WHO IS SARASWATY - GODDESS OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is the remover of fear and leads to awareness, enlightenment and confidence in life. The Goddess Saraswaty governs ten [10] objects of transcendent knowledge.

The FIRST object of transcendent knowledge is Matangi, the Elephant Power, the Power of Domination, and the Night of Delusion. The elephant, king of beasts, is the mount of kings and the symbol of royal power, the power of domination. Indra, the king of heaven, is shown riding on an elephant. Siva, as the world ruler, the dispenser of justice, the embodiment of kingly virtues, the destroyer of evil, is known as the Elephant. After the terror of the night appears the reassuring sunlight. The demons are defeated. Matangi, the Elephant Power, establishes the rule of peace, of calm, of prosperity.

The SECOND object of transcendent knowledge is Chinnamasta, the Beheaded, the Power of the Sacrifice, and the Night of Courage. Once the world has reached a state of stability, it continues to exist, depending for its sustenance on destruction, on burning, on devouring. The cosmic sacrifice expresses this constant process, and the ritual sacrifices performed by man have for their purpose a conscious co-operation with the cosmic life.This is the purpose of rites in all religions, and ritual is always a form of sacrifice.

The THIRD object of transcendent knowledge is Tara, the Star, which represent the Power of Hunger, and the Night of Anger. The star is the power of the Golden Embryo, the first cosmic location from which the world develops. As soon as the germ of life appears, hunger is born. Nothing exists but by devouring something else. The embryo wants food. Only through combustion, through devouring some fuel, some food, can the universe survive and develop. This perpetual hunger is the source of the cosmic sacrifice, as well as of all the forms of existence and life. The nature of the Golden Embryo can well be said to be hunger. His power lies in his ability to devour. The name given to this pure, this absolute, hunger is "the star". The tantras specify that the goddess is to be worshipped according to the Buddhist ritual. Otherwise her worship remains fruitless. "The proper way to worship me is the Buddhist way. O Tormentor of Men! That way one man alone knows; none other knows its inner significance." Sage 'Vasistha is said to have vainly attempted to worship this divinity and to have lost courage. Then a voice from the sky told him to worship in the Chinese way. He went to China and learned to worship Tara and succeeded in pleasing the goddess.

The FOURTH object of transcendent knowledge is Sodasi, the Girl of Sixteen, the Power of Perfection and the Divine Night. The Sun is the source of our universe. Everything that exists on the earth, substance, form, thought, knowledge, must trace its origin to the solar substance. The peaceful manifest aspect of the Golden Embryo which appear to us as the Sun, the source of our life, is connected with the number 5 and with the five elements. This is represented in the five-faced Siva. In him the full cycle of perfected being, of accomplished creation, is realized, hence he is also associated with the number taken to represent absolute perfection, i.e:, the number 16. The power of the five-faced Siva is known as the Girl of Sixteen. In every form of existence, perfection is linked with this number. In human life, sixteen years represent the age of accomplished perfection, after which decline sets in. Sixteen days form the completed lunar cycle from the new moon to the full moon. The full moon is the moon of sixteen days. The Girl of Sixteen rules over all that is perfect, complete, and beautiful.

The FIFTH object of transcendent knowledge is Bhuvanesvari, the Lady of the Spheres, the Power of Knowledge, and the Night of Realization. Once the three worlds have been created, the universe matures, the Girl of Sixteen makes place for the resplendent lady of the spheres, consort of the Three-eyed Siva. Creation now becomes a powerful flow, a constant evolving, over which rules the Sovereign Goddess. As the ruler of the universe she is also known as the Queen of Queens.