Sri Saraswati

Manifestation

The formless Supreme Being (Brahman) has eternally manifested as a triad of three couples. One of them is the pair of Brahmā and His wife Sarasvatī. Brahmā is the Creator of the physical creation – the entire Universe.

Sarasvatī is His intellectual counterpart, and represents all the wisdom, knowledge, arts and music. Mūrtis of and temples dedicated to Brahmā are rare, although he is often worshipped as ‘Prajāpati’ (Lord of all the creatures) in Vedic religious ceremonies. In contrast, images of Sarasvatī are very common, and She is often the chief Deity of Hindu temples. In the Vedas, there are 10 family hymns of the Sages, and Sarasvatī is invoked in all of them. Her earthly manifestation was a river by the same name that once flowed across northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

Physical Attributes/Symbolism

• She is shown seated on a white swan, which represents the ability to differentiate ignorance and falsehood from true wisdom.
• She often sits on a Lotus, again a symbol of purity. She wears a white Sari which represents purity.
• Her four hands hold books, a rosary of beads (representing the Vedas) and the Veeṇa, which is the oldest stringed musical instrument known to humanity, symbolizing the importance of creativity and knowledge.

Qualities

· Sarasvatī represents wisdom. All speech and knowledge emerge from Her.

· She is the patron Deity of arts, music and literature.

· She is the light of the universe. Without Her, there is darkness of ignorance.

Ways of Worship and Types of Devotees

The festival of Vasant Panchamī occurring in February is celebrated as Her birthday. People wear bright yellow and orange clothing and cook dishes with a pinch of saffron and offer it to Her.

In Nepal, Bangladesh and many parts of India (Bengal, Odisha, Kerala), Hindu children are introduced to writing on this day. Artists dedicate their works to Her, and musicians hold performances as an act of worship to Sarasvatī. In the city of Lahore (Pakistan), people flew kites till recently on this day to remember the sacrifice of a brave Hindu teenager Hakīkat Rai Puri in the 18th cent., who chose death rather than be forcibly converted to Islam.

Avatars of/Related to

The Tamil Hindu saint Avvaiyar (literally, ‘the Grandmother’), who was renowned for her wisdom and has left us with beautiful and pithy proverbs, is considered an Avatāra of Sarasvatī.

Regions most worshiped

Small temples dedicated to Sarasvatī are found wherever Hindus live. These include ancient shrines along the upper reaches of the dried up river close to Kurukshetra (Pehoa) in northern India. There are other prominent Sarasvatī temples at Shringeri (Sharadā) in Karnataka and in adjacent Indian states. Sarasvatī is also worshipped by followers of the Jain and Buddhist religions, and also outside India by Hindus of Bali (Indonesia), Buddhists of Myanmar (as Thuyathadi), and the Japanese (as Benzaiten). In the last century, Mandirs to Her have been constructed on the campuses of several educational institutions all over India. In Shardi, now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, was the famous Sharda Temple, which is now in ruins. It was famous for its college and its collection of manuscripts which do not survive today. The legendary King Bhoja, a great patron of arts and sciences, also constructed a Sarasvatī Mandir at his capital Dhar in Central India during the 11th cent.

Well-Known Stories

In Vedic scriptures, a story is narrated in which the Sages performing worship along the banks of the Sarasvatī river banish Kavaṣha because his mother was a maidservant named Iluṣhā and he was addicted to gambling. Despondent, he travelled into the desert and prayed to Sarasvatī. Moved by his prayers, the river changed its course, abandoning the vicinity of the Sages, and started flowing past Kavaṣha in the desert. The arrogant Sages were humbled and realized that the same Divine Spark dwells in all human beings, and therefore all must be treated with respect. A hymn revealed to Kavaṣha was included in the Rigveda and is famously called ‘The Gambler’s Hymn’.

Fascinating Facts

• The Sarasvatī river dried up between 1900-1500 BCE. The most ancient Hindu scriptures - the Vedas, describe this river as the Mother of all Rivers, and as teaming with croplands, towns and villages. In the recent decades, archaeologists have found over 1100 inhabitations dating to before 1900 BCE along the banks of the dried up river, which proves the antiquity of the Hindu faith as the oldest religious tradition of humanity that has been practiced continuously. As Sarasvatī dried up, many Hindus moved further east towards Gangā, which became the new sacred river and the center of Hindu Civilization. The community of Sārasvata Brahmanas claim that they dispersed from the banks of Sarasvatī to different parts of India when the river dried up thousands of years ago.
• The Indonesian Consulate in Washington DC has a 10-foot-tall image of Sarasvatī at their entrance. Underneath the image is a carved stone bench with two kids studying books.
• In ancient times, Hindu children undergoing the sacred thread ceremony (matriculation) walked seven steps in the direction of the Shāradā Temple in Kashmir to symbolize that they have been to its famous college and library to study the Hindu scriptures. The ancient script in which Kashmiri language was written was also called ‘Shāradā’ after Her. Other Indian languages were written in the ‘Brāhmī’ script, again after another name of Sarasvatī.

Other Popular Names and their Meanings

• Shāradā: Glorious, resplendent, mature
• Vāgdevī: The patron Mother Deity of Speech
• Brāhmī: Consort of Brahmā, the Creator

Popular/Well-known Prayers