Basant Panchami: Celebrating Life and Renewal

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Basant Panchami: Celebrating the Vibrancy of Life

Basant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja, is a famous Indian festival that marks the end of the winter season and ushers in springtime. It also marks the start of preparations for Holika, an annual bonfire on the night before Holi, the festival of colours, which takes place forty days later.

Basant Panchami is celebrated each year on the fifth day of Maagh (a month in the Hindu calendar). The word 'Basant' means spring and 'Panchami' denotes the fifth day, on which the festival falls.

Saraswati is the Goddess of this festival. Saraswati is Lakshmi’s older twin sister. Together they teach that without wisdom (Saraswati), there is no abundance (Lakshmi). Saraswati represents the arts, music, intuition and wisdom. She is the giver of the Vedas, teaching us that the nature of consciousness is wisdom.

Without Saraswati, no Lakshmi is there. People can accumulate a lot, but no abundance is there. Without gyanakanda, there is only more and more karmakanda.

Enlightenment is an ever-increasing value of awareness.

It’s important to keep expanding our state of consciousness so we don’t get stuck in a loop. The moment we attach to any positionality, we hinder our ability to learn.

Correct knowledge gives rise to correct thinking, which gives rise to correct behaviour, which leads to correct experience.

When you have a pattern, each time you repeat it, it becomes a little more intense. So, slow down. Observe yourself. Refine your perception of the container. Know the knower.

Know that by knowing which everything else becomes known.

If the knower remains shrouded in darkness, then whatever he knows remains shrouded in ignorance. So, we must wake up with the intention that we will access a deeper level of awareness.

Today, I can discover something which will revolutionise my life even further. Enter your practice with this intention.

As long as there is someone, there is something to learn. So, allow that aliveness, that wisdom to bubble up within you.

From the pulsation of silence, wisdom arises.

On Vasant Panchami, the whole place bursts with the colour yellow. Yellow signifies the brilliance of nature and the vibrancy of life. People dress in yellow and offer yellow flowers to others and to the gods and goddesses. They prepare food that includes saffron strands, giving it a vibrant yellow colour and, during this time, India’s crop fields are filled with the blooming yellow mustard flowers.

Many families introduce their children to reading and writing on this day. They write their first letters with their fingers in front of Saraswati. Poets and musicians gather to celebrate the Goddess of art and music.

Join us in breathing in the new, in taking life in fully, in experiencing the vibrancy of life. Allow the aliveness of the Goddess to flow through you. Now is the time to shine!

Tune into the vibration of Saraswati from the comfort of your own home by joining Saraswati for her 'Cosmic Intelligence Set' or Matheus for his ‘Saraswati Meditation’ – only on Sattva Connect. Begin to channel supreme wisdom as you Increase the value of light within you.