From the invisible river to abundant knowledge, intellect, purity and more…
When we speak of Saraswati, the image that comes in our mind is of a goddess wearing white and holding a veena in her hand, riding a swan. She’s the ‘Goddess of Knowledge’. Her images are found in libraries and in schools, and she is associated with intellect, arts and culture.
In the Vedas, we get to read about Saraswati in the form of a river – Saraswati. Historians are fairly confident that at one time a river called Saraswati flowed in the north-west part of India, near or around the river Indus, and it is here that the early Vedic civilization thrived. Climatic changes may have caused this river to dry up, forcing people to migrate from the Saraswati River basin to the Ganga River basin.
In Prayag, people refer to the three rivers merging with each other, Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati, referring to a river that is still flowing underground according to some legends.
In the Vedas, we also have reference to another goddess called Vak or the ‘Goddess of Speech’. There are hymns about how important speech and language and words are. This goddess eventually comes to be associated with Saraswati.
Overtime, Saraswati moves away from being a river and becomes a representation of intellectual outpouring. This river, is not the physical or geographical river of Vedic times but a metaphorical river of knowledge and wisdom.
This idea is taken up not just by Hindus but also by Buddhist and Jains. In fact, the earliest image of Saraswati comes to us from a Jain temple in the Mathura region, dating to around the 2nd century AD. The image shows a goddess with a book in her hand and it is said to be the earliest representation of Saraswati. She is known as Shruta-Devi in Jainism, considering that the wisdom of the Tirthankaras has to heard (shruti).
In Buddhism, too, the Goddess Saraswati becomes important, especially with the rise of Maha-Yana Buddhism which gave greater value to women than men. We find the rise of the Goddess Tara who is equated with the wisdom of Buddha, who provokes his compassion.
Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, skills, and learning has also been associated with Saraswati for possessing similar attributes. Also, Benzaiten or the Japanese incarnation of Saraswati, celebrates language, music, poetry and knowledge.
the Japanese incarnation of Saraswati
In Hinduism, from the 5th century onwards, when the Puranas had consolidated themselves, people referred to the male trinity, each with a female consort, for the sake of symmetry. By this time Brahma, the creator, was associated with Saraswati, embodiment of knowledge. She was visualised holding memory beads, a book, a pen and an inkpot and the lute (veena).
In popular artwork, Brahma and Saraswati are infrequently seen as a couple. In many Vishnu artworks, Vishnu is said to have two wives, Sridevi and Vakadevi, making Saraswati his consort. In astrology, Saraswati represents planet mercury which is believed to be symbol of intellect and potency.
By the 13th century, when the temples of Khajuraho and Brihadeeshwara were being built, we find independent iconography of Saraswati flourishing on the temple niches. She is associated with the goose (hamsa) who can separate milk from water, an indicator of intellectual discernment (buddhi).
While more and more temples were dedicated to the ‘Mother Goddess’, exclusive Saraswati temples continued to be rare, just as exclusive Lakshmi temples are very rare. Both goddesses were subsumed under the image of the great Goddess Shakti who is simultaneously wealth, knowledge and power, and who rivalled the powers of Shiva and Vishnu.
However Vasant Panchami is the day exclusive to the Goddess. On this day, goddess Saraswati is revered and invoked by the devotees. Her blessings are sought for a better life where knowledge, wisdom etc are prayed for in abundance.
So, my dear friends, like every year, on this auspicious occasion of Vasant Panchami may you have the best of health and happiness, success and prosperity!
Pearls of Thoughts 