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ORIGIN OF SARASWATS
The Saraswats generally believe that their forefathers came from Kashmir and that the Deity they
worshipped was the Goddess Sharda. According to the Sahayadri Khanda of the Skanda Purana, the Saraswat,Kanyakubja,Utkala,Maithili
and Gaud Brahmanas were the five Panch Gaud Brahmanas.In conformity with this, the Saraswats should be classed among the Gaudas
or the Panch Gaudas,which are specified in the same Purana. The word Saraswat is an adjective meaning belonging to Saraswati.
It may mean either the Goddess of learning or the sacred river. If the former origin is taken in to account,it would imply
that the Saraswats have always been devotees of learning, whose patron Goddess is Saraswati. On the other hand it would mean
that their forefathers or rather their remort ancestors,lived in those regions watered by that sacred river. According to
Kalhana,and proved from personal experience by Sir Aurel Stein,the great scholar and explorer and on the basis of the legend
enshrined in the Mahabharata,it may be observed that, on the banks of river Saraswati lived a class of Brahmanas,who called
themselves Saraswats.These Saraswats must have christened themselves after the Great Sage Saraswata,who as recorded in the
Mahabharata, taught the vedas to 60,000 students,implying that they must have become his disciples. It is therefore not strange
that they must have called themselves Saraswats after their celebrated teacher,Saraswata,and their descendants have since
then been known accordingly,especially because they continurd to live primarily on the banks of the river Saraswati. Another
intresting aspect of these specific names is that, while many of the Saraswats were called after the localites where they
had either settled or hailed from,some of them came to be known after the professions they had adopted or the appointments
they had held. The question now is are the Saraswats and Gaud Saraswats identical? The nomenclature Gauda Saraswats has been
applied in some of the manuscript documents,while it has also been claimed as a general name by another community known among
the Saraswats as the Konkanas.
SHLOKAS AND MANTRAS
Shlokas & Stotras
| Guru Mantra (Guru Brahma..) |
gurubra.rhmaa gururvishhNuH gururdevo maheshvaraH.
guruH saakshaatparabrahma tasmai
shrii guravenamaH.. |
I prostrate to that Shree Guru, who is himself Brahma, Vishnu, and God Maheshwara,
and
who is verily the Supreme Absolute itself. |
| Guru Mantra (Tvameva Maata...) |
tvameva maataa cha pitaa tvameva
tvameva bandhushcha sakhaa tvameva
tvameva
vidyaa draviNaM tvameva
tvameva sarvaM mama devadeva .. |
O Lord! Thou art my mother and Thou art my father also;
Thou art my relative
and my friend Thou art;
Thou art knowledge and wealth unto me;
Thou art my all-in-all, O Lord of Lords. |
| Saraswati Prathana |
yaa kundendu tushhaar haara dhavalaa yaa shubhravastraavR^itaa .
yaa viiNaavarada.nDa
ma.nDitakaraa yaa shvetapadmaasanaa .
yaa brahmaachyutasha.nkaraprabhrutibhirdevai sadaa va.nditaa .
saa maaM paatu
sarasvatii bhagavatii niHsheshha jaaDyaa pahaa. |
|
Fair as a jasmine flower, the moon or a flake of snow ,
Dressed in white, her hands adorned
by the graceful veena staff,
Adorned by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the other deities,
Protect me, Oh Goddess Saraswati,
remover of ignorance inert.
| Gajananam |
Gajaananam bhoothaganaadisevitham
Kapittha jamboophala saara bhakshitham
Umaasutham
shokavinashakaranam
Namaami vighneshwarapaadapankajam |
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He who has the face of an elephant, one who is worshipped by the Bhooda ganam,
He who eats the essence of kabitha and Jumbu fruits,
He who is the son of Uma Devi
and He who alliuiates the ill fellings in us.
O! Lord Vigneshwara who is an embodiment of all the above, we offer our
Namaskarams at your Divine feet. |
| Vakratunda |
vakratu.nDa mahaakaaya koTisuuryasamaprabha .
nirvighnaM kuru me deva sarvakaaryeshhu
sarvadaa .. |
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O elephant headed and large bodied Lord, radiant as a thousand Suns,
I ask for your
grace so that this task that I am starting may complete without any hinderences.
| SUNRISE PRAYER : Udyanth bhaskar surya ojaasa nidhimakshyam, Pratyaksha dayvatt bhutye pranmami
divakaram. |
| MEANING. I bow down to the rising sun who is the perennial treasure of lusture,who is visible God
revered by all living beings. |
| SUNSET PRAYERS: Astachal gatarkay shaanti samruddhi dayine Atmasamvit prakashay chaayanathay
te namah. |
| MEANING. I bow down to the setting Sun,moving towards the Western horizon, who is the bestower
of peace and prosperity and enlightener of supreme knowledge within the self. |
| MORNING PRAYERS: Karagre vaaste Laxmi,Karmadhye Saraswati,Karmoolye tu Govinda,Prabhate Kardarshanam.
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| MEANING. On the tip of the fingers resides Devi Laxmi.In the centre of the palm resides Devi Saraswati.On
the wrist resides Devi Gauri. Every morning one should look at the palm with reverence. | | | |
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