Day - 9 of Navarathri - Ayudha Pooja or Saraswathi Pooja! Favorite Hymn of the day : Sri Shyamala Dandakam. What an amazing story behind this absolutely exquisite set of verses! So, there was this poor woodcutter who was not particularly known for his brightness. A group of courtiers, wishing to take revenge on a haughty, beautiful princess who had a razor sharp intellect, orchestrated a fixed dialogue between the princess and the woodcutter at the end of which the princess agreed to marry the woodcutter, assuming him to be one of even greater mental prowess than herself. When on the first evening of her marriage the princess realized that she had been duped and the handsome woodcutter was in reality no man of letters, she chose to take a positive stand and requested him to go to the temple of Goddess Kali and beseech Her to bestow the gift of knowledge. So, off went the woodcutter and there he found that the Goddess had gone out for Her nightly city stroll. He locked the door and stood outside. When the Goddess returned, the woodcutter demanded that She make him wise or else he would not let Her inside. The Goddess laughed good-naturedly at the mans ignorance and told him that She could go wherever She pleased and nothing could stop Her. When he realised that his ploy did not work with the Goddess, the woodcutter decided to give up his life. The Mothers heart melted and She blessed him with the felicity of expression by drawing a line with Her Trishul on his tongue. And lo, Kalidasa was born! The first song that erupted from his imagination was the Shyamala Dandakam - a set of verses in praise of the Goddess of knowledge, which is why if you buy a book on this Shlokam, you will find a picture of Goddess Saraswathi on the cover. However, the description of the Goddess in Kalidasas words is that of Mother Lalitha Mahatripurasundari - the Omnipotent Goddess who weilds the Paasham (rope) and Angusham (the hook) and carries the evergreen Sugarcane stalk. Happy Saraswathi Pooja, dear friends and after this post, my laptop will go for its annual pooja routine and enjoy a 24 hour rest:-) Have a great Ayudha Pooja!
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 03:28:55 +0000
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