The virtue of Brotherhood and Tolerance begins at the budding stage in India:

[Brotherhood & Tolerance]

Hinduism believes the Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. Goddess Saraswati is the daughter of Durga and wife of Brahma, the creator of Universe. Hindus worship her not only for “secular knowledge” but also for divine knowledge. Veda’s etymology explains the compound word Saraswati as “Saaram vaati iti saraswati” – “She who flows towards the absolute is saraswati”. Saraswati is worshiped every year in the month of January or February depending upon the day of moon. Of course it is observed under different customs in different parts of India but every where the prayer is for the blessings of learning to acquire knowledge and wisdom. The festival of goddess of learning is known as Saraswati puja or Vasanti Panchami as the session is called ‘Vasanta Kaal’, the season of spring. This festival of learning is celebrated by students in groups bringing a sense of brotherhood to fulfill every activity of puja celebration with devotion and sincerity. The puja process keep on injecting in the young mind a sense of devotion and fellow feeling keeping arrogance, and misbehavior far away and embraces only with the virtue of tolerance to bring everyone closer and pray in front of the deity for knowledge of learning.

Description of the Goddess Saraswati:

She is depicted as a gracefully seated or standing goddess, holding a veena, a musical instrument, a rosary and the scripture. The veena, a musical instrument is the symbol of knowledge of arts held in high esteem in Vedic tradition. The rosary points to the meditative qualities necessary to acquire knowledge. And the scripture is knowledge in itself. It is believed that Goddess Saraswati helps in the evolution of creation in the individuals by the union of power and intelligence. She is wisdom, fortune, intelligence brilliance, contentment, splendor and devotion. Brahma has the creative intelligence and so he was recognized as the creator of the Universe. As Saraswati is the wife of Brahma, she acquired the power to execute what Brahma has conceived. So she is the goddess of creative arts particularly of music, learning and science according to Hindu Vedic philosophy.

The world of the written word:

The children dressed in bright clean garments particularly with in bright yellow dress gather together before the idol of Saraswati and pray for the blessings of knowledge. Flowers are offered to the goddess and students place their books before the deity. Puja is performed with sandalwood, ghee, joss sticks, and with sounds of drums. On this day, people eat vegetarian food and initiate children into the world of the written word. Puja is performed by a Pandit (pujari) and after puja; Prasad is distributed among all the people present. As the night approaches, Schools and colleges were decorated with colored lights and other illuminating articles and the festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion. Hinduism is a way of life rather than a religion. The Hindus have firm faith on Gods and Goddesses whom they worshipped on various occasions by performing Puja and rituals.

The Puja – Special:

This year Saraswati Puja was performed on 21 ist January. I have the opportunity to attend a puja celebration adjacent to my residence. It was in a small children School named Vivekananda Mission School. Puja was performed by a young bright Brahmin boy who had been trained earlier and who performed daily the rituals of Brahmin in a routine work to keep himself devotional for performing Godly works. I have taken few photographs of little children which I prefer to share with all.

The Word of Saraswati & Learning:

The word Saraswati is historically connected with the Saraswati River. Water is the source of life. That is why the growth of population and subsequently the civilization has been built up on the bank of the river. According to Hinduism the Rigvedic hymns dedicated to Saraswati assigning as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties. The Vedic theory states that the River Saraswati was formed by the present headwaters of the Yamuna River. It is recorded in the text that after leaving the Himalayan foothills, the waters of the Yamuna turned west and flowed southwest across the Punjab and Haryana regions. Along the course of the Indus and Saraswati Rivers, the Harappan Civilization had developed in the ancient time. The archaeologist discovered the old civilization from the remnants of ruins. The earliest known examples of writing in India have been found in the ruined cities that is now the dry riverbed of the ancient waterway. It is believed that the goddess Saraswati gained her role as personified communication and a gospel of knowledge due to the role of the Saraswati River in the development of written language in ancient India.

Different Views:

Hindus celebrate Saraswati Puja across India and express their mental views in different ways:

(i) Some one considers Saraswati Puja (or Basant Panchami) is the most auspicious days in the year for initiation of children into learning.

(ii) The day is auspicious because Saraswati Puja is observed on the 5^th day after the no moon night in the Hindu month of Magh.

(iii) The day is auspicious because it is believed that Goddess Saraswati was born on this day and Saraswati was identified with the Vedic Saraswati River.

(iv) In Patna, the former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav celebrated the event with students of his alma mater.

(v) In Kolkata, Monika, a local student said “we have come here for the Saraswati Pooja as Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and education so that we get good results”.

There is tradition still prevailing in India that adults should not help children into learning, until the initiation ceremony is performed before the Goddess Saraswati. It is for this reason seen that a large number of children are initiated into learning at temples or at home in front of the idol of Goddess Saraswati.

Rig-Veda & Demon:

According to Rig-Veda, there were some powerful Asura (Demon), who hoarded all of the Earth’s water causing wide spread drought, darkness and chaos. Saraswati was credited for her intelligence for killing some of such powerful demons in association with Indra, the King of Heaven. She (Saraswati) is the symbol of intelligence, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity, education, music, the arts, and power. Hindus worship her for divine knowledge and for absolute peace of mind. In some Puranas, she is associated with Shiva and in some Tantras, she is attached with Ganesha. Again according to Brahma Purana, Vishnu had three wives, who kept only Lakshmi with him and gave Ganga to Shiva and Saraswati to Brahma. However, the spiritual forms of Devas including Saraswati lie in the deities of fire. This is why the worship is completed with fire and with the sound of “OM”, the lovely soul purifying word of the divine power.

Arya Samaj & Dayananda Saraswati:

The Indian religious leader Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) founded the AryaSamaj (or Society of Nobles). He was born into a Brahmin family of Gujarat in western India, who left his family at the age 19 and undertook a long period of rigorous, ascetic study of the ancient Vedas – the oldest core of the Hindu religion and finally raised voices against the orthodox Hindu tradition and against idol worship. According to his view the existing religious beliefs and social institutions were hopelessly corrupt. With this conviction he began a campaign for a doctrine of reform urging a return to the pristine Vedic tradition. His reforms voiced for abolition of:

(i)  Idol worship,

     (ii) Child marriages

     (iii) Inequality of women,

     (iv) Cast wise hereditary privileges.

He praised the Europeans for education, active lives and for their contribution in trade.

In his religious teaching he accepted the old doctrine of karma but he advocated for a monistic philosophy which stressed ideals of self perfection and ethical universalism. He said “I believe in a religion based on universal and all-embracing principles which have always been accepted as true by mankind – the primeval eternal religion, which means that it is above the hostility of all human creeds whatsoever.”

In 1875 Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay to propagate his doctrine of philosophy. His followers perused the teachings of Vedas in minute detail, and injecting there the benefits of Western science and technology, including electricity, microbiology, and other modern inventions. His outspoken criticism of Hindu tradition and doctrine of reforms created hatred against orthodox and conservative circles. Unsuccessful attempts were made several times on his life, but finally he was poisoned in 1883. The Arya Samaj was one of the most influential movements of the early modern period in India. This movement has earned him the epithet “the Luther of India.”