Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions v5.c53.6

v5.c53.6

Sarasvatī is a goddess of some, though not of very great, importance in the Rig-veda. As observed by Yāska (Nirukta, ii. 23) she is celebrated both as a river and as a deity⁵⁰¹ (*tatra Sarasvatī ity etasya nadīvad devatāvach cha nigamāḥ bhavanti*). As an instance of the former character, he refers to R. V. vi. 61, 2, which I shall quote further on. She was no doubt primarily a river deity, as her name, "the watery,"⁵⁰² clearly denotes, and in this capacity she is celebrated in a few separate passages. Allusion is made in the hymns, as well as in the Brāhmaṇas (*Ṛishayo vai Sarasvatyām̃ satram āsata* | *ityādi* | Ait. Br. ii. 19; Haug, vol. ii. p. 112) to sacrifices being performed on the banks of this river and of the adjoining Dṛishadvatī;⁵⁰³ and the Sarasvatī in particular seems to have been associated with the reputation for sanctity, which, according to the well-known passage in the Institutes of Manu (ii. 17 f., quoted in the 2nd vol. of this work, p. 416 f.), was ascribed to the whole region, called Brahmāvartta, lying between these two small streams, and situated immediately to the westward of the Jumna. The Sarasvatī thus appears to have been to the early Indians what the Ganges (which is only twice named in the Rig-veda) became to their descendants.⁵⁰⁴ Already in R. V. i. 3, 10 (where, however, she is perhaps regarded as the goddess of sacrifice) she is described as "the purifier" (*pāvakā naḥ Sārasvatī*); and in R. V. x. 17, 10 = Vāj. San. 4, 2; A. V. vi. 51, 2 (after Sarasvatī has been mentioned, verses 7–9), the waters are thus celebrated: *Āpo asmān mātaraḥ śundhayantu ghṛitena no ghṛitāpvaḥ punantu* | *viśvam̃ hi ripram pravahanti devīr ud id ābhyaḥ śuchir ā pūtaḥ emi* | "May the Waters, the mothers, cleanse us, may they (the waters) who purify with butter, purify us with butter; for these goddesses bear away defilement; I come up out of them pure and cleansed." When once the river had acquired a divine character, it was quite natural that she should be regarded as the patroness of the ceremonies which were celebrated on the margin of her holy waters, and that her direction and blessing should be invoked as essential to their proper performance and success. The connection into which she was thus brought with sacred rites may have led to the further step of imagining her to have an influence on the composition of the hymns which formed so important a part of the proceedings, and of identifying her with Vāch, the goddess of speech. At least, I have no other explanation to offer of this double character and identification.