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Saraswati the goddess
of knowledge, who is praised by the wise, who is the wife of the
creator, may she reside on the tip of my tongue.
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Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and
the arts, embodies the wisdom of
Devi. She is the river of
consciousness that enlivens creation; she is the dawn-goddess whose
rays dispel the darkness of ignorance. Without her there is
only chaos and confusion. To realize her one must go beyond
the pleasures of the senses and rejoice in the serenity of the
spirit.
Saraswati
wears neither jewels or paints herself with bright colors.
The white sari she adorns reflects her essential purity, her
rejection of all that is base and materialistic.
She transcends the cravings of the flesh and rejoices in the powers
of the mind as the patron of pure wisdom. She embodies all
that is pure and sublime in Nature.
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The four Vedas, books of universal knowledge, were her offspring.
Her mount, the swan, personifies pure knowledge and her herald, the
peacock, is a symbol of the arts.
Schools and libraries are her temples; books, pens, all tools of the
artist and musical instruments are the items used in puja to the
enlightening goddess of wisdom.
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The Birth of Saraswati
In the beginning there was
chaos. Everything existed in a formless, fluid state. “How
do I bring order to this disorder?” wondered Brahma, the creator.
“With Knowledge”, said Devi.
Heralded by a peacock, sacred books in one hand and a veena in the
other dressed in white Devi emerged from Brahma’s mouth riding a swan as
the goddess
Saraswati.
“Knowledge helps man
find possibilities where once he saw problems.” Said the
goddess. Under her tutelage Brahma acquired the ability to
sense, think, comprehend and communicate. He began looking
upon chaos with eyes of wisdom and thus saw the beautiful potential
that lay therein.
Brahma discovered the melody of mantras in the cacophony of chaos.
In his joy he named Saraswati, Vagdevi, goddess of speech and
sound.
The sound of mantras filled the universe with vital energy, or
prana. Things began to take shape and the cosmos acquired a
structure: the sky dotted with stars rose to form the heavens; the
sea sank into the abyss below, the earth stood in between.
Gods became
lords of the celestial spheres; demons ruled the nether regions,
humans walked on earth. The sun rose and set, the moon waxed
and waned, the tide flowed and ebbed. Seasons changed, seeds
germinated, plants bloomed and withered, animals migrated and
reproduced as randomness gave way to the rhythm of life. |
Brahma thus became the creator of the world with
Saraswati
as his wisdom.
Saraswati was the first being to come
into Brahma’s world. Brahma began to look upon her with eyes of
desire. She turned away saying, “All I offer must be used to
elevate the spirit, not indulge the senses.”
Brahma could not control his amorous thoughts and his infatuation for
the lovely goddess grew. He continued to stare at
Saraswati. He gave himself four
heads facing every direction so that he could always be able to feast
his eyes on
Saraswati’s beauty.
Saraswati moved away from Brahma, first
taking the form of a cow. Brahma then followed her as a bull.
Saraswati then changed into a mare;
Brahma gave chase as a horse. Every time
Saraswati turned into a bird or a beast
he followed her as the corresponding male equivalent. No matter
how hard Brahma tried he could not catch
Saraswati in any of her forms.
The goddess with multiple
forms came to be known as Shatarupa. She personified
material reality, alluring yet fleeting.
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Saraswati Curses Brahma
Angered by his display of unbridled passion
Saraswati cursed Brahma, “You have
filled the world with longing that is the seed of unhappiness.
You have fettered the soul in the flesh. You are not worthy of
reverence. May there be hardly any temple or festival in your
name.”
So it came to pass that there are only two temples of Brahma in
India; one at Pushkar, Rajistan and the other in Kumbhakonam, Tamil
Nadu.
Undaunted by the curse, Brahma continued to cast his lustful looks
upon
Saraswati. He gave himself a
fifth head to enhance his gaze.
Bhairava, Shiva, Confronts Brahma
Brahma’s action motivated by desire confined consciousness and excited
the ego. It disturbed the serenity of the cosmos and roused Shiva,
the supreme ascetic from his meditation.
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Shiva
opened his eyes, sensed
Saraswati’s discomfort and in a fit of
rage turned into
Bhairava, lord of terror. His
eyes were red, his growl menacing. He lunged towards Brahma and
with his sharp claws, wretched off Brahma’s fifth head. The
violence subdued Brahma’s passion.
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Brahma’s cut head seared through
Bhairava’s flesh and clung to his
hand sapping him of all his strength and driving him mad. The
lord of terror ranted and raved losing control of his senses.
Saraswati, pleased with
Bhairava’s timely action, rushed to
his rescue. With her gentle touch she nursed him like a child,
restoring his sanity.
Brahma, sobered by his encounter with the Lord of terror sought an
escape from the maze of his own desire.
Saraswati
revealed to him the doctrine for his own liberation.
Brahma sought to conduct a yagna, fire sacrifice, to cleanse himself
and start anew. In order to conduct a yagna ritual the
assistance of a wife is needed. Brahma chose Saraswati to be
his wife and thus they were reconciled.
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Saraswati, her Veena and the song of
the Gandharva
The Gandharvas were demigods who sprang from the fragrance of
flowers. Once they stole the Soma plant whose inebriating and
invigorating sap was much sought after by the devas. The theft
of the Soma infuriated all the gods.
Saraswati promised to recover the
soma plant. She went to the garden of the gandharvas and with
her veena created enchanting tunes: the ragas and the raginis.
“Give us this music,” begged the gandharvas.
“Only if you give back the Soma plant to the devas,” said the
goddess.
The gandharvas returned the Soma plant and learned how to play music
from
Saraswati. In time they
became celestial musicians whose melodies had more power to rouse
the mind than any intoxicant.
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Saraswati Outwits a Demon
A demon practiced many
austerities to appease Brahma. The demon sought to conquer the
three worlds and the gods feared that he may ask a boon that would make
him invincible; the gods sought the help of the
goddess Saraswati. The goddess
sat on the tongue of the demon so that when it was time to ask for a
boon all he could say was, “I would like to never stay awake.”
“So be it,” said Brahma.
As a result, the demon
wanted to conquer the three worlds ended up going to sleep forever.
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Saraswati, Lakshmi and Brahma
Brahma
created the universe with the help of
Saraswati. Brahma was the guardian
of the cosmos. He too needed
Saraswati’s support to sustain the
cosmos. Using her knowledge he instituted and maintained
dharma, sacred laws that ensure stability and growth in society.
Brahma also needed the help of
Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, who
gave him the wherewithal to ensure cosmic order.
The question arose: who did Brahma need more?
Lakshmi
or
Saraswati? Wealth or
knowledge? The goddesses argued, “Knowledge does not fill an
empty stomach.” Said
Saraswati. “Wealth keeps man
alive but gives no meaning to life.” Said
Saraswati.
“I need both knowledge and wealth to sustain the cosmos. Without
knowledge I cannot plan. Without wealth I cannot implement a
plan. Wealth sustains life; the arts give value to life.
Thus both
Lakshmi
and
Saraswati are needed to live a full
life.
Saraswati Saves the World from Shiva’s Third Eye and the Beast of
Doom
Shiva was woken from his
meditations and looked around to discover a world on the brink of
corruption and being unsalvageable.
Shiva decided it was time to wipe
the slate clean.
Shiva, the destroyer, opened his
world destroying third eye attempting to destroy the three worlds..
Out came a terrible fire that threatened all existence.
There was panic
everywhere. Only
Saraswati remained calm. “Shiva’s
fire burns only that which is impure and corrupt.”
She took the form of a
river and with her pure waters picked up the dreaded fire from
Shiva’s third eye. Within the
folds of her water she carried the fire far away from the earth to the
bottom of the sea where it transformed into a fire breathing mare called
Badavagni – the beast of doom.
“So long as the world is
pure and man wise, this terrible creature will remain on the bottom of
the sea. When wisdom is abandoned and man corrupts the world,
Badavagni will emerge and destroy the universe,” foretold the wise
goddess.
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