According to Rui Gomes Pereira's "GOA - Hindu Temples and Deities", Saraswati or Sharada, the spouse of Brahma, is the Goddess of Knowledge, i.e. of Science and Arts. In the book "Indian Mythology" by Veronica Ions we can read: (1) that in the Vedas she was "a water deity, goddess of a river of the same name which flowed west from the Himalayas, through the first Aryan settlements"; (2) that "the next stage in Saraswati's mythological history was her identification with the holy rituals performed on her banks, this led to the belief that she influenced the composition of the hymns and thus to her identification with Vach, the goddess of speech", it being attributed to her the invention of Sanskrit, language of the Brahmins, of scriptures and of scholarship ..."; and (3) that as Brahma's wife she provides the power to execute what Brahma has conceived with his creative intelligence. She is goddess of all creative arts and in particular of poetry and music, learning and science".
I am interested in knowing whether, based especially in Veronica Ions's description, it is legitimate to associate Saraswati with the seas and oceans and/or rivers and invoke her as Goddess of Oceans or of Rivers, or one has to stick to her appelation as Goddess of Science and Arts. Would any one well versed in the matter kindly elucidate? How would the Hindu community react to seeing Saraswati depicted, in a poem or in a song and dance, as Goddess of All Oceans or of All Rivers? - Many thanks in advance. Jorge ------------------------------------------------------------------- To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from Goa-Research-Net ------------------------------------------------------------------- * Send us a brief self-intro to justify your interest in this "specialized" forum. This should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (NOT [email protected]) * Leave SUBJECT blank * On first line of the BODY of your message, type: subscribe goa-research-net [EMAIL PROTECTED] or unsubscribe goa-research-net [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------------------
