{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/db/bk09ch04.htm","path":"hin/db/bk09ch04.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk09ch04.htm","text":"THE NINTH BOOK\nChapter IV\nOn the hymn, worship and Kavacha of Sarasvat\u00ee Dev\u00ee\n1-3. N\u00e2rada said :-- By your Grace I have heard everything very sweet like nectar, of the origin of things. Now may I ask you which Dev\u00ee of these five Prakritis has been worshipped by what Mantra? and by whom? How has each of them been praised? and by whom? How has the worship of their M\u00fbrtis (form) become prevalent in this world? What are the Stotram (hymn of praise), the Dhy\u00e2n (meditation) glory and life of these? Also what sort of boon do each of the Dev\u00ees grant? and to whom? Kindly describe all these in detail.\n4-29. N\u00e2r\u00e2yana said :-- O Child! Durg\u00e2, the mother of Ganes'a, R\u00e2dh\u00e2, Laksm\u00ee, Sarasvat\u00ee and S\u00e2vitr\u00ee, these are the five Prakritis sprung directly from M\u00fbla Prakriti. The methods of their worship, wonderful glorious acts, excellent stotrams, and their lives, inculcating good to all, and sweet like nectar are all widely written in the Vedas, Pur\u00e2nas, Tantras and other S'\u00e2stras. So there is no need to describe them here again. Now I am describing in detail the auspicious character of these that are sprung from the parts and Kal\u00e2s of the Prakriti. Hear attentively. K\u00e2l\u00ee, Vasundhar\u00e2, Gang\u00e2, Sasth\u00ee, Mangal Chandik\u00e2, Tulas\u00ee, Manas\u00e2, Nidr\u00e2, Svadh\u00e2, Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, and Daksin\u00e2, these are the parts of Prakriti. By and by I will describe, briefly, the merit-giving characters and pleasant to hear. Along with these I will describe the Karmas of the J\u00eevas, and the great exalted lives of Durg\u00e2 and R\u00e2dh\u00e2. I am now describing Sarasvat\u00ee's character. Hear, O Muni! S'r\u00ee Krisna introduced first in this Bh\u00e2rata, the worship of the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee, the holder of V\u00een\u00e2 in Her hands, under whose influence, the hearts of illiterate stupid persons become illumined with knowledge. The amorous Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee sprang from the end of the lips of R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and so she desired to marry Krisna out of amorous feelings. S'ri Krisna, the controller of the hearts of all, knew it instantly and addressed the Mother of the people in true words proper to Her and beneficial to Her in the end. O Chaste One! The four-armed N\u00e2r\u00e2yana is born from My parts; He is young, of good\nfeatures and endowed with all qualifications; so much so, he is like Me. He is a Knower of amorous sentiments of women and He fulfils those desires; what to speak of His beauty, ten millions of the God of love are playing in His body. O Beloved! And if you desire to marry and remain with Me, that will not be of any good to you. For R\u00e2dh\u00e2 is near to Me; She is more powerful than you. If a man be stronger than another, he can rescue one who takes his shelter; but if he be weaker, how can he then, himself weak, protect his dependant from others. Though I am the Lord of all, and rule all, yet I cannot control R\u00e2dh\u00e2. For She is equal to me in power, in beauty, in qualifications, equal to Me in every respect. Again it is impossible for Me to quit R\u00e2dh\u00e2 for She is the presiding Deity of My life. Who can relinquish life? Though a son is very dear to his father, still it may be questioned, is he dearer than his father's life? So, O Auspicious One! Go to the abode Vaikuntha; you will get your desires fulfilled there. You will get for your husband the Lord of Vaikuntha and you will live ever in peace and enjoy happiness. Though Laksm\u00ee is residing there yet like you she is not under the control of lust, anger, greed, delusion and vanity. She is also equal to you in beauty, qualities, and power. So you will live with her in great delight and Hari, the Lord of Vaikuntha, will treat both of you equally. Moreover, I say this in particular that in every universe, on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the month of M\u00e2gha, every year, the day when the learning is commenced, a great festival will be held and men, Manus, Devas, and the Munis desirous of liberation, Vasus, Yogis, N\u00e2gas, Siddhas, Gandarbhas, R\u00e2ksasas, all will perform your worship with devotion in every Kalpa till the time of Mah\u00e2 Pralaya comes. All are required to be Jitendriya (having their senses under control) and Samyam\u00ee (concentrating his mind, and with a religious vow) and they will invoke Thee on a jar or on books and then meditate according to what is stated in the Kanva S'\u00e2kh\u00e2 of Yajurveda and then worship and sing hymns to Thee. Thy Kavacha (an armour; a mystical syllable ** considered as a preservative like armour) is written on the bark of the Bh\u00fbrja tree and then with eight kinds of scents mingled with it is placed within a golden nut or ring named M\u00e2duli and then held on the neck or on the right arm. The learned should recite Thy Stotras during worship. Thus saying, the Puran Brahm\u00e2 S'r\u00ee Krisna Himself worshipped the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee. Since then, Brahm\u00e2, Visnu, Mahes'a, Ananta Deva, Dharma, Sanaka and other Mun\u00eendras, all the Devas, Munis, all the kings and all the human beings are worshipping the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee. O N\u00e2rada! Thus the worship of the Eternal Dev\u00ee is made extant in the three worlds.\n30-31. N\u00e2rada said :-- O Chief of the Knowers of the Vedas! Now describe to me the methods of worship, Dhy\u00e2n, Kavacham, hymns, the\nappropriate offerings of the P\u00fbj\u00e2 flowers, sandalpaste and other good things necessary in these worships and which are so sweet to hear. I am ever very eager and anxious to hear these.\n32-59. N\u00e2r\u00e2yana said :-- O N\u00e2rada! I am now stating the method of worship of the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee, the Mother of the Worlds, according to Kanva S'\u00e2kh\u00e2 of the Yajurveda. Hear. On the day previous to the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the month of M\u00e2gh or the day of commencement of education, the devotee should control his senses, concentrate his mind and take his bath. Then he is to perform his daily duties and install the jar (Ghata) with devotion and according to the Mantras of the Kanva S'\u00e2kh\u00e2 or the Tantra, as the case may be. He is to worship first on that Ghata (jar) Ganapati (Ganes'a), then meditate the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee as described below, invoke Her and again read the Dhy\u00e2n and then worship with Sodas'opach\u00e2ra (sixteen good articles offered in the worship). O Good One! Now I am speaking, according to my knowledge, about the offerings as ordained in the Vedas or Tantras. Hear. Fresh butter, curd, thickened milk, rice freed from the husk by frying, sweetmeats (Til Laddu) prepared of Til, sugar cane, sugarcane juice, nice Gud (molasses), honey, svastik, sugar, rice (not broken) out of white Dh\u00e2n, chipitak of table rice (\u00c2lo ch\u00e2l), white Modak, Harbisy\u00e2nna prepared of boiled rice with clarified butter and salt, Pistaka of jao\u00e2 or wheaten flour, Param\u00e2nna with ghee, nectar like sweetmeats, cocoanut, cocoanut water, Svastik Pistaka, Svastik and ripe plantain Pistaka, Kaseru (root), M\u00fbl\u00e2, ginger, ripe plantains, excellent Bel fruit, the jujube fruit, and other appropriate white purified fruits of the season and peculiar to the place are to be offered in the Pooj\u00e2. O N\u00e2rada! White flowers of good scent, white sandalpaste of good scent, new white clothes, nice conchshell, nice garlands of white flowers, nice white necklaces, and beautiful ornament are to be given to the Dev\u00ee. I say now the Dhy\u00e2nam sweet to hear, of the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee according to the Vedas, capable to remove errors! Hear. I hereby bow down to the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee, of a white colour, of a smiling countenance and exceedingly beautiful, the lustre of whose body overpowers that of the ten millions of Moons, whose garment is purified by fire, in whose hands there are V\u00een\u00e2 and books, who is decorated with new excellent ornaments of jewels and pearls and whom Brahm\u00e2, Visnu, Mahes'vara and the other Devas, Munis, Manus and men constantly worship. Thus meditating the Dev\u00ee, the intelligent persons should offer all articles, after pronouncing the root Mantra. Then he is to hymn and hold Kavacha and make S\u00e2st\u00e2nga pran\u00e2ms before the Dev\u00ee. O Muni! Those whose Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee is the presiding Deity, are not to be spoken of at all (i.e., they\nwill naturally do all these things and with a greater fervour). Besides all should worship the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee on the day of commencement of education and every year on the S'\u00fbkla Pancham\u00ee day of the month of M\u00e2gh. The eight-lettered Mantra, as mentioned in the Vedas is the root Mantra of Sarasvat\u00ee. (Aim Kl\u00eem Sarasvatyai namah). Or the Mantra to which each worshipper is initiated is his M\u00fblmantra (not Mantra). Or uttering the Mantra \u201cS'r\u00eem Hr\u00eem Sarasvatyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2\u201d one is to offer everything to the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee. This Mantra is the Kalpa Vriksa (i. e., the tree which yields all desires). N\u00e2r\u00e2yana, the ocean of mercy, gave in ancient times, this very Mantra to V\u00e2lmik\u00ee in the holy land Bh\u00e2rata Varsa on the banks of the Ganges; next Bhr\u00eegu gave this Mantra on the occasion of solar eclipse to Maharsi Sukr\u00e2charya on the Puskara T\u00eertha; M\u00e2r\u00eecha gave to Brihaspati on a lunar eclipse; Brahm\u00e2 gave to Bhr\u00eegu in the Vadarik\u00e2 \u00c2s'rama; Jaratkar\u00e2 gave to \u00c2stika on the shore of the Ksiroda ocean; Bibh\u00e2ndaka gave this to the intelligent Risyasringa on the Sumeru mountain, S'iva gave this to Kan\u00e2da and Gotama, S\u00fbrya gave to Y\u00e2j\u00f1avalkya and K\u00e2ty\u00e2yana, Ananta Deva gave to P\u00e2nini, to the intelligent Bh\u00e2radv\u00e2ja and to S'\u00e2kat\u00e2yana in Bali's assembly in the P\u00e2t\u00e2la. If this Mantra be repeated four lakhs of times, all men attain success. And when they become Siddhas with this Mantra, they become powerful like Brihaspati. In past times, the Creator Brahm\u00e2 gave a Kavacha named Vis'vajaya to Bhr\u00eegu on the Gandham\u00e2dana Mountain. I now speak of that. Hear.\n60-61. Once on a time Bhr\u00eegu asked Brahm\u00e2 the Lord of all, and adored by all, thus :-- \u201cO Brahm\u00e2n! Thou art the foremost of those that know the Vedas; there is none equal to thee in matters regarding the knowledge of the Vedas (so much so that there is nothing that is not known to thee; for all these have sprung from thee). Now say about the Vis'vajaya Kavacha of the Dev\u00ee Sarasvat\u00ee, that is excellent, without any faults and embodying in it all the properties of all the Mantras.\u201d\n62-91. Brahm\u00e2 said :-- \u201cO Child! What you have asked about the Kavacha of Sarasvat\u00ee that is sweet to hear, ordained and worshipped by the Vedas, and the giver of all desired fruits, now hear of that. In the very beginning, the all-pervading S'r\u00ee Krisna, the Lord of the R\u00e2sa circle, mentioned this Kavacha to me in the holy Brind\u00e2vana forest in the abode Goloka at the time of R\u00e2sa in R\u00e2sa Mandala. This is very secret; it is full of holy unheard, wonderful Mantras. Reading this Kavacha and holding it (on one's arm) Brihaspati has become foremost in matters of intelligence; by the force of this Kavacha S'ukr\u00e2ch\u00e2rya\nhas got his ascendancy over the Daityas; the foremost Muni V\u00e2lmik\u00ee has become eloquent and skilled in language and has become Kav\u00eendra and Sv\u00e2yambhuva Manu; holding this Kavacha he has become honoured everywhere. Kan\u00e2da, Gotama, Kanva, Panini, S'akat\u00e2yana, Daksa, and K\u00e2ty\u00e2yana all have become great authors by virtue of this Kavacha; Krisna Dvaip\u00e2yana Veda Vy\u00e2sa made the classification of the Vedas and composed the eighteen Pur\u00e2nas. S'\u00e2t\u00e2tapa, Samvarta, Vas'istha, Par\u00e2sara and Y\u00e2j\u00f1avalkya had become authors by holding and reading this Sarasvat\u00ee Kavacha. Risyas'ringa, Bh\u00e2radv\u00e2ja, \u00c2stika, Devala, Jaigisavya, and Y\u00e2y\u00e2ti all were honoured everywhere by virtue of this Kavacha. O Dvija! The Praj\u00e2pati Himself is the Risi of this Kavacha; Brihat\u00ee is its Chhanda; and S'\u00e2rad\u00e2 Ambik\u00e2 is its presiding Deity. Its application (Viniyoga) is in the acquisition of spiritual knowlege, in the fruition of any desires or necessities, in composing poems or anywhere wheresoever success is required. May S'r\u00eem Hr\u00eem Sarasvatyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 protect fully my head; S\u2019r\u00eem V\u00e2gdevat\u00e2yai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my forehead; Om Hr\u00eem Sarasvatyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my ears always; Om S\u2019r\u00eem Hr\u00eem Bhagabatyai Sarasvatyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 always my eyes; Aim Hr\u00eem V\u00e2gv\u00e2dinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, always my nose; Om Hr\u00eem Vidyadhisth\u00e2tr\u00ee Devyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my lips always; Om S\u2019r\u00eem Hr\u00eem Brahmyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my rows of teeth; Aim, this single letter protect my neck; Om S\u2019r\u00eem Hr\u00eem my throat; S'r\u00eem, my shoulders, Om Hr\u00eem Vidy\u00e2dhisth\u00e2tr\u00ee Devyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, always my chest; Om Hr\u00eem Vidyadhisvar\u00fbp\u00e2yai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my navel; Om Hr\u00eem Kl\u00eem V\u00e2nyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my hands; Om Svarva v\u00e2rnatm\u00ee K\u00e2yai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my feet; and let Om V\u00e2gadhisth\u00e2tridevyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 protect all my body. Let Om Sarvakanthav\u00e2sinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 protect my east; Let Om Svarvajibh\u00e2gra v\u00e2sinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, the South-east; Om Aim Hr\u00eem S\u2019r\u00eem Kl\u00eem Sarasvatyai budhajananyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my South; Aim Hr\u00eem S\u2019r\u00eem, this three lettered Mantra my South-west; Om Aim Jhibhagrav\u00e2sinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my West; Om Svarvam bik\u00e2yai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my North west; Om Aim S\u2019r\u00eem Kl\u00eem Gadyav\u00e2sinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my North; Aim Sarvas'\u00e2stra vasinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my North-east; Om Hr\u00eem Sarvapujitayai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, my top; Hr\u00eem Pustakavasinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 my below and let Om Grantha v\u00eejasvarup\u00e2yai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2 protect all my sides. O N\u00e2rada! This Vis'vajaya Kavacha of the nature of Brahm\u00e2 and its embodied Mantra I have now spoken to you. I heard this before from the mouth of Dharma Deva in the Gandh\u00e2m\u00e2dana mountain. Now I speak this to you out of my great affection for you. But never divulge this to anybody. One is worship one's spiritual Teacher (Guru Deva) according to due rites and ceremonies with clothings, ornaments, and sandalpaste and then fall down prostrate to him and then hold this Kavacha. Repeating this\nfive lakhs of times, one gets success and becomes a Siddha. The holder of this Kavacha becomes intelligent like Brihaspati, eloquent, Kav\u00eendras, and the conqueror of the three worlds, no sooner one becomes a Siddlha in this. In fact, he can conquer everything by virtue of this Kavacha. O Muni! Thus I have described to you this Kavacha according to K\u00e2nva S'\u00e2kh\u00e2. Now I am speaking about the method of worship, Dhy\u00e2na and the praise of this Kavacha. Hear.\nHere ends the Fourth Chapter of the Ninth Book on the hymn, worship and Kavacha of Sarasvat\u00ee Dev\u00ee in S'r\u00ee Mad Dev\u00ee Bh\u00e2gavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vy\u00e2sa.","title":"The Devi Bhagavatam: The Ninth Book: Chapter 4","type":"page"}