Sarasvati in the Ṛg Veda
इमा ब्रह्म सरस्वति जुषस्व वाजिनीवति ।
या ते मन्म गृत्समदा ऋतावरि प्रिया देवेषु जुह्वति ॥ Ṛg Veda 2.41.18
“Sarasvatī, abounding in food, abounding in water, be propitiated by these oblations, which the Gṛtsamadas offer as acceptable to you, and precious of the gods.”
Long before the Gaṅgā took preeminence as India’s holiest river, the Sarasvatī, whose name means “the flowing one,” claimed that honor as she flowed though the Indus-Sarasvati civilization as a life-force. Once mightier than the Indus and believed to have originated in heaven, the Sarasvatī was known to flow on earth from the Himālayas to the Indian Ocean and the Rg Veda speaks of it as a river that flows pure from the mountains as far as the sea. In the Vedas, The Sarasvati river bounded the Brahmavarta, the home of the early Aryans and was propitiated primarily as a river, but is also in the hymns personified as a Goddess. As a river goddess, Sarasvati is lauded for the fertilizing and purifying powers of her waters, and as the bestower of fertility, prosperity, and wealth. Ṛg Vedic hymns and the Brāhmaṇas alike allude to sacrifices performed along her banks, and the discovery of typically Indo-European fire altars at the town of Kalibangan are persuasive evidence for a Vedic presence along the Sarasvatī River in the third millennium BCE. The Ṛg Veda extols her not only as the great flood but also as the bright goddess of intelligence, who illumines every righteous thought (ṚV 1.3.10–12).
त्वे विश्वा॑ सरस्वति श्रि॒तायूं॑षि दे॒व्याम् ।
शु॒नहो॑त्रेषु मत्स्व प्र॒जां दे॑वि दिदिड्ढि नः ॥
“In you, Sarasvatī, who are divine, all existences are collected; rejoice, goddess, among the Śunahotras, grant us, goddess, progeny.”
Ṛg Veda 2.41.17
By the 5th century BCE, Yāska noted in the Nirukta, the oldest surviving commentary on the Vedas, that the Sarasvatī’s flow to the sea could be taken figuratively as the flow of thought into the great, shining sea of consciousness. Her position as Vāk, the goddess of speech, finds no mention in the Ṛg Veda, however, the Brāhmaṇas repeatedly identify Sarasvatī with Vāk, the creative Word personified as the Ṛg Vedic goddess who proclaims universal power and transcendence in the Devīsūkta. Later on, the Brāhmaṇas document the gradual drying up of the Sarasvatī River between 1900 and 1300 bce and Sarasvati comes to be identified as the wife of Brahma, the goddess of speech and learning, inventress of the Sanskṛt language and Devanagari letters, and patroness of the arts and sciences. Sarasvatī-Vāk represents the intelligent power of creation, and her subsequent associations, as Bhārati, Brāhmi, Pūtkāri, Śārada, Vāgiśvari, and her later (and current) role as Brahmā’s consort or power (śakti), perpetuates her reputation today as the beneficent goddess of knowledge and the arts.
O Sarasvatī, whose moon-like beauty is heightened
By the lotuses which surround Thee.
O auspicious and favorable Devī!
She who is the fire that destroyes the forest of evil thoughts,
Whose lotus feet are worshipped by the universe.
O lotus seated upon a lotus,
She who causes joy to those that worship thee,
Destroyer of Ignorance, Spouse of Hari,
Substance of the world.
Thou who art both form and formlessness,
Who art the wealth of the lotus face of the lotus-born (Brahmā),
Embodiment of all guṇas, yet devoid of attributes,
Unchanging, and neither gross nor subtle.
O Mother! Mother! salutation to you
Who is greatly pleased with the recitation of the mantra Hrīm.
Thy crown is white as snow and thy hands play the vīnā.
Burn, burn my sloth and grant me great intelligence.
Thou art Knowledge itself.
Vedānta ever sings of Thee,
Śruti speaks of Thee.
O giver of liberation! O way to liberation!
Whose power is beyond all understanding.
O giver of happiness, adorned with a white necklace,
Thou art intelligence, memory, resolution, mind, and hymn of praise.
saluted by Munis, new and old;
Saluted by Hari and Hara.
Thou art the giver of intelligence, and the giver of joy to Mādhava.
In the form of HRĪM, KṢĪM, DHĪM, HRĪM,
Thou holdest a book,
Thou art joyful, of smiling face, and of good fortune;
Innocent and charming as a young maiden*
Burn, burn my sin,
and dispel the darkness of my evil thoughts.
O praiseworthy of all!
Thou art Gīh, Gauh, Vāk, and Bhāratī.
It is you who grant success to the tongue of the greatest of poets,
As also in the attainment of all (forms of) knowledge.
I pray to Thee,
Come to my tongue and never leave me.
May my intelligence never go astray,
May my sins be taken away,
May I be free from sorrow.
In time of peril may I never be bewildered.
May my mind work freely without impediment
in Śāstra disputation and verse.
He who chastely lives, observing silence and religious devotions,
Abstaining from flesh and fish on the thirteenth day of the month,
And bowed with devotion, early each morning
Praises Thee with the most excellent verse.
Will, skilful in speech, surpass even Vācaspati.
The uncleanliness of his sins will be swept away.
Such an one gains the fruit of his desires,
The Devī protects him as though he were Her own child.
Poetry flows from his mouth,
Prosperity attends his house,
And every obstacle to success will disappear.
(*Mohemugdhapravāhe: a nāyikā as yet unacquainted with love)
Verses adapted from the Sarasvatīstrotra of the Tantrasāra, translated by John Woodroffe
References:
- John Dowson Classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history and literature
- Hymns to the Goddess, by John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), [1913],
- Ṛg Veda translated by H. H. Wilson
__________________________________________
If you find value in my work, I hope you consider becoming a patron or making a one-time donation (message me). hindu aesthetic requires a lot of time and effort and your support would mean that I can continue bringing you the highest quality content.
You can also buy me a coffee here!
