Vaśiṣṭha’s stava to Sarasvatī(from the Mahābhārata)

Source: Shalya Parvan,Critical edition(it is missing in the Southern recension).

pitāmahasya sarasaḥ pravṛttāsi sarasvati ।
vyāptaṃ cēdaṃ jagatsarvaṃ tavaivāmbhōbhiruttamaiḥ ॥

tvamēvākāśagā dēvi mēghēṣūtsṛjasē payaḥ ।
sarvāścāpastvamēvēti tvattō vayamadhīmahē ॥

puṣṭirdyutistathā kīrtiḥ siddhirvṛddhirumā tathā ।
tvamēva vāṇī svāhā tvaṃ tvayyāyattamidaṃ jagat ॥

tvamēva sarvabhūtēṣu vasasīha caturvidhā ॥

Translation:

From the Grandsire’s (manasa) lake you have arisen,O devī! This whole universe is filled with your excellent waters! Coursing through the firmament, O devī,you give your waters to the clouds! All the waters are you! Through you we exercise our thinking faculties! You are Pushti and Dyuti, Kirti, and Siddhi and Uma! You are speech, and you are svāhā! This whole universe is dependent on you! It is you who dwell in all creatures, in four forms!

 

Note:Interestingly here,the devī still retains both her watery associations and her associations with speech and wisdom(contrast this with some medieval stavas).

 

Side note: Since I am lazy,this is the place where you can find this in the Ganguli translation.

Addendum: The stava in Devanāgari

पितामहस्य सरसः प्रवृत्तासि सरस्वति ।
व्याप्तं चेदं जगत्सर्वं तवैवाम्भोभिरुत्तमैः ॥

त्वमेवाकाशगा देवि मेघेषूत्सृजसे पयः ।
सर्वाश्चापस्त्वमेवेति त्वत्तो वयमधीमहे ॥

पुष्टिर्द्युतिस्तथा कीर्तिः सिद्धिर्वृद्धिरुमा तथा ।
त्वमेव वाणी स्वाहा त्वं त्वय्यायत्तमिदं जगत् ॥

त्वमेव सर्वभूतेषु वससीह चतुर्विधा ॥

3 thoughts on “Vaśiṣṭha’s stava to Sarasvatī(from the Mahābhārata)”

  1. Am pasting the devanagari here for IAST illiterates like me:
    (converted using Sanskript)

    पितामहस्य सरसः प्रवृत्तासि सरस्वति ।
    व्याप्तं च्ēदं जगत्सर्वं तवैवाम्भ्ōभिरुत्तमैः ॥

    त्वम्ēवाकाशगा द्ēवि म्ēघ्ēषूत्सृजस्ē पयः ।
    सर्वाश्चापस्त्वम्ēव्ēति त्वत्त्ō वयमधीमह्ē ॥

    पुष्टिर्द्युतिस्तथा कीर्तिः सिद्धिर्वृद्धिरुमा तथा ।
    त्वम्ēव वाणी स्वाहा त्वं त्वय्यायत्तमिदं जगत् ॥

    त्वम्ēव सर्वभूत्ēषु वससीह चतुर्विधा ॥

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