Devi Saraswati

Sarasvati mahābhāge vidye kamalalocane .
vidyārūpe viśālākṣi vidyāṃ dehi namostute ..

(O Devi Saraswati, the most auspicious goddess of knowledge with lotus-like eyes, an embodiment of knowledge with large eyes, kindly bless me with knowledge. I salute you)

After a brief spell of winter, spring casts its magic and Goddess Saraswati is invoked on the auspicious day of Basanta Panchami. Young girls in most Bengali households suddenly discover themselves in their new feminine avatar as they drape their yellow sarees and piously offer prayers to Devi Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. She is worshipped in the familiar form of the deity with lotus-like eyes (kamalalochane) and is an embodiment of knowledge. But if we delve deeper beyond the familiar territory or the qualities we associate with the Goddess, we will discover a spiritual concept of the Goddess that embodies knowledge, arts, music, melody, muse, language, rhetoric, eloquence, creative work and anything whose flow purifies the essence and self of a person.

Devi Saraswati’s invocation on the day of  Basanta Panchami is a very ancient practice. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in the Rigveda. She is a part of the ‘Tridevi of Saraswati,’ along with Lakshmi and Parvati and has remained significant as a goddess from the Vedic period through modern times. She has repeatedly manifested herself in our way of life, in the creation of riverine civilization, in the sublimation of the first sound of the Vedic sage, in the unveiling of the eternal truth of feminine power. Saraswati symbolizes creative energy and is an important figure for what she represents (knowledge and wisdom), and how she appears (calm and in her own world). It is astonishing that the Rig Vedic Goddess Saraswati has the same significance today in the 21st century and is worshipped with equal fervor and piety in not only Bengal or India but in other countries in Southeast Asia, aka Jambudweepa (this is a name often used to describe the territory of Greater India in Ancient Indian sources. The term is based on the concept of dvīpa, meaning “island” or “continent” in Ancient Indian cosmogony). 

Goddess Saraswati also known as Bak Devi, the goddess of speech is worshipped annually on the auspicious day of Basanta Panchami in India, and is worshipped twice a year in the Indonesian province of Bali as the Goddess of Knowledge. Goddess Saraswati is a household deity in every Balinese home and is revered by all. She is offered prayers not only as the Goddess of Learning but venerated as the grain-producing Goddess of Agriculture, Sri, and she is exalted as the preserver of life and civilization on earth. That is why Saraswati Day is a very important occasion for the people of Bali, Indonesia. 

In 2017, I had the opportunity to visit the upland town of Ubud in Greater Denpasar, Bali and I was pleasantly surprised and overjoyed to observe locals celebrating Saraswati Day with great enthusiasm. Later, when I studied in-depth and researched on the subject, I discovered this Saradeshwari Saraswati is:

Ambitamay naditamay devitamay Saraswati

Aprashsta eeba smasmi prashastimalva naskridhi (Rig Veda; 2/41/16)

(Among Goddesses, among Mothers and among Rivers – Saraswati is Supreme)

Saraswati has been praised by sages from the time of Rig Veda who extols her virtues as the one who is highest in the hierarchy among Mothers, the foremost among rivers and premier among Devis (Goddesses). The ascetics appeal to the deity and confess, “We are living amid misery, please end our sufferings and show us the path to salvation.” 

Saraswati Devi is revered not only as Bak Devi or as the River Goddess in Bali but encompasses a gamut of divine implications. In order to understand these connotations, we have to delve deeper into our ancient scriptures from the Vedas to the Puranas to our classical literature to get to the core of the guiding principles behind the worship of Goddess Saraswati. The root of this divinity lies in the very essence of our own Vedic-mythological-classical soil. And if we skip this rich source, we will not be able to understand the tradition of worship in a far-off land or relate to the series of events that led a country, located 9,000 km away from India and 8, 894 km away from Kolkata to imbibe the cult of the worship of Goddess Saraswati as Gnyan Divas (Knowledge Day) and Heritage Day. 

At the beginning of the Vedic Age or ‘Adi’ (early) Vedic period, Devi Saraswati was worshipped in unison with two other goddesses — Ira and Bharati. With the hymn “Tiswo Devi Barhirredang Sadantira Saraswati Bharati” the sages invoke Ira, Bharati and Saraswati to grace the yajna. Later, these three goddesses merged into one and that is how the one who is Bharati came to be identified as Saraswati. There are many verses in the Vedas that explain this symbolic unanimity of the identity of Bharati and Saraswati. In Vedic literature, Saraswati is known by many names. Bharat or Bharati denotes the ‘Sun’ so many scholars interpret the triumvirate (Tri-Devis) as ‘Fire’ and some prefer to interpret her as manifestation of Sun. 

According to Acharya Jogesh Chandra Roy, the three goddesses are fire-forms of three seasons of Yajna – Ira is the ‘Agni’ (fire) of all yajnas performed during monsoons, Bharati is the fire form of yajnas held during autumn and Saraswati is the yajna fire during winter. Just as the Sun God (Suryadev) manifests Himself in different seasons with variations in the intensity of glow and energy, Goddess Saraswati evinces Herself in myriad forms that include speech, sound, colour, tone, sky, air, water, earth, space and everything in between. Her manifestations encompass the entire universe and are known by various names including Brahmani (power of Brahma), Brahmi (goddess of sciences), Bharadi (goddess of history), Vani and Vachi (both referring to the flow of music/song, melodious speech, eloquent speaking respectively), Varnesvari (goddess of letters), Kavijihvagravasini (one who dwells on the tongue of poets).  Goddess Saraswati is also known as Vidyadatri (Goddess who provides knowledge), Veenavadini (Goddess who plays the Veena, the musical instrument held by Goddess Saraswati), Pustakdharini (Goddess who carries a book), Veenapani (Goddess who carries a veena), Hansavahini (Goddess who sits on swan) and Bakdevi (Goddess of speech). In some interpretations, ‘Sara’ is translated as ‘Essence,’ and ‘Sva’ is translated to ‘Self.’ Thus, the name Saraswati would translate to “She who helps realize the essence of self or She who reconciles the essence (of Parabrahman) with one’s self.”

In the Vedas, Saraswati is described as the holy Yajna and at the same time, she is also hailed as Annapurna (the giver of food and nourishment). That is why the Vedic sages have prayed for the welfare of all with the hymn: 

Pabkahnah Saraswati Bajevirbajinibati/Yajnah bastu dhiyabasuh

Revered scholar Ramesh Chandra Dutta translated the sloka thus: ‘O holy entity, the giver of food and nourishment (Anna, that is, food or grains and pūrṇa meaning full, complete and perfect, being spiritual perfection rather than food), the source of knowledge and light (Yajna fire), please enlighten us and satiate our yearning for spiritual knowledge.’ Saraswati, the Goddess of enlightenment, music, art, wisdom, and nature, represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness. She is the mother of the Vedas. Poet Biharilal Chakraborty wrote in his poem Saradamangal:

Sahosha lolatbhagay/ Jyotirmoyee Kanya jaagay/ Jagilo bijoli jeno neelnaboghanay

(Suddenly on the forehead, a radiant feminine figure appeared and it was akin to an instantaneous lightning bolt across a clear blue sky)

Goddess Saraswati is not only the embodiment of immortal wisdom and arts, she is Annapurna, the giver of sustenance (food for nourishment and knowledge for spiritual sustenance), ‘Aishwarya pradayani’, (provider of wealth), Lakshmi-rupini (goddess of wealth and prosperity). In the Vedas, she is addressed as ‘Rognivaran karini’ (one who cures all diseases),
Visakacharya (the presiding deity of all yajna). She is introduced as 

Vachasarasvati vishagindrayendriyasi dadhatah

Saraswati is also presented as Goddess of Healing (physician or ‘Vaidya’), the curer of all physical and mental ailments. In the 11th century, Somdeva writes in ‘Kathasarita Sagar’ the women of Pataliputra used Saraswati medicine to treat the sick. This goddess of knowledge, science and arts was most revered as the river goddess in early texts like Rig Veda where she was the personification of the Sarasvati River and a symbol of purity. She has sometimes been referred to as ‘Panchanadimatrika’ and sometimes as ‘Annadatri’ (the nourisher), who provides sustenance for the living world. Symbolically, Saraswati is the River of Consciousness that enlivens creation. 

In ancient days, there were many famous pilgrimage sites on the banks of the Saraswati River. Saraswati is mentioned as Bagdevi (the Goddess of Speech), Brahmapatni (wife of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe) and Danava-dalani (annihilator of asuras) in the Vedas. She killed Vritrasura and other mythical shape-changing (assume a different shape or form) magical monsters and she is an exterminator who eliminates blasphemers of gods (atheists). In this context, we can connect with the section of the sacred book Chandi, where Goddess Maha Saraswati is worshipped as the executioner of Asuras (demons). 

We come across descriptions of the different forms of that threefold energy (tridevi) of Goddess Saraswati in the Vedas, Puranas and Tantra shastras (scripture or worship of Shiva-Shakti). Saraswati is revered not only by Hindus but also by Buddhists and Jains as the emblem of purity and source of all knowledge. She is sometimes depicted with a Hansa (either a swan or a goose) as her vehicle (vahana) and sometimes a Mayura (peacock) is shown beside the goddess. The celestial being is always draped in pristine white clothes but when she is represented in crimson colour she is referred to as Varneshwari (Goddess of letters). In the scriptures, she is mentioned as Sarada, a manifestation of the Supreme Truth and is depicted in the forms of Varnajanani (Mother of Varna or letters), Pancha-anani, Dashabhuja and she is the very manifestation of knowledge and arts. 

She blesses devotees with spiritual wisdom and is the presiding deity of all art. In the Saraswati Purana in the later Vedic Age, she is generally shown to have four arms. She is resplendent like gold. She is shown holding a book, a rosary, a water pot and a musical instrument, Veena. At some point in the Shukla-Yajurveda, the ritual of sacrificing sheep to the goddess is mentioned in the Saraswat Sutra. Dr Nihar Ranjan Roy, in his book, ‘Bangalir Itihas,’  has written: “In many parts of Bengal, the tradition of sacrificing sheep or organizing sheep fight on the day of Saraswati Puja is a common practice.” It is not known how much of that custom still prevails, but wearing yellow or saffron-coloured clothes on the occasion of worshipping Varneshwari Bageshwari is followed fervently. 

The worship of Goddess Saraswati in the province of Bali is a homogeneous mixture of Vedic, Puranic, modern Tantric and Shastrik rituals. In Bali, Saraswati Day, also known as Day of Knowledge, is celebrated after every 210 days and involves following traditional rites and rituals, yajna and sacrifice. The day is celebrated by making offerings and praying at home, in temples, schools and offices. There is this ritual of making colourful ‘Shree’ (a type of colourful sweetmeat made on the occasion of some auspicious function) and other offerings to the goddess. Cultural and spiritual programmes are held for several days. Four days after Saraswati Day, the festival of Pageswari or Bageshwari is celebrated.  

‘Adi Saraswati’ or Lontar (ancient palm leaf manuscripts) is considered sacred in Bali in the same way as we revere the Bhagwad Gita and the Saraswati idol in Bali are depicted with a lonter held in one of her hands. The people of Bali believe that the book of palm leaves contains advice or admonitions for the devotees and is a compilation of all aspirations of human life, knowledge, science, art, the path to spiritual life and salvation. So, Saraswati Lontar or Tutūr Aji Śaraśwatī is venerated throughout the country. The book is preserved in temples, museums, homes with utmost respect and reverence. The elders of the house read the holy book while other members of the family, young and old, gather around the reader to listen. Saraswati is worshipped in all schools, colleges and offices. All books, notebooks, musical instruments, and other things associated with this scripture are placed before the idol or photograph of Saraswati.

To pay tribute to the sacred day, the Balinese offer their holy texts, books, and any sources of knowledge and learning through ‘padanda’ or priests, as they are called in the Balinese language, seeking blessings from the Mother Goddess. Nobody is allowed to touch the offerings made before the idol on that day. In the evening, the family sits together and reads the holy text, Tutūr Aji Śaraśwatī. In  Bali, Goddess Saraswati is invoked through traditional Balinese art performances including mask dances, music and reading poetry. At the invocation of Saraswati, various mask dances and other cultural programs are performed. The most prominent puja and ceremony are held at a village named Pura Madhya or Pura Medya in Pelintan, two kilometres away from Ubud town, which is a village of dancers and performers. The etymological meaning of Saraswati in Balinese can be explained as follows – 

‘Sar’ means weapon, ‘swa’ or soya means line or streak, and ‘ti’ means behaviour. That is to say, the glorious Goddess Saraswati indicates the righteous path for human beings to follow and she dispels darkness and ignorance with the weapon of knowledge and leads the path to salvation. Saraswati, who is worshipped as the warrior goddess in the Vedas, eliminates the darkness of the human mind and replaces it with pure wisdom. She embodies all that is pure and sublime in Nature.

The Annapurna form of Goddess Saraswati has been very intricately associated with agriculture and allied activities at Bali. Devi Saraswati as we know, was initially a river goddess and was the personification of the Saraswati River (‘Naditamay), which is a symbol of purity. As ‘Shri’ or Vidhyalakshmi, she is the goddess of wealth and prosperity. The agrarian society of Bali took the Saraswati worship to a spiritual level by merging the twin identities of the goddess and introduced the deity in the midst of their lush green paddy fields in the form of a unique water management system for rice fields called ‘Subak’. The flow of the Saraswati river is considered to be the blessing of the goddess, so great care is taken to ensure all agricultural lands are equally nourished by streams flowing from mountainous provinces.

Life in the Subak revolves around the Pura, a temple specially built by farmers to worship Goddess Sri. Every rice field has a shrine, every subak a temple, and up to 15 blessing ceremonies are held per season to ensure a good harvest. The uniqueness of the subak is that it is not based on maximum efficiency but on principle, namely Tri Hati Karana, a harmonious relationship between people, God, and their environment. People from abroad come to see the ‘subak’ irrigation system. The name ‘Subak’ resonates with the goddess’ corresponding name, Bak or Bageshwari (Bak in Sanskrit means speech, voice, talk, or language). The worship of Saraswati is, therefore, vital and integral part of Bali’s ancient tradition. People associate myriad facets of life with the Saraswati cult.

There are a number of rituals held during Knowledge Day at Bali –. Mitinin is a spiritual test, Makas is a purification ceremony, Melasti is the internal and external cleansing of the devotee by bathing in the river/ sea. On this day, Hindus of Bali go to the sea, sacred waterfalls or river spots, offer prayers to Saraswati, and then rinse themselves in that water. Locals, dressed in new clothes and decked with ornaments made of flowers, take out a mega procession. The ceremonious march is somewhat akin to the procession at Kullu in Himachal Pradesh where hundreds of Gods and Goddesses decked up in their finery coverage with their retinue for week-long festivity at Dhalpur grounds during Dussehra. In Bali, ordinary people, dressed in new clothes and flower ornaments, carry a beautiful throne or palanquin on their shoulders and visit the nearby sea in a beautiful procession. There they take bath and pray. This is a very significant ritual and is known as Nyangsung or Nyungsung. 

Participants carry colourful flags, perform Barong dance (a traditional Balinese and Javanese dance that depicts the battle between virtue and evil with barong as a symbol of virtue) and chant hymns during the journey. Four days after Saraswati comes Pagerwesi. Pagerwesi (or iron fence) is the day when the Balinese strengthen their minds and souls against evil forces (the iron fence is a representation of strong self-preservation). On this day, the Balinese focus on personal strength building. They do this to make sure that evil will not enter their mind, speech and actions so they don’t harm their surroundings. Balinese spend the day reading the scriptures and other holy books and meditating. 

In the mask dance performed on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, a male dancer essays the role of Lord Shiva and another actor plays the role of Uma or Durga. In another masked dance form called Topeng, one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives concerning fabled kings, heroes and myths and describe how all the letters/characters were created by Mother Saraswati. Another unique set of characters named ‘Siddhakarya’ is also an integral part of this festival. They sing and recite simultaneously extolling the transcendental powers of Saraswati as Brahmani and attempt to enlighten the audience and make spiritual connections between our worldly affairs and the supernatural world.

Not only has an entire gamut of ceremonial rituals, dances, songs etc. has developed around the cult of Devi Saraswati, but also an amazing and distinct food style has emerged over the years. The Hindus of Bali believe in the power of nectar. They believe to find eternal truth, one has to look for nectar. In Balinese, it is called ‘Amrita,’ the nectar that emerged during Samudra Manthan, or the churning of the ocean. The dance drama depicting this episode features a dalang, or puppeteer, who is the central figure in this performance and is revered in Balinese society as a teacher and priest.. Before the beginning of the performance, he offers prayers to Saraswati with the hymn —  “Saraswati Swaha Gyanam, Pragya Nyaya” —  probably not in the correct Vedic or Sanskrit diction, but the prayer resonates with piety and reverence paid to Goddess Saraswati.

The women of the villages get together to make beautiful, multi-coloured ‘Sri’ with rice flour pulp. The aesthetically made meter-long ‘Sri’ by the women of Banjar Tenga village reflects the subtle relationship between Gods and human beings. The sculpted ‘Sri’ is seen as a replica of Gunung Agung, Bali’s holiest and highest mountain.

Different kinds of exhibitions and programmes are held to highlight and display a wide variety of art, agricultural rites and rituals and educational items. Balinese girls drape yellow dresses on that day and adorn their crowns with exquisite headgears made of flowers. They organize their offerings to the goddess on small bamboo baskets and place them before the deity in a temple or a photograph of the Goddess at home, along with lighted candles and incense sticks. The sound of the ‘Om’ mantra reverberates in the air. I shall end this discussion by mentioning Indonesia’s contribution to the age-old Saraswati cult by building a fabulous temple dedicated to the goddess in its own land and introducing the goddess of learning, Mother Saraswati to the world.  

Pura Taman Saraswati, officially Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati, also known as the Ubud Water Palace, is a world-renowned Balinese Hindu temple in Ubud. The pura is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. It is also called the Water Garden. The entire temple is decorated with various water bodies in homage to the river-like form of Goddess Saraswati. Pura Taman Saraswati is notable for its lotus pond. The atmosphere of the temple is extremely pleasant and emanates spiritual vibes. The soft strain of Gamelan fills the surroundings and tranquillity reigns. The beautiful shrine is adorned with charming wood carved painted Barang masks and all-around wildflowers and fruits grown in abundance. On Saraswati Day, the temple precincts are filled with devout Balinese offering prayers to the Goddess of Knowledge.

Not only in Bali but also in the Hindu temple of Pura Agung Jagat Karana at Surabaya, I came across a wonderful idol of Saraswati. She has both a swan and a peacock as her vehicles (Vahana). The magnificent idol with four hands sits on a huge fully blossomed lotus, who seems to be dispelling darkness with the light of knowledge.

It is generally said that Bengalis have more festivals in a year that the 12 months that make a year. We consider Saraswati Devi as a major deity, but have we ever considered gifting an idol of the goddess to someone in Washington D.C? The Indonesian government gifted a beautiful 16-foot-tall Saraswati statue to the US in 2013. It is surprising to note that when a country with the highest Muslim population in the world decides to gift something as a token of its illustrious heritage, it zeroes in on presenting a much-revered Hindu goddess. A country with only 3 per cent Hindus, proudly establishes the goddess of knowledge as its legacy. If you walk along the road in Washington DC with the flags of all the countries, you will come across a beautiful statue of Saraswati in front of the Indonesian Embassy. The Indian embassy is a stone’s throw away. There is a statue of Gandhiji there. This Saraswati idol is simply mesmerizing.

References:

• Secret Bali: behind the tourist facade by Jill Gocher
• Real Bali: temple, palaces, museums and nature by Kartika D Suradana
• হিন্দুদের দেবদেবী: উদ্ভব ও ক্রমবিকাশ – Hanghsha Narayan  Bhattacharya
• Saraswati in Bali: A Temple, A Museum, and a Mask by Ron Jenkins