Goddess Maa Tara maintains the second significant position among all the ten Dus Mahavidya's. Tara means "star" which symbolizes light. Tara as "light" guides, carries over, overcoming and conquering hurdels for acquiring knowledge, attainment of powerful speech and the qualities of learning. Maa Tara is the Goddess who offers ultimate knowledge and gives salvation and also known as Neel Saraswati. Her weapons are Khadga, Sword and pair of scissor. The origin of Tara Mahavidya is associated with the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean). Lord Shiva became unconscious after drinking dangerous 'Halahala' (poison) coming out of samudra manthan. To recover him from this adverse situation, Tara Mata appeared in the form of mother and fed milk. Lord shiva gained conciousness and the poison was neutralised as maa absorbed the poison. Hence, Lord Shiva and Goddess Tara came to be known as 'Neelakantha' and 'Neela Saraswati' respectively. Due to the maternal instincts of maa tara she is known to be more approachable to the tantrik sadhaks to get all wishes fulfilled. She is the second Mahavidya and her Shiva is called "Akshobhya rishi". She is also worshipped in Vajrayana sect of Tibetan Buddhism which has its root on Indian tantra.The main reason for her being accepted in the Tibetan buddhism is that she is the goddess of Atheism. She makes the sadhaks of her atheist so she is accepted and worshipped by the Tibetan buddhist. She holds a blue lotus in her hand which symbolizes fire tatwa and also the symbol of moksha, sword in another hand which has an eye in it which means the wise use of any forms of power, the skull in her hand has lot of meanings but the most common is the feeling of never ending desires, and one who perfects this mahavidya is well versed in poetry. She adds the fuel to the fire of the chores of peoples daily life. Skull in hand also symbolizes this universe and ones own skull which encloses the inner universe. The divine play, the whole creation and the destruction happens in this universe similarly the whole human body mechanism of being born to dieing then transmigrating is related to the inner human skull and Devi holding a skull in her hand means she is the power who controls this universe. She further holds a scissor in her hand symbolising her blessing to cut through the unwanted sanskaras and only cultivating the characters need for an individual for spiritual upliftment or in transdental approach its more like the aphorism "survival of the fitest". Devi ensures that in this constant tendency of change she ensures the most fit for the universe is kept and others destroyed. She is also shown standing in the pratyalidha asana on a corpse which means the warrior pose and if ones subtracts the TARA tatwa for Shiva then he becomes shava(corpse). In tantra sadhna of Dus Mahavidya sadhaks consider maa Tara to give immediate results to obtain knowledge, wisdom, power of speech, pleasure and salvation. The aspirant sadhak, having perfected this Sadhna get all Ashtsidhis. This Sadhna evokes innumerable advantages for all round prosperity, expansion of business, name and fame, destruction of enemies which are realised instantly after the accomplishment of the Sadhna. Sadhana of Tara maa requires proper initiation by an able teacher (Guru) but yet one can attain her blessings by other means of worship. Goddess Tara is pleased by chanting mantras, doing worship either on the image, or by the help of Yantras (mystical diagrams) and by certain rituals and offerings etc. Once goddess Tara is pleased then all the aspirations of man gets fulfilled. Maa gives every materialistic prosperity to the sadhak and eliminates his enemies. Devi Tara yantra is kept to achieve sudden gain of wealth and prosperity. Tara yantra sprouts seed of wisdom and knowledge in the heart of the worshipper. Mantra of Maa Tara yantra :- ॐ ह्रीं स्त्रीं हुं फट्॥Om Hreem Streem Hum Phat॥ Details of Maa Tara yantra :- Metal - Brass with gold polish Size - 3 inches x 3 inches Guage- Heavy Weight - 30 to 35 grams Benefits - Can be used in sadhana of Maa Tara, Material benefits and her blessings
