Page 10 - 6th NamamiGange NewsLetter

Tributaries of Ganga- A Series
10
Saraswati-The Mystical River
The Saraswati is described as a river greater than the
Indus and the Ganges, which flowed from the
mountains to the oceans. The Saraswati has often been
dismissed as a mere legend, or simply a figment of poetic
imagination. However, in recent years, attempts have been
made by geologists, historians, and archaeologists, to
determine whether the great Saraswati did indeed exist.
According to the sacred Vedic texts, the Saraswati River
was so powerful and majestic that it inspired the Rig Veda to be
composed on its banks. It was even elevated to the level of a
goddess. Saraswati is reverred as the Hindu goddess of
knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and nature. She is a part of the
trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. All the three forms
help the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in the creation,
maintenance and destruction of the Universe. In the Rig Veda,
(a) Dutch Map (1746) (b) British Period Map
(c)Italian Map (d) Mughal Period Map
Saraswati River recorded in old maps (Dutch, British, Italian & Mughal)
Saraswati, a name meaning 'having many pools', is also the
goddess of the river and she is nearly always depicted sitting
on the banks of a flowing river. Saraswati is the most
mentioned river in Vedas (80 times over that of River Ganga).
The name 'Saraswati' has been used in most of the ancient
literatures like Vedas, Manusmriti, Mahabharata and Puranas.
In Rigveda, Saraswati is described as:
Ambitame, naditame, devitame, Saraswati Aprasasta iva
smasi prasastim Amba naskrit—(Rigveda – 2. 41. 16)
This means:
“Oh Mother Saraswati you are the greatest of mothers,
greatest of rivers, greatest of goddesses. Even though we are
not worthy, please grant us distinction"
According to the Mahabharata, the Saraswati dried up to a
desert (at a place named Vinasana or Adarsana) and joins the
sea 'impetuously'. The desert made when Saraswati dried up
was the Thar Desert.
Since the 19th century, attempts have been made to
identify the mythical Saraswati of the Vedas with physical
rivers. Two theories are popular in the attempt to identify the
Saraswati. Several scholars have identified the river with the
present-day Ghaggar-Hakra river or dried up part of it, which is
located in North western India and Pakistan. A second popular
theory associates the river with the Helmand River or an
ancient river in the present Helmand Valley in Afghanistan.
Others consider Saraswati a mythical river.
The first evidence of the ancient underground channels
came in the 1930s, when scientist Haren and B C Gupta from
the GSI spoke of the channels. They claimed that these
channels might belong to river Saraswati. Bimal Ghose, former
scientist at Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI),
Jodhpur, also made a reading based on the topography map of
Rajasthan. He confirmed that the ancient channels were a
dead river that could well be Saraswati. It is to be mentioned
here that the ancient literature and texts and the geographical
history of the region were constant bases of reference in these
studies.
In April, 2015 the Haryana Government sanctioned an
initial amount of `50 crore for the project to revitalise the
ancient Saraswati heritage and to underscore the antiquity of
the world's oldest Saraswati river civilization, and its heritage
to the world.
This article about river Saraswati has
been developed with inputs from Shri
Prashant Bhardwaj, Deputy Chairman of
Haryana Saraswati Heritage Develop-
ment Board. Shri Bhardwaj has diverse
educational qualification with Master in
Shri Prashant Bhardwaj Computer Application (MCA), Advance
Diploma in Computer Application
(ADCA), Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Application
(PGDCA), BSc, B.Ed., and Advance Diploma in German language
(Gold Medalist). He is also associated with various
organizations under different capacities. These include
Member, Multi disciplinary Advisory Committee on Saraswati,
Ministry of Culture Govt of India, Chairman, Tourism
Committee on Saraswati Heritage Project, HSHDB Govt of
Haryana, National Vice President Saraswati Nadi Shodh
Sansthan, Founder member of the Saraswati Research and
Education Centre Chennai and many more. Shri Bhardwaj has
written 18 research papers on Saraswati Civilisation,
Manuscripts, Ramayana, Hindu Dharma, and Technology
published at National and International level and also working
on Manuscripts studies since last eighteen years and collected
more than 200 exclusive and rare manuscripts on Vedas,
Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bahgwad Gita and Yantra-Tantra and
synthesised, Identified and excavated them. He has compiled
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'Mumbai Siege Enough is Enough'.
We thank Shri Prashant Bhardwaj for his valuable inputs on the
article for our new series–Tributaries of river Ganga