Tara Tantric goddess
Dr Uday Dokras
TARA- तारा
The founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, permitted women to join his monastic community and fully participate in it, although there were certain provisions or garudhammas. Neither in society nor the monastic order were women recognized as spiritual leaders above the authority of men. Bhikkuṇī are systematically taught and told to follow the footsteps of Bhikkhu through an institutional mechanism that is so strong that whosoever tries to challenge it faces backlashes from the Buddhist community."
In Early Buddhism the traditional view was to consider them inferior- releasing a misogynist strain. But the presence of some clearly misogynist doctrines does not mean that the whole of ancient Indian Buddhism was misogynist. There are statements in Buddhist scripture that appear to be misogynist, such as depicting women as obstructers of men's spiritual progress or the notion that being born female leaves one with less opportunity for spiritual progress. However, in societies where men have always been the authorities and the ones given wider choices, a negative view of women might be seen as simply reflecting the empirical political reality. Furthermore, the religious literature is more likely to be addressed to men. Hence we find the Buddhist emphasis on renunciation of sensual desires expressed in terms of the male's attachment to women more frequently than we find the reverse
The mix of positive attitudes to femininity with blatantly negative sentiment has led many writers to characterise early Buddhism's attitude to women as deeply ambivalent. The founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, permitted women to join his monastic community and fully participate in it, although there were certain provisions or garudhammas. Neither in society nor the monastic order were women recognized as spiritual leaders above the authority of men. Bhikkuṇī are systematically taught and told to follow the footsteps of Bhikkhu through an institutional mechanism that is so strong that whosoever tries to challenge it faces backlashes from the Buddhist community."
In Early Buddhism the traditional view was to consider them inferior- releasing a misogynist strain. But the presence of some clearly misogynist doctrines does not mean that the whole of ancient Indian Buddhism was misogynist. There are statements in Buddhist scripture that appear to be misogynist, such as depicting women as obstructers of men's spiritual progress or the notion that being born female leaves one with less opportunity for spiritual progress. However, in societies where men have always been the authorities and the ones given wider choices, a negative view of women might be seen as simply reflecting the empirical political reality. Furthermore, the religious literature is more likely to be addressed to men. Hence we find the Buddhist emphasis on renunciation of sensual desires expressed in terms of the male's attachment to women more frequently than we find the reverse
The mix of positive attitudes to femininity with blatantly negative sentiment has led many writers to characterise early Buddhism's attitude to women as deeply ambivalent. Saraswati in Buddhism becomes important, with the rise of the Mahayana Buddhism that placed a grezt import on women . The rise of Tara is equated to the wisdom of Buddha and she provokes his compassion. The Goddess Tara is worshipped in both Hinduism and Buddhism as the goddess of compassion and protection. In Hinduism, she is a form of the female primordial energy known as shakti. In fact, in some traditions, she is considered the female Buddha. In Tibetan Buddhism, she is the most popular deity worshipped today. In Hinduism, the goddess Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, Tārā) is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom goddesses", and is a form of Adishakti, the tantric manifestations of Parvati
Tara, Tibetan Sgrol-ma, Buddhist saviour-goddess with numerous forms, widely popular in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. She is the feminine counterpart of the bodhisattva (“buddha-to-be”) Avalokiteshvara. According to popular belief, she came into existence from a tear of Avalokiteshvara, which fell to the ground and formed a lake. Out of its waters rose up a lotus, which, on opening, revealed the goddess. Like Avalokiteshvara, she is a compassionate, succouring deity who helps men “cross to the other shore.” She is the protectress of navigation and earthly travel, as well as of spiritual travel along the path to enlightenment.
White Tara figurine
The Buddhist goddess Tara, repoussé gilt copper set with turquoise, from Nepal, late 17th–18th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photograph by Veronika Brazdova. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, IM.105-1911
In Tibet she is believed to be incarnate in every pious woman, and the two wives—a Chinese princess and a Nepali princess—of the first Buddhist king of Tibet, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po, were identified with the two major forms of Tara. The White Tara (Sanskrit: Sitatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-dkar) was incarnated as the Chinese princess. She symbolizes purity and is often represented standing at the right hand of her consort, Avalokiteshvara, or seated with legs crossed, holding a full-blown lotus. She is generally shown with a third eye. Tara is also sometimes shown with eyes on the soles of her feet and the palms of her hands (then she is called “Tara of the Seven Eyes,” a form of the goddess popular in Mongolia).
The Green Tara (Sanskrit: Shyamatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-ljang) was believed to be incarnated as the Nepali princess. She is considered by some to be the original Tara and is the female consort of Amoghasiddhi (see Dhyani-Buddha), one of the “self-born” buddhas. She is generally shown seated on a lotus throne with right leg hanging down, wearing the ornaments of a bodhisattva and holding the closed blue lotus (utpala).
The White and Green Taras, with their contrasting symbols of the full-blown and closed lotus, are said to symbolize between them the unending compassion of the deity who labours both day and night to relieve suffering. Under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism the different forms of Tara multiplied to a traditional 108. Tibetan temple banners frequently show 21 different Taras, coloured white, red, and yellow, grouped around a central Green Tara. The figure of the “self-born” Amitabha Buddha is often shown in her headdress, as she, like Avalokiteshvara, is considered to be an emanation of Amitabha.
In her ferocious, blue form, invoked to destroy enemies, she is known as Ugra-Tara, or Ekajata; as a red goddess of love, Kurukulla; and as a protectress against snakebite, Janguli. The yellow Bhrikuti is an angry Tara, with frowning brows. This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.In Buddhism, too, the Goddess
NEELA SARASWATI-or Blue Saraswati is a form of Tara devi in her fierce form.
Tara or Taresi is the goddess that causes bhava tarana, so She is also called Bhava Tarini or crossing the ocean of life. According to Yogini Tantra, Tara is the same as Kali, the embodiment of supreme love. She is also Kamakhya. In Tantric literatures three manifestations of Tara are mentioned: Eka Jata, providing Kaivalya or unity with the Absolute; Ugra Tara, one who provides relief from unforeseen severe meseries and Nila Saraswati, imparting Jnana or knowledge.
Tara is the presiding Goddess of Speech and the Shakti of Hiranya Garba Saura Brahma. As the Sun incarnate, she is the successful owner of Surya Pralaya. The Tara-sadhak becomes well accomplished in all the branches of literature. Traditionally it is held that Vyasa Muni could work on and complete the eighteen
a form of Tara Maa of Mahavidya.
Mahapuranas dues to the grace of Goddess Tara.
The aspirants of the Tara cult realize the Purushartha goals of dharma, arta, kama and moksha. Tara is always away from Maya or the Prapancha within it because it is Her own creation. She provides bhoga or bliss initially and then mokhya or salvation. Tara is surrounded by eight Yoginis: Mahakali, Rudrani, Ugra, Bhima, Ghira, Bhramari, Maharatri and Bhairavi. She, according to Nila Tantra, is iconographically depicted to share the attributes of Goddess Kali.
She stands in the Pratyalidha pose. She is short stature with a protruded belly and Her complexion is dark blue. She has a terrible appearance away from her mild and pretty Sarasawati appearances. She wears tiger skin at Her waist and garland of human-heads at Her neck. She is of prime youth and adorned with Pancha Mudras. In Her four hands She holds Khadga-sword, Indivara-lotus, Kartika-shear and Kapala-human skull. Her tongue is held out as Kali’s lolling tinge. She wears single braid of matted hair on her head. Tara is three-eyed as she stands on the corpse lying on the burning funeral pyre and ranges her feet, which appears terrible. These are symbolic of Mother Kali, ever ready to remove the darkness of ignorance and passiveness of Her devotees.
Neela Saraswati ritual, Mantra siddhi on Neela Saraswati, Tara Saptakshari mantratantram Neela Sarasawati Sadhana, Tara Yantra and general tantric practices are considered to be for the advanced bhakta who takes guidance from a qualified tantric guru. Tara sadhakas are said to be capable of mastering certain siddhis and whoever completely surrendering before Her with humble motives is taken under Her shelter and supreme grace. The usual vidhya practice in Tantric Tara is that its initiation is given by women. Tara vidhyas use Bhuvaneswari and Tara beejas.
In Tibetian tradition, Neela Saraswati is known as Yang Cheng Mo. The Hindu Mahavidya Goddess Tara figures prominently in Tibetian Bhuddhism. Tara’s appearance in the list of Mahavidyas can probably be explained by the religious communication between Tibet and Bengal where Mahavidya texts such as Mahabhagavata-purana and Brhaddharma-purana originated. Bengal also gave birth to refined forms of Mother Goddess worship. In Bengal, Tara was an epithet of Kali while Tibetian Buddism had twenty forms of Tara. Of this White and Green Tara was popular.
Neela Saraswati appears a Buddhist yidam in her capacity as an embodiment of virtuous activities pertaining to culture and learning. Yangchengmo is the Goddess for performing arts, especially music. In her musical moment and demeanour, Neela Sarasvati is called Piwa Karpo. Her Chinese Buddhist name is Miao-yin-mu. Sarasvati’s mythology includes purificatory aspect. In this she shares her characteristics with White Tara and also with her Japanese equivalent, Benten or Benzeiten. (see previous posting on Benzeiten)
NEELA SARASWATHI STOTRAM:-Prayer to the Blue Saraswathi
1. Ghora roope maharave , sarva shathru bhayangari, Bhakthebhyo varade devi thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you , Oh Goddess with fierce form and great sound, Who is fearful to all the enemies , And who blesses all her devotees.
2. Surasurarchithe devi, sidha Gandharva sevithe, Jadya papa hare devi, thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Oh Goddess worshipped by devas and asuras, Who is served by Sidhas and Gandarwas, And who destroys all accumulated sin.
3. Jatajuta samayukthe lola jihwantha karini, Drutha budhikare devi, thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Who is with tied matted hair, Who ends darkness created by unstable toungue, And who makes our brain work very fast.
4. Soumya krodha dhare roope , chanda munda namosthuthe, Srushti roope namasthubhyam, thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Who has the form of anger as well as placid nature, And who is worshipped by Chanda and Munda, My salutations to her who has form of creation.
5. Jadaanaam jadathaam hanthi , bhakthaanaam bhaktha vathsala,Moodathaam hara may devi, thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Who destroys idiots as well as idiocy, And who is very dear to her devotees, Please destroy my foolishness, oh Goddess.
6. Vam hroom hroom kamaye devi , bali homa priye nama, Ugra thare namo nithyam , thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Who likes the chant “Vam hroom hroom”, Salutations to her who likes sacrifices and offerings in fire, I salute daily the fierce Tara devi.
7. Budhim dehi, yaso dehi , kavithwam dehi dehi may, Moodathwam cha harer devi, thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Give me wisdom , fame and ability to write poems, And please destroy the foolishness in me.
8. Indradhi vilasad dwanda vandhithe karunamayi, Thare tharathi nadhasye , thrahi maam saranagatham.
Help me who surrenders to you, Who is saluted by Indra and others as couple , Who is merciful , Tara and the lord who rules as Tara.
9. Idham stotram padesdhyasthu sathatham sradhayonvitha, Thasya Shathru kshayam yathi Maha pragnaa prajayathe.
If this prayer is read regularly with utmost devotion, His enemies would be destroyed and he would become greatly learned.
(Translation Sri P.R.Ramachander.) Yogi Ananda Saraswathi
GODDESS NILA SARASWATI.
Mother is the manifestation of Goddess Tara. The name Nila Saraswati itself is a combination of Nila which means blue and also that of Kali, the Rudra Sakti that remains after total dissolution. Coming only next to Mother Kali in the Dashamahavidya list of Tantrik goddesses, Nilasaraswathi’s iconography also comes close to that of Goddess Kali. Now this would be opposed to the same Goddess Saraswati given in the Puranas.
In Tantric literature, one finds three manifestations of Tara such as Eka Jata, Ugra Tara and Nila Saraswathi. Eka Jata is she who provides ‘kaivalya’ or unity with the Absolute; Ugra Tara is she who provides relief from unforeseen severe miseries and Nila Saraswathi is she who imparts jnana to her devotees.
It is said that the sage Vyasha muni accomplished work on the eighteen Mahapuranas by being a Nila Saraswathi sadhak to become all accomplished. Goddess Tara also manifests as Dakshina Kali, Tarini and Ugra Tara standing on a supine image of Lord Siva. Mother is dark blue or blue-black in colour with minimal clothes. She wears a tiger skin, a necklace of corpse’s skull and also a girdle of severed arms. Nilasaraswathi also enjoys blood just like Bhadra Kali. Thus she welcomes blood sacrifice. Worshiped mainly for wealth and poetic skill, She is aggressive and of fearful demeanour. Nilasaraswathi exposes her ability to rescue her devotees from calamities.
DEVI MAHATMYA
Normally Mother Saraswathi is given a benign form as the Goddess of Learning and Wisdom. Her white colour, spotless character, lotus seat, swan vahana, vina instrument, inkpot with pen and books, all point towards a loving goddess and also that of a life giving river. But as the guardian of the earth, Saraswathi takes the form of Durga, to fight the female demon ‘Drug.’ The word dru or dur also means ‘with difficulty’.
Mother Saraswati is in the trinity of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswathi. Mother is depicted as eight armed. The dhyana shloka given at the 5th chapter of Mahatmya is: “Wielding in her lotus-hands the bell, trident, plough, conch, pestle, discuss, bow and arrow, her luster is like that of a moon shining in the autumn sky. She is born from the body of Gowri and is the sustaining base of the three worlds.
That Maha saraswathi I worship here who destroyed Sumbha and other asuras”.
It is a stated fact that Mother Devi Nilasaraswathi puts her bhaktas to extreme challenges before she blesses and grants siddhis.
The society of Tantra practitioners know of the ardent path to be taken to Devi Nilasaraswathi. This can also misfire if proper rituals are not observed. There cannot be a better example than the sage Vashista Muni. The great muni was plucked off several times in this sadhana despite his extreme austerities of many years. So he placed a curse on Tara-mantra. Following Vasishta’s seat below the same Shalmali tree known as Mundamalinitala where the sage performed his sadhana, Vamdeva, the Bhairava of Tarapith also worshiped Nilasaraswathi. This seat was also known as ‘panch-mundi-asan’ of the seat of five skulls.
Devi Nilasaraswathi was not without her boons. Her grants were poesy and eloquent. To the worthy bhakta, Mother Nilasaraswathi grants ‘vak-siddhi’ meaning she resides in the tongue of the bhakta and that explains her name. This means that the bhakta acquires the destructive power of speech giving him or her an upper hand in debates and contests of knowledge. But it would be essential for the upasak to stick to strict rules of Truth at all times and should not use Mother Nilasaraswathi to persist his opinions. There is still a dispute if Mahakavi Kalidas was blessed by Mother Kali in person or through Devi Nila Saraswathi. Her centre is the tongue though Tara primarily relates to the navel chakra.
MERU TANTRA- mentions the Sapta Saraswathi as 1. Chintamani Saraswathi, 2. Jnana Saraswathi, 3. Nila Saraswathi,
4. Ghata Saraswathi, 5. Kini Saraswathi, 6. Antariksha Saraswathi and 7. Trikuta Saraswathi.
RIG VEDA:
The three Saraswatis are Matangi, Tara and Vina-Sarasvati. The three are the spouses of Ganesh or Matanga Rishi, Brihaspati the Guru of the Gods or Akshobhya Shiva and Brahmanaspati or Brahma, the Creator. Mantra, Vak or speech itself is Shakti, the Goddess as power.
Mantra is more the primal forms as Matangi-Saraswathi. Vak or speech is more Tara-Saraswathi. Formalised language or Sanskrit is more Veena-Saraswathi. The three Saraswathis are important in Hinduism, and also represent the three wisdoms:
Paravidya – Highest wisdom or Self-knowledge.
Devavidya – Knowledge of the Divinities or the Divine Knowledge. Shastravidya – Knowledge of the Scriptures and Texts, or Science.
Modern or Puranic Saraswathi is known as Vina-Saraswathi, and she is the last and lowest of these manifestations.
MAHAVIDYAS:
In Tantra, there are Siddhavidyas and Paravidyas. Siddhavidyas are forms of mystical powers and perfection, and the Paravidyas are transcendental forms. These are forms of Mahavidyas. Nilasaraswathi is another form of Mahavidya Tara. There are separate dhyana shlokas and mantras for her worship in Tantrasara.
BRIHAD NILA TANTRA:
This Tantra of the Kaula tradition is a source to know more of mother. It contains the Tararahasya, 'Secrets of Tara' of Brahmanda Giri which supplies every information in connection with the worship of Nila Sarasvati. The eleventh chapter of the Tantra describes at length how the Goddess of Wisdom became Nila or blue. The Tantra is written in the form of a dialogue in which Mahakalabhairava appears as the speaker and Mahakali as the listener. In this Tantra the Devi requests Bhairava to reveal the Nilatantra as promised at the time the Kalitantra was revealed. The Bhairava redeems the promise and declares that the Tantra which he is to reveal should be duly preserved and concealed, as that leads to many blessings.
It first deals with Nila-Saraswati-the Sapphire Blue Saraswathi. Here she is Brahma-Shakti or spouse of the Supreme Deity. Lord Dattatreya is the patron guru of the Natha tradition, the other aspects being Vishnu and Mahesh. We are not going to indulge on the Buddhist Tara here. Other names given here are Aniruruddha Saraswathi, Ugra Tara and Tarini. They are links between the White Saraswathi and Nilasaraswathi pointing to the Shakti of the Alphabet, the Matrika Shakti.
Mantra, words, music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos, so Nilasaraswathi has an important role in Tantrik cosmology. As Matrika Shakti, She deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form. It is apt to say that Maya reaches the human mind through the medium of words also. Thus the tantric role of Nilasaraswathi is justified. Her mantra is described as Siddha-Vidhya, the cause of Maya. Her bija mantra is ‘Aim’.
TODALA TANTRA;
Daily puja of Nila Saraswathi is given in Todala Tantra, The Magic of Kali. It is done in isolated places including cremation grounds. Therefore Nilasaraswathi is bonded with Lord Siva. She is surrounded by jackals and known as Smasana Bhairavi also. There are no rules as to time. In the Maha China Krama, which is Vamachara or left hand tantra, the rule is essentially 'svecchachara' or acting according to one’s will. Meat, wine and sexual union is prominent. This is also given in Mundamala Tantra Tara associated with blood. Partners recite Tara Mantra mentally and there is no external worship as such. The conjunction of yoni and lingam is the essence of the ritual.
Hara Hara Mahadeva- Yogi Ananda Saraswathi.
GODDESS TARA:
Tara is the second of the Mahavidyas coming next to Goddess Kali. As Vidya, She is the Wisdom Goddess. Hindu Tara is associated with cremation. She is also known as Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali and Bhadra-kali. ‘Tara’ means star that is perpetually beautiful. Tara closely resembles Kali in appearance and certain attributes displaying saumya – gentle and urga –fierce aspects. Indeed Goddess Kali and Tara were in prominence in the Tantric tradition both in Hinduism and Tibetian Buddhism even before Mahavidya emerged as a cult.
Tara is as potent as Goddess Kali. She is also figured in Jainism. Thus in Hinduism, Jainism and Tibetian Buddhism, Tara, the Blue Goddess, is the Saviouress who helps us overcome our difficult situations and also helps us transcend them. Tara’s name comes from the root which means to carry. As ‘Samsara-tarini’ she aids to cross the tides of stormy sea of troubles and turmoils of life. She is the Tarini, the deliverer or savior, guiding bhaktas towards salvation. In summary Mother Tara is the deity of accomplishments.
She takes many other names too. As Smasana bhairavi, she is the terrible one of the cremation ground; Jalesvari, Mistress of the rain; Jagaddhatri, world nurse; Prthivi, earth; Vasudha, earth; Vrksmadhyani, she who dwells in trees; Sarvavamayi, she who creates everything; Samsaratarini, She who carries across the ocean of samsara.
It can be said that Goddess Tara does not figure prominently in the Hindu tradition. She seems to have a central and ancient place in Tibetian Buddhism. Her appearance in the list of Mahavidyas can probably be explained by the religious communication between Tibet and Bengal. The latter is where Mahavidya texts originated such as Mahabhagavata-purana and Brhaddharma-purana were written. In Bengal, Tara was an epithet of Kali. Tara was thus understood to be much a Hindu and Buddhist God.
SARASWATI-TARA:
Tara is the ‘sabda-shakti’ or power of Sound. She is sometimes equated to Goddess Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning and associated with speaking prowess, perception and knowledge. Tara is thus referred to as Neela Saraswathi seated on a lotus. ‘Neela’ means blue. She also controls breath, manifesting in primodial sound of life. As Tarini, she is the carrier of knowledge conveyed through sound of speech. Tara is the un-manifest speech that resides in breath and consciousness. She is the feminine form of ‘Aum’. She is also in the Third Eye or Ajna chakra. Her location in the human body is the Manipura chakra or navel centre.
In contrast to the Buddhist Tara who is described as a benevolent, compassionate, gentle and spirited young woman, eager to help and to protect, Tara as Mahavidya is a rather fearsome goddess striking terror. She is also moody and harmful. But at times, Tara-Mahavidya can also be benevolent and compassionate.
According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Tara emanated from the tear of Avalokiteshvara. Once Avalokiteshvara liberated all beings from the lower realms and an instant later saw that the lower realms were again filled with suffering beings. Saddened, a tear fell from his eye and from it sprang Green Tara. Both Avalok-iteshvara and Tara embody the principle of compassion, one of the three main aspects of enlightened mind: compassion, wisdom and power.
Kwan Yin is generally explained as a Chinese feminine equivalent of Avalokiteshvara, who manifested to help all those suffering on earth. Thus Tara is understood to be essence of Compassion. She is seen in Tibetian Buddhism as a compassionate savior who rescues devotees from peril. Both Amitabha and Avalokistesvara are renowned for their great compassion and Tara fits into this family.
Like Durga, Tara is often said to rescue her bhaktas from desperate predicaments.
BRIHAD NILA TANTRA:
As the second of the Mahavidyas, Tara, while known to the West through her Tibetian manifestations, occupies an important position in the Hindu Tantrik pantheon. In Brihad Nila Tantra of the Kaula tradition she is Nila Sarasvati - the Sapphire Blue Sarasvati. She is the Brahma-Shakti, or spouse of the Supreme Deity in his Creative aspect. While attempts are made to separate the Hindu from the Tibetan Tara, one cannot doubt that she is the same Shakti. In Hindu Tantrarajatantra, where Her mantra is given as ‘Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha’ is identical to the Tibetan version. Here Tara takes her form as Kurukulla and the reference is to the same Devi.
Mention has to be made of Matrika Shakti. The Brihad Nila Tantra and Devirahasya mentions other forms such as Nilasarasvati, Aniruddha Sarasvati, Ugra Tara, Tarini. Nila Sarasvati and the Tibetian White Saraswathi give the same fruits of worshipping Her. It also points to the Goddess being Shakti of the Letters of the Alphabet, the Matrika Shakti. As Matrika Shakti She deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form. Her mantra is described as a Siddha-Vidya. She has an important role in Tantrik cosmology because mantra, words, music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos.
KALI – TARA:
Between Kali and Tara there are some similarities as also some differences. As said earlier, Tara’s physical appearance resembles that of Kali. Like Kali, she has three bright red eyes; has four hands holding sword or head chopper, a scissors, a severed head and a lotus; wears the garland of skulls; is richly is bejeweled and has snakes for ornaments; dances on a corpse. Both Kali and Tara are strongly associated with death and dissolution; both stand upon inert male figure. And, both are associated with Shiva. Brahaddharma purana mentions Tara as representing time, just as does Kali.
Hinduism, the goddess Tara is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas. She is the tantric manifestations of Durga or Mahadevi, Kali, or Parvati. As the star is seen as a beautiful but perpetually self-combusting thing, so Tara is perceived at core as the absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.
As Per Shakti Mahabhagwat, She is the one who created 1st Seed from which the entire universe took birth in the form of Lord Narayana.
Whereas Kali is the power of time -kala that inexorably causes all created things to perish, Tara is associated with fire, and particularly the fires of the cremation ground. There are also differences in the depiction of the two goddesses. Tara's complexion is blue whereas Kali's can be black or deep blue. Tara holds a bowl made from a scull in one hand, a pair of scissors in another, a blue lotus in the third hand and an axe in the fourth.
The scissors and sword in the hands of Tara are tools to remove the ego, the sense of mistaken identity that defines, limits, and binds. They are not weapons of death and destruction. Tara is draped in tiger skin around her waist; and is not naked unlike Kali who symbolizes absolute freedom. Unlike Kali, whose hair flows loose and wild, Tara’s hair of tawny color is carefully bunched into a topknot or jata. Whereas Kali’s hair represents absolute freedom from constraint, Tara’s is a symbol of yogic asceticism and restraint. Kali represents the highest form of wisdom or liberating knowledge; and Tara is related to the discipline of yogic practices.
MYTHOLOGY:
The mythological origin of Tara is in Amrit Manthan. Both Devas and Asuras participated in the churning exercise and both wanted it. However, Amrit is not the only thing that came out of the water. Many invaluable gems and stones and medicines were also yielded by the ocean. Likewise the ocean also yielded poison. The poison was so strong that if it fell on the ground then all Life would be wiped out. Fearing such devastation the Asuras and Devas approached Lord Shiva for help. He promised that He would drink the poison and save the world from destruction.
As the Lord drank the poison He was filled with pain and his throat blue and earning him the epithet Nilakantha. His entire body was burning from inside. When the pain became unbearable, Tara appeared and took Shiva on her lap. She suckled him. The milk from her breasts counteracted the poison. The Lord recovered. This story forms a prominent depiction of Hindu Tara. The other story where the Lord is in an infant status is when Ma Kali was on a rampage. Siva becomes an infant and Kali's maternal instinct comes to the fore. She silences herself to nurses the infant Shiva.
TARAPITH:
Pursuant to Dakshan’s yagna and Sati entering agni, Lord Vishnu had to step in to stop Siva from destroying the world. He uses the Sudarshan Chakra to cut Sati’s body into 52 pieces. With the body gone, Lord Siva regained His composure and the world was saved. Some part are said to have fallen in the ocean and some on land. These had become holy places. Tara is one of Shakti’s incarnations; it is believed that She is the third eye of Mother Shakti. Tarapith is where Tara is worshipped. However, it is sometimes debated if Tarapith is indeed a Shaktipith.
Notwithstanding, Tarapith is a highly important Tantric site for Bengali Shaktas. Blood sacrifice is a daily occurance here. It is covered abundantly by Garlands of flowers. Tara image here is unique. Made of silver metal, Tara is depicted with Her lower half of the face covered in blood. She has four arms wearing a garland of skulls and a protruding tongue. Her image is wrapped in a red sari decked in marigold garlands with a silver umbrella above her head. Her feet are in front of Her image in a severed fashion as if they had been cut off. There is exposure if a leg bone. Apparently the murti is in fact a composite one which covers the actual ‘self-formed’ Deity; one said to be worshipped for 5,000 years by the Pujaris at the temple. In former times known as Chandipur. It is vague in its depiction of a mother suckling a child implying Tara breast feeding the infant Siva. Not many get to see this deity as getting access to the sanctum sanctorum is no easy feat.
Tarapith is also famous for Bama Khepa, said to be the ‘mad saint’ who worshipped in the temple and resided in the cremation grounds practicing and perfecting yoga and tantric art under the guidance of another famous master called Kailashpathi Baba. Bama-khepa means the left handed path of Tantric worship. It is said that Tara gave her vision and breast fed Bama Khepa.
SMASHAN TARA:
Cremation grounds are seen to be polluting, most; thus Indian smashans are located far from the center of town. However both the Tarapith mandir and smashan are within the vicinity of the town centre. It is common belief that Goddess Tara’s footprints are preserved in the smashan. The smashan contains within it permanent huts and residences amidst banyan trees for sadhus and tantrikas. Dogs are a common sight. Trishuls decorated with marigold garland and skulls are placed in the entrance. At the midnight hour, the aghori sits alone in the smashan.
To his this is undeniably a sacred site. He is naked or digambra, fearless and unashamed. He performs his rituals and chants his mantra. He gazes in wonder at the resplendent form of his beloved goddess, Shaman Tara – Tara of the Cremation Grounds. Maa, in her deep blue colour, three eyes and four arms is said to arise amidst the blazing heat of the funeral pyre standing upon fire consumed skeleton of a male corpse like a warrior. Her right foot presses upon the breast which is the place of desire and Maa’s left foot pressing upon the skeleton’s legs, the place of worldly ambitions. The roaring funeral pyre is the fire at the end of time – kalagni, the ultimate conflagration of the universe. Her body is formed of pure light; she is unrestrained, wild, terrifying and fearless. Her beautiful midnight blue complexion represents her immutable and indestructible nature.
She is the colour of space. She is vast and measureless like the night sky beyond the concepts or qualitie – nirguna. Her breasts are large pot shaped – ghatastani, symbolizing spiritual nourishment to her bhaktas. Lambodari – her stomach is full and rounded, symbolizing her hunger for the corpses of selflessness. She is as naked and sky-clad – digambra symbolizing her freedom from the veils of emotional defilements. The girdle of eight blood dripping forearms symbolize her severance of all action and karmas and eight worldly dharmas of loss and gain, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, ignominy and fame. Her long hair is disheveled and hangs freely to symbolize her untied appearances and revel her unconditional freedom. If you seek, Maa Tara is is there. 1
TARA- तारा
Tara (Dölma), Ārya Tārā, or Shayama Tara, also known as Jetsun Dölma is an important figure in Buddhism, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. She appears as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, and as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. She is known as Duōluó Púsà) in Chinese Buddhism, and as Tara Bosatsu ) in Japan.
Tārā is a meditation deity revered by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and to understand outer, inner and secret teachings such as karuṇā (compassion), mettā (loving-kindness), and shunyata (emptiness). Tārā may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered personifications of Buddhist methods.
There is also recognition in some schools of Buddhism of twenty-one Tārās. A practice text entitled Praises to the Twenty-One Taras, is the most important text on Tara in Tibetan Buddhism. Another key text is the Tantra Which is the Source for All the Functions of Tara, Mother of All the Tathagatas.[2] The main Tārā mantra is the same for Buddhists and Hindus alike: oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. It is pronounced by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow the Tibetan traditions as oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha. The literal translation would be "Oṃ O Tārā, I pray O Tārā, O Swift One, So Be It!" Emergence as a Buddhist Diety
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Famous Holy Spoken Green Tara in Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery, Nepal.
Within Tibetan Buddhism Tārā is regarded as a bodhisattva of compassion and action. She is the female aspect of Avalokiteśvara and in some origin stories she comes from his tears: "Then at last Avalokiteshvara arrived at the summit of Marpori, the 'Red Hill', in Lhasa. Gazing out, he perceived that the lake on Otang, the 'Plain of Milk', resembled the Hell of Ceaseless Torment. Myriad beings were undergoing the agonies of boiling, burning, hunger, thirst, yet they never perished, sending forth hideous cries of anguish all the while. When Avalokiteshvara saw this, tears sprang to his eyes. A teardrop from his right eye fell to the plain and became the reverend Bhrikuti, who declared: 'Child of your lineage! As you are striving for the sake of sentient beings in the Land of Snows, intercede in their suffering, and I shall be your companion in this endeavour!' Bhrikuti was then reabsorbed into Avalokiteshvara's right eye, and was reborn in a later life as the Nepalese princess Tritsun. A teardrop from his left eye fell upon the plain and became the reverend Tara. She also declared, 'Child of your lineage! As you are striving for the sake of sentient beings in the Land of Snows, intercede in their suffering, and I shall be your companion in this endeavor!' Tārā was then reabsorbed into Avalokiteshvara's left eye."
Tārā manifests in many different forms. In Tibet, these forms included Green Tārā's manifestation as the Nepalese Princess (Bhrikuti), and White Tārā's manifestation as the Chinese princess Kongjo (Princess Wencheng).
Tārā is also known as a saviouress, as a heavenly deity who hears the cries of beings experiencing misery in saṃsāra. Whether the Tārā figure originated as a Buddhist or Hindu goddess is unclear and remains a source of inquiry among scholars. Mallar Ghosh believes her to have originated as a form of the goddess Durga in the Hindu Puranas.[5] Today, she is worshiped both in Buddhism and in Shaktism (Hinduism) as one of the ten Mahavidyas. It may be true that goddesses entered Buddhism from Shaktism (i.e. the worship of local or folk goddesses prior to the more institutionalized Hinduism which had developed by the early medieval period (i.e. Middle kingdoms of India). According to Beyer, it would seem that the feminine principle makes its first appearance in Buddhism as the goddess who personified prajnaparamita.[6]
The Mantra of Tārā- OṀ TĀRE TUTTĀRE TURE SVAHĀ- in the Lañja variant of Ranjana and Tibetan alphabets.
Tārā came to be seen as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom only later, with her earliest textual reference being the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa (c. 5th–8th centuries CE). The earliest, solidly identifiable image of Tārā is most likely that which is still found today at cave 6 within the rock-cut Buddhist monastic complex of the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra (c. 7th century CE), with her worship being well established by the onset of the Pala Empire in Eastern India (8th century CE).[8] Tārā became a very popular Vajrayana deity with the rise of Tantra in 8th-century Pala and, with the movement of Indian Buddhism into Tibet through Padmasambhava, the worship and practices of Tārā became incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism as well.[6][9] She eventually came to be considered the "Mother of all Buddhas", which usually refers to the enlightened wisdom of the Buddhas, while simultaneously echoing the ancient concept of the Mother Goddess in India. Independent of whether she is classified as a deity, a Buddha, or a bodhisattva, Tārā remains very popular in Tibet (and Tibetan communities in exile in Northern India), Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and is worshiped in a majority of Buddhist communities throughout the world (see also Guanyin, the female aspect of Avalokitesvara in Chinese Buddhism).
Today, Green Tara and White Tara are probably the most popular representations of Tara. Green Tara (Khadiravani) is usually associated with protection from fear and the following eight obscurations: lions (= pride), wild elephants (= delusion/ignorance), fires (= hatred and anger), snakes (= jealousy), bandits and thieves (= wrong views, including fanatical views), bondage (= avarice and miserliness), floods (= desire and attachment), and evil spirits and demons (= deluded doubts). As one of the three deities of long life, White Tara (Saraswati) is associated with longevity. White Tara counteracts illness and thereby helps to bring about a long life. She embodies the motivation that is compassion and is said to be as white and radiant as the moon.
⦁ Shyama Tara (Green Tara) Attended by Sita Tara (White Tara) and ⦁ Bhrikuti (Yellow Tara). c. 8th century.
Statue of Tara, Sri Lanka, 7th - 8th century/ The Buddhist Goddess Tara, gold and silver, Central Java, Indonesia, c. 9th century. The Walters Art Museum./ Tara as Prajñāpāramitā, 13th century, Java, Indonesia.
Sita (White) Tara by Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar. Mongolia, c. 17th century.
ORIGIN IN BUDDHISM as a DIETY
Tārā has many stories told which explain her origin as a bodhisattva.
Syamatara (Green Tara), 8th century, protect her followers from danger. Brooklyn Museum/ Syamatara (Green Tārā), 9th century Javanese Shailendran art, from Central Java, Indonesia./ Tara from Pakhna, Uttar Pradesh, India, 9th century
In this tale there is a young princess who lives in a different world system, millions of years in the past. Her name is Jnanachandra or Yeshe Dawa, which means "Moon of Primordial Awareness". For quite a number of aeons she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world system, whose name was Tonyo Drupa. She receives special instruction from him concerning bodhicitta - the infinitely compassionate mental state of a bodhisattva. After doing this, some monks approach her and suggest that because of her level of attainment she should next pray to be reborn as a male to progress further. At this point she lets the monks know in no uncertain terms that it is only "weak minded worldlings" who see gender as a barrier to attaining enlightenment. She sadly notes there have been few who wish to work for the welfare of sentient beings in a female form, though. Therefore, she resolves to always be reborn as a female bodhisattva, until samsara is no more. She then stays in a palace in a state of meditation for some ten million years, and the power of this practice releases tens of millions of beings from suffering. As a result of this, Tonyo Drupa tells her she will henceforth manifest supreme bodhi as the Goddess Tārā in many world systems to come. With this story in mind, it is interesting to juxtapose this with a quotation from the 14th Dalai Lama about Tārā, spoken at a conference on Compassionate Action in Newport Beach, CA in 1989:
There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, "I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman." Tārā, then, embodies certain ideals which make her attractive to women practitioners, and her emergence as a Bodhisattva can be seen as a part of Mahayana Buddhism's reaching out to women, and becoming more inclusive even in 6th-century CE India. SYMBOLS
Painting of Buddhist goddess Green Tara by Prithvi Man Chitrakari done in 1947. Tārā's name literally means "star" or "planet", and therefore she is associated with navigation and travel both literally and metaphorically as spiritual crossing to the 'other side' of the ocean of existence (enlightenment. Hence she is known literally as "she who saves" in Tibetan. In the 108 Names of the Holy Tara, Tara is 'Leader of the caravans ..... who showeth the way to those who have lost it' and she is named as Dhruva, the Sanskrit name for the North Star According to Miranda Shaw, "Motherhood is central to the conception of Tara". Her titles include "loving mother", "supreme mother", "mother of the world", "universal mother" and "mother of all Buddhas"
She is most often shown with the blue lotus or night lotus (utpala), which releases its fragrance with the appearance of the moon and therefore Tārā is also associated with the moon and night.
Tārā is also a forest goddess, particularly in her form as Khadiravani, "dweller in the Khadira forest" and is generally associated with plant life, flowers, acacia (khadira) trees and the wind. Because of her association with nature and plants, Tārā is also known as a healing goddess (especially as White Tārā) and as a goddess of nurturing quality and fertility. Her pure land in Mount Potala is described as "Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with the sound of many birds, And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds; Many species of flowers grow everywhere." Her association with the wind element (vaayu) also means that she is swift in responding to calls for any aid. As a Saviouress
Green Tara, Nepal, 14th century. Gilt copper inset with precious and semiprecious stones, 20.25 in (51.4 cm) tall. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louis V. Bell Fund, 1966, 66.179. Tārā also embodies many of the qualities of feminine principle. She is known as the Mother of Mercy and Compassion. She is the source, the female aspect of the universe, which gives birth to warmth, compassion and relief from bad karma as experienced by ordinary beings in cyclic existence. She engenders, nourishes, smiles at the vitality of creation, and has sympathy for all beings as a mother does for her children. As Green Tārā she offers succor and protection from all the unfortunate circumstances one can encounter within the samsaric world. As White Tārā she expresses maternal compassion and offers healing to beings who are hurt or wounded, either mentally or psychically. As Red Tārā she teaches discriminating awareness about created phenomena, and how to turn raw desire into compassion and love. As Blue Tārā (Ekajati) she becomes a protector in the Nyingma lineage, who expresses a ferocious, wrathful, female energy whose invocation destroys all Dharmic obstacles that engender good luck and swift spiritual awakening.[6] Within Tibetan Buddhism, she has 21 major forms in all, each tied to a certain color and energy. And each offers some feminine attribute, of ultimate benefit to the spiritual aspirant who asks for her assistance.
Another quality of feminine principle which she shares with the dakinis is playfulness. As John Blofeld expands upon in Bodhisattva of Compassion, Tārā is frequently depicted as a young sixteen-year-old girlish woman. She often manifests in the lives of dharma practitioners when they take themselves, or the spiritual path too seriously. There are Tibetan tales in which she laughs at self-righteousness, or plays pranks on those who lack reverence for the feminine. In Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the Five Wisdom Dakinis, Norbu explores this as "Playmind". Applied to Tārā one could say that her playful mind can relieve ordinary minds which become rigidly serious or tightly gripped by dualistic distinctions. She takes delight in an open mind and a receptive heart then. For in this openness and receptivity her blessings can naturally unfold and her energies can quicken the aspirants spiritual development.
These qualities of feminine principle then, found an expression in Indian Mahayana Buddhism and the emerging Vajrayana of Tibet, as the many forms of Tārā, as dakinis, as Prajnaparamita, and as many other local and specialized feminine divinities. As the worship of Tārā developed, various prayers, chants and mantras became associated with her. These came out of a felt devotional need, and from her inspiration causing spiritual masters to compose and set down sadhanas, or tantric meditation practices. Two ways of approach to her began to emerge. In one common folk and lay practitioners would simply directly appeal to her to ease some of the travails of worldly life. In the second, she became a Tantric deity whose practice would be used by monks or tantric yogis in order to develop her qualities in themselves, ultimately leading through her to the source of her qualities, which are Enlightenment, Enlightened Compassion, and Enlightened Mind.
TANTRIC DIETY
18th-century Eastern Tibetan thanka, with the Green Tara (Samaya Tara Yogini) in the center and the Blue, Red, White and Yellow taras in the corners, Rubin Museum of Art Tārā as a focus for tantric deity yoga can be traced back to the time period of Padmasambhava. There is a Red Tārā practice which was given by Padmasambhava to Yeshe Tsogyal. He asked that she hide it as a treasure. It was not until the 20th century, that a great Nyingma lama, Apong Terton rediscovered it. It is said that this lama was reborn as Sakya Trizin, present head of the Sakyapa sect. A monk who had known Apong Terton succeeded in retransmitting it to Sakya Trizin, and the same monk also gave it to Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, who released it to his western students.
Martin Willson in In Praise of Tārā traces many different lineages of Tārā Tantras, that is Tārā scriptures used as Tantric sadhanas. For example, a Tārā sadhana was revealed to Tilopa (988–1069 CE), the human father of the Karma Kagyu. Atisa, the great translator and founder of the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism, was a devotee of Tārā. He composed a praise to her, and three Tārā Sadhanas. Martin Willson's work also contains charts which show origins of her tantras in various lineages, but suffice to say that Tārā as a tantric practice quickly spread from around the 7th century CE onwards, and remains an important part of Vajrayana Buddhism to this day.
The practices themselves usually present Tārā as a tutelary deity (thug dam, yidam) which the practitioners sees as being a latent aspect of one's mind, or a manifestation in a visible form of a quality stemming from Buddha Jnana. As John Blofeld puts it in The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet:
The function of the Yidam is one of the profound mysteries of the Vajrayana...Especially during the first years of practice the Yidam is of immense importance. Yidam is the Tibetan rendering of the Sanskrit word "Iṣṭadeva"—the in-dwelling deity; but, where the Hindus take the Iṣṭadeva for an actual deity who has been invited to dwell in the devotee's heart, the Yidams of Tantric Buddhism are in fact the emanations of the adepts own mind. Or are they? To some extent they seem to belong to that order of phenomena which in Jungian terms are called archetypes and are therefore the common property of the entire human race. Even among Tantric Buddhists, there may be a division of opinion as to how far the Yidams are the creations of individual minds. What is quite certain is that they are not independently existing gods and goddesses; and yet, paradoxically, there are many occasions when they must be so regarded.FORMS
Kurukulla thangka, American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, New York City// Sarasvati thangka, Eastern Tibet, 18th century
There are many forms of Tārā, including various popular lists of 21 different emanations of Tārā. Green Tārā, (śyāmatārā) associated with peacefulness and enlightened activity is the most depicted and the central aspect of Tārā from which others such as the 21 Tārās emanate. In her Green form, she is often also known as Khadiravaṇi-Tārā (Tārā of the acacia forest), who appeared to Nagarjuna in the Khadiravani forest of South India and protects from the eight great fears. She is often accompanied by her two attendants Mārīcī and Ekajaṭā. Dharmachari Purna writes on the various forms of Tara:
Tārā is in fact the name of a whole class of deities. She appears in all the five colours of the Jinas. There are at least ten green forms, seven white, five yellow, two blue and one red. As Sarvajñamitra says of her form: 'It is a universal form, varied like crystal, since it changes according to circumstance'.She has both peaceful and wrathful forms. Her figure is shown in virtually all postures from standing to sitting, full lotus, half lotus, one leg down, and both legs down. There is apparently also a reclining Tārā. She has two-armed forms, four arms, eight arms, twelve arms, and Getty even mentions a Tibetan painting showing a standing Tārā with 'one thousand heads and arms'. Ghosh lists seventy-six distinct forms of Tārā, and tradition tells us there are one hundred and eight names for her.[13]
According to Sarvajnamitra she has a "universal form" (visva-rupa), that encompasses all living beings and deities, and which changes with the needs of each being. Other forms of Tārā include:
⦁ White Tārā, (Sitatārā) with two arms seated on a white lotus and with eyes on her hand and feet, as well as a third eye on her forehead (thus she is also known as "Seven eyed"). She is known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity.⦁ [24] Also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra.
⦁ Pravīratārā, "Tārā Swift and Heroic", a Red colored form with eight arms holding bell and vajra, bow and arrow, wheel, conch, sword and noose. Kurukullā (Rikchema) of red color and fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things
⦁ Black Tārā (Ugra Tārā), associated with power
⦁ Various forms of Yellow or Golden colored Tārās, sometimes associated with wealth and ⦁ prosperity including "Yellow Cintamani Tārā" ("Wish-Granting Gem Tara") holding a wish granting jewel, eight armed "Vajra Tārā" and golden "Rajasri Tārā" holding a blue lotus Blue Tārā (Ekajati), wrathful with many heads and arms, associated with transmutation of anger. Some authors believe her to be identical with Ugra Tārā and Ekajati.
⦁ Cintāmaṇi Tārā, a form of Tārā widely practiced at the level of ⦁ Highest Yoga Tantra in the ⦁ Gelug School of ⦁ Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often conflated with Green Tārā
Sarasvati (Yangchenma), known for the arts, knowledge and wisdom
⦁ Bhṛkuṭītārā (Tronyer Chendze), "Tārā with a Frown", known for protection from spirits
U⦁ ṣ⦁ ṇ⦁ ī⦁ ṣ⦁ avijaya Tārā, White Tārā named "Victorious Uṣṇīṣa" with three faces and twelve arms, associated with long life ⦁ Golden Prasanna Tārā - wrathful form, with a necklace of bloody heads and sixteen arms holding an array of weapons and Tantric attributes.
Yeshe Tsogyal ("Wisdom Lake Queen"), the consort of ⦁ Padmasambhava who brought Buddhism to Tibet, was known as an emanation of Tārā
⦁ Rigjay Lhamo, "Goddess Who Brings Forth Awareness", seated in royal posture surrounded by rainbow light. Sitatapatra Tārā, protector against supernatural danger
Tārā's iconography such as the lotus also shows resemblance with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, and at least one Tibetan liturgy evokes Lakshmi as Tārā.[27] According to Miranda Shaw, there is a later trend of Tārā theology that began to see all other female divinities as aspects of Tārā or at least associated with her. Apart from her many emanations named Tārā of varying colors, other Mahayana female divinities that became part of Tara's theology include Janguli, Parnasabari, Cunda, Kurukulla, Mahamayuri, Usnisavijaya, and Marici. Based on this principle of Tārā as the central female divinity, Dakinis were also seen as emanations of her.
Green Tārā, (Syamatara) known as the Buddha of enlightened activity, c. 11th century./Tara statue. Gyantse Kumbum. 1993 Sadhanas in which Tārā is the yidam (meditational deity) can be extensive or quite brief. Most all of them include some introductory praises or homages to invoke her presence and prayers of taking refuge. Then her mantra is recited, followed by a visualization of her, perhaps more mantra, then the visualization is dissolved, followed by a dedication of the merit from doing the practice. Additionally there may be extra prayers of aspirations, and a long life prayer for the Lama who originated the practice. Many of the Tārā sadhanas are seen as beginning practices within the world of Vajrayana Buddhism, however what is taking place during the visualization of the deity actually invokes some of the most sublime teachings of all Buddhism. Two examples are Zabtik Drolchok and Chime Pakme Nyingtik.
In this case during the creation phase of Tārā as a yidam, she is seen as having as much reality as any other phenomena apprehended through the mind. By reciting her mantra and visualizing her form in front, or on the head of the adept, one is opening to her energies of compassion and wisdom. After a period of time the practitioner shares in some of these qualities, becomes imbued with her being and all it represents. At the same time all of this is seen as coming out of Emptiness and having a translucent quality like a rainbow. Then many times there is a visualization of oneself as Tārā. One simultaneously becomes inseparable from all her good qualities while at the same time realizing the emptiness of the visualization of oneself as the yidam and also the emptiness of one's ordinary self.
This occurs in the completion stage of the practice. One dissolves the created deity form and at the same time also realizes how much of what we call the "self" is a creation of the mind, and has no long term substantial inherent existence. This part of the practice then is preparing the practitioner to be able to confront the dissolution of one's self at death and ultimately be able to approach through various stages of meditation upon emptiness, the realization of Ultimate Truth as a vast display of Emptiness and Luminosity. At the same time the recitation of the mantra has been invoking Tārā's energy through its Sanskrit seed syllables and this purifies and activates certain psychic centers of the body (chakras). This also untangles knots of psychic energy which have hindered the practitioner from developing a Vajra body, which is necessary to be able to progress to more advanced practices and deeper stages of realization.
Therefore, even in a simple Tārā sadhana a plethora of outer, inner, and secret events is taking place and there are now many works such as Deity Yoga, compiled by the present Dalai Lama, which explores all the ramifications of working with a yidam in Tantric practices. The end results of doing such Tārā practices are many. For one thing it reduces the forces of delusion in the forms of negative karma, sickness, afflictions of kleshas, and other obstacles and obscurations.
The mantra helps generate Bodhicitta within the heart of the practitioner and purifies the psychic channels (nadis) within the body allowing a more natural expression of generosity and compassion to flow from the heart center. Through experiencing Tārā's perfected form one acknowledges one's own perfected form, that is one's intrinsic Buddha nature, which is usually covered over by obscurations and clinging to dualistic phenomena as being inherently real and permanent.
The practice then weans one away from a coarse understanding of Reality, allowing one to get in touch with inner qualities similar to those of a bodhisattva, and prepares one's inner self to embrace finer spiritual energies, which can lead to more subtle and profound realizations of the Emptiness of phenomena and self. As Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, in his Introduction to the Red Tārā Sadhana notes of his lineage: "Tārā is the flawless expression of the inseparability of emptiness, awareness and compassion. Just as you use a mirror to see your face, Tārā meditation is a means of seeing the true face of your mind, devoid of any trace of delusion". There are several preparations to be done before practising the Sadhana. To perform a correct execution the practitioner must be prepared and take on the proper disposition. The preparations may be grouped as "internal" and "external". Both are necessary to achieve the required concentration.
The preparations are of two types: external and internal. The external preparations consist of cleaning the meditation room, setting up a shrine with images of Buddha Shakyamuni and Green Tara, and setting out a beautiful arrangement of offerings. We can use water to represent nectar for drinking, water for bathing the feet, and perfume. For the remaining offerings—flowers, incense, light, and pure food—if possible we should set out the actual substances. As for internal preparations, we should try to improve our compassion, bodhichitta, and correct view of emptiness through the practice of the stages of the path, and to receive a Tantric empowerment of Green Tara. It is possible to participate in group pujas if we have not yet received an empowerment, but to gain deep experience of this practice we need to receive an empowerment. The main internal preparation is to generate and strengthen our faith in Arya Tara, regarding her as the synthesis of all Gurus, Yidams, and Buddhas.
⦁ Tara statue near ⦁ Kullu, ⦁ Himachal Pradesh, India.
⦁ Medititating Tara, ⦁ Ratnagiri, Odisha, India, 8th century/ White Tara statue in a ⦁ Karma Kagyu ⦁ dharma centre Terma teachings are "hidden teachings" said to have been left by Padmasambhava (8th century) and others for the benefit of future generations. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo discovered Phagme Nyingthig (Tib. spelling: 'chi med 'phags ma'i snying thig, Innermost Essence teachings of the Immortal Bodhisattva [[[Arya Tārā]]]) Earlier in the 19th century, according to a biography, Nyala Pema Dündul received a Hidden Treasure, Tārā Teaching and Nyingthig (Tib. nying thig) from his uncle Kunsang Dudjom (Tib. kun bzang bdud 'joms). It is not clear from the source whether the terma teaching and the nyingthig teachings refer to the same text or two different texts.
Tata & Saraswati the River & Goddess
INTRODUCTION
The Sarasvati River (IAST: Sárasvatī-nadī́) is a deified river mentioned in the Rig Veda and later Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda.
As a physical river, in the oldest texts of the Rig Veda she is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but in the middle and late Rig Vedic books she is described as a small river ending in "a terminal lake (samudra)." As the goddess Sarasvati, the other referent for the term "Sarasvati" which developed into an independent identity in post-Vedic times, she is also described as a powerful river and mighty flood.The Sarasvati is also considered by Hindus to exist in a metaphysical form, in which it formed a confluence with the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna, at the Triveni Sangam. According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the heavenly river Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life."
Rigvedic and later Vedic texts have been used to propose identification with present-day rivers, or ancient riverbeds. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda (10.75) mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, while RV 7.95.1-2, describes the Sarasvati as flowing to the samudra, a word now usually translated as 'ocean', but which could also mean "lake." Later Vedic texts such as the Tandya Brahmana and the Jaiminiya Brahmana, as well as the Mahabharata, mention that the Sarasvati dried up in a desert. Since the late 19th-century, numerous scholars have proposed to identify the Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra River system, which flows through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, between the Yamuna and the Sutlej, and ends in the Thar desert. Recent geophysical research shows that the supposed downstream Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, which flowed into the Nara river, a delta channel of the Indus River. 10,000-8,000 years ago this channel was abandoned when the Sutlej diversed its course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a system of monsoon-fed rivers which did not reach the sea.
The Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago, and ISRO has observed that major Indus Valley Civilization urban sites at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) lay along this course. When the monsoons that fed the rivers further diminished the Hakra dried-up some 4,000 years ago, becoming an intermittent river, and the urban Harappan civilisation declined, becoming localized in smaller agricultural communities.[11][f][13][12][14] Identification of a mighty physical Rig Vedic Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra system is therefore problematic, since the Gagghar-Hakra had dried-up well before the time of the composition of the Rig Veda. In the words of Wilke and Moebus, the Sarasvati had been reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert", by the time that the Vedic people migrated into north-west India. Rig Vedic references to a physical river also indicate that the Sarswati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in a terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago,” "depicting the present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." Rig Vedic descriptions of the Sarasvati also don't fit the actual course of the Gagghar-Hakra.
"Sarasvati" has also been identified with the Helmand or Haraxvati river in southern Afghanistan, the name of which may have been reused in its Sanskrit form as the name of the Ghaggar-Hakra river, after the Vedic tribes moved to the Punjab. Sarasvati of the Rig Veda may also refer to two distinct rivers, with the family books referring to the Helmand River, and the more recent 10th mandala referring to the Ghaggar-Hakra. The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century,] with some suggesting an earlier dating of the Rig Veda; renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated; and rejecting the Indo-Aryan migrations theory, which postulates an extended period of migrations of Indo-European speaking people into South Asia between ca. 1900 and 1400 BCE
Sarasvatī is the feminine nominative singular form of the adjective sarasvat (which occurs in the Rigveda as the name of the keeper of the celestial waters), derived from ‘sarasa’ + ‘vat’, meaning ‘having’. Saras appears, in turn, to be the compound of ‘sa’, a prefix meaning ‘with’, plus ‘rasa’, sap or juice, or water, and is defined in the first instance as ‘anything flowing or fluid’ according to Monier-Williams dictionary. Mayrhofer considers unlikely a connection with the root *sar- ‘run, flow’ but does agree that it could have been a river that connected many lakes due to its abundant volumes of water-flow
Sarasvatī may be a cognate of Avestan Haraxvatī, perhaps[32] originally referring to Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā (modern Ardwisur Anahid), the Zoroastrian mythological world river, which would point to a common Indo-Iranian myth of a cosmic or mystical Sáras-vat-ī river. In the younger Avesta, Haraxvatī is Arachosia, a region described to be rich in rivers, and its Old Persian cognate Harauvati, which gave its name to the present-day Hārūt River in Afghanistan, may have referred to the entire Helmand drainage basin (the center of Arachosia). The Saraswati river was revered and considered important for Hindus because it is said that it was on this river's banks, along with its tributary Drishadwati, in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta, that Vedic Sanskrit had its genesisv and important Vedic scriptures like initial part of Rigveda and several Upanishads were supposed to have been composed by Vedic seers. In the Manusmriti, Brahmavarta is portrayed as the "pure" centre of Vedic culture. Bridget and Raymond Allchin in The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan took the view that "The earliest Aryan homeland in India-Pakistan (Aryavarta or Brahmavarta) was in the Punjab and in the valleys of the Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers in the time of the Rigveda. Rigveda
Map of northern India in the late Vedic period
As a river
The Sarasvati River is mentioned in all but the fourth book of the Vedas Macdonell and Keith provided a comprehensive survey of Vedic references to the Sarasvati River in their Vedic Index. In the late book 10, only two references are unambiguously to the river: 10.64.9, calling for the aid of three "great rivers", Sindhu, Sarasvati and Sarayu; and 10.75.5, the geographical list of the Nadistuti sukta.
In the oldest texts of the Rig Veda she is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but Michael Witzel notes that the Rig Veda indicates that the Sarswati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in a terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago” The middle books 3 and 7 and the late books 10 "depict the present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." The Sarasvati acquired an extalted status in the mythology of the Kuru Kingdom, where the Rig Veda was compiled. As a goddess
Painting of Goddess Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma
Main article: Saraswati
Sarasvati is mentioned some fifty times in the hymns of the Rig Veda.[39] It is mentioned in thirteen hymns of the late books (1 and 10) of the Rigveda.[40] All but two of these invoke Sarasvati as a goddess without direct connection to a specific river.
The most important hymns related to Sarasvati goddess are RV 6.61, RV 7.95 and RV 7.96. As a river goddess, she is described as a mighty flood, and is clearly not an earthly river. According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the heavenly river Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life." The description of the Sarasvati as the river of heavens, is interpreted to suggest its mythical nature
In 10.30.12, her origin as a river goddess may explain her invocation as a protective deity in a hymn to the celestial waters. In 10.135.5, as Indra drinks Soma he is described as refreshed by Sarasvati. The invocations in 10.17 address Sarasvati as a goddess of the forefathers as well as of the present generation. In 1.13, 1.89, 10.85, 10.66 and 10.141, she is listed with other gods and goddesses, not with rivers. In 10.65, she is invoked together with "holy thoughts" (dhī) and "munificence" (puraṃdhi), consistent with her role as a goddess of both knowledge and fertility.[Though Sarasvati initially emerged as a river goddess in the Vedic scriptures, in later Hinduism of the Puranas, she was rarely associated with the river. Instead she emerged as an independent goddess of knowledge, learning, wisdom, music and the arts. The evolution of the river goddess into the goddess of knowledge started with later Brahmanas, which identified her as Vāgdevī, the goddess of speech, perhaps due to the centrality of speech in the Vedic cult and the development of the cult on the banks of the river It is also possible to postulate two originally independent goddesses that were fused into one in later Vedic times. Aurobindo has proposed, on the other hand, that "the symbolism of the Veda betrays itself to the greatest clearness in the figure of the goddess Sarasvati ... She is, plainly and clearly, the goddess of the World, the goddess of a divine inspiration ". Other Vedic texts]
In post-Rigvedic literature, the disappearance of the Sarasvati is mentioned. Also the origin of the Sarasvati is identified as Plaksa Prasravana (Peepal tree or Ashwattha tree as known in India and Nepal).
In a supplementary chapter of the Vajasaneyi-Samhita of the Yajurveda (34.11), Sarasvati is mentioned in a context apparently meaning the Sindhu: "Five rivers flowing on their way speed onward to Sarasvati, but then become Sarasvati a fivefold river in the land."[ According to the medieval commentator Uvata, the five tributaries of the Sarasvati were the Punjab rivers Drishadvati, Satudri (Sutlej), Chandrabhaga (Chenab), Vipasa (Beas) and the Iravati (Ravi).
The first reference to the disappearance of the lower course of the Sarasvati is from the Brahmanas, texts that are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, but dating to a later date than the Veda Samhitas. The Jaiminiya Brahmana (2.297) speaks of the 'diving under (upamajjana) of the Sarasvati', and the Tandya Brahmana (or Pancavimsa Br.) calls this the 'disappearance' (vinasana). The same text (25.10.11-16) records that the Sarasvati is 'so to say meandering' (kubjimati) as it could not sustain heaven which it had propped up.
The Plaksa Prasravana (place of appearance/source of the river) may refer to a spring in the Siwalik mountains. The distance between the source and the Vinasana (place of disappearance of the river) is said to be 44 Ashwin (between several hundred and 1,600 miles) (Tandya Br. 25.10.16; cf. Av. 6.131.3; Pancavimsa Br.). In the Latyayana Srautasutra (10.15-19) the Sarasvati seems to be a perennial river up to the Vinasana, which is west of its confluence with the Drshadvati (Chautang). The Drshadvati is described as a seasonal stream (10.17), meaning it was not from Himalayas. Bhargava[51] has identified Drashadwati river as present day Sahibi river originating from Jaipur hills in Rajasthan. The Asvalayana Srautasutra and Sankhayana Srautasutra contain verses that are similar to the Latyayana Srautasutra.
Post-Vedic texts
Wilke and Moebus note that the "historical river" Sarasvati was a "topographically tangible mythogeme", which was already reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert", by the time of composition of the Hindu epics. These post-Vedic texts regularly talk about drying up of the river, and start associating the goddess Sarasvati with language, rather than the river.
According to the Mahabharata the Sarasvati River dried up to a desert (at a place named Vinasana or Adarsana) and joins the sea "impetuously".MB.3.81.115 locates the state of Kurupradesh or Kuru Kingdom to the south of the Sarasvati and north of the Drishadvati. The dried-up, seasonal Ghaggar River in Rajasthan and Haryana reflects the same geographical view described in the Mahabharata.
According to Hindu scriptures, a journey was made during the Mahabharata by Balrama along the banks of the Saraswati from Dwarka to Mathura. There were ancient kingdoms too (the era of the Mahajanapads) that lay in parts of north Rajasthan and that were named on the Saraswati River.
Several Puranas describe the Sarasvati River, and also record that the river separated into a number of lakes (saras). In the Skanda Purana, the Sarasvati originates from the water pot of Brahma and flows from Plaksa on the Himalayas. It then turns west at Kedara and also flows underground. Five distributaries of the Sarasvati are mentioned. The text regards Sarasvati as a form of Brahma's consort Brahmi.[61] According to the Vamana Purana 32.1-4, the Sarasvati rose from the Plaksa tree (Pipal tree).
The Padma Purana proclaims:
One who bathes and drinks there where the Gangā, Yamunā and Sarasvati join enjoys liberation. Of this there is no doubt."
Smritis
⦁ In the ⦁ Manu Smriti, the sage ⦁ Manu, escaping from a flood, founded the Vedic culture between the Sarasvati and ⦁ Drishadvati rivers. The Sarasvati River was thus the western boundary of ⦁ Brahmavarta: "the land between the Sarasvati and Drishadvati is created by God; this land is Brahmavarta."⦁
⦁ Similarly, the ⦁ Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates ⦁ Aryavarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati in the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of ⦁ Pariyatra and ⦁ Vindhya and to the south of the ⦁ Himalaya. ⦁ Patanjali's ⦁ Mahābhāṣya defines Aryavarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra.
⦁ The ⦁ Baudhayana Dharmasutra gives similar definitions, declaring that Aryavarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana, east of ⦁ Adarsana (where the Sarasvati disappears in the desert), south of the ⦁ Himalayas and north of the ⦁ Vindhyas. Contemporary religious significance
Triveni Sangam, Allahabad – the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the "unseen" Sarasvati.
Diana Eck notes that the power and significance of the Sarasvati for present-day India is in the persistent symbolic presence at the confluence of rivers all over India. Although "materially missing",she is the third river, which emerges to join in the meeting of rivers, thereby making the waters thrice holy.
After the Vedic Sarasvati dried, new myths about the rivers arose. Sarasvati is described to flow in the underworld and rise to the surface at some places.[19] For centuries, the Sarasvati river existed in a "subtle or mythic" form, since it corresponds with none of the major rivers of present-day South AsiaThe confluence (sangam) or joining together of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, is believed to also converge with the unseen Sarasvati river, which is believed to flow underground. This despite Allahabad being at a considerable distance from the possible historic routes of an actual Sarasvati river.
At the Kumbh Mela, a mass bathing festival is held at Triveni Sangam, literally "confluence of the three rivers", every 12 years.[6][66][67] The belief of Sarasvati joining at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna originates from the Puranic scriptures and denotes the "powerful legacy" the Vedic river left after her disappearance. The belief is interpreted as "symbolic".[68] The three rivers Sarasvati, Yamuna, Ganga are considered consorts of the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti) Brahma, Vishnu (as Krishna) and Shiva respectively. In lesser known configuration, Sarasvati is said to form the Triveni confluence with rivers Hiranya and Kapila at Somnath. There are several other Trivenis in India where two physical rivers are joined by the "unseen" Sarasvati, which adds to the sanctity of the confluence.[69] Romila Thapar notes that "once the river had been mythologized through invoking the memory of the earlier river, its name - Sarasvati - could be applied to many rivers, which is what happened in various parts of the [[[Indian]]] subcontinent."[22]
Several present-day rivers are also named Sarasvati, after the Vedic Sarasvati:
⦁ Sarsuti is the present-day name of a river originating in a submontane region (⦁ Ambala district) and joining the Ghaggar near Shatrana in ⦁ PEPSU. Near Sadulgarh (⦁ Hanumangarh) the Naiwala channel, a dried out channel of the ⦁ Sutlej, joins the ⦁ Ghaggar. Near ⦁ Suratgarh the Ghaggar is then joined by the dried up ⦁ Drishadvati river. ⦁ Sarasvati is the name of a river originating in the ⦁ Aravalli mountain range in ⦁ Rajasthan, passing through ⦁ Sidhpur and ⦁ Patan before submerging in the ⦁ Rann of Kutch.
Saraswati River, a tributary of ⦁ Alaknanda River, originates near ⦁ Badrinath
Saraswati River in ⦁ Bengal, formerly a distributary of the ⦁ Hooghly River, has dried up since the 17th century.
Already since the 19th century, attempts have been made to identify the mythical Sarasvati of the Vedas with physical rivers.[11] Many think that the Vedic Sarasvati river once flowed east of the Indus (Sindhu) river. Scientists, geologists as well as scholars have identified the Sarasvati with many present-day or now defunct rivers. Two theories are popular in the attempts to identify the Sarasvati. Several scholars have identified the river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River or dried up part of it, which is located in Northwestern India and Pakistan. A second popular theory associates the river with the Helmand river or an ancient river in the present Helmand Valley in Afghanistan. Others consider Sarasvati a mythical river, an allegory not a "thing"
The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century, suggesting an earlier dating of the Rig Veda, and renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated
Rig Vedic course
The Rig Veda contains several hymns which give an indication of the flow of the geography of the river, and an identification of the Sarasvati as described in the later books of the Rig Veda with the Ghaggra-Hakra:
RV 3.23.4 mentions the Sarasvati River together with the ⦁ Drsadvati River and the Āpayā River.
RV 6.52.6 describes the Sarasvati as swollen (pinvamānā) by the rivers (sindhubhih).
RV 7.36.6, "sárasvatī saptáthī síndhumātā" can be translated as "Sarasvati the Seventh, Mother of Floods," but also as "whose mother is the Sindhu", which would indicate that the Sarasvati is here a tributary of the Indus.
RV 7.95.1-2, describes the Sarasvati as flowing to the ⦁ samudra, a word now usually translated as "ocean," but which could also mean "lake."
RV 10.75.5, the late Rigvedic ⦁ Nadistuti sukta, enumerates all important rivers from the Ganges in the east up to the Indus in the west in a clear geographical order. The sequence "Ganges, ⦁ Yamuna, Sarasvati, ⦁ Shutudri" places the Sarasvati between the Yamuna and the ⦁ Sutlej, which is consistent with the Ghaggar identification.
Yet, the Rig Veda also contains clues for an identification with the Helmand river in Afghanistan:
⦁ The Sarasvati River is perceived to be a great river with perennial water, which does not apply to the Hakra and Ghaggar.
⦁ The Rig Veda seems to contain descriptions of several Sarasvatis. The earliest Sararvati is said to be similar to the Helmand in Afghanistan which is called the Harakhwati in the Āvestā ⦁ Verses in ⦁ RV 6.61 indicate that the Sarasvati river originated in the hills or mountains (giri), where she "burst with her strong waves the ridges of the hills (giri)". It is a matter of interpretation whether this refers only to the Himalayan ⦁ foothills, where the present-day Sarasvati (Sarsuti) river flows, or to higher mountains. The Rig Veda was composed during the latter part of the late Harappan period, and according to Shaffer, the reason for the predominance of the Sarasvati in the Rigveda is the late Harappan (1900-1300 BCE) population shift eastwards to Haryana. Ghaggar-Hakra River
The present Ghaggar-Hakra River is a seasonal river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season, but satellite images in possession of the ISRO and ONGC have confirmed that the major course of a river ran through the present-day Ghaggar River. The supposed paleochannel of the Hakra is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, flowing into the Nara river bed, presently a delta channel c.q. paleochannel of the Indus RiverAt least 10,000 years ago, well before the rise of the Harappan civilization, the sutlej diverted it's course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a monsoon-fed river. Early in the 2nd millennium BCE the monsoons diminished and the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system dried up, which affected the Harappan civilisation. Paleochannels and ancient course
Vedic and present-day Gagghar-Hakra river-course, with Aryavarta/Kuru Kingdom, and (pre-)Harappan Hakra/Sutlej-Yamuna paleochannels, as proposed by Clift et al. (2012) and Khonde et al. (2017).[n] See also this satellite image.
1 = ancient river 2 = today's river 3 = today's Thar desert 4 = ancient shore 5 = today's shore 6 = today's town
7 = dried-up Harappan Hakkra course, and pre-Harappan Sutlej paleochannels (Clift et al. (2012))
Main article: Ghaggar-Hakra River
While there is general agreement that the river courses in the Indus Basin have frequently changed course, the exact sequence of these changes and their dating have been problematic
Pre-Holocene diversion of the Sutlej and Yamuna
Older publications have suggested that the Sutlej and the Yamuna drained into the Hakra well into Mature Harappan times, providing ample volume to the supply provided by the monsoon-fed Ghaggar. The Sutlej and Yamuna then changed course between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE, due to either tectonic events or "slightly altered gradients on the extremely flat plains," resulting in the drying-up of the Hakra in the Thar Desert. More recent publications have shown that the Sutlej and the Yamuna shifted course well before Harappan times, leaving the monsoon-fed Ghaggar-Hakra which dried-up during late Harappan times.[11]
Clift et al. (2012), using dating of zircon sand grains, have shown that subsurface river channels near the Indus Valley Civilisation sites in Cholistan immediately below the presumed Ghaggar-Hakra channel show sediment affinity not with the Ghagger-Hakra, but instead with the Beas River in the western sites and the Sutlej and the Yamuna in the eastern ones. This suggests that the Yamuna itself, or a channel of the Yamuna, along with a channel of the Sutlej may have flowed west some time between 47,000 BCE and 10,000 BCE. The drainage from the Yamuna may have been lost from the Ghaggar-Hakra well before the beginnings of Indus civilisation.
Ajit Singh et al. (2017) show that the paleochannel of the Ghaggar-Hakra is a former course of the Sutlej, which diverted to its present course between 15,000 and 8,000 years ago, well before the development of the Harappan Civilisation. Ajit Singh et al. conclude that the urban populations settled not along a perennial river, but a monsoon-fed seasonal river that was not subject to devastating floods.
Khonde et al. (2017) confirm that the Great Rann of Kutch received sediments from a different source than the Indus, but this source stopped supplying sediments after ca. 10,000 years ago Likewise, Dave et al. (2019) state that "[o]ur results disprove the proposed link between ancient settlements and large rivers from the Himalayas and indicate that the major palaeo-fluvial system traversing through this region ceased long before the establishment of the Harappan civilisation."[90] According to Chaudhri et al. (2021) "the Saraswati River used to flow from the glaciated peaks of the Himalaya to the Arabian sea," and an "enormous amount of water was flowing through this channel network until BC 11,147."[91] IVC and diminishing of the monsoons
The Helmand River, Afghanistan, known in ancient Iranian Avestan as Haraxvatī and Harahvaiti, is identified by some as the ancient Sarasvati river/ Outline of the Indus Civilization, with concentration of settlements along the Ghaggar-Hakra, which had dried-up by the time of the Indo-Aryan migrations. See Sameer et al. (2018) for a more detailed map.
Many Indus Valley Civilisation (Harrapan Civilisation) are found on the banks of and in the proximity of the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system, due to the "high monsoon rainfall" which fed the Ghaggar-Hakra in Mature Harappan Times.
Giosan et al., in their study Fluvial landscapes of the Harappan civilisation, make clear that the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system was not a large glacier-fed Himalayan river, but a monsoonal-fed river. They concluded that the Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago. When the monsoons, which fed the rivers that supported the civilisation, further diminished and the rivers dried out as a result, the IVC declined some 4000 years ago.[11] This in particular effected the Ghaggar-Hakra system, which became an intermittent river and was largely abandoned.[93] Localized Late IVC-settlements are found eastwards, toward the more humid regions of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, where the decentralised late Harappan phase took place.
The same widespread aridification in the third millennium BCE also led to water shortages and ecological changes in the Eurasian steppes, leading to a change of vegetation, triggering "higher mobility and transition to nomadic cattle breeding," These migrations eventually resulted in the Indo-Aryan migrations into South Asia.
Identification with the Sarasvati
A number of archaeologists and geologists have identified the Sarasvati river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River, or the dried up part of it despite the fact that it had already dried-up and become a small seasonal river before Vedic times
In the 19th and early 20th century a number of scholars, archaeologists and geologists have identified the Vedic Sarasvati River with the Ghaggar-Hakra River, such as Christian Lassen (1800-1876), Max Müller (1823-1900),[106] Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943),[94] C.F. Oldham and Jane Macintosh. Danino notes that "the 1500 km-long bed of the Sarasvati" was "rediscovered" in the 19th century. According to Danino, "most Indologists" were convinced in the 19th century that "the bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra was the relic of the Sarasvati."[ Recent archaeologists and geologists, such as Philip and Virdi (2006), K.S. Valdiya (2013) have identified the Sarasvati with Ghaggar.[110] According to Gregory Possehl, "Linguistic, archaeological, and historical data show that the Sarasvati of the Vedas is the modern Ghaggar or Hakra."
According to R.U.S. Prasad, "we [...] find a considerable body of opinions [sic] among the scholars, archaeologists and geologists, who hold that the Sarasvati originated in the Shivalik hills [...] and descended through Adi Badri, situated in the foothills of the Shivaliks, to the plains [...] and finally debouched herself into the Arabian sea at the Rann of Kutch."[111] According to Valdiya, "it is plausible to conclude that once upon a time the Ghagghar was known as "Sarsutī"," which is "a corruption of "Sarasvati"," because "at Sirsā on the bank of the Ghagghar stands a fortress called "Sarsutī". Now in derelict condition, this fortress of antiquity celebrates and honours the river Sarsutī."
Textual and historical objections[Ashoke Mukherjee (2001), is critical of the attempts to identify the Rigvedic Sarasvati. Mukherjee notes that many historians and archaeologists, both Indian and foreign, concluded that the word "Sarasvati" (literally "being full of water") is not a noun, a specific "thing". However, Mukherjee believes that "Sarasvati" is initially used by the Rig Vedic people as an adjective to the Indus as a large river and later evolved into a "noun". Mukherjee concludes that the Vedic poets had not seen the palaeo-Sarasvati, and that what they described in the Vedic verses refers to something else. He also suggests that in the post-Vedic and Puranic tradition the "disappearance" of Sarasvati, which to refers to "[going] under [the] ground in the sands", was created as a complementary myth to explain the visible non-existence of the river. Rajesh Kocchar further notes that, even if the Sutlej and the Yamuna had drained into the Ghaggar during Rig Vedic, it still would not fit the Rig Vedic descriptions because "the snow-fed Satluj and Yamuna would strengthen lower Ghaggar. Upper Ghaggar would still be as puny as it is today."
Helmand river
Helmund river basin with tributary Arghandab River originate in Hindu Kush mountain in north Afghanistan and fall in to Hamun Lake in southern Afghanistan at the border of Iran. Helmund basin in ancient Iranian Avestan Haraxvatī and Harahvaiti, is cognate with the mythological Iranian Avestan Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā river and Sarasvati river. An alternative suggestion for the identity of the early Rigvedic Sarasvati River is the Helmand River and its tributary Arghandab in the Arachosia region in Afghanistan, separated from the watershed of the Indus by the Sanglakh Range. The Helmand historically besides Avestan Haetumant bore the name Haraxvaiti, which is the Avestan form cognate to Sanskrit Sarasvati. The Avesta extols the Helmand in similar terms to those used in the Rigveda with respect to the Sarasvati: "The bountiful, glorious Haetumant swelling its white waves rolling down its copious flood".[ However unlike the Rigvedic Sarasvati, Helmand river never attained the status of a deity despite the praises in the Avesta.
The identification of the Sarasvati river with the Helmand river was first proposed by Thomas (1886), followed by Alfred Hillebrandt a couple of years thereafter. However, in the same year, geologist R.D. Oldham, refuted this Afghan Sarasvatī thesis. Rajesh Kocchar, after a detailed analysis of the Vedic texts and geological environments of the rivers, concludes that there are two Sarasvati rivers mentioned in the Rigveda. The early Rigvedic Sarasvati, which he calls Naditama Sarasvati, is described in suktas 2.41, 7.36, etc. of the family books of the Rigveda, and drains into a samudra. The description of the Naditama Sarasvati in the Rigveda matches the physical features of the Helmand River in Afghanistan, more precisely its tributary the Harut River, whose older name was Haraxvatī in Avestan. The later Rigvedic Sarasvati, which he calls Vinasana Sarasvati, is described in the Rigvedic Nadistuti sukta (10.75), which was composed centuries later, after an eastward migration of the bearers of the Rigvedic culture to the western Gangetic plain some 600 km to the east. The Sarasvati by this time had become a mythical "disappeared" river, and the name was transferred to the Ghaggar which disappeared in the desert.[24] The later Rigvedic Sarasvati is only in the post-Rig Vedic Brahmanas said to disappear in the sands. According to Kocchar the Ganga and Yamuna were small streams in the vicinity of the Harut River. When the Vedic people moved east into Punjab, they named the new rivers they encountered after the old rivers they knew from Helmand, and the Vinasana Sarasvati may correspond with the Ghaggar-Hakra river.
Contemporary politico-religious meaning
Drying-up and dating of the Vedas
The Vedic description of the goddess Sarasvati as a mighty river, and the Vedic and Puranic statements about the drying-up and diving-under of the Sarasvati, have been used by some as a reference point for a revised dating of the Vedic culture.[6] Some see these descriptions as a mighty river as evidence for an earlier dating of the Rig Veda, identifying the Vedic culture with the Harappan culture, which flourished at the time that the Gaggar-Hakra hadn't dried up, and rejecting the Indo-Aryan migrations theory, which postulates a migration at 1500 BCE
Michel Danino places the composition of the Vedas therefor in the third millennium BCE, a millennium earlier than the
Identification with the Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation is sometimes called the "Sarasvati culture", "Sarasvati Civilization", "Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilisation," "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization," or "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization" by Hindutva revisionists, referring to the Sarasvati river mentioned in the Vedas, and equating the Vedic culture with the Indus Valley Civilisation. In this view, the Harappan civilisation flourished predominantly on the banks of the Ghaggar-Hakra, not the Indus For example, Danino notes that his proposed dating of the Vedas to the third millennium BCE coincides with the mature phase of the Indus Valley civilisation, and that it is "tempting" to equate the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures
Hetalben Sindhav notes that claims of a large number of Ghaggar-Hakra sites are politically motivated and exaggerated. While the Indus remained an active river, the Ghaggar-Hakra dried-up, leaving mant sites undisturbed.[ Sidhav further notes that the Ghaggar-Hakra was a tributary of the Indus, so the proposed Sarasvati nomenclatura is redundant. According to archaeologist Shereen Ratnagar, many Ghaggar-Hakra sites in India are actually those of local cultures; some sites display contact with Harappan civilization, but only a few are fully developed Harappan ones. Moreover, around 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered were found at sites in Pakistan along the Indus river, while other places accounting only for the remaining 10%.
Revival
In 2015, Reuters reported that "members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh believe that proof of the physical existence of the Vedic river would bolster their concept of a golden age of Hindu India, before invasions by Muslims and Christians." The Bharatiya Janata Party Government had therefore ordered archaeologists to search for the river.[134]
According to the government of Indian state of Haryana, research and satellite imagery of the region has confirmed to have found the lost river when water was detected during digging of the dry river bed at Yamunanagar. The government constituted Saraswati Heritage Development Board (SHDB) had conducted a trial run on 30 July 2016 filling the river bed with 100 cusecs of water which was pumped into a dug-up channel from tubewells at Uncha Chandna village in Yamunanagar. The water is expected to fill the channel until Kurukshetra, a distance of 40 kilometres. Once confirmed that there is no obstructions in the flow of the water, the government proposes to flow in another 100 cusecs after a fortnight. At that time, there were also plans to build three dams on the river route to keep it flowing perennially
In 2021, the Chief Minister of the State of Haryana stated that over 70 organizations were involved with researching the Saraswati River's heritage, and that the river "is still flowing underground from Adi Badri and up to Kutch in Gujarat."[
The Saraswati revival project seeks to build channels and dams along the route of the lost river, and develop it as a tourist and pilgrimage circuit.
