Sri Gurubhyo Namaha, Sri Maatre Namaha.
The first nine nights of worship during the lunar month of Magha are dedicated to Raja Matangi and are also called Gupta Navaratri and Shyamala Navaratri. Raja Matangi, also called Raja Shyamala, is the Prime Minister of Maha Tripurasundari. In Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam, Shyamala devi, who is blue in color, is referred to as Mantrini, and she rides the chariot Geyachakra attending Maha Tripurasundari (GeyachakrarathAruDha mantriNi parisevitA)
Shyamala Devi governs speech, music, knowledge, and the arts. Her worship is prescribed to acquire supernatural powers which include: gaining control over enemies, attracting people to oneself, acquiring mastery over the arts, and gaining supreme knowledge. One who approaches Maha Tripurasundari after availing the grace of Raja Matangi is certain to attain the grace of mahArAjni, without a doubt.
With blessings of our Gurumandala and Devi, we completed the extensive study of Sarva Siddhikari Stotram, also called Devi Stuti, based on the commentary written by Sri Bhaskararaya at the beginning of his magnum opus work Setubandha. You can find the playlist of these sessions here: bit.ly/DeviStutiStudy
Now, during this auspicious Shyamala Navaratri, we will be learning Shyamala Dandakam, one of the greatest stotras written by the great poet Mahakavi Kalidasa, which eulogizes the Goddess Shyamala Devi. Dandakam is a style of poetry where some lines have more than 26 syllables and it almost resembles prose.
We will be teaching this stotra in a musical way where the verses are set to tune in different ragas by Late Sri K.S. Kameswaran who was our Guru Sri Sri VImarshananada Nathendra Swamigal’s poorvāsrama brother. He was a great exponent of Carnatic Classical Music and was well versed in Sanskrit apart from being a Sri Vidya Upasaka.
These classes will be streamed live starting first day of Navaratri starting February 1st in North America at 5:30PM (February 2nd at 7AM IST) through our Youtube channel.
As we celebrate the auspicious nine nights of Shyamala Navaratri, let's bow down to the Supreme Goddess and seek her blessings for the welfare of the universe.