Spectrum of Sarasvatī : Śrutadevī: Origin Of The Legend (1)

By examining the genesis of Sarasvatī we come to know that the manifestation of goddess is rooted deep in tradition and corpus of literature.

'The bow-shaped harp is attested from the second century bee, the lute from the early centuries CE, and the stick-zither from the sixth century CE' [Ludvik: 227].

The Mārakaṇḍeya Purāṇa (C. 5th cent. CE), the Matsya (C. 6th cent.), the Vayu (C. 5th cent) and the Viṣṇudharmottara (C. 7th cent.) Purāṇas mention Sarasvatī. References also come from the Aitareya, Kauśītakī, and Śatapata Brāhmaṇas.

[35] Sittanvāsal Cave ceiling, 7th Century, Tamil Naḍu

In the post-Vedic period, the Matsya Purāṇa while mentioning Sarasvatī-vrata gives an "iconographic description of the four armed goddess carrying vīṇā, rosary, water pot, and book" [Ludvick 128]. The Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa, analogous with the Matsya, describe four-armed Brahmāṇī holding only akṣa-sūtra, the rosary, and kamaṇḍalu, water pot, containing immortal nectar of all scriptures.

[36 ] Brahmā Śaktī, Khajurāho Haṁsa, '(white) goose', is primarily Brahmā's mount and his chariot is drawn by seven geese. Later haṁsa was assigned to Brahmāṇī and Sarasvatī. As an example of exception, Sarasvatī is also depicted with ram as her mount. The choice of haṁsa is symbolic in the sense that it dwells in lakes and also it is the mount of her spouse. Besides it is compared to ātman, and is believed to possess skill to separate milk from water. This latter skill is frequently referred as the haṁsībhāva.   In the recent decade a peculiar but debatable suggestion has come. Brahma and Sarasvatī were Jewish prophets and India's sacred texts were begun and influenced by Jewish prophets. This untenable suggestion is also enjoined with the names of Abraham and Sarah to be considered as variants of Brahma and Sarasvatī. The author of this monograph does not subscribe to this view.