Holy waters of the ancestral homeland of mankind

5.27. O divine Hotaras, praise with the tongue of Agni our rite, directed upward. Praise for the sake of a successful sacrifice! Let the three goddesses sit upon this sacrificial straw: Ida, Sarasvati, the great Bharati, the sung one!

7.1. Thy breast, inexhaustible, sustaining, benevolent, easily invoked, beautifully bestowing, whereby thou bestowest the best boons in abundance—O Sarasvati, let me cling to it here!

The Rig Veda mentions the goddess Sarasvati numerous times:

1.13.9. Ida, Sarasvati, and Mahi—the three goddesses who bring joy—may they sit on the sacrificial straw, undefeated!

1.89.3. To them we turn with the usual invocation. To Bhaga, Mitra, Aditi, the unerring Daksha, Aryaman, Varuna, Soma, and the Ashvins. May Sarasvati, the auspicious one, create happiness for us!

1.142.9. Pure one, placed among the Hotra gods, Bharati among the Maruts—may Ida, Sarasvati, and Mahi sit on the sacrificial straw, worthy of sacrifice!

1.164.49. Your inexhaustible, sustaining breasts, with which you bestow in abundance all the best boons. She who brings treasures, who finds good, who gives beautifully—O Sarasvati, let me cling to her here!

1.188. 8. O Bharati, Ida, Sarasvati, all of you, to whom I appeal, encourage us to beauty!

2.1. 11. You, O god Agni, are Aditi for the worshipper. You are Hotra, Bharati, strengthened by a song of praise. You are Ida, who lives for a hundred winters, for the power of action. You, O lord of good, are Sarasvati, who slays enemies.

2.3. 8. Sarasvati, who brings our poetic thoughts to success, the goddess Ida, Bharati, who overcomes all—the three goddesses, seated at will on this sacrificial straw, may they guard us with unfailing protection!

2.30. 8. O Sarasvati, help us. Accompanied by the Maruts, brave one, vanquish the enemies! Even this arrogant, ostentatious leader of the Shandiks is slain by Indra.

2.41.16. O most maternal, best river, best goddess Sarasvati! We seem unglorified - Create, O mother, glory for us!

17. In you, goddess, O Sarasvati, rest all the spans of life. Be intoxicated by the descendants of Shunahotra! Grant us offspring, O goddess!

18. Enjoy these prayers, O Sarasvati, bearer of reward, the poetic thoughts which the descendants of Grits, pleasing to the gods, offer to you as a sacrifice, O pious one.

3.54.13. Maruts with lightning chariots, with spears, celestial youths, born of law, tireless, Sarasvati - let those worthy of sacrifice listen! Grant wealth along with your sons, O mighty ones!

5.5.8. Ida, Sarasvati, and Mahi—three goddesses who bring joy—sit upon the sacrificial straw, O infallible ones!

5.43.11. From the high heavens, from the mountain, may Sarasvati, worthy of sacrifice, come to us for the sacrifice! The goddess who delights in the call, surrounded by fat, may she hear our mighty speech with favor!

5.46.2. O Agni, Indra, Varuna, Mitra, O gods, the throng of Maruts, and Vishnu, grant! May the two Nasatyas, Rudra and his wives, Pushan, Bhaga, and Sarasvati enjoy!

6.49.7. Daughter of lightning with radiant vitality, Sarasvati, wife of heroes, may she give inspiration! In harmony with the divine wives, may she grant a shield without rifts, invincible protection to the singer!

6.50.12. May they have mercy on us: Rudra, Sarasvati, the unanimous, the generous Vishnu and Vayu! May Ribhukshan, Vaja, the divine distributor, Parjanya, and Vata make the sacrificial delight swell for us!

6.61. To Sarasvati. 1. She gave the fierce debt-paying Divodasa to the worshiper Vadhryashva, who took away the food of all the Panis—these are your mighty gifts, O Sarasvati!

4. May the goddess Sarasvati, rich in rewards, aid us, patroness of prayers!

5. If one turns to you, O goddess Sarasvati, when the stake is set, As to Indra in the fight against enemies,

6. You, O goddess Sarasvati, help with rewards, O rich in rewards! Like Pushan, lead us to the spoils!

10. And may Saraswati, beloved among the beloved, with her seven sisters, be highly valued, be worthy of our praise!

7.9.5. O Agni, go forth with your messenger's service—fail not!—to the gods, who offer prayers in throngs! Honor Sarasvati, the Maruts, the Ashvins, all the gods, that they may bestow treasure!

7.35.11. For our good fortune, may the gods be, all the gods! For our good fortune, may Sarasvati be with prayers! For our good fortune, may those who accompany us, and for our good fortune, may those who accompany us in our giving! For our good fortune, may those in heaven and earth, for our good fortune, may those in the waters!

7.39.5. O Agni, bring Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Agni, and Aryaman, Aditi, and Vishnu from heaven and earth, and bring them songs of praise! May Sarasvati and the Maruts rejoice!

7.40.3. Let that mortal be fearsome, let him be unbridled, O Maruts, whom you aid, O masters of the motley steeds! Agni, Sarasvati (and others) inspire him; none surpasses his wealth.

7.96.6. To Sarasvati and Sarasvat. We would cling to Sarasvat's swollen breast, visible to all, to receive offspring, the joy of sacrifice!

8.21.17. Only Indra bestows such a generous gift, or Sarasvati, the bringer of happiness, bestows a boon, or you, Chitra, to the sacrificer.

8.38.10. I choose for myself the aid of Indra-Agni, accompanied by Sarasvati, for whom the Gayatri hymn is sung.

8.54.4. Pushan, Vishnu, Sarasvati, the seven rivers, may they support my call! Let the waters, Vata, mountains, forest trees, and Earth hear the call!

9.5.8. Bharati, Sarasvati, and the great Ida, may the Pavamanas, the three goddesses, beautifully adorned, come to this our sacrifice.

9.81.4. May Pushan, Panavama, with beautiful gifts, the unanimous, Mitra, Varuna, Brihaspati, the Maruts, Vayu, Ashvins, Tvashtar, Savitar, and the easily controlled Sarasvati come to us!

10.17.7. Sarasvati is called upon by those who aspire to the gods, Sarasvati, when the rite is prolonged. Sarasvati is called upon by those who perform good deeds. May Sarasvati grant the devotee the chosen gift!

8. O Sarasvati, who came on a single chariot by her own inclination, O goddess, rejoicing with the fathers, rejoice, seated on this sacrificial straw! Grant us sacrificial delights that bestow health!

9. Sarasvati, whom the fathers invoke as they approach the sacrifice from the right, give here a share in the sacrificial delight worth a thousand, grant the sacrificers prosperity in wealth!

10.110.8. Let Bharati, Ida, who manifests herself here as at Manus, quickly come to our sacrifice! Let the three goddesses, Sarasvati, sit here on this comfortable sacrificial straw, the skillful ones!

10.131.5. Like parents supporting their son, both Ashvins. You supported Indra with poetic powers and miraculous deeds. When you drank with strength from the mixture poisoned by the sura, Sarasvati cured you, O generous one.

10.141.5. Move Aryaman, Brihaspati, Indra to giving, Vata, Vishnu, Sarasvati, and Savitar, the bringer of rewards!

10.184.2. Offer the fruit, O Sinivali! Offer the fruit, O Sarasvati! Let the Ashvins, two gods with lotus wreaths, give you the fruit! In addition to the goddess Sarasvati, the Rig Veda mentions Saraswat (a rishi, the son of a goddess), called the celestial eagle. However, there are also references to the Saraswat River.

In the Puranas, the guru, or spiritual mentor, is called Kapila or Saraswata; he is one of the Purana teachers.

Saraswata is also the name of the people who inhabited "Medhya desha" (the Middle Country).

«Rigveda» 1.164.52. I call upon Saraswat, the celestial eagle, the great bird, the offspring of the waters, pleasing to the eye, the plants that saturate with rain in abundance.

3.4.8. Let Bharati, along with her wives descended from Bharata, Ida, along with the gods, Agni, along with humans, Sarasvati, along with Sarasvati's descendants, the three goddesses, sit here on this sacrificial straw!

7.2.8. Let Bharati, along with her wives descended from Bharata, Ida, along with the gods, Agni, along with humans, Sarasvati, along with Sarasvati's descendants, the three goddesses, sit here on this sacrificial straw!

7.40. To Sarasvati. The celestial eagle, full of juice, enormous, offspring of the waters, the bull of plants, abundantly satisfying with rain, let them settle in our stable, those who dwell in wealth!

7.41. To whose precept all domestic animals follow, in whose precept the waters reside, in whose precept the Lord of Prosperity resides, this Saraswat we invoke for aid. Dressed in the prosperity of wealth, striving for glory, we wish to summon here Saraswat, the receptacle of wealth, who reveres as he approaches, the Lord of Prosperity, who resides in wealth.

7.95. To Saraswati and Saraswat. 3. He grew up a man among young wives, a courageous young bull among worthy victims. He gives to the generous a reward-bearing steed. Let him polish his body for capture!

6. This Vasishtha, O Saraswati, has opened the gates of the law for you, O bringer of happiness. Strengthen, O beautiful one, and bestow rewards upon the praiser! Protect us always with your favors!

9.4. Rich in milk, you permeate the tribes of the gods; you are called Indra, you are called Saraswat. He who sacrifices a bull to a Brahmin gives a thousand cows to one person.

The Yajur Veda describes the goddess Sarasvati thus:

29.33. May Bharati soon come to us for worship, and Ida, appearing like a human being. May Sarasvati and her two companions, the accomplished goddesses, sit on this beautiful grass.

The Vayu Purana says: 55. Uma, Shita, Sinvali, Kuhu, Gayatri, Lakshmi, Kriti, Dhriti, Medha, Lajja, Kshanti, Vapus, Svadha, Pusti, Kriya, Sarasvati, the goddess of speech, Sandhya, and Ratri are also born from you, O Lord of the Devas.

59. Bhrigu, Kavya, Prachetas, Dadhika, Atmavan, Aurva, Jamadagni, Vida, Sarasvata, Advisena, Arupa, Vitahavya, Sumedhasa, Vainya, Prithu, Divodasa, Prashvara, Gritsaman and Nabha: these nineteen sages were the expounders of the mantras.

The Vishnu Purana says of the goddess Sarasvati: "Then the mighty and indignant Daityas forcibly seized the cup of Amrita, which was in the hand of Danvantari. But Vishnu, assuming a female form, charmed and deceived them. And, taking the Amrita from them, He gave it to the gods. Shakra and the other deities drank the ambrosia. The enraged demons, seizing their weapons, attacked them. But the gods, infused with new strength by the ambrosial potion, prevailed and put their armies to flight, and they fled through the regions of space and plunged into the subterranean realms of Patala. The gods rejoiced greatly at this, paid homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their rule in the heavens. The sun shone with renewed splendor and once again performed its assigned task. And the heavenly bodies once again circled in their respective orbits. Fire once again blazed upward, beautiful in its splendor. And the minds of all beings were invigorated with devotion. The three worlds were once again blessed with prosperity. And Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power.

Seated on his throne and once again in the sky, exercising sovereignty over the gods, Shakra praised the goddess who holds a lotus in her hand: “I bow to Sri, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like blossoming lotuses, reclining on the chest of Vishnu. You are Siddhi (superhuman power). You are Svadha and Svaha. You are Suda (ambrosia), the purifier of the universe. You are evening, night and dawn. You are strength, faith, intelligence. You are Saraswati. You, beautiful goddess, are the knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge and spiritual knowledge that grants eternal liberation. You are the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences. You are moral and political science. The world is peopled by You with pleasant or unpleasant forms. Who, if not you, O goddess, sits on that face of the god of gods, the mace-wielder, which is composed of the sacrifice and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by you, the three worlds were on the brink of destruction, but they were revived by you. Through our gaze, O mighty goddess, men gain wives, children, homes, friends, harvests, and wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, and happiness are easily attained by those upon whom you smile.

3. Sarasvati. River. Modern interpretation.

1.

The Vedas contain hymns composed in the immeasurable depths of time. They provide information about the natural environment of the lands where the hymn-writers lived, the beliefs and rituals of the Aryan ancestors, their customs, way of life, and economic practices.

Sarasvati is revered as both a river and a goddess. The lost Vedas were found on its banks. The hymns mention rituals performed on the banks of this river. Sarasvati was associated with the image of sanctity ascribed to the region called "Brahmavarta" (the abode of Brahma), located between the Sarasvati and Drishadvati streams. The river acquired a divine character. Thus, Sarasvati was for early Indians what the Ganges (mentioned only twice in the Rig Veda) is for their descendants. It is only natural that the blessing of its holy waters was invoked as a necessary element for the proper conduct and successful completion of rites and rituals.

"Mahabharata. Shalva-parva." Book 9.53. In the presence of the Brahmins, he, the everlasting, sang this laudatory shloka:

"Where is there such pleasure as that which comes from dwelling on the Sarasvati?

Where is there such religious merit as that which comes from dwelling on the Sarasvati?

Having reached the Sarasvati, people were able to ascend to heaven!

Everyone should always remember the Sarasvati River!

The Sarasvati is the most sacred of all rivers!

The Sarasvati always brings great happiness to people!

Having reached the Sarasvati, people involved in sins do not grieve for them either here or in the next world!"

According to M. Witzel, the Vedic Sarasvati River is superimposed on the "heavenly river" of the "Milky Way," which is seen as "the path to immortality and a heavenly afterlife." The Sarasvati River descends into this world from Plaksha Prasarvana, the world tree at the center of heaven and earth, and flows through the earth "Kura," the center of this world.

The Sarasvati is the sacred river of the Aryans of the Vedic era. Its name is translated as "rich in water." The Sanskrit "saras" means "lake, pond," and "sara" means "flow." "Sarasvati" may originally have been an adjective meaning "filled with water." It could have been a river that connected many lakes due to its abundant flow.

Another meaning could have been "Sara-Svati," meaning "Stream of Holiness," and applied to the holy river.

Sarasvati is considered related to the Avestan Harakhvati. In later times, Harakhvati was identified with Harauvati or with Arachosia, a region rich in rivers.

Many believe that the Vedic Sarasvati once flowed east of the Indus (Sindhu) River. Scientists, geologists, and explorers have identified the Sarasvati with many modern or now-defunct rivers. It is believed that the Sarasvati is the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in India and Pakistan. It is also believed that Sarasvati was the sacred name of the Indus, and Sindhu the secular name. Alternatively, the Sarasvati is the Arghandab, a river in Afghanistan.

Several modern Indian rivers are also named Sarasvati, in honor of the Vedic goddess Sarasvati:

The Sarasvati is a river originating in the mountainous Ambala district and flowing into the Ghaggar near Shatrana.

The Saraswati is a river originating in the Aravalli Mountains in Rajasthan and flowing into the Rann of Kutch.

The Saraswati River in Uttarakhand is a tributary of the Alaknanda River.

The Saraswati River in West Bengal, formerly a branch of the Hooghly River, dried up in the 17th century.

The kingdoms located in northern Rajasthan also bore names associated with the Saraswati River.

2.

Beginning in the late 19th century, many scholars, such as K. Lassen (1800-1876), M. Müller (1823-1900), and M. A. Stein (1862-1943), proposed identifying the Sarasvati River with the Ghaggar-Hakra river system, which flows through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, between the Yamuna and Sutlej, and ends in the Thar Desert.

Identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system acquired new significance in the early 21st century.

In 2015, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government proposed that archaeologists search for evidence of the physical existence of the Vedic river, thereby reinforcing the concept of a "Golden Age" of the Hindu Indian subcontinent. The government established the "Sarasvati River Heritage Development Board in Haryana." On October 19, 2016, the commission established by the BJP government concluded that the Sarasvati River did indeed exist.

In 2021, the Chief Minister of Haryana stated that more than 70 organizations were involved in researching the Sarasvati River's heritage and that the river "still flows underground from Adi Badri to Kutch in Gujarat."

The Sarasvati River Revival Project aims to develop it as a tourist and pilgrimage route. This joint effort by several states aims to create religious tourism facilities. The annual five-day International Saraswati Festival, organized by the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Council, is held in the last week of January to honor the Saraswati River as a manifestation of the Hindu goddess Saraswati. During the festival, pilgrimages are organized through various ghats at religious tirthas and sites of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Hindutva proponents propose an early date for the Rig Veda, renaming the Indus Valley civilization the "Sarasvati culture," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedas are comparable. They reject the Late Indo-Aryan Migration Theory, which postulates a long period of Indo-European migrations to the Indian subcontinent between 1900 and 1400 BCE. This, given the beginning of the Pandava Yuga (the era of the Pandavas) in 2449 BCE and the mention of the Battle of Harappa in the Rig Veda, is quite plausible. However, the fact that Hindutva proponents date most Vedic texts to the 7th-4th millennia BCE does not transfer the events they describe to Hindustan.

Satellite images of the region have confirmed the discovery of the lost river. The great river originated in the Himalayas, flowed into the plains of Haryana, and flowed through the Thar Desert in Rajasthan and eastern Sindh (parallel to the Indus River), before reaching the sea at the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

The strange, marshy landscape of the Rann of Kutch is explained by the fact that it was once the mouth of the great river. However, until the early 20th century, it was a shallow sea strait. During the summer monsoons, it is flooded by seawater, as well as the waters of the Banas and Luna rivers.

Contrary to assumptions that a large Himalayan river, fed by glaciers and identified with the Saraswati, irrigated the central part of the Harappan civilization in the interfluve of the Indus and Ganges basins, only rivers fed by monsoon rains operated there during the Holocene. Although there is general agreement that river courses in the Indus basin frequently changed direction, the exact sequence of these changes and their dating remain problematic.

3. Ghaggar-Hakra river system

Modern archaeologists and geologists, such as Virdi (2006) and Valdia (2013), have also attempted to identify the Sarasvati with Ghaggar.

According to Valdia, "it can be concluded that Ghaggar was once known as 'Sarsuti,' which is a 'corruption of the word Sarasvati,'" because "in Sirsa, on the banks of the Ghaggar, stands a fort called 'Sarsuti.' Now abandoned, this medieval fort celebrates and honors the Sarsuti River."

There are numerous suggestions that the Ghaggar-Hakra river system was a major glacial river in the Himalayas. However, the absence of large-scale incisions in the interfluve suggests that no major glacial rivers flowed through the Ghaggar-Hakra region during the Holocene.

The modern Ghaggar-Hakra Valley and its tributaries are now dry or have seasonal flows. However, rivers were active in this region between 3400 and 2300 BC. In the upper interfluve, fine-grained floodplain sediments continued until 900 BC. This suggests that rainfall may have supported permanent rivers.

The present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River is a seasonal river in India and Pakistan, flowing only during the monsoon season.

Puri and Verma (1998) argue that the present-day Tons River was the ancient upper reaches of the Ghaggar-Hakra River. At that time, the Ghaggar-Hakra was fed by Himalayan glaciers, making it the mighty river described in the Vedas. Major seismic activity in the Himalayan region led to the uplift of the Bata-Markanda divide, blocking the western course of the Ghaggar-Hakra. Since the Yamuna River was nearby, the blocked water flowed into the Yamuna.

According to Lal (2002), the disappearance of the river could have been further caused by earthquakes, which could have altered the courses of its tributaries.

Mitra and Bhadu (2012) argue that active faults are present in the region, and lateral and vertical tectonic movements have frequently altered river courses in the past. The Ghaggar-Hakra River may have shifted westward due to such an uplift.