[Advaita-l] Meaning of praNo devI sarasvatI

[Kris Manian]

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:21:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Meaning of praNo devI sarasvatI
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
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Message-ID: <20061218052119.58134.qmail at web54203.mail.yahoo.com>
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>Sir

>I remember hearing that in vedic sanskrit an upasarga, prefix, need not be attached to the word it qualifies. >Since upasargas usually qualify verbs, I think 'pra', an intensifer, qualifies the verb, avatu. May the goddess >protect us well.

>Couple of issues in the translation given by you. Normally the karma, that is the object of an action (here >'us') should be in dvitIyA vibhakti; since nah is also the dvitIyA of aham, why should we say that nah is the >shashThI? Secondly vAjebhih, means through vAja, that is the vAja is the instrument of some action. That being >so, how does the word mean "those who worship her with offerings"? 

>With the above, the meaning would be along the lines of "May the powerful (vAjinIvatI) goddess SarasvatI, the >protector of the wise (dhInAm avitrI), protect us well through consecrated speech (vAjebhih)"?

This does not make sense. Why would God discriminate between wise and unwise and protect only the wise? God protects every one. So the translation of RaviShakar makes sense to me.

pranam
Kris Manian

>As you suggested, I will consult the bhAshya and clarify my doubts.

Senani