Brahma and Sarasvati mantra (Shruti dharani Vidya and MAtrukAksharA )meditation

One of the main rituals of a Srividyopasaka is the chanting of the thirty seven rasmimala mantras encoded in the ParasurAma kalpasUtra, of which the fourteenth and fifteenth mantras are the Brahma and Saravsati mantras, to be meditated at the Brahma randra and dvadashaantaa respectively.. The brahma mantra is Vedic; effect of this mantra is said by Bhagavan Parasurama as shruti dharini-One who helps in remembrance of heard knowledge. The sarsavati mantra is the fifty one matrukaksharaa.

In the Sri Nagara, both Brahma and his consort sarasvati are found in the vidruma ratna prAkAra (red coral fort enclosure).

The Brahma mantra deciphered from Parasurama kalpa sutra and according to nityotsava is: Om namo brahmane dharanam meastvanirAkaranam daharayitaa bhooyaasam karNayorshrutam mAcyOdhvan mamamushya Om. The sarasvati mantra is am. Ksham (51 alphabets)

This Vedic mantra is found in the mahA nArAyanopanishat as its ninth chapter. Brahmane- Oh Brahman namah- prostrations; me- to me ; dharanam concentration of thought (or) powerful memory; asthu be; anirakaranam without distraction; dharayitaa one who practices concentration of thoughts; bhooyaasam- may I be; karnayoh shrutam whatever I have heard with my ears; amushya- of such and such; mama mine; maa not be; cyoDhvam- fail. A free rendering of the above translation would be- My prayers to Brahma for perfect hearing, intact memory, absorb the heard sound to a high degree, not to loose what ever is heard, let me be so.

The dyana sloka of Brahma according to Nityotsava / Datta samhita is caturaananam ambhoja samstham bhaarati sakham Akshamaalaavaraabheeti kamandaludharam numah

caturaananam ambhoja samstham: Having four faces and seated in a lotus. The unique form of Lord Brahma, the creator has four faces and was born in the lotus. Thus this will point to brahmane in the mantra. bhaarati sakham: with his consort Bhaarati . Bhaa means light or splendor here the inner light. The main aspect of hearing a sound is to recognize and keep it in memory. This is possible by the inner intuitive intelligence only, which is figuratively said as inner light. dhaaranam me asthu in the mantra explicitly says this idea. Akshamaalaa: The count beads (fifty one in number).The main aspect of keeping in memory required a structured way of the sounds, which are the alphabets, here they are the fifty one in the language spoken Sanskrit. This idea is visualized in the aniraakaranam varaabheeti: Showing gestures of removing fear and granting boons. Here the best boon is the analysis of beauty in the above structured response and fear is lapse in holding this capacity, removal of this is said here. These ideas are in dhaarayitaa bhooyaasam kamandaludharam: Holding the ceremonial water pot. The ritual sacrificial pot points to the action, karma, where in the continuous usage of the structured response is kept alive; the ear is an organ of cognition karmendriya- thus karnayor shrutam maa chyodhvam, explains this perfectly. Numah: I bow. This is found in the mantra as namo in the sense of salutation and mamaamushya in the sense of the doer. The most peculiar identity of this mantra is that it starts with pranava Om and ends in pranava Om. The initial throb when manifested produced a sound which is the pranava; hence this is befitting that all the alphabets which are an expansion of the primordial sound starts and ends in the same, thus making the mantra very powerful in utility.

The dyana sloka of Sarasvati Devi is panca sata matrukaarnaih aarabdhaakhila dehayaa Samasta vidyaa roopiniim dhyayeham matrukaambikaam

panca sata matrukaarnaih aarabdhaakhila dehayaa: The body of the devi is made of fifty one letters this explicitly points to all the matrukaaskharaa am to ksham. The placement of them please see the explanation of the below dhyana sloka.

Samasta vidyaa roopiniim dhyayeham matrukaambikaam: She is the form of all knowledge, I meditate on matrukaadevi. This is the expression of the above alphabets which forms all fields of vidya (knowledge).

In the Sri vidya saparya we perform first the matrukaa nyaasa. There we find another dhyana sloka: panca sata varna bhedaih vihita vadana doh padayuk kukshi vaksho deshaam Bhaasvat kapardaakalita shashi kalaam indu kundavataataam Akshasrk kumbha cintaa likhita vara karaam treekshanaam Abja samsthaam acchaakalpaam aduccha stana jaghana bharaam bhaarateem taaam namaami panca sata varna bhedaih : The variations of the fifty one alphabets am to ksham vihita: Divided into vowels, ka ca Ta ta pa ya vargas (series ) vadana: Placed on the face, the vowels - a top of head, aa- circum fence of face; I and ii- right and left eye; u and uu right and left ear; R ad RR- right and left nostril; LR and LLR- right and left chin; e and ai- upper and lower lips; o and au- upper and lower teeth; am- tounge tip and ah- top of head (this is as per paramananda tantra) doh : hands, the ka and ca series the hand joint, mid arm, wrist, starting and tip of fingers in both the right and left hands padayuk :both legs; the Ta and ta series the hip, knee, heel and starting and tip of toes. kukshi: The stomach- pa series - navel, back side , both sides vaksho deshaam: The area of chest the ya series the heart, right armpit, neck nape, left armpit, from heart to extremes of arms, legs, bottom and top of trunk.

Bhaasvat kapardaakalita shashi kalaam: Lighting up with the crescent on her braided, knotted and matted hair. The anusvra is written like a crescent, which points to the involution of the mind to a point. The kaparda shows the structured and systematic way of analysis of all the sounds to go deep into meditations and hence the source. This is akin to Bhagavan Sri Ramanas introspection of who am I? indu kundavataataam: of the hue of moon and jasmine- white in color. White denotes shuddha satva guna, which is a pre requisite for the above sadhana. Akshasrk The beads fifty one. They represent the fifty one alphabets from am to ksham. The phonetic variations of expressed structured speech, which is used for communications kumbha The pot filled with nectar- amrta. Since the aspect of the first element space is sound, it is eternal Parasurama says- varanaah nityaah- the alphabets are eternal. This is envisaged as nectar pot. cintaa likhita : The written down palm leaves. The above phonetic speech was written down for the transmission of the knowledge acquired. Thus cumulative knowledge is said here vara karaam: The highest boon is the awareness of the eternal self, this being the ultimate goal is experienced as the grace of this devi treekshanaam: Having three eyes. Normal usual vision of humans is with two eyes. The three eye sight will be different, this will show the trikala gynana, the past present and future knowledge of this sakti, hence the eternal nature is indicated Abja samsthaam: Seated on a lotus. Lotus opens to light and is also a personification of the heart, un conditioned love. The names of lotus are padma when seen through katapayadi code is fifty one, the matrukasharas- the varnadhva , abja will translate as eighty the padaadhva and kamala will be one, five and three, sum is nine which is a mystical number in the mantra sashtra- pointing the mantraadhvaa. Samsthaam will mean placed on, thus seeing from the above will mean seated on the sukshma adhvaa :- varna, pada and mantra. acchaakalpaam: Bright attire- clothes and ornaments, The brightness will show the awareness that is got. This awareness is of both the light and darkness, which is termed as knowledge.

aduccha stana jaghana bharaam : Very prominent breast and hip. Breasts are two in number, showing the vowels and consonants. Jaghana is the base on which the body rests, thus we find the whole Vidya resting on the matrukaakshraas. bhaarateem: The inner light , illuminating all. The above description will suffice to name this deity as the illuminant. taaam namaami: I bow to her.

The deities are found in the red coral fortress, which represents the rudhira dhatu (blood constituent). Per Shaiva shatras mantra adhvaa is personified as the blood in the body of the invoked deity. It is so apt that deities of matrukasharas and memory are residing (reflecting) in mantra adhvaa.

O Lord Datta!!! These are flowers on your feet