In the Rig Veda, Sarasvati or Saraswati is a powerful river flowing from the mountains to the sea in northwest India. The Vedas place Saraswati between Satluj and Yamuna. After examining its description in the Rig Veda, many Indologists have identified the ancient Saraswati river with the Ghaghar Hakra, that dried around 2000BCE.

She is much referenced in the Rig Veda with more than 50 mentions and the Vedas are supposed to have been composed on its banks. She bestows bounty, fertility & purity to the land and is called “the best mother, best of rivers, best of the goddess”. The Vedas state that rituals were performed on its banks due to the sacredness of the river. Sarasvati of the Vedas is thus the prototype of such important later river goddesses like Ganga, Yamuna & Kaveri. People continued their memory of Saraswati by naming regional rivers as Saraswati, like in Badrinath, Aravalli and a dried up distributary of Hooghly. Some historians who advocate Aryan Invasion Theory claim that Saraswati was mythical or it was in Afghanistan.

The image is the iconic Raja Ravi Varma painting of Saraswati

Source: https://www.indica.today/long-reads/river-sarasvati-eulogised-rig-veda/

Very early in the Vedic corpus (in the Brahmanas), Sarasvati is identified with Vakdevi/ Vagdevi – the Goddess of Speech. In later sources, She is also called Jihvagravasini (dwelling in tongue), Sabdavasini (dwelling in sound) and Mahavani (great speech). It is not clear how this association came about. Perhaps the two concepts of the centrality of sacred speech in the Vedas and the purity of the waters of Sarasvati in early Vedic thought, coalesced later.

In the Rig Veda, Sarasvati is part of a triad along with Ila (goddess of flow) & Bharati (goddess of speech). Rig Veda also refers to Vak as speech, the form in which knowledge was sent by the Gods and which is a means of communication with the Gods. Vak is also referred as a well dressed woman whose ornaments are the different embellishments of speech. It seems all these different goddesses merged with Sarasvati to form the later Goddess of Learning. Irony is that most post Vedic references do not even hint that one time Sarasvati was identified with a river.

The image is Saraswati from Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Tamil Nadu.

Source: “Hindu Goddesses,” David Kinsley.

Ravana’s giant brother Kumbhakarna, used to sleep for six months and had tons of food when he woke. During the war with Rama, Ravana became desperate and woke up Kumbhakarna out of turn, with a series of comical measures. Even though Kumbhakarna advised Ravana to stop the war when he was woken up, he still loyally went ahead and fought. After creating panic in the opposite camp, he was finally killed by Rama. Now why did he sleep for six months?

Once the three brothers, Ravana-Kumbhakarna-Vibishana, practiced severe penance for boons. The gods were frightened that someone like Kumbhakarna would become absolutely invincible after a boon. They requested Sarasvati to do something. So She ensured that when Kumbhakarna asked Brahma for a boon, he asked for Nidrasana (long sleep) instead of Indrasana (Indra’s throne). Ravana implored Brahma to amend this boon and thus Brahma made Kumbhakarna wake up once every 6 months. The story shows that by the time of Ramayana, Sarasvati was considered the Goddess of Speech and not only as a river.

The image is from Mahabore, WordPress.

Yajnavalkya is credited with key sections of the Brhadaranyaka, the oldest Upanishad. He was the disciple of Vaishyampayana, who was himself a student of Ved Vyasa who first narrated the Mahabharata.

Yajnavalkya had a dispute with his Guru on the composition of the Yajur Veda. He left his Guru and implored Surya to become his preceptor instead. Surya advised Yajnavalkya to venerate Sarasvati, who then blessed him with the knowledge of the Vedas. After that, he composed his own version of the Yajur Veda called Shukla Yajur Veda. He did so by separating the prose portion of the original Yajur Veda (called Krishna Yajur Veda) into the Satapatha Brahmana and streamlining both portions. The whole story is narrated in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata wherein Sarasvati is referred as Veda-mata.

By the time of the composition of Mahabharata, Sarasvati had transitioned from a river & Goddess of Speech to Goddess of Learning. The lives of the two sages also implies  that the events of Mahabharata war were at the same time as that of the oldest Upanishads.

The sculpture is Yajnavalkya teaching Brahma Vidya to King Janaka

Source: Source: Mahabharata Section CCCXIX, sacred-texts.com

Among other things, Puranas describe the family relationships of Gods. Sarasvati is described in some texts as Brahma’s wife, while in others as his daughter. Different stories occur to explain why Brahma is not widely worshipped, one being that Sarasvati cursed him as he did not wait for her at a yajna and created a co-wife Gayatri. In some stories, Sarasvati is said to be created by Vishnu. But unlike other Gods, these family stories of Sarasvati have not stuck much in the public imagination. And unlike other Shaktis, Sarasvati is hardly associated with fertility or power or fearsome aspects.

Her nature is most sattvic and that’s why She is venerated as Goddess of Learning and the patron of arts & culture. Besides Basant Panchami, Sarasvati is worshipped during Navratri which happens over nine days. The first three days are associated with Durga and the tamas (inertia, steadfastness) element, the next three with Lakshmi and rajas (activity, passion) and the last three with Sarasvati and sattva (knowledge, purity).

The picture is a Brahma-Saraswati sculpture from Basaralu Hoysala temple

Source: “Hindu Goddesses,” David Kinsley

Sarasvati’s iconography illustrates her association with arts & culture. The earliest depiction of Sarasvati is with a Veena. An early iconic form of Saraswati is depicted in the Bharhut Stupa. She is shown in a graceful post atop a lotus pedestal, playing a Veena like instrument.

Normally, She is depicted as having four hands and the most common items held are a book, a lute (vina). A rosary and a water pot. The book associates her with learning, the vina with arts, the rosary with spiritual sciences and the water pot with religious rites. She is almost always said to be pure as snow, the moon or the kunda flower. Her garments are said to be fiery in purity and she is sometimes depicted smeared with sandalwood paste. All these illustrate her association with sattva guna, the pure, spiritual thread of prakriti or nature.

The picture is Saraswati from Halabeidu

Source: Development of Hindu Iconography, JN Banerjea. “Hindu Goddesses,” David Kinsley

Saraswati’s vahan is the swan or hansa. It suggests Sarasvati’s transcendent nature which removes her from the impurities of the natural world. The swan is a symbol of spiritual perfection in Hinduism. Spiritual masters are sometimes called supreme swan or Paramhansa. Sarasvati, astride her swan, inspires people to rise above everyday existence and strive towards continued cultural creation and civilized perfection. Saraswati is also often shown accompanied by a peacock.

The picture is Saraswati from Chausat Yogini temple at Hirapur. Credit Indian Vagabond, Instagram

Source: “Hindu Goddesses,” David Kinsley

In the 1890s, a site called Kankali Tila near Mathura was excavated. Numerous Jain structures and artefacts dating from the Kushana period (early 2nd cent CE) were discovered. Among them was a headless moorthy of Jain Saraswati or Shrut Devi with an inscription. Jain Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. The goddess is shown sitting and holding a manuscript on a rectangular pedestal. Inscriptions provided the name of donor who gave this deity to the Jain temple. This record is a good example of Jain art and it is the most ancient moorthy of Jain Saraswati found till date. It is also one among the earliest carvings of Saraswati with a manuscript.

Shrut Devi represents the embodiment of the entire canonical knowledge of Jainism. Jainism does not believe in deities with divine powers. However, Saraswati & Lakshmi, the Sasan deities, and demigods like Yaksha, Yakshini, and Nagas are given a place in their sculptures and mythology.

The picture is the deity from Mathura.

Source: https://incrediblejainism.com/blogs/f/mathuras-kankali-tila-and-jainism. Development of Hindu Iconography, JN Banerjea.

Benten, (Japanese: Divinity of the Reasoning Faculty), also called Benzaiten, is one of the Shichi-fuku-jin (Seven Gods of Luck) in Japanese mythology. She is the patron goddess of literature and music, of wealth, and of femininity. She is generally associated with the sea; many of her shrines are located near it, and she is frequently depicted riding on, or accompanied by, a sea dragon.

According to one legend, she married a sea dragon, thus putting an end to his ravages of the island Enoshima. She is often shown playing the biwa, a kind of lute. Benten is identified with the Indian goddess Sarasvati, also a patron of literature and the arts, who probably travelled to Japan along with Buddhism.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Benten#/media/1/61097/4501

Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world, but it has always been connected with its ancient Hindu tradition. Hinduism was the religion of the islands till 15th-16th cent CE and even today a thriving Hindu population remains in Bali. Indonesia has a strong Ramayana tradition and its airline is named Garuda, Vishnu’s Vahana.

The Indonesian embassy in America has a Sarasvati deity. The work was created by multiple Balinese sculptors and installed in 2013. The 16-foot (4.9 m) gold and white deity depicts the Hindu goddess Saraswati standing on a lotus with three young students at her feet, one of which is Barack Obama.

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/goddess-saraswati-statue_b_3460615

The Golden Light Sutra or Suvarṇaprabhasa Sutra is a Buddhist text of the Mahayana branch. The sutra was originally written in India in Sanskrit and translated into other languages. The name refers to a great drum that radiates a sublime golden light, symbolizing the dharma or teachings of Buddha. It became important especially in China & Japan because of its message, which teaches that the Four Heavenly Kings protect the ruler who governs his country in the proper manner.

The sutra also expounds the vows of the goddesses Sarasvati, Lakshmi and Drdha to protect any bhikṣu who will uphold and teach the sutra. Though Tibetan Buddhism is different from China & Japan, this sutra is part of their corpus. Sarasvati in Tantric Buddhism (predominant in Tibet, Sikkim & Nepal) is a meditational deity appearing as a goddess of literature, poetry and wisdom. She can have many different forms and names, but predominantly white or red. In her white forms she is generally a goddess or wisdom and learning. In her red forms she is a power deity. She is also sometimes depicted as the consort of Manjushri. Unlike in Hinduism, Sarasvati can have wrathful forms in tantric Buddhism.

Image is from Wikimedia Commons

Source: https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=351

The town of Pilani is associated with the education institutes run by Birlas. The BITS, Pilani campus aptly has an exquisite white Sarasvati temple. The temple walls are adorned not just with deities, but also with twentieth century scholars and scientists.

There are many temples dedicated to Saraswati around the world. Some notable temples include the Gnana Saraswati Temple in Basar on the banks of Godavari; the Wargal Saraswati and Shri Saraswati Kshetramu temples in Medak, Telangana; Shringeri Sharadamba Temple in Karnataka; Dakshina Mookambika Temple, Ernakulam, Kerala; Saraswati temple at Koothanur, Tamil Nadu. In her identity as Brahmani, additional Saraswati temples can be found throughout Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Sharada Peeth in Pak Occupied Kashmir is an ancient Shaktipeetha and one of the most ancient temples dedicated to Sarasvati. Sharada temples are found all over India.

The picture is the Saraswati Temple at BITS, Pilani, Credit Shruti.Page

Source: Birla Education Trust. Sarasvati, Encyclopedia MDPI.