Saraswati Puja and Vasant Panchami

Saraswati Puja and Vasant Panchami

First of all, heartfelt wishes to all of you Vasant Panchami.

 Saraswati is one of the major goddesses of Hinduism. She is the consort of Lord Brahma, considered to be the presiding goddess of learning.

She is also named 'Shatarupa'. Its other synonyms names are Vani, Vagdevi, Bharati, Sharda, Vageshwari etc. These are said to be Shuklavarna, shwet Vastradharini, Veenaavadanatatpara and shwetapadmasna.

By worshiping her , even a fool can become a scholar. The ritual of worshiping Magh Shukla Panchami is going on. According to Devi Bhagwatpurana, Saraswati is born from the Lord Krishna's tongue who residing in Goloka of Vaikuntha.

The description of Goddess Saraswati comes in the" Vedas - Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata", besides the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana, Vrihat Nandikeshwar Purana and Shiva Purana. Basant Panchami is celebrated every year on Panchami of Shukla Paksha of Magh month.

In India, spring season begins from this day. On this day, worship of Mother Goddess Saraswati is celebrated. They are worshiped after sunrise i.e. in the middle of the day.

She is the supreme consciousness. As Saraswati, she is the protector of our intelligence, understanding and attitudes. The ethos and intellect in us is the basis of Bhagwati Saraswati. Her richness and splendor of form are amazing.

According to Devi Bhagwat Purana, Shri Krishna was pleased with Saraswati and gave her a boon that you will be worshiped on Vasant Panchami. As a result of this boon, the worship of Goddess Saraswati, the presiding deity of Vidya(Knowledge), began to be worshiped on the day of Vasant Panchami in India.

Other names of Saraswati Maa are known by various names like Sharada, Shatarupa, Veenavadini, Veenapani, Vagdevi, Vageshwari, Bharati etc.

Vasant Panchami is a major festival of India which is celebrated on the fifth of Magh month every year. For this reason, this festival is known as Vasant Panchami.

This date usually comes in January or February. From this date, the departure of winter season and arrival of spring season is considered, which is considered the most loved season in India. This festival is mainly dedicated to Mahadevi Saraswati and sometimes it is also dedicated to Kamdev and Rati as a form of love.

If all the seasons are seen, then Vasant is called the king of the seasons. This is the time of year when there is no answer to the beauty of nature. On the Shukla Panchami of the month of Magha, all the old leaves fall off and new flowers start coming.

Every person is fascinated by seeing this unique view of nature. This beautiful occasion of the season is celebrated as a celebration. Vasant Panchami is also called Shri Panchami and Gyan Panchami.

 Vasant Panchami is the day of birth anniversary of Mother Saraswati. The practice of worshiping Goddess Saraswati on this day has been going on for centuries. It is believed that at the time of creation, Goddess Saraswati appeared on the day of Vasant Panchami.

According to the Puranas, at the beginning of the creation, the Supreme Father Brahma meditated on Lord Vishnu by doing penance. Then with his will Brahmadeva created the whole creation. Even after his creation, he was not satisfied.
He was not experiencing perfection in own creation because he seemed to have an excess of doltishness instead of consciousness in his creation. Seeing this, he again meditated on Lord Vishnu and told him own problem.  Narayan suggested to him that one should create such a thing that gives rise to consciousness in the universe.
Inspired by this, Brahmadev sprinkled water from his kamandal and invoked a yogic power in his mind. At the same time, her psyche gave birth to a very beautiful and supernatural woman who had Veena in her hand.
When she came and bowed to the Supreme Father, Brahmdeva was enchanted to see her beauty and began to experience a kind of doltishness in himself. He requested the goddess to play his amazing instrument.
With the knowing desire of Brahmadev, she started playing the Veena and with her melodious sound, in the whole world started getting consciousness. Whatever was in its root state became conscious.
Water & air gots motion and Sound received to world organisms  . Since the whole world was received tone from the music of that goddess, so this reason Brahma named her "Saraswati" and declared her to the master of "music & all kinds of education and knowledge" . At the same time, due to her music "flow of work of the creation was complete" and Brahma gave him the place of his own wife.
According to a legend, by the grace of Goddess Saraswati in Dwapara Yuga, Shri Krishna attained knowledge of all the 64 disciplines in just 64 days. Pleased with this, he expressed a desire to give a boon to Goddess Saraswati.
After the acceptance of Saraswati, Shri Krishna gave him this boon that she would be worshiped on earth and since then the festival of Vasant Panchami is being celebrated. It is also believed that Goddess Parvati sought the help of Goddess Saraswati to break the tapasya of Mahadev.
By accepting her prayers, on the devine inspiration of Goddess Saraswati, Kamadev attacked on Mahadev with his arrow on the day of Vasant Panchami and after then became a part of his anger of Shiva.
On the request of Kamadeva's wife Rati, Mahadev gave the boon that on the day of Vasant Panchami, Kamadeva & Rati also would be worshiped along with Goddess Saraswati. On this day, Lord Rama met Shabari and her half - eaten ate jujube . Since then plum became an integral part of the offerings of Saraswati Puja and without plum the Prasad of Saraswati Puja is not considered complete.

¦ Legendary beliefs behind Saraswati Pujan ¦

 1. Incident related to Shriram

 In the Ramayana, when Ravana takes kidnapping Sita Mata to Lanka, Sri Rama and Lakshmana start searching for Mother Sita. During their search, they reach a place called Dandakaranya, where they meet with Shabri. Shabri is filled with great joy at the arrival of Lord Rama and she gave him own's tasted sweet jujube . It is said that Shri Ram met Shabri on the day of Vasant Panchami. Even today people worship one rock. It is believed that this is the place where Shri Ram was sitting.

2.  Sri Krishna did the first worship of Saraswati

 Lord Krishna and Brahmaji worshiped her first. When Goddess Saraswati saw Lord Krishna, she was fascinated by his adorable form and started aspiring to get her as a husband.
When Lord Krishna came to know about this, he said that he is dedicated to Shri Radha. But to please Goddess Saraswati, Shri Krishna gave a boon that one who wishes every learning will worship you on the Shukla Panchami of Magh month. After giving this boon, Shri Krishna himself worshiped the first goddess.

3. Mother Saraswati also as Shakti

 The glory of Goddess Saraswati is also described in the Matsya Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Skandapurana and other texts.  In these scriptures, Goddess Saraswati is addressed by the names Satarupa, Sharada, Veenapani, Vagdevi, Bharati, Pragyaparamita, Vagishwari and Hanswahini.  In 'Durga Saptashati', Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati forms of Mother Adishakti are described and It is said to be great.

4.  Saraswati became the reason for Kumbhakarna sleep

 It is said that Kumbhakarna did severe penance in Govarn for ten thousand years to get the boon .
When Brahma get ready to give the boon, the gods requested that you are giving it to the boon, but it is of devilish instinct and can misuse his knowledge and power at any time.
Then Brahma remembered Saraswati.  Saraswati sat on the monster's tongue.  With the influence of Saraswati, Kumbhakarna said to Brahma - 'I shall sleep for many years, this is my wish.'  In this way, Kumbhakarnam had sleeping in Treta Yuga and when awakened, Lord Shri Ram became the reason for his liberation.

¦ In context of historical events ¦

According to history, when Muhammad Ghori was successful in capturing Prithviraj Chauhan for the 17th time after lose in battle him 16 times, he took him to Afghanistan to punish him. Prithviraj's eyes were blown there and for the last time, he was given a bow and arrow in his hand to see the magic of his  shabdbhedi baan(worded arrow). Chanderbai said to Gori to strike the plate while sitting on his throne and at the same time as a stanza from the signal, he also tells Prithviraj that Ghori is striking the plate . As Ghori made the sound of the plate , Prithviraj's exact arrow sunk into his chest. After this, Chanderbai and Prithviraj sacrificed themselves taking each other's lives.  On 1192, this historical event took place on the day of Vasant Panchami.

There is also a mention of the a brave boy 'Hakikat Ray' in the history, who was a resident of Lahore. Once in the madrasa, other Muslim students abused the goddess Saraswati, due to which he clashed with other children.
When the teacher returned, the children lied that Haqiqat Rai had abused Bibi Fatima. As a result, on the complaint of Qazi, he was sentenced to death. The day of punishment was fixed on Vasant Panchami.
In the end, Hakikat Ray was told that if he accepts Islam, he will be forgiven, but he has a clear ignore it . He was hanged on the day of Vasant Panchami on 1734. Till before the day of freedom both Hindus and Muslims used to show examples of brotherhood on the day of Vasant Panchami at his samadhi (tomb) . Even today, in Lahore, it is a custom to fly a kite in memory of Hakikat Ray on the day of Vasant Panchami.

A fool can also become a scholar by worshiping Mother Saraswati.

By worshiping them, even a fool can become a scholar. The ritual of worshiping Magh Shukla Panchami the  is going on. According to Goddess Bhagwat, she is the "wife" of Brahma.
(Note - Devas do not have a physical body like human form, hence the relationship like wife, daughter and mother shows their moral mutual relations. Here, the wife is meant to be the "complement of Brahma ji", that is, in the work "creation and construction" of Brahma ji "the Goddess Saraswati '' works as a helper and supplement, so the wife is called!
Please do not associate it with the desire and attachment of the physical body! She has also been called Manas daughter!)
Saraswati is considered to be the goddess of literature, music, art. There is a three-way coordination of thinking, feeling and sensation. The expression is of "the veena of music, the book of education and the peacock vehicle of art".
Saraswati has been considered as the goddess of education in public discussion. Education is given the credit of making the animal to human (the animal has a vengeful tendency) - the blind (blind signifies being illiterate) and the eye (the eye is the symbol of being educated). Man becomes a person by contemplation. Meditation is a matter of wisdom. Without this achievement, a human being has to lead a life like an animal.

It is said that Mahakavi Kalidas, Varadarajacharya, Vopadeva, etc., people of low intellect, became high-class scholars with the help of Saraswati worship.

The general meaning of this is that these people had indulged in study with more enthusiasm and willpower.And must have been able to develop the brain capacity which remains dormant in the sleeping mode of the mind.
Today is a very special day for any student, because it is believed that on this day, whoever asks for the begging for knowledge from Goddess Saraswati must get it. On this day, remembering 11 names of Goddess Saraswati also gives many times more result . Those 11 names are - Sarada, Saraswati, Bharati, Veenavadini, Budhidayini, Hanasuwahini, Vagishwari, Kaumudiprayukta, Khyatva, Chandrakanta and Bhuvaneshwari.

Vasant Panchami come in the month of Magha, on this day spring season begins, Vasant is considered as Ritu Raj(king of all season). This whole month is very calm and balanced. The main five elements (water, air, sky, fire and earth) are balanced phase in these days.  And their behavior makes the nature beautiful and enchanting the mind.
That is, these days are not rain, nor are they very cool and neither the summer season, so it is considered to be pleasant season. The arrival of the spring in the form of the last stop of cold. The nature is drenched by the color.
In the spring, do humans even begin to cheer for animals and birds. Although the whole month of Magha is very encouraging, but the festival of Vasant Panchami holds some special significance for us.

Being a traditional festival, many ancient beliefs are also in the society. On this day children are taught to write the first syllable, Pitra tarpan is performed, Kamadeva is worshiped and the most important goddess of learning  Saraswati worshiping by us.

Clothing is also traditional.  Men wear kurta - pajama and women wears yellow or springy sarees in these day.  Other cultural programs including singing and dansing are organized which are offered to Saraswati Maa.Vasant Panchami is also called Shri Panchami and Gyan Panchami. People of Bengali community living in America celebrate this festival with pomp. On this day, they organize a special and elaborate ceremony of Saraswati Puja which involves the Indian community there.

The festival of Basant Panchami is celebrated on the fifth day of Shukla Paksha of Magh month. This year this festival will be celebrated on 29 January 2020. Goddess Saraswati is worshiped on this day. This day is very special for the students and on this day they seek blessings from Maa Saraswati for learning and wisdom.
Vasant Panchami on Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Vasant Panchami Muhurat - 10:45 AM to 12:34 PM
Duration - 01 Hour 49 Mins
Vasant Panchami Madhyahna Moment - 12:34 PM
Panchami Tithi Begins - 10:45 AM on Jan 29, 2020
Panchami Tithi Ends - 01:19 PM on Jan 30, 2020
Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess of all learning and art forms. Saraswati is often worshipped by students, professionals, artists, and musicians seeking artistic and technical skills, academic strengths, wisdom, and good health. The Saraswati puja is performed on the Hindu holidays Vasant Panchami and Navratri, and you can perform a Saraswati puja in your home any time you want to call on Goddess Saraswati. To do the ritual, wake up early and take a bath, clean your home.