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Saraswati
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Image:dp-sarasvati.jpg thumb|250px|right|Saraswati, goddess of knowledge
'''Saraswati''' (
Sanskrit: '''सरस�वती''') is the first of the three great
goddesses of
Hinduism, the other two being
Lakshmi and
Durga. Saraswati is the consort of Lord
Brahma BrahmÄ?, the Creator.
Origins and context in Hinduism
Saraswati (Sarasvati, Saraswathi, ShatarupÄ?) is the first goddess worshipped in the Hindu religion. She is the Goddess of Knowledge and all literary arts including music, arts, and speech. She is also worshipped as the Goddess of thoughts of truth and forgivings. She is first mentioned in the
Rig Veda. She is also mentioned in
Puranic texts. It was likely that she originated as a river goddess. Her name is
Sanskrit for "she who has lakes or pools".
In the
Vedanta school, She is considered as the feminine gender and knowledge aspect
Shakti of
Brahman, and it is generally considered that only knowledge is the final path to
Moksha, i.e., only by worshiping her and continuously seeking true knowledge with complete undeviating attention, can one attain
Moksha.The word "Anurag" originally means rhythm in music. Therefore, ''Anurag'' is much loved by Saraswati Maa.
Saraswati as a river
The
Rig Veda Rig Vedic hymns dedicated to Saraswati mention her as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties. It was on these banks that the entire Vedic civilisation took root, as the Holy Vedas were composed here. The likeliest theory about
Vedic Sarasvati River the river that once bore her name is that it was formed by the present headwaters of the
Yamuna turning west instead of east at
Paonta Saheb where it leaves the
Himalaya foothills, and flowing southwest across
Punjab and
Haryana and then along the
Ghaggar and
Hakra and
Raini Nala and
Eastern Nara and across the
Rann of Kutch into the
Gulf of Khambay. The
Sutlej flowed further east than now and joined it somehere nearish to
Bahawalpur. Along the old course of the Sarasvati river, the earliest writing in
India has been found. As time passed,
deforestation and
overgrazing likely reduced the rainfall in parts of its headwaters area in what is now
Pakistan and
Rajasthan, and much of its water was diverted to
irrigate fields, so that it dried in the desert instead of reaching the sea; finally it dried up completely due to its main headwaters changing their courses. She is also referred to as
Shonapunya, a
Sanskrit word meaning ‘one purified of blood’.
Recently archaeologists using satellite images have been able to trace course of the river. It flows as a small water channel near Kurukshetra, where a signboard denoting its existence can be seen along main highway (GT road).
Other associations
As a water goddess, she symbolises
fertility and prosperity. She is associated with purity and creativity, especially in the context of literary and verbal skills. In the post-Vedic age, she began to lose her status as a river goddess and was increasingly associated with literature, arts, music, etc. Her name literally means the one who flows, which can be applied to thoughts, words, or the flow of a river.
In the Rig-Veda (6,61,7), Saraswati is credited with killing the
asura (demon)
Vritra, who represents
drought,
darkness, and
chaos. She is often seen as equivalent to the other Vedic goddesses like
Vak VÄ?k (divine word, also romanised as Vac),
Savitri (illumination) and
Gayatri. Saraswati represents
intelligence (trait) intelligence,
consciousness and cosmic knowledge.
Perhaps as the ancient river dried up or changed course, the goddess became less related to the river. The Divine Mother Saraswati is the wife or consort of Lord BrahmÄ?, the creator. Therefore, she stands for creativity. Goddess Saraswati stands for knowledge, education, enlightenment, music, arts, and power. She is not only worshipped for secular knowledge, but for the true divine knowledge which is essential to achieve self-realization, or "
moksha."
Saraswati Stuthi tells us that she is the only goddess to be revered by all the three great gods of Hinduism, BrahmÄ?,
Vishnu, and
Shiva. She is the only goddess to be worshipped equally by all the gods, the demons, the
gandharvas (the divine
musicians), and the
nagas (the divine
Serpent (symbolism) serpents).
Appearance
Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, fair-skinned woman dressed in pure white often seated on a white
lotus, which symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the Absolute Truth. Thus, she not only has the knowledge but also the experience of the Highest Reality. She is associated with the colour white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. She is also associated with the yellow of the
mustard flowers that bloom at the time of her festival in the spring. She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold like the goddess Lakshmi, but is dressed austerely--perhaps representing her preference of knowledge over worldly material things.
She is generally shown to have four arms representing four aspects of human personality in learning; mind, intellect, alertness and ego., holding in Her hands:-
*A book, which is the sacred
Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, true knowledge and her perfection of all the sciences and the scriptures.
*A
mala of white pearls, representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
*A pot of sacred water, representing creative and purificatory powers.
*The musical instrument called the
veena, representing her perfection of all arts and sciences.
A white
swan is often besides her feet. The sacred swan, if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. The swan thus symbolizes discrimation between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Goddess Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsa-vahini, which means "she who has a swan as her vehicle".
She is usually depicted near a flowing river, which may be related to her early origins as a water goddess. The swan and her association with the lotus also point to her ancient origin.
Sometimes a
peacock is shown beside the goddess. The peacock represents arrogance and pride over its beauty, and by having a peacock as her mount, the Goddess teaches us not to be proud of external appearances and be wise to know the eternal truth.
Festivals for Saraswati
The goddess Saraswati is worshipped during
Navaratri. In
East India eastern India, Saraswati
Puja is a very important festival. The last three days of Navarathri starting from Mahalaya Amavasya (the New Moon day) are dedicated to the goddess. On the ninth day of Navaratri (
Mahanavami), books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the gods early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments. The puja is concluded on the tenth day of
Navaratri (
Vijaya Dashami) and the goddess is worshipped again before the books and the musical instruments are removed. It is customary to study on this day, which is called Vidya-aarambham (literally, Commencement of Knowledge).
During
Basant Panchmi, which comes either at the end of January or the beginning of February,
prayers and
pujas are offered to her, especially by artists, musicians, scientists, doctors, lawyers.
In
Pushkar in
Rajasthan, a temple has been made in her name on a mountain higher than that of Lord
BrahmÄ?'s.
Saraswati in other cultures
Besides her role in
Hinduism, she was also, like the Hindu goddess
Tara (Devi) Tara, absorbed from
Vedic civilization Vedic culture into the
Buddhist pantheon (gods) pantheon and came to
China via the Chinese translations of the
Sutra of Golden Light, which has a section devoted to her. Now largely forgotten in China, she is still worshipped in
Japan under the name
Benzaiten. Other names for her include:-
*Vinidra ("she who is always awake")
*
BrÄ?hmÄ« (
BrahmÄ?'s consort)
*
Bharati ("eloquence")
*Hamsavahini ("one who has a swan for a mount")
*
ShÄ?radÄ? ("giver of essence")
*
Arya ("The Noble One")
*Maha-vani ("the transcendent word")
*Vagishvari ("Goddess of speech").
*
VÄ?nÄ«
*The
Tibetan Buddhist dakini Yeshey Tsogyel is sometimes considered a manifestation of Saraswati.
*Some purport that in
Judeo-Christo-Islamic religions Saraswati and a-
BrahmÄ? apppear as
Abraham and
Sarah in the
Old Testament.
Other meanings
*"Sarasvati" or "Saraswati" is sometimes used as an Indian woman's name.
*In India there are other rivers called Sarasvati or Saraswati. One of them flows from the west end of the
Aravalli Hills into the east end of the
Rann of Kutch.
See also
*
Hindu Goddess
External links
-
Goddess Saraswati Mantra
-
Goddess Saraswati
-
Saraswati, Goddess of Learning
-
Goddess Saraswati Prayer for Kids
References
*{{1911}}
{{HinduMythology}}
Category:Hindu goddesses
Category:Shaktism
da:Sarasvati
de:Saraswati
fr:Sarasvatî (déesse)
hi:सरस�वती
ja:サラスヴァティー
no:Sarasvati
nn:Sarasvati
pt:Sarasvati
ru:СараÑ?вати
sv:Sarasvati
ta:சரஸ�வதி
tr:Saraswati
zh:辯�天
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