1(i). Sarasvatī and her association with other Gods and Goddesses

[1. The river Sarasvatī in the Ṛgveda-saṃhitā, (i): Sarasvatī and her association with other Gods and Goddesses]

In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, the numerous invocation of Sarasvatī are found which are related with other gods. Sarasvatī is mentioned several times with gods Mitra,^[1] Dakṣa,^[2] Bhaga,^[3] Varuṇa,^[4] Soma,^[5] the Aśvins,^[6] the Maruts,^[7] Agni,^[8] Indra^[9], Viṣṇu^[10], Rudra,^[11] Puṣan,^[12] Vāyu,^[13] Parjanya,^[14] Bṛhmanaspati,^[15] Aryaman,^[16] Vāja,^[17] Vāta,^[18] Pavamāna,^[19] Aja-ekapāda,^[20] Viśvedevāḥ,^[21] Vibhu,^[22] Āditya.^[23] Sarasvatī is particularly associated with the Maruts and is said to be accompanied by them^[24] or to have them as her friends.^[25] She has closed relationship with them. In another hymn, her name is Marutvatī^[26] means Marutsamanvitā.^[27] Some expressions like Marutsakhā^[28] and Marutsu bhāratī^[29] declare her as the friends of the Maruts. Vṛṣnaḥ patnīḥ^[30] portrays her as one of the wives of Indra. She helps him in killing Vṛtra.

It is said—

viśvasya vyāptasya māyinaḥ māyāvinaḥ bṛsayasya /
bṛṣaya iti tvaṣṭur nāmadheyaṃ //
tvaṣṭuḥ prajāṃ putraṃ ca nyavadhīḥ /
tvatsāhayyādeve’ndro hatavān //^[31]

The Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā calls her as the wife of Aśvins.^[32] Sarasvatī is connected with the Aśvins also in the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā.^[33] For the proctection of Indra, she is associated with Aśvins.^[34] When the Aśvins aided Indra, Sarasvatī is said to have refreshed him.^[35] They are said to heal Indra. In the Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā, the epithet jāgṛvi^[36] is used for Sarasvatī which indicates that she keeps herself awake day and night, i.e. remains always vigilant in treating her patients. She has been considered a physician attending on Indra, accompanied by the Aśvins. The Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā states that when the gods celebrated a healing sacrifice the Aśvins as physicians and Sarasvatī through speech communicated vigour to Indra.^[37]

Sarasvatī’s association with Pūṣan is also depicted in the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā. Their association is known as their names occur side by side elsewhere in the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā. Pūṣan is also mentioned in the Sarasvatī hymn.^[38] Sarasvatī is equally munificent towards both mankind and gods. She helps mankind as well as gods in need. While rendering help to gods, she is accompanied by other gods also. In the Atharvavedasaṃhitā, she is associated with Indra, Agni etc., to kill the harmful elements. She has been entreated with Agni, Savitṛ and Brahmaṇaspati to bring back the exhausted power of a man.^[39] Moreover, Indra, Pūṣan, Maruts, Aditi, Viṣṇu, Soma, Aśvins, Sarasvatī etc., are conjointly invoked for protection of the worshippers.

Sarasvatī is mentioned with female divinities also in the Ṛgvedasaṃitā, such as Aditi,^[40] Guṅgū,^[41] Sinīvālī,^[42] Rākā,^[43] Indrāṇī,^[44] Varuṇānī,^[45] Gnāḥ,^[46] Pṛthvī,^[47] Purandhī^[48] etc. Her name occurs in quite an independent way along with these goddesses. With goddesses Dhīḥ and Puramdhī, she has been invoked to bring good fortune and listen to the speeches of her worshippers.^[49] With Gnāḥ, she has more affinity as she herself is one of them. In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā,^[50] the association of Sarasvatī with Gnāḥ is found. It implores her to provide the worshipper with shelter and felicity.

In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, Sinīvālī is invoked along with Sarasvatī, to set the embryo which reads—

garbhaṃ dhehi sinīvālī garbhaṃ dhehi sarasvatī.^[51]

In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, Sarasvatī has an epithet ambitame or the ‘most motherly’ which brings her into close connection with other mother goddesses of the Ṛgvedasaṃitā, as Aditi, Puramdhī etc. Rākā and Sinīvālī both appear to be Moon goddesses. They along with Guṅgū, Sarasvatī and Indrāṇī, are invoked in one Ṛgvedic hymn.^[52]

Sarasvatī is invoked with the sacrificial goddesss lḍā and Bhāratī and with goddesses Mahī and Hotrā. In the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, there are ten Āprī sūktas.^[53] In sacrifices, the Āprī hymns are sung or recited before the offering of oblation or libation. The eight and ninth verse of all these hymns is regularly dedicated to the invocation of tisro devīḥ, the three goddesses, i.e. Iḍā, Sarasvatī and Bhāratī.^[54] The sacrifice involved in the Āprī hymn centres round Agni and besides this god, it is the goddess Iḍā who invariably figures as specifically mentioned by name and invoked, along with her sister goddesses Sarasvatī and Bhāratī or just referred to collectively as Tisro Devīḥ. This association may have been due to the sacred character of the river. Allusion is made to Agni being kindled for sacrifices being performed on the banks of the river Sarsavatī and of the adjoining Dṛṣadvatī^[55] and the Aitareyabrāhmaṇa^[56] refers to a sacrifice performed by ṛṣis on the bank of the Sarasvatī. According to Prof. K.R. Potdar,^[57] all the three goddesses owed their origin to the socio-religious circumstances in which the Āprī hymns were composed. These three goddesses represent three kinds of speech (Vāk). According to Sāyaṇācārya, Bhāratī is dyusthānā vāk.^[58] Sarasvatī is madhyaiā vāk.^[59] Iḍā is the speech on the earth.^[60]

So, the three goddesses are the presiding deities of speech of the three regions, viz. heaven, mid-region and earth respectively—

etās tisraḥ tristhānavāgbhimānidevātḥ.^[61]

The three goddesses are identical with Agni—agnimūrtayaḥ^[62] the symbol of tejas. According to Sāyaṇācārya, Iḍā, Sarasvatī and Bhāratī are the Agni of bhūloka, antarikṣaloka and dyuloka, i.e. Agni, Vidyut and Sūrya—these three forms of Agni.^[63] Bharata is the name of Āditya, Bhāratī is related to him. Iḍā is bhūdevī, Sarasvatī is the goddess of antarikṣa related with sara or water. In the Taittiriīyasaṃhitā also, Sāyaṇācārya says that these three goddesses are the three forms of Agni.^[64] In the Bṛhaddevatā of Śaunaka also, it is mentioned that these three goddesses are Vāk of three regions and invoked as Agni.^[65]

Thus, Sarasvatī is depicted as a mighty river as well as a goddess in the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā. The Aryans assigned a very high position to Sarasvatī which is obvious enough from the Ṛgvedic account.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ibid., 1.89.3; 5.46.2; 7.39.5; 9.81.4; 10.65.1

[2]:

tānpūrvayā nividā hūmahe vayaṃ bhagaṃ mitramaditiṃ dakṣamasridham | aryamaṇaṃ varuṇaṃ somamaśvinā sarasvatī naḥ subhagā mayaskarat || Ibid.,1.89.3

[3]:

Ibid

[4]:

Ibid., 5.46.2; 7.39.5; 9.81.4; 10.65.1

[5]:

Ibid., 1.89.3; 10.65.1

[6]:

Ibid., 1.89.3; 7.9.5; 9.81.4; 10.131.5; 10.184.2

[7]:

Ibid., 1.142.9; 2.30.8; 3.54.13; 5.46.2; 7.39.5; 40.3; 96.2; 9.81.4; 10.65.1

[8]:

Ibid., 2.11; 3.23.4; 5.46.2; 7.52.6; 7.9.5; 39.5; 40.3; 8.38.10; 10.65.1

[9]:

Ibid., 2.30.8; 5.46.2; 7.52.6; 61.5; 7.39.5; 8.21.17; 30.10; 10.65.1; 313.5; 141.5

[10]:

Ibid., 5.46.2; 7.50.13; 7.39.5; 8.54.4; 10.65.1; 141.5

[11]:

Ibid., 5.46.2; 7.50.12; 10.65.1

[12]:

Ibid., 5.46.2; 7.61.6; 8.54.4; 9.810.4; 10.65.1

[13]:

Ibid., 6.50.12; 9.81.4; 10.65.1

[14]:

te no rudraḥ sarasvatī sajoṣā mīḍahuṣmanto viṣṇurmṛḍantu vāyuḥ| ṛbhukṣā pipyatāmiṣa naḥ || Ibid., 6.50.12; 6.52.6

[15]:

Ibid., 9.81.4; 10.141.5

[16]:

Ibid., 7.39.5; 10.65.1; 141.5

[17]:

Ibid., 6.50.12

[18]:

Ibid., 6.50.12; 8.54.4; 10.141.5

[19]:

Ibid., 9.67.32; 81.4

[20]:

Ibid., 10.65.13

[21]:

Ibid.

[22]:

Ibid., 5.42.12

[23]:

Ibid., 10.65.1

[24]:

Ibid., 2.30.8

[25]:

Ibid., 7.96.2

[26]:

Ibid., 2.30.8

[27]:

Ibid.

[28]:

ubhe yatte mahinā śubhre andhasī adhikṣiyanti pūravaḥ | sā no bodyavitrī marutsakhā coda radho maghonām || Ibid., 7.96.2

[29]:

Ibid., 1.142.9

[30]:

vṛṣṇaḥ varṣakasye’ndrasya patnīḥ | Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid., 5.42.12

[31]:

Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid., 6.61.3

[32]:

sarsvatī yonyāṃ garbhamantaraśvibhyāṃ patnī sukṛtaṃ bibharti | apāccaṃ rasena varuṇo na sāmnandraccaṃ śriyai janayannapsu rājā || Vājasaneyī Saṃhitā, 19.94

[33]:

Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 1.89.3; 7.9.5; 9.81.4

[34]:

Ibid., 2.14.5

[35]:

Ibid., 10.131.5

[36]:

hotā yakṣaddaivyā hotārā bhiṣajā’śvinedraṃ na jāgṛvi…madhu vyantvājyasya hotaryaja || Vājasaneyī Saṃhitā, 21.36

[37]:

Ibid., 10.33

[38]:

Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 6.61.6

[39]:

Atharvaveda Saṃhita, 4.4.6

[40]:

Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 1.89.3; 7.39.5; 10. 65.1

[41]:

Ibid., 2.32.8

[42]:

Ibid., 2.32.8; 10.184.2

[43]:

Ibid., 2.32.8; 5.42.12

[44]:

Ibid., 2.32.8

[45]:

Ibid.

[46]:

pavīravī kanyā citrāyuḥ sarasvatī vīrapatnī dhiyaṃ dhāt | gnābhircccidraṃ śaraṇaṃ sajoṣā durādharṣa gṛṇate śarma yaṃsat || Ibid., 6.46.7; 5.46.2

[47]:

Ibid., 8.54.4

[48]:

Ibid., 10.65.13

[49]:

Ibid., 7.35.11; 10.65.13

[50]:

Ibid., 6.49.7

[51]:

Ibid., 10.184.2

[52]:

Ibid., 2.23.8

[53]:

Ibid., 1.13;1.142; 1.188; 2.3;3.4; 5.5; 7.2; 9.5; 10.70; 10.110

[54]:

Ibid., 1.142.9;5.5.8; 7.2.8; 9.5.8; 10.70.8

[55]:

Ibid., 3.23.4

[56]:

Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, 2.19

[57]:

Vide., Agrawala, P.K., Goddesses in Ancient India, pp.65-66

[58]:

bhārati bharatasya dityasya samvandhinī dyusthānā vāk | Sāyaṇācārya on Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 1.142.9

[59]:

sarasvatī saraiti udakānām| tadvatī stanitadirpa madhyamika ca vāk || Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid

[60]:

pṛthivī praisadirūpa| Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid.

[61]:

Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid 1.149.9

[62]:

iḍā sarasvatī mahī tistro devīrmayobhuvaḥ | bariḥ sīdantvastridhaḥ || Ṛgveda Saṃhitā, 1.13.9

[63]:

bharataḥ ādityaḥ tasya sambandhinī bhāratī tādṛśi dyolokadevate | he iḍe bhūdevī,he sarasvatī saro vā udakaṃ vā tadvatyantraikṣadevate tādṛśī devi etaḥkṣiyadī devatatha eta tisraḥ ādirtyaprabhavaviśeṣarūpā iti adhuḥ || Sāyaṇācārya on Ibid., 1.188.8

[64]:

tisraḥ devyo’gnimurtayaḥ | Taittirīya Saṃhitā, 4.4.1.8

[65]:

Bṛhaddevatā, Taittirīya Saṃhitā 7.12.14