SARASWATI RIVER

The one who is as fresh and effulgent as a flower, the moon, the snow, and garland of white flowers; the one who is adorned with snow-white apparels; the one who holds the Veena (a musical instrument) in her delicate hands; the one who is alighted on the seat of white lotus; the one who is constantly praised by Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh; the one who removes all ignorance, that Goddess Saraswati may protect me."

Saraswati is the Goddess of leaming, knowledge, and wisdom. The Sanskrit word sara means "essence" and swa means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self." Saraswati is represented in Hindu mythology as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe. Since knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati symbolizes the creative power of Brahma. Goddess Saraswati is worshipped by all persons interested in knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars, and scientists.

In Her popular images and pictures, Goddess Saraswati is generally depicted with four arms (some pictures may show only two arms), wearing a white sari and seated on a white lotus. She holds a book and a rosary in Her rear two hands, while the front two hands are engaged in the playing of a lute (veena). Her right leg is shown slightly pushing against Her left leg. She uses a swan as Her vehicle. There is a peacock by Her side gazing at Her. This symbolism illustrates the following spiritual ideas:

• The lotus is a symbol of the Supreme Reality, and a white lotus also denotes supreme knowledge. By sitting on a lotus, Saraswati signifies that She is Herself rooted in the Supreme Reality, and symbolizes supreme knowledge. The white color symbolizes purity and knowledge. The white sari that the Goddess is wearing denotes that She is the embodiment of pure knowledge.
• The four amms denote Her omnipresence and omnipotence. The two front amms indicate Her activity in the physical world and the two back arms signify Her presence in the spiritual world. The four hands represent the four elements of the inner personality. The mind (manas) is represented by the front right hand, the intellect (buddhi) by the front left hand, the conditioned consciousness (chitta) by the rear left hand, and the ego (ahankara) by the rear right hand.
• The left side of the body symbolizes the qualities of the heart and the right side symbolizes activities of the mind and intellect. A book in the rear left hand signifies that knowledge acquired must be used with love and kindness to promote prosperity of mankind.
• The rosary signifies concentration, meditation, and contemplation, leading to samadhi, or union with God. A rosary in the rear right hand representing ego conveys that true knowledge acquired with love and devotion melts the ego and results in liberation (moksha) of the seeker from the bondage to the physical world.
• The Goddess is shown playing a musical instrument that is held in Her front hands, which denote mind and intellect. This symbol conveys that the seeker must tune his mind and intellect in order to live in perfect harmony with the world. Such harmonious living enables the individual to utilize acquired knowledge for the welfare of all mankind.
• Two swans are depicted on the left side of the Goddess. A swan is said to have a sensitive beak that enables it to distinguish pure milk from a mixture of milk and water. A swan, therefore, symbolizes the power of discrimination, or the ability to discriminate between right and wrong or good and bad. Saraswati uses the swan as Her carrier. This indicates that one must acquire and apply knowledge with discrimination for the good of mankind. Knowledge that is dominated by ego can destroy the world.

• A peacock is sitting next to Saraswati and is anxiously waiting to serve as Her vehicle. A peacock depicts unpredictable behavior as its moods can be influenced by the changes in the weather. Saraswati is using a swan as a vehicle and not the peacock. This signifies that one should overcome fear, indecision, and fickleness in order to acquire true knowledge.

 In Indian philosophical thought, and that is no different from Indian religious thought, the ultimate Reality is conceived as both Impersonal and Personal Being and Will. While Brahman may be realized in the aspect of Impersonal Being - infinite and without attributes, the same Reality can be realized as Shakti - the power of Brahman in its personal aspect. As fire and its power to burn, the sun and its rays, milk and its whiteness cannot be separated; likewise the Ultimate Reality coexists as Shiva and Shakti.

This Shakti, or Power of Brahman, is also called Primal Prakriti. Brahman with Its power becomes Ishwara or personal God. The Shakti, as the Mother aspect of Power, is the source of all creation, sustenance, and dissolution of the universe. As is said: "O Eternal Power of creation, sustenance, and dissolution; O the refuge of all the qualities, O Noble Mother, Narayani I bow down to You."

In the ancient Indian tradition and mythology (after the Vedas and the Upanishads), these three aspects - creation, sustenance, and dissolution - are attributed to Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh respectively. Lord Vishnu has Goddess Laxmi as his consort; and Parvati is the spiritual power of Mahesh (Lord Shiva). Mother Goddess takes up different forms to perform her varied functions: Kali -the terrifying and destructive Goddess; Laxmi- the giver of wealth, and Saraswati -the giver of Knowledge. Moreover, in every age the same Primal Power accompanies the Avatara Purusha as Sita with Rama, Radha with Krishna, and Ma Sarada with Sri Ramakrishna. And lastly, as Hanuman says: "O Rama, to me all men are your representative, while all women represent Sita." Thus, the concept of Mother Goddess is very ancient one, but equally complicated too.

However, what concerns us here is a common problem of our life. As is well known, we crave for comfort, luxury, and material enjoyment on one hand, and on the other there is also an urge to seek and excel in the field of knowledge - art, music, literature, philosophy, science, etc. Many times we see some hindrance in our sense enjoyment due to the necessity of seeking knowledge. We have to give up bodily comforts to seek higher knowledge. For instance, a student goes to the University and gives up comforts of eating quality food, sleeping on soft bed, and other sense-pleasures of day-to-day life. However, this sacrifice appears to be of little consequence, for obtaining knowledge is seen as a higher pleasure and joy than getting bodily comforts alone. Thus, mind is proved superior to body.

Goddess Laxmi represents material wealth related to body and senses, while Goddess Saraswati represents the source of wealth related to seeking higher knowledge. "Those who have wealth do not have the fortune of knowledge; and the vice versa. Laxmi and Saraswati do not stay together," thus goes common saying in India.
Mother Saraswati

It is believed that Goddess Saraswati is the immaculate daughter of Brahma. She personifies knowledge and purity. She is described as very beautiful, her face radiating joy, peace, serenity, and tranquility. She wears white clothes and she has swan as her vehicle. In her hands she hold the Veena (a musical instrument) and the Book. She also bestows blessing and hope in the hearts of her devotees. The book and the musical instrument represent science and art respectively, every science and every art. If anyone wants to excel in his/her studies, scholarship, research, arts of music, painting, or writing, etc. etc. one must worship Mother Saraswati for achieving the highest excellence. Her white clothes reflect purity, simplicity, and fearlessness; and the swan represents the state of Paramahamsa - the highest Yogic state of union with God.

 
Though Rig Veda does not specifically mention her as Vach, the goddess of speech, but she is clearly bestowed this status in Mahabharata and Brahmans. Dr. Muir attempts to explain the acquisition of this character by Saraswati in these words, "When once the river Saraswati had acquired the divine character, it was but natural that this river should be regarded as the protector and patron of the rituals and ceremonies accompanied by hymns performed at her banks. For this purpose the blessings of Saraswati would have been invoked for their proper and successful performance. This idea must have been further extended to the very composition of these hymns. All this must have resulted in identifying Saraswati with Vach, the goddess of speech. "

Saraswati, the goddess of learning and knowledge, is the wife of Brahma, the creator of the world. She is represented as an extremely beautiful woman with milk-white complexion, sitting or standing on a water Lily and playing on a lute.

She presides over and protects arts and is credited with the invention of writing. On the fifth day of the expanding- moon fortnight during the month of MAGH, the worship of this goddess is performed in front of her image or even without her image in front of her vessel in which a pen, an inkstand and a book are placed. These articles are supposed to form a proper substitute for the goddess, who is also named as VAGVADINI, the deity of eloquence. Offerings are placed with flowers on these objects and prayers are chanted from scriptures.