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Saraswati : The Goddess of Knowledge
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Saraswati : The Goddess of Knowledge
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From: f0g1@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Prasad Gokhale)
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Date: 26 Jan 1995 00:40:26 GMT
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From news@sol.sun.csd.unb.ca Wed Jan 25 19: 30:21 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada
Saraswati : The Goddess of Knowledge
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The Vedic tradition from time immemorial has provided highest respect and
recognition to aquiring knowledge, which itself is personified in the
form of Goddess Saraswati. Saraswati, one who gives the essense of one's
Self, is represented as sitting on a lotus holding the sacred scriptures
of knowledge in Her hands. This Goddess is wedded to the Creator Brahma,
since Creation needs to be associated with the 'knowledge to create'.
Now, naturally, a question arises. What is 'knowledge'?
As a child initiates schooling, it begins to take lessons in history,
geography, mathematics and culminating at a later stage in achieving
mastery over certain subjects as biology, physics, commerce and others.
In the Upanishads, the ancient Vedic texts, about sixty four (64)
branches of knowledge are recorded which include the arts of dancing,
painting and music. All the branches of knowledge on the physical level
are termed as "aparaa" or of the temporal level. The knowledge studying
the nature of the Self, or Adyaatma-dnyana, is refered to as "paraa" or
of the spiritual level. In essense, knowledge in general has been
distinguished on two planes - mundane and spiritual.
The branch of knowledge that deals with the very essentials of human
existence and attempts to unravel the universe concealed within, that which
can aptly be called as the Science of Life, is the Vedaanta. Bhagawan
Krishna avers in the Geeta (10.32), "Of all the branches of knowledge,
which deals with the Science of Life, is verily I am myself." The Lord
further states that the Ultimate Reality (Brahman) is the source of all
existence, animate as well as inanimate, and the science dealing with it
is Aadhyaatma-Vidyaa (Knowledge of the Self)." Such vidyaa renders
blissful insight in ones dealing with the animate creation of the Lord.
The ultimate aim of human life is to realize the true nature of the Self,
even if it necessitates enormous amount of determination, perseverance
and patience.
Hindus are usually accused, if the usage of such a word is applicable, of
laying too much stress in the pursuit of such "paraa" or spiritual
knowledge, while neglecting the other side of the coin - development of
mundane sciences, or vidnyaana. However, that is not entirely true.
Attached to the each of the four Ved(a) are the Upaved(a) which deal with
technical sciences. Ayurved denotes the medical science, Dhanurved the
military science, Gandharvaved deals with the science of music and
dancing and Sthaapatya shastraved is a treatise on arcitechture and all
allied sciences. The Narada Puraan contains extensive material on
phonetics, grammer, metrics and etymology. Sections on medicine in the
Garuda and Agnipuraan conduct a diagnosis and treatment of various
diseases and also deal with the preparation of medicinal preparations,
perhaps borrowed from the works of Sushruta and Chaaraka. Sushruta is
also stated to be the orginator of plastic surgery. The ancients after
all were very well concerned to looking beautiful and attractive!
As is evident from the highly elaborate astronomical recordings in the
RgVed, Mahabharat among others, mathematics, measurement of time (Soorya
Siddhanta) and performing detailed calculations was known to the Vedic
seers. The concept of "zero" and "infinity" has been acknowledged to be
created by the Vedic rishis. Could the ancients "see" stars and planets
invisible to the naked eye? The answer would be an emphatic "yes". The
Shilpasamhita explains the manufacture of an instrument to view distant
celestial bodies (telescope) from glass. The ancient seer Kanaad is
recognized for developing the atomic theory and also that of magnetism.
Bharadwaj's volume titled "Anshubodhini" has a special chapter on
aircraft. There are many more examples that could be presented, however,
those provided above may be sufficient to assert the importance the
ancient Vedic folk laid on aparaa-vidya. Where and how then was such
tremendous amount of knowledge lost may need to be dealt with in an
another article.
So, what type of knowledge should one acquire? Vedic seers have always
recommended an integral vision of life. The goal of life is to strike a
balance between temporal activities and spiritual study. The four
Purushartha(s), namely, Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha that one should
follow are designed specifically keeping this integral notion in view.
It is therefore imperative that both types of sciences, knowledge on both
levels should be studied, meditated upon, practised and developed.
However, since the roots of human existence are imbedded in the
imperishable and Eternal Principle (The Brahman), the ultimate objective
of life should be to reach that Goal. Material knowledge, by itself, will
not elevate us to a plane of eternal bliss. Continual worship and
devotion to Goddess Saraswati will render us the ability and strength to
accomplish the "integral" vision that the ancient seers and to lead a
life of vigour and dynamism.
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