Courtesy:Sri.K.Muralidharan Iyengar
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. As Mahanavami/Sri Saraswati Puja falls on Wednesday (21-Oct-2015), I am delighted to attach a very rare Sharada Sahasranama from Rudra Yamala Tantra. Before I elaborate on this, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude and thanks to Sri. Sivakumar Thyagarajan from Dubai who sourced this Sahasranama from his contacts.
The attached Sharada Sahasranama is on Goddess Sharada of Bandipur in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). I learnt that this Sahasranama was lost for several decades and they traced a manuscript from a Pandit just recently. I understand that there is yet another Sharada Sahasranama on Goddess Sharada in Sringeri Mutt in Karnataka but I have not been able to get a copy of it yet.
Bandipur Sharada Temple was once a seat of Kashmir Shaivism but what remains today will sure make our blood flow as tears - there is only a completely dilapidated sanctum sanctorum now (below) :
One can understand the sanctity of this Sahasranama by the elaborate Phalashruti given by Lord Bhairava - he mentions that even if he had crores of tongues, he would not be able to fully describe the benefits of chanting this rare Sahasranama. I have given only the gist as usual as the benefits list very long.
You will notice that Sharada is extolled as the Parabrahman in this Sahasranama as if every other form is insubordinated to this form and Sharada is extolled as Moksha-dhAtrI (one who gives emancipation). Perhaps readers might remember a rare Saraswati Stotra I shared from Markandeya Purana several years ago - which also mentions Saraswati as the Supreme Being.
As we have seen countless time, such superlatives are given for every deity form and every sacred place in the Puranas. It does not mean there is no meaning/value to these - it merely means that superlative is for our bonding with our favorite form/place and not to pick sword and fight with others on relative superiority or inferiority of one form/place over others (which unfortunately is a commonplace today - some think such differentiation is esoteric but it is nothing but puerility).
May We Pray to Goddess Sharada on Mahanavami Day!
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