Book Reviewed: River and Goddess Worship in India: Changing Perceptions and Manifestations of Sarasvati, by R.U.S. Prasad

Rigveda: Mother Sarasvati, with the wealth of your knowledge, protect us and further our thoughts

Sarasvati is one of the important deities of Rigveda. She is described as the best mother, best river, and the best goddess. She is invoked with the other gods and goddesses for various blessings at the rituals of Soma Sacrifice. She is metaphorically described as the wealth giver, feeder of choicest things, etc. She is the slayer of demons like Paravatas, like Indra killed demons like Vrtra. According to the following hymn she confers wealth: Rigveda 8.21.17, “Indra or blest Sarasvati alone bestows such wealth, treasure so great, or thou, O Citra, on the worshipper.” Rigveda 7.35.11 says, “May all the fellowship of Gods befriends us, Sarasvati, with Holy Thoughts, be gracious.” Rigveda also describes her as the one who brings the capacity for rational or intelligent thought in this hymn, Rigveda 10.30.12: “For, wealthy waters, ye control all treasures: ye bring auspicious intellect and Amṛta. Ye are the Queens of independent riches Sarasvati give full life to the singer!” Some of the blessings sought during the Soma ritual is described in Shukla and Krishna Yajurveda. For example, in Taittiriya Samhita 29.8, “Bharati with Adityas love our worship! Sarasvati with Rudras be our helper, And Ida in accord, invoked with Vasus! Goddesses - place our rite among the Immortals.”

One of the highlights of this book is the widely discussed location of River Sarasvati as described in Rigveda, other Vedic texts, the Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and Puranas. Different accounts of Sarasvati are narrated in puranas including the course of this river as well as the location of her disappearance. The intermittent nature of the flow purporting up to a stretch of distance followed by her disappearance as an underground channel and then the reappearance down towards the west into the Indian Ocean. The scriptures are interpreted not only with reference to the literature, but also based on the results of the research and the various archaeological and geological studies undertaken so far. Instead of adopting a segmented approach in identifying the Vedic Sarasvati, an integrated approach is used in a holistic manner.

The disappearance of the River Sarasvati is also attributed to the river drying up in stages but continues to flow as a subterranean channel. Some recent studies have attributed the drying up of Sarasvati to a tectonic shift in its catchment area which sizably reduced the flow. But in earlier period around 1900 BCE, the lower reaches of the Sarasvati were crowded with Harappan settlements. This may be the reason why Sarasvati is described as a mighty river in the earliest Vedic text, but in latter Rigvedic hymns, the descriptions allude to the confluence of two rivers, Sarasvati and Sutlej.

The Vedas and the Brahmanas introduce Sarasvati as the River Goddess of speech, and the Puranas complete her as a goddess of learning, fine arts and culture. The Vedas and the Mahabharata emphasizes the sacredness of Sarasvati as a river and catalogues the holy sites of the mighty river. The pilgrimage of Balarama described in Book 9 of Mahabharata suggests the course followed by this river is a sacred and spiritual part of Hindu practices. The Puranas reinforce through legends and folklore. Markandeya Purana describes Sarasvati as the mother of all worlds and the originator of all gods. She is known to have supreme knowledge, undefinable, imperishable, celestial and supreme personality. She symbolizes the concept of Brahman of Upanishads and Vedanta. Sarasvati represents the equality afforded to women in early Hindu scriptures that are not found in Abrahamic faiths.

This is a very readable, engaging and well written book about goddess Sarasvati with extensive study of Vedas, Brahmanas and Puranas.