The Sarasvati Purana

The Sarasvati Purana [sarasvatipuranam] / By Prof. Sureshchandra Kanaiyalal Dave, M.A.; Budher Acharaj Street, Laxmi Pole, Siddhpur. / 68-76

[ srastadasasargatmakam 2860 slokatmakam sarasvatipuranamadhikrtya nibaddhe- 'smin lekhe pranetrparicayah, paragaracanakalah, pratipadyavisayavivecanam ca samyaktaya vicaryate | anusamgatah gujaratapradese likhita gramtha api nirdistah santi, puranantarahastalekhaih saha sarasvatipuragasyapi hastalekhah punayah bhandara- saptadasahastalekhascopalabhyante karapracyavidya samsthayam suraksita vidyante | puranasyaitasya | sthaniyakrtivasadasmin gujaratapradesasya dharmika-rajanitika- samajika- bhaugolika citrani prapyante | dharmabhirucirasya praneta patanarajasya mahasasaka maharaja siddharajajaya simhasya kascitsabhapandita eva bhavitumarhati yato hi srasyaiva nrpateh mahima'tra giyate, etannirmita sahasralimgasarasah vaisistyadi kirtyate | samakalinasya dvayasraya ' mahakavyasya prabhavo'tra parilaksyate | tirthadi- varnane puranetaranam prabhavasca visesena skandapuranasya, drastum sakyate | evam bahudha bahyabhyantarapramagabalenasya racanakalo dvadasasatabdyam nirdharyate | yadyapi siddharajanrpateh vaibhavam prakhyapayati puranametat, tathapi mukhyatah devasura samgramah, tarapaharanam, devasastranirmanaya dadhiceh svasariradanam, pippaladakatha adi varnyate | sarasvatyastatavartanah tirthavisesah bhutesvararudrakotiprabhrtayo'tra visesenopavanitah santi | sarasvatinadisvarupaparicayo'pi sucyate | tisrah sarasvatyah kuruksetre, puskare, prabhase ca bhavanti, paramtu idam pratibhati yadekaiva nadi himavatah prabhavati kvacidantarlina bhavanti, punarudbhavanti ca kvacit, bhinnatam yati | prabhasa sarasvativarnanamatra pratiyate | esa hi natidirgha kotisvara- pradurbhuya srabuparvatasam lagnambikaparvatamalasu pravahanti kacchadesam prapya satrumardane prabhase pascimodadhimabhigacchati | visnuna prerita pippalagni samudre'pavahitu- adyapi bahuni sthanani aitihasikani manumata sarasvati eva sanumiyate | paricetum sakyanta iti srilekhaka mahodayo'bhimanyate | ] The Purana means 'Old tale'. The Puranas deal with ancient traditions about Rishis and Kings; their genealogies and famous deeds. Instructions upon all kinds of subjects are given prominent place in the Puranas. They describe fully the region where they are composed. The vivid picture of the society at

Jan., 1968] THE SARASVATI PURANA 69 the time of composition of the particular Purana is beautifully narrated in them. It is a well established truth that the Puranas existed before Apastamba's time. His sutra is estimated by Buhler as not later than the third century B. C. and possibly 150-200 years earlier.¹ Therefore they must have been existed at least as early as the beginning of the fifth century B. C. In the present Puranas much have been added as the time passed Therefore it is very difficult to find out the exact date of any particular chapter of any Purana or Upa-Purana. Late Dr. V. S. Agrawal, Dr. R. C. Hazra, Dr. Pusalker and many other oriental and western scholars have flooded sufficient light on the Puranas. on. As in other parts of the country, in Gujarat also, the Puranic tradition is fairly old. Some of the portions of the Skanda Purana, Nagara Khanda, and Prabhasa Khanda, seem to have been composed or written here, as they describe fairly the detailed historical and sociological events happened in various parts of Gujarat. The Matsya Purana is also said to be written in Gujarat on the bank of the river Narmada. No other Maha or Upa-Puranas are said to be composed here. But the Gujarat has given the series of various Tirtha Mahatmyas and the books called Puranas describing the history of some higher castes. Some of them are, Dharmaranya of Modha Brahmins, The Vayu Purana of Vayada Vaisyas, The Valkhilya Purana of the Jharola Brahmins and Vaisyas, and the Malla Purana of the Malla Brahmins. All these Puranas are printed and the MSS of the most of them are still with some local persons. Copies of the MSS of the Dharmaranya, the Malla Purana, the Valkhilya Purana and the Sarasvati Purana are also preserved in the Except the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. Sarasvati Purana Sargas 15 and 16, none of them is critically edited. All of them give mostly the history of the particular caste, its spread, the sociological structure, the codes of law, and the description of the places where important events have 1. F. E. Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Traditions, Introduction PP. 2 ff. 2. For details see, Narmada Mahatmya of the Matsya Purana.

70 70 puranam -- PURANA [Vol. X., No. 1 happened. The rivers, mountains and the other parts of the region which have much local importance are given due place in the so called Puranas. In short, a local touch is a speciality of these Puranic works. The date of all these local Puranas is very late. None of them is composed before tenth or eleventh century A. D. Therefore historical, geographical and sociological survey of the various parts of Gujarat from eleventh century onwards can be viewed from them. The Sarasvati Purana is a local Purana of the Gujarat. It has 2890 verses and 18 sargas. Seven Mss of this Purana are available. Only sargas 15 and 16 are critically edited and translated in Gujarati by Shri Kanaiyalal. B. Dave under the As patronage of Shri Forbes Gujarati Sabha, Bombay in 1940. the name suggests, it describes the tirthas on the bank of it, as well as the brief historical sketch of the Gujarat through which it flows. It was composed during the reign of king Siddharaja Jaysimha of Anahillapur Patan of Gujarat. It is very difficult to fix the exact date of this Purana. Some internal as well as external evidences help us to fix the date. The author has made much use of Puranic materials to emphasise the importance of the tirthas. There are so many verses in this Purana which are found in the Skanda and other Puranas. The date of the Skanda is fixed as the sixth century A. D. so this is the lowest limit. This Purana gives in details some of the glorious deeds of the king Siddhraj of Patan." He was learned, generous, and brave king of Gujarat. He invited many scholars to his Court. He was Saiva by religion and he had a desire to build many temples and other monuments all over Gujarat. He built a great 1. (a) Four Mss are preserved in BORI, Poona. viz. No. 8. 1872-73 No. 231. 1880-81 No. 124. 1881-82 No. 429--Known as Visrambag Copy. (b) One Ms. from the collection of Shri Punya Vijaya Maharaja, Deposited at L. D. Research Institute, Ahmedabad. (c) One Ms. from the collection of Shri Rajeba Sastri of Patan. (d) One Ms. from Sri M. M. Ayachi, Patan. 2. The Sarasvati Purana, Sarga 15.

Jan., 1968] THE SARASVATI PURANA 71 lake Sahasra-linga at Patan. It was filled in with the waters of the river Sarasvati through a big canal. It was a very big lake having one thousand Saiva temples, one hundred and eight Devi temples and the shrines of ten incarnations of the Lord Visnu on the bank of it. It was a unique construction of the time. When he conquered Malva, as the sign of his victory, he constructed "a pillar of glorification" on the bank of this lake. The glorious deeds of the king and some description of the lake were carved on it. Muslim invasions on Gujarat resulted in the destruction of this lake and other monuments constructed by the king. Some of the fragements of the fame-poem carved on this stonepillar were recently found from a Siva temple at Patan. This shows that it was a poem of 87-88 verses. The lake was in existence up to the 14th century A.D. The Sarasvati Purana has fairly described this lake in two Sargas-fifteenth and sixteenth. During the reign of Siddharaja, Hemchandra, a learned jain poet of his court composed "Dvayasraya Mahakavya", describing the history of Gujarat from the reign of Mularaja to that of Kumarpala. The same poet has written a book viz "Siddhahaima" - a book on grammar. It is proved that the 'Siddhahaima" was composed in 1195 A.D. Therefore, this Mahakavya must have been composed after that period. (i.e. after 1195 A.D.). It seems that the Dvayasraya Mahakavya and the Sarasvati Purana were composed in the same century as they agree in some points and both of them have some similarities. Both of them describe fully the king Siddharaja and his reign. According to them Siddharaja was an incarnation of Lord Visnu. He was great, generous, religious minded and brave king. He brought in his control Barbaraka who was a descendant of the demon Khara. He con- 1. Ibid Sarga 16. 2. Shri K. B. Dave. 'The Sarasvati Purana' (Gujarati Translation) Introduction. PP. 131 ff. 3. Shri Himansu Vijay Muni 'The date of Siddhahaima'-an article published in Gujarati Monthly Buddhiprakasha. April, 1932. 4. cf. sarasvatipurane, sarga 15 . dharme priyamane tu pravrtte tu kalau yuge | punaryathavatirno'sau visnustatkathayami te || 1580 ||

72 puranam - PURANA The [Vol. X., No. 1 structed a big lake Sahasralinga at Patan. Many Siva temples and Jain shrines were erected under his patronage. It is rather difficult to trace out the exact date of the former composition , but Shri K.B. Dave who edited Sargas 15th & 16th of this Purana opines that the Dvayasraya Mahakavya was composed first and the Sarasvati Purana is much indebted to this book¹. Dvayasraya is a later composition of Hemchandra, therefore, the Sarasvati Purana might have been composed in the twelfth century A.D. The king Siddharaja would have requested one of his court poets to prepare such a Puranic work glorifying his glorious deeds, as well as the monument lake Sahasralinga of his capital town Patana. The name of the author is not found from this work. A court-poet viz. Keshava Vyasa is highly respected in this Purana so it is guessed that either he himself may be the author or he may be closely related to the author. The Sarasvati Purana glorifies the tirthas situated on the bank of the river Sarasvati. The Sarasvati is a great river flowing rapidly from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. The Puranic description of this river shows that it rose from the Himalayas, got lost in the Rajasthan, appeared from mount Abu, flowed through Gujarat and again disappeared in the desert of kutch, re-appeared in the forest of Girnar in Saurastra and met the western sea near Prabhasa. Some legends have been fabricated in the Puranas to nastam nastam punardhama yah samuddharate sada | sa esa manuse loke sambhutah purusottamah || sarga 15 . 85 || esa barbarakam jitva bhutesam bhayadam nrnam | mahalayasya puratah svavase sthapayisyati || sarga 15 .88 || sarve varnah svadharmasyah nakalamaranam nrnam | na ca vyadhibhayam ghoram tasmin sasati medinim || sarga 15 .68 || cf. Also dvayasraya kavya . sarga 11 . verses 17-21. eso'rikirtihatya krtsvapratapagnicityaya | danavarnya jagacchastham surakaryam karisyati ||21|| For more details cf. also Dvayasraya Mahakavya, Sarga 13. verses 14-107. 1. Shri K, B. Dave. Ibid. Introduction. PP. 126 ff.

Jan., 1968] THE SARASVATI PURANA 73 establish the oneness and truth of the geographical facts of the three rivers known as the same name Sarasvati in different parts of India. The details of the legends also put forward the idea of the transformation of the goddess Sarasvati into the river.¹ The Puranas consider the Sarasvati having its source from the Himalayas, but various descriptions of the three phases of the Sarasvati viz. The Kurukshetra Sarasvati, the Puskara Sarasvati and the Prabhasa Sarasvati prove that these three rivers are different and they have not their sources in the Himalayas. To prove the oneness of the Sarasvati, the idea that it flows underground at some places, appears most conspicuously at three places is laid down. These three places are considered as most sacred." In this Purana, the Tirthas of the Sarasvati as a whole are described but it mostly deals with the Prabhasa Sarasvati which is a very small river rising itself from the celebrated shrine of Kotesvara on the Ambika hills near mount Abu and runs towards the desert of Kutch through north Gujarat. The details and stories showing the importance of various places of pilgrimages are mainly based on the Puranas, especially the Skanda Purana. This Purana does not justify the name 'Purana' as it does not possess any traditional special qualities of the Puranas. It is found that the Mahatmyas and the other books describing the Puranic folk-lores are given the title 'Purana' only to attach an importance to it in the society. This Purana is not a part of any of the Puranas but it itself is an independant book. The Puspika or the end of the Adhyayas mention , but it is not at all found in the Markandeya Purana. The narration by sage Markandeya seems to be the only reason for such words at the end. The main narrator is Markandeya. 1. Sri Anand Swarup Gupta: "Sarsvati as the river Goddess in the Puranas" Proceedings and transactions, Oriental conference, Gauhati. For details see also, The Brahmavaivarta Purana, Prakriti khanda Adhs. 6-7: Brahma Purana Adh. 101, The Vamana Purana Adh. 32 ff; The Padma Purana Sristi khanda 18-27; The Skanda Purana Prabhasa khanda. Adhs. 31-35. 2. Anand Swarup Gupta. Ibid, pp. 78 ff. 3. Cf. The Padma Purana, V. 18-233, 10

74 puranam - PURANA [Vol. X., No. 1 He answers the questions put by Sumati. It is very difficult to identify both Markandeya and Sumati. They talk of Devasursangrama. The story of kidnapping of Tara, the wife of Brhaspati is described in the first sarga . At the end of the battle the Gods go to the sage Dadhichi to entrust their weapons. The sage wanted to go for practicing penance , so he drunk the power of the weapons which he accepted from them. But when the Gods wanted their weapons back, they went to him again and asked him to return the weapons. As it was not possible as he had drunk the power, he gave up his life asking them to prepare new weapons. With this main story, the story of the birth of Pippalada, the story of obtaining of discus by Visnu are interwoven. Pippalada, the son of the sage Dadhichi, knowing the death of his father asked his mother the reason of it. His mother told him the reason, he got angry, went to Badarikasrama for penance. He brought out the fire from his thighs to burn the Gods. The Gods were afraid when they knew this. They requested Visnu to help them. He delusioned the fire and asked him to go to the sea where he can get enough water to eat. The fire Vadavanala desired to be taken to the sea by a virgin, therefore Brahma asked Sarasvati to take him to the sea. Her friends the Ganges and tha Yamuna consoled her to come to help when desired. Thus the Sarasvati got herself ready to help the Gods. The places where she prayed for help are the places of her disappearing in the earth. Many places of pilgrimages came to exist at the places through which she flowed. All these sacred places are mentioned one by one with various new stories from the other Puranas. These stories glorify them and show their religious importance and These places are Bhutisvara.³ the power of wiping out the sins. 1. For details see the sarasvatipurana . sarga 2-5 . 2. sarasvatipurana sarga 5 . 8-106 . 3. punah pravrttastasmad udbhedad pascimamukhi | bhutisvaram samayata siddho yatra mahamunih || sarasvatipurana 6 .72,

Jan., 1968] THE SARASVATI PURANA 75 Rudrakoti', Kurukshetra, Vairatanagara, Gopayana mountain, Puskara, the kharjura forest (where the Sarasvati is called Nanda), Markata Tirtha, Arasana, Golangula, Matrtitha, Anaraka Tirtha, Moksesvara, Andavesvara, Prachi Madhava Tirtha near Sristhala, Mahalaya Tirtha, Pindataraka, Valkhilyasrama, Valkhilyesvara Ekdvara, Vatesvara, Mundisvara 2, Piluparnas tirtha, Jalesvara Tirtha, Kaka Tirtha, Dwarka kshetra, Govatsatirtha, Loha yasti and Jhilla Tirtha. The river disappears after this place and reappears at Satrumardana" near Prabhasa and enters sea. Some of the sacred places mentioned in this Purana can be very easily identified even to-day, and they are local Tirthas of Gujarat. But some of them have disappeared and it is not known where they were situated. 4 blat Apart from its religious descriptions of the various sacred places, the author has also given place to some political descriptions. The introduction of the life and works of the great king Siddharaja is the main purpose of this Purana. The poet lived in 11. bhutisvarasamipastham samplapya sumanoharam | stoesale Bad desamarga janopetam krtvayata tatah param || bns agotasya daksinadiksamstham ruddhakotyupalaksitam | aud'T srikanthadesavikhyatam gata sarvosadhiyutam || 2. mundisvarasamipastham, sarasvatyam mahodayam | sarga 6 .1-2 . namna yatpranmukham tirtha, sarvatra bhuvi visrutam || sarga 15 .1. 3. pilupanakasamjnam tu, tirthamanyatpurah sthitam | Lanoincon sarasvatitiragatam, rsina sevitam mahat || jirnani pilupatrani, so'snamstatra sthitah sada | piluparneti tasyeha nama tadgunagauravat || 4. jalesvarastu tatraiva, svayam devo vyavasthitah | bus ǝn yasya darsanamatrena, sarvapapaksayo bhavet || 5. pilupanakatirthatsa, pranasta brahmagah suta | sarga 15 .56-7 . sarga 15 .56 . dvarakayam ca govatse, punardarsanamagata || sarga 15 .61 . 6. rnam prapya punardevi samudbhuta manorama | jhillam nama param tirtha sambhuna yatra jhillitam || sarga 17 .46 . 7. tatopyantarhita bhutva samprapta sumanoramam | satrumardanasamjnam tu ksetram siddhanisevitam || sarga 17 .132 .

76 puranam - PURANA [Vol. X., No. 1 his court and so naturally, he would like to glorify the king of the place where he lived. The poet is very pious and loves the river, honours her and praises her with deep sense of gratitude in the following verses." He shows his earnest desire to stay on the bank of the river to get Moksa (eternal bliss). 1. sarasvativasasama kuto ratih sarasvativasasama kuto gunah | sarasvatim prapya divam gata janah sada smarisyanti nadim sarasvatim || sarasvati sarvanadisu punya sarasvati lokasubhavaha sada | sarasvatim prapya janah suduskrtam sada socanti paratra ceha ca || sarga 18 .38-36 . Cf. also. The Mahabharata, Salya Parva, Adh. 34. The Skanda Purana Prabhasa Khanda, 35.122 & 36.58.