Sarasvati

Some scholars have wondered why this particular river -- not the Indus or the Ravi -- came to embody inspiration and speech. A few found a simple explanation in the geographical location of the Vedic poets on the banks, with the river gurgling past their ashrams: in sounds, poetically described in the Rig Veda, were soon taken to a metaphorical level. Others observed that right from the beginning the river was praised as an ‘inspirer of hymns,’ which makes the connection with speech natural. Developing this line, Catherine Ludvik, a Canadian Indologist who recently authored a fine study of Sarasvati as a ‘riverine goddess of knowledge,’ highlights the goddess’s constant association with ‘dhi’ { ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥} or inspired thought. Speech and inspiration being the vehicles of knowledge and learning, the river’s transformation is complete -- although not quite: somewhere along the way, Sarasvati became the ‘mother of the Vedas’ and Brahama’s consort (sometimes daughter), added the arts to her field, and entered the pantheons of Buddhism and Jainism: to Jains, Sarasvati is the chief of the sixteen ‘Vidyadevis’ or goddesses of knowledge, and a special festival, ‘Jnana Panchami,’ is dedicated to her. The river-goddess then burst her Indian banks to flow to Southeast Asia as far as China and Japan (she bears the name of ‘Thuyathadi’ in Myanmar, and ‘Benten’ or ‘Benzaiten’ in Japan. ~ Page 36