Vāgvādinī Meditation
amalakamala samsthā lekhinī pustakodyat
karayugala sarojā kunda mandāragaurā
dhṛta sasadhara khaṇdollasi koṭīrapīṭhā
bhavatu bhava bhayānām bhaṅginī bhāratī naḥ
The above is meditation verse (dhyāna śloka) of Śrī Vāgvādini Devī, who is the upāṅga devata, secondary attendant, of Śrī Rāja Mātaṅgī. Vāk is the spoken word; vādana is its delivery, or constant interactions through spoken words. In sādhana an aspirant in initial level will have lots of doubts and misgivings. These have to be cleared with Śrī Guru only. Bhārgavarāma also says ‘guru vākya śāstradau sarvatra asamśayaḥ’ - don’t doubt the words of Śrī Guru or the scriptures. In this order Guru’s words have a preference over scriptures, thus if his words are contrary to the scriptures, they have to be obeyed to the letter and in spirit, which will only lead the seeker in the sure path of self realization. Vagvadini takes part in the war of Śrī Devī Lalitā with Bhandasura, riding on a swan and slays Drughaṇa, on the third day.
Her mantra in Nityotsava is “aiṃ klīṃ sauḥ vada vada vāgvādini svāhā”
This is an attempt to find the mantra in the dhyāna śloka.
amalakamala samsthā lekhinī pustaka: seated on a White lotus holding a pen (which is like a iron needle) and a palm leaf book. This is the vāgbhava bīja ‘aiṃ’ which bestows all knowledge, the book represents śāstras.
udyatkarayugala sarojā kunda mandāra gaurā: The above are held in brilliant lotus like hands, which have a whitish jasmines flower like brilliance. This can be meditated as ‘klīṃ’, which is the kamarāja bīja bestowing all worldly comforts and pleasures. The lotus born in muddy clay water (pṛthvi tattva) and its smell (gandha tattva) will represent the worldly comforts. Jasmine will represent pleasures by its intoxicating perfume.
dhṛta sasadhara khaṇdollāsi koṭīrapīṭhā: wearing a crescent moon on her crown is meditated here, the same svarupa meaning is seen in Parā’s meditative verse as ‘candra kalāvatī’. Hence the parā bīja ‘sauḥ’ can be meditated here.
bhāratī: This means one who shines forth, seen in the mantra as ‘vāgvādini’
bhavatu bhava bhayānām bhaṅginī naḥ: Let our fear of the worldly activities be destroyed is the purport of this verse. The dispelling of the fear of samsāra is by constant awareness and realization of the universal consciousness. This can be achieved by the grace of Śrī Guru. The aspirant has to tread the path of sādhana as instructed by him, any doubts on the path shall be asked and cleared repeatedly, till the sādhaka is sure that he is on the right path and have the final realization. The repeated clearance is denoted by ‘vada vada’ and the final realization is by ‘svāhā’
Let us now see philosophical import of the slaying of asura “Drughaṇa”. This asura’s name means ‘iron hammer of a blacksmith’. This will be the hardest one, and shall break or dent other any metal pieces or things. Thus we can infer the deepest misgivings and doubts of an aspirant personified as this asura, Śrī Vagvadini Devī being the personification of the repeated clearance of doubts and constant vigil in the sādhana by Śrī Guru, which will remove these hindrance, in turn this is slaying of this asura.
Source: Yogamba Sahita Atmanandantha - "Meditative Texts - Revised Thoughts"
