Brigit and Sarasvati (2)
Sarasvati and Ritual Drink continued
In the Vedas, the Sautramani rite is dedicated to Sarasvati as well as to the good protector, Indra and the Ashvins. The nature of the rite is an oblation of sura, a drink which was made from various plant extracts and which was a more common drink than soma, although partially forbidden. The rite was made for the benefit of a man who has been 'purged by excess' in drinking too much soma. (8)
The Three Sarasvatis
Sarasvati sometimes appears in a group of three goddesses. In the Atharva Veda a charm for ants as an antidote against poison declares:
The gods have given, the sun has given, the earth has given, the three Sarasvatis, of one mind, have given this poison-destroying remedy! (9)
And in the Rig Veda she is associated with Ila and Mahi or Bharati as one of the three goddesses who are present at the sacrifice. They "give birth to bliss and stumble not" (into pitfalls and error):
May Bharati (10) come speeding to our sacrifice and Ila hither awakening our consciousness (or knowledge or perceptions) in human wise, and Saraswati, - three goddesses sit on this blissful seat, doing well the Work. (11)
Sarasvati and the Sacred Word
Although Sarasvati is primarily a goddess of the greatest of all rivers in the Rig Veda with all the associations of water - nourishment, fertility, cleansing, wealth and prosperity - she is also described as the one who inspires songs, right thinking and an awareness of the truth. Sri Aurobindo translates the relevant verses of the hymn in this way:
May purifying Saraswati with all the plenitude of her forms of plenty, rich in substance by the thought, desire our sacrifice.
She, the impeller to happy truths, the awakener in consciousness to right mentalisings, Saraswati, upholds the sacrifice.
Saraswati by the perception awakens in consciousness the great flood (the vast movement of the ritam) and illumines entirely all the thoughts. (12)
In this is the seed of her later role as goddess of learning, inspiration and eloquence. How did she progress from being a divine river to become a culture goddess? Some commentators have suggested that she made the transition because of the sacred Vedic rituals which were held on the banks of the great Sarasvati river - sacred speech being a vital component of these rituals. In fact it seems that the waters were equated with sacred speech as well as with healing. The Rig Veda 10, 89, 4 says "To Indra I send the hymns of praise, the waters which flow restlessly from the bottom of the ocean." A hymn spoken by Speech (which we will look at later) says that her "womb is the waters, within the ocean". So, what effectively nurtures and nourishes speech, as well as bringing it to birth, are the waters.
In Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition David Kinsley mentions that in all three Indian religions rivers represent the idea of crossing from a place of ignorance to one of enlightenment. The river is a place of transition where the seeker, on his spiritual quest, is purified by the waters, dies to his old self and is reborn. Although this imagery is not used in connection with Sarasvati, it may have been implicit and led to her later association with wisdom, particularly in its spiritual aspect. (13)
Sri Aurobindo translates Sarasvati as "she of the stream, the flowing movement" (others translate it simply as 'flowing'), a name which could therefore describe not only a river but also speech and inspiration. The Sanskrit word ribh or rebh has a range of meanings including to murmur like a stream, to sound in general, to chatter, babble, to talk or speak aloud, to shout with joy, to rejoice, to praise, glorify, or worship - demonstrating precisely the association of ideas which are also connected to Sarasvati. In the English language too, speech, eloquence and inspiration are often described metaphorically in terms of water. We can be 'fluent' in a foreign language or give a 'flowing' speech, sometimes the inspiration 'flows', sometimes not... Some of us may 'gush' like a stream or jet of water, or 'babble' like a brook and many of us 'thirst' for knowledge.
Sarasvati and Vac
By the time of the Brahmanas (composed around 900 BCE) Sarasvati became identified with Vac, the goddess of speech. In the Rig Veda, Vac or Speech is of major importance. A hymn spoken by her is particularly beautiful:
I move with the Rudras, with the Vasus, with the Adityas and all the gods. I carry both Mitra and Varuna, both Indra and Agni, and both of the Asvins.
I carry the swelling Soma, and Tvastr and Pusan and Bhaga. I bestow wealth on the pious sacrificer who presses the Soma and offers the oblation.
I am the queen, the confluence of riches, the skilful one who is first among those worthy of the sacrifice. The gods divided me up into various parts, for I dwell in many places and enter into many forms.
The one who eats food, who truly sees, who breathes, who hears what is said, does so through me. Though they do not realise it, they dwell in me. Listen, you whom they have heard: what I tell you should be heeded.
I am the one who says, by myself, what gives joy to gods and men. Whom I love I make awesome; I make him a sage, a wise man, a Brahmin.
I stretch the bow for Rudra so that his arrow will strike down the hater of prayer. I incite the contest among the people. I have pervaded sky and earth.
I gave birth to the father on the head of this world. My womb is the waters, within the ocean. From there I spread out over all creatures and touch the very sky with the crown of my head.
I am the one who blows like the wind, embracing all creatures. Beyond the sky, beyond this earth, so much have I become in my greatness.
(trans. Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty) (14)
It also gives us an active vision of the importance of Speech and of sacred sound. She is all-pervasive; she moves with and upholds the gods and carries the divine drink of vision and immortality. Through her the rituals that open the world of the gods are maintained. It is she who enables human beings to perceive, to hear, to breathe - even to eat. In other words she makes us truly alive. She is able to raise up and honour those whom she favours, she gives human beings wisdom and the poetic and visionary insight of the great sages, the rishis. On a more mundane level, in Hymn 10.71 she is also credited with being the means by which friends are able to recognise their friendship, thus like-minded people are able to find each other and share their understanding of the world.
However, the same hymn also states that speech does not reveal herself to everyone for: One who looked did not see speech, and another who listens does not hear it. It reveals itself to someone as a loving wife, beautifully dressed, reveals her body to her husband. (15)
The Creative Power of Sound
Like virtually all Vedic deities, Vac is nourishing and benign. She is described as a heavenly cow that sustains both gods and men. She is also said to be a mother for by naming things she brings them into being.
