3a. Sarasvatī in the Purāṇic Literature (Introduction)

For the origin of Sarasvatī, there are numerous accounts in the different Purāṇas. Some of them are a distinctive nature while some of them tally with others. The Brahmavaivartapurāṇa contains different accounts at different places. The Brahma-khaṇḍa of this Purāṇa maintains a detailed account for the origin of the Purāṇic traid of goddesses, Sarasvatī, Mahālakṣmī and Durgā. In this connection, it holds that Sarasvatī was born from the mouth of Paramātman.^[1]

The same Purāṇa, at another place, describes Sarasvatī to have been produced from the mouth of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the form of his Śakti.^[2] For the origin of Sarasvatī, the Brahmavaivartapurāṇa puts forth another theory virtually following the Sāṃkhya theory of creation. It asserts that there is Ātman whose energy (Śakti) is called Mūlaprakṛti. But it is to be seen that how things evolved from this Mūlaprakṛti. According to this Purāṇa, at the primeval stage, the Ātman remained stationery, but when he had a desire for creation he took two forms—male and female. The female form is called Prakṛti. According to the wishes of Kṛṣṇa, this Prakṛti also became of fivefold form under the names of Durgā, Rādhā, Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī and Sāvitrī. In this way, Sarasvatī has been considered as one of the five Prakṛtis that are the ultimate cause of the universe.^[3]

Though, here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, sometimes taken as independent, has also been identified with Paramātman or Brahman.^[4] Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so, it is as equally proper to consider Sarasvatī as the daughter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu as it is to accept her as the daughter of Brahmā.

According to the Matsyapurāṇa, several times Sarasvatī has been referred to as produced by Brahmā, the great creator, who is thought to have created all the Vedas and Śāstras from his mouth.^[5] After that he produced his ten mind-born sons-Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Pracetas, Vaṣiṣṭha, Bhṛgu and Nārada.^[6] But Brahmā was not satisfied by this creation of his own and he began to plan as to who could carry on the burden of creation. Therefore, he began to invoke Sāvitrī and after sometime Sāvitrī was produced from the half portion of his body as a female form. This form is also known as various names like Śatarūpā, Sāvitrī, Sarasvatī, Gāyatrī and Brahmāṇī.^[7]

At another place, Brahmā is again said to have produced a beautiful woman from half of his body as his wife. By honesty of his austerities, she equalled Brahmā and was gifted with the faculty of creation of the world.^[8] Besides these, Sarasvatī is said to have been produced by Brahmā along with four other maids—Lakṣmī, Marutvatī, Sādhyā and Viśveśā.^[9] A similar belief exists in the Padmapurāṇa also.^[10]

According to the Vāyupurāṇa, at first Brahmā created his mind–born sons (mānasa-putras), who matched their father. They all were possessed of knowledge and hence indifferent to the world. They could not enjoy any worldly pleasure. Therefore, Brahmā began to muse over and became angry, perhaps, not finding any solutions. Consequently, from his anger took birth a Puruṣa having sun-like splendour. Half of his body was male and half female. But accepting the request of Brahmā, this Puruṣa separate his male and female parts into two. Again, Brahmā asked the male form of Puruṣa to divide him and he divides himself into eleven Rudras. But the female form was peculiar unlike the male form. Her right part was white and left black. Brahmā again asked this female form also to divide her black and white parts and she did so. The white part is supposed to be the various manifestations of Sarasvatī’s, like Svāhā, Svadhā, Mahāvidyā, Medhā, Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī and Gaurī. Thus, being one of these, Sarasvatī represents Gaurī produced from the white part of the female form.^[11] Besides these, in this Purāṇa, it is found that Sarasvatī has been produced from Brahmā as Viśvarūpā. According to this Purāṇa, Brahmā had no offspring. Therefore, he mediated and in course of his mediation Sarasvatī was born, loudly roaring to him as Viśvarūpā. Here, she is supposed to be the mind born daughter of Brahmā, and at the same time, is also taken to be Prakṛti.^[12]

According to the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, there is a conjugal procreation in male and female forms. The origin of this procreation is Mahālakṣmī. For this purpose, Mahālakṣmī at first produced three eggs. From one of them Brahmā was produced along with Śrī, Sarasvatī from the second along with Śiva and Viṣṇu from the third along with Ambikā.^[13] According to this theory, the three eggs originally symbolize the stage of Hiraṇyagarbha Prajāpati. This Hiraṇyagarbha Prajāpati also is supposed to have been born from the Supreme power, Paramātman, along with Mahālakṣmī. This Supreme goddess, Mahālakṣmī stands parallel to Paramātman, the supreme power, as giver of birth to the triad of gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśa. Likewise, the triad of the Purāṇic goddesses Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī and Ambikā (Durgā) may be taken to have been born from the Mahālakṣmī.

In this regard, a very striking reference is made to the origin of Sarasvatī under various names, all synonyms for her. It is held that there is a Devī who assumes different forms at the time of creation. The same goddess is said to have divided herself into two parts male and female at the command of Mahālakṣmī. As the male portion bears various names, the female portion is known as Vidyā, Bhāṣā, Svarvā, Akṣarā and Kāmadhenu, which are all denotative of Sarasvatī. Similarly, the sattva form produced from the goddess Mahālakṣmī is also called variously as Mahāvidyā, Mahāvīṇā, Bhāratī, Vāk, Sarasvatī, Āryā, Brāhmī, Kāmdhenu etc. Like the previous ones, these names are also synonymous for the various forms of Sarasvatī.^[14]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

āvirvabhūva tatpaścānmukhataḥ paramātmanaḥ | ekā devī śuklavarṇāvīṇāpustakadhāriṇī || vāgadhīṣṭhātṛdevī sā kavīnāmiṣṭadevatā | śuddhattvasvarūpā ca śāntarūpā sarasvatī || Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa,1.3.54-57

[2]:

āvirbhūta yadā devī vakrataḥ kṛṣṇayośitaḥ | iyeṣa kṛṣṇaṃ kāmena kāmukī kāmarūpiṇī || Ibid., 2.4.12

[3]:

gaṇeśajananī durgā rādhā lakṣmīḥ sarasvatī | sāvitrī vai sṛṣṭividhau prakṛtiḥ pañcadhā smṛtā || Ibid., 2.1.1

[4]:

tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭisthathā lakṣmīrvṛttīrmātā tathaiva ca | sarvaśaktisvarūpā sā kṛṣṇasya paramatmanaḥ | | Ibid., 2.1.20,48

[5]:

tapaścacāra prathamamamarāṇaṃ pitāmaḥ | āvirbhūtāstato vedāḥ sāṅgopaṅgapadakramāḥ || Matsya Purāṇa, 3.2-4

[6]:

putro bhṛgurībhūttadvanna radoḥ-pyacirādabhūt | daśemān mānasānbrahmā-munīn putranajījanat || Ibid., 3.5-8

[7]:

sarasvatyatha gāyatrībrahmāṇī ca paramaṃ tapa | tataḥ svadehasaṃsūtāmātmajāmityakalpayat || Ibid., 3.30-32

[8]:

na reme’tha tato brahmā prabhurekaḥ tapaścaran | śarīrāttaṃ tato bhāryāṃ samutpāditavān śubhām || tapasā tejasā caiva varcasā niyamena ca | sadṛśīmātmano devīṃ samarthāṃ lokasarjane || Ibid.,171.21-22

[9]:

Ibid.,171.32-36

[10]:

Padma Purāṇa, 5.37.79-80

[11]:

saṃkalpaṃ caiva dharmaṃ ca pūrveṣāmapi pūrvajaḥ | agre sasarja vai brahmā mānasānātmanaḥ samān || khyātiḥ prajñā mahābhāgā loke gourīti viśrutā | viśarūpamathā’ryāyāḥ pṛthagdehavi-bhāvanāt || Vāyu Purāṇa, 9.71-87

[12]:

brahmaṇaḥ putrakāmasya dhyātaḥ para meṣṭhinaḥ | prādurbhūtā mahānādā viśvarūpā sarasvatī || Ibid., 23.37-38

[13]:

Brṇ. P.,4.40.5

[14]:

cf., khan.I., Sarasvatī in Sanskrit literature, p. 117