Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study c8.19

c8.19

Goddess Sarasvatī has been conceived as an incarnation or the presiding deity of fine arts, music, painting and sculptures, nay of all learning or *vidyā*. In Vedic literature we find that the goddess has been mentioned in different forms and names. Sometimes she has been called the blazing fire or the glowing ray of the sun, as the vajra (‘Sarasvatī tad-dvitīyam vajra-rūpam’), or the river, etc. In fact, the goddess Sarasvatī is a Vedic deity and her worship was prevalent in the Vedic society. In the Rgveda we find that the minor sacrifices were known as *prayāja*. Eleven *prayājas* were used in the animal sacrifices (*paśu-yāga*) and those eleven *prayājas* were dedicated to eleven deities. The *mantras*, which were chanted in the names of those gods, were known as the *āprimantras*, and those eleven gods were also designated as *Āpridevatās* and their names were: Iḍā, tvaṣṭā, triat gods (Iḍā, Bhāratī, Sarasvatī), Usasanakta, Tanunapāt, Daivya-hotāra, Nāras’aṃśa, Valih, Vanaspati, and Svāhākṛti. The 110th sūtra of 10th maṇḍala of the Ṛgveda was known as the āpri-sūkta and its eighth Ṛk or stanza was also known by the three deities, Iḍā, Bhāratī and Sarasvatī. The Ṛk verse runs thus :