is worshipped by all
the gods, beginning with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. May that great Goddess
Saraswati please protect me by completely removing all of my ignorance.
2013 Translation of
Saraswati Mantra by Manorama
For students wishing to learn and work on invoking Saraswati through
this verse, there is a wonderful recording of Manorama chanting this verse on the Learn to chant Yoga Invocations CD with Manorama.
2013 Copyright Translation Luminous Shabda/Sanskrit Studies, Manorama
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