Identity of Sarasvati

Sarasvati in the Rg Veda

Sarasvati is mentioned in the following verses of Rg Veda:

Rg Veda:

1-3-10 to 12 : 10 - bestower of food, 11 – Goddess, 12 – river (maho arNaH)

1-13-9 – Apri Sarasvati, Ila, Mahi

1-89-3 – mentioned with many deities

1-142-9 – Apri Ila, Sarasvati, Mahi

1-164-49 – breast of Sarasvati – suits the river

1-188-8 – Bharati, Ila, Sarasvati Apri

2-1-11 – Agni is praised as Bharati, Indra, Sarasvati etc.

2-3-8 – Apri Sarasvati , Ila, Bharati

2-30-8 – Sarasvati kills foes

2-32-8 – Sarasvati along with Sinivali, Indrani etc

2-41-16 to 18 – 16- best of mothers, rivers, Goddesses

3-4-8 – Bharati, Ila, Sarasvati Apri

3-23-4 – banks of Drishadvati, Sarasvati and Apaya (perhaps a confluence), MAnusha, 

IlAyAspada, Vara A PrithivyA (all the three referring to the Kurukshetra region)

3-54-13 – Sarasvati and Maruts

5-5-8 – IlA, SarasvatI, MahI Apri

5-42-12 – SarasvatI with other deities

5-43-11 – SarasvatI descends from mountains and sky : a reference to the sources of river being mountains and rain

5-46-2 – SarasvatI with other deities

6-49-7 – SarasvatI as vIra patnI gives boons

6-50-12 – SarasvatI with other deities

6-52-6 – SarasvatI swells with rivers

6-61-1 - gave Divodasa to VadhrayaSva, 2-breaking the mountains, banks etc, 8 – great flood of the river, roaring river, 9-sister rivers, 10-seven sisters, 12- three sources/ three worlds, seven sistered, 13- greatest among rivers and huge like chariot, 14- don’t overwhelm with waters

7-2-8 – SarasvatI (along with Her daughters SArasvatAs/rivers see 7.36.6), IlA, BhAratI Apri

7-9-5 – SarasvatI with other deities

7-35-11 – SarasvatI with other deities

7-36-6 – great river, mother of rivers

7-39-5 – SarasvatI with other deities

7-40-3 – SarasvatI with other deities

7-95-1 – greater than other rivers, like a chariot, 2 – flows from mountain to ocean

7-96-1 - Sarasvati is the greatest river, 2 – Purus dwell on Her two banks.

8-21-17, 18 – 17 – Only Sarasvati or Indra may give such gifts as Chitra, 18 – Along the banks of Sarasvati live King Chitra and other small chieftains

8-38-10 – Indra and Agni are referred as companions of Sarasvati

8-54-4 (a VAlakhilya hymn which is a late interpolation) – Sarasvati and the seven streams are mentioned together.

9-5-8 – Apri BhAratI, SarasvatI, IlA

9-67-32 – SarasvatI provides milk, honey etc to those who recite/read the hymn

9-81-4 – SarasvatI with other deities

10-17-7 to 9 – SarasvatI as Goddess who gives food (could refer to her waters which help grow  crops)

10-30-12 – SarasvatI is identified as a water deity

10-64-9 – SarasvatI, Sarayu and Sindhu are mentioned

10-65-1 – SarasvatI with other deities

10-65-13 – SarasvatI is mentioned. It can be taken to represent river or Goddess.

10-75-5 – SarasvatI is identified as a river between YamunA and Sutlej.

10-110-8 – BharatI, IlA, SarasvatI Apri

10-131-5 – SarasvatI with other deities

10-141-5 – SarasvatI with other deities

10-184-2 – SarasvatI is asked to place womb.

In the Rg Veda, SarasvatI is a prominent Goddess. She is identified as a deity of intellect, speech, wealth and most importantly as a river. Among the rivers, only SarasvatI has been so greatly deified in the Rg Veda. The first question is this: what is the original identification of SarasvatI – river or Goddess? If SarasvatI was originally a Goddess, why is it that SarasvatI alone was made a river? There is no answer to the second question. But if SarasvatI was originally a river, we can explain as to why She alone was made a Goddess. Rg Veda is the book of Puru Bharatas. Purus lived on the banks of SarasvatI (7-96-1). Nowhere in the Rg Veda are the Purus connected with any other river as they are connected with SarasvatI. That river was the life giver of their country and that was why She was highly deified.

Next, we come to the identification of river SarasvatI on the terra firma. Some people wish to banish the river to the night sky. But certain verses of the Rg Veda make it very clear that SarasvatI is a terrestrial river (e.g.) Purus did not live in the night sky but on earth. Now, we have to identify the river which corresponds with the Rg Vedic SarasvatI. The Nadi Stuti hymn makes it clear that SarasvatI lies between Yamuna and Sutlej. This corresponds to the present SarasvatI-Ghagghar-Hakra.

Certain ‘scholars’ try to identify the Rg Vedic SarasvatI with Helmand (Harahvati in Avestan) of Afghanistan. But this identification is a mere speculation which is baseless. Nowhere in the Rg Veda is SarasvatI mentioned as a river to the west of Indus. DrishadvatI and Apaya are tributaries of Rg Vedic SarasvatI (3.23.4) and this does not suit Helmand. 7.95.2 makes it very clear that SarasvatI flowed from the mountains to the sea/ocean. This does not suit Helmand. For those people who claim that Vedic Aryans did not know about sea, my answer is: please use some common sense (If the Aryans did migrate into India from Central Asia, they were great wanderers and hence, they would have come to know about the sea when they entered Indus valley.). Rg Veda identifies SarasvatI as the greatest of the rivers (6-61-13) and is also called as having seven sisters. Thus Sarasvati was the greatest river of the Saptasindhu-Haryana region during the period of Family Mandalas. Later, she lost her prominence and Indus became the greatest river (in Mandala 10). All these details point towards the Ghagghar-Hakra. It has been proved that Ghagghar-Hakra was a very mighty river in the past before its desiccation. Helmand can never be compared with the glacier fed rivers of Punjab and thus the Rg Vedic seer would not have called Helmand as the greatest river. Finally, every river name in the Rg Veda refers only to one river. Being so, there is no reason why SarasvatI alone must refer to more than one river. There is nothing in the Rg Veda which identifies SarasvatI with any Afghan river let alone Helmand. It is clearly placed between Yamuna and Sutlej in the Haryana region.

If we consider Helmand as Sarasvati, the following questions arise:

Were the Rg Veda and Avesta composed in the same region (Afghanistan)? The answer will be ‘no’. Then, how is it that the Vedic people and Iranians referred to the same river in their hymns. If the ‘scholars’ claim that Vedic people lived on the banks of Helmand and that they later migrated to India while the Iranians migrated to Helmand, even then how is it that both the tribes gave the same name to the same river. Also, is there any direct evidence in Rg Veda or later Samhitas for any such migration from Afghanistan (which must have occurred during their composition, if the ‘scholars’ are right in their speculation)? Does the Rg Veda identify SarasvatI with Afghan Helmand in any manner? Is the river mentioned alongside any Afghan animal/flora/fauna or is it placed west of Indus? The answer for all the above questions will be an emphatic ‘no’. Being so, it is entirely ridiculous to postulate an ‘Afghan Sarasvati’ theory.

Finally, we know that Vendidad lists Saptasindu as one of the places in which the Iranians previously lived. Hence, it is highly probable that they took the name ‘sarasvatI’ from Punjab to Afghanistan. ‘HarahvatI’ is a phonetic corruption of ‘SarasvatI’ and not the other way around.

Later texts like Panchavimsa Brahmana, Mahabharata etc speak about SarasvatI disappearing in the desert. Rg Veda speaks about Sarasvati as a river reaching the sea. Later texts record that SarasvatI is lost in the desert. Therefore, we can say for sure that the Vedic SarasvatI is Ghagghar-Hakra. Helmand does not satisfy any of the characteristics mentioned above. Moreover, Rg Veda identifies Drishadvati and Apaya as tributaries of SarasvatI. Also, IlAyAspada (Kurukshetra) is identified as the region in which SarasvatI flows. All the above points clearly identify Ghagghar-Hakra as Vedic SarasvatI.

Thus we conclude that:

• SarasvatI was essentially a river Goddess who was given a high place among the Vedic deities.
  
• SarasvatI is not merely a heavenly river but it is a river firmly established on the terra-firma.
  
• SarasvatI-Ghagghar-Hakra constitutes of the ancient course of the Vedic SarasvatI.
  
• Helmand cannot be identified with the Vedic SarasvatI. The name of the Afghan river must have been derived from the Indian SarasvatI.