Yaḥ Kundendu, the beloved verse to the white-clad, veena-holding goddess, sung before every study and concert.
The mantra
या कुन्देन्दुतुषारहारधवला या शुभ्रवस्त्रावृता या वीणावरदण्डमण्डितकरा या श्वेतपद्मासना या ब्रह्माच्युतशङ्करप्रभृतिभिर्देवैः सदा वन्दिता सा मां पातु सरस्वती भगवती निःशेषजाड्यापहा
yā kundendu-tuṣāra-hāra-dhavalā yā śubhra-vastrāvṛtā yā vīṇā-vara-daṇḍa-maṇḍita-karā yā śveta-padmāsanā yā brahmācyuta-śaṅkara-prabhṛtibhir devaiḥ sadā vanditā sā māṁ pātu sarasvatī bhagavatī niḥśeṣa-jāḍyāpahā
Meaning
May Sarasvatī, white as the jasmine, the moon and the snow, robed in purity, holding the veena, seated on the white lotus, ever worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva; protect me; she who removes all dullness of mind.
In the tradition
The verse is a painting before it is a prayer: jasmine, moonlight, snow, white silk, white lotus. And then the request, when it finally comes, is practical to a fault: remove the mind’s dullness. Every concert in the classical tradition still opens under this painted white.
Sources & further reading
- Traditional invocatory verse (maṅgalācaraṇa) , attributed to the poet Mūkakavi (traditional attribution)
- Sarasvatī's Vedic root , the Ṛgveda's river-goddess hymns (the goddess as the divine river of speech)