Vasant Panchami

 

Information – Vasant Panchami, also known as Saraswati Puja, is observed on the fifth day (Panchami) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) in the Hindu month of Magha. This festival marks the arrival of spring and is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the divine embodiment of knowledge, wisdom, and the arts. At ISKCON Mayapur, the Deities are adorned in vibrant yellow outfits and offered yellow flowers, symbolizing auspiciousness and the joy of the season.

…It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnākara that Keśava Kāśmīrī was a favorite devotee of mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning. By her grace he was an extremely influential scholar, and he was the greatest champion among all the scholars in the four corners of the country. Therefore he got the title dig-vijayī, which means “one who has conquered everyone in all directions.” He belonged to a very respectable brāhmaṇa family of Kashmir. Later, by the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he gave up the profession of winning championships and became a great devotee. He joined the Nimbārka-sampradāya, one of the Vaiṣṇava communities of the Vedic culture.
(CC Adi 16.25)

Long live Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His kaiśora age! Both the goddess of fortune and the goddess of learning worshiped Him. The goddess of learning, Sarasvatī, worshiped Him in His victory over the scholar who had conquered all the world, and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmīdevī, worshiped Him at home. Since He is therefore the husband or Lord of both goddesses, I offer my obeisances unto Him.
(CC Adi 16.3)

Prabhupāda: So other students, they laughed very loudly. They thought that “Caitanya has come out very victorious within a second.” He said: “No. Stop.” Then He stopped all these talkings, and . . . “So you are so . . . I have to talk with you. You are very learned.” Ordinary formalities. Then he went away. And he was also great worshiper of Mother Sarasvatī. Then he began to pray to Sarasvatī, “Mother Sarasvatī, by your grace I have become victorious in so many places. And what is this, that I am defeated by a boy who is a grammar student?”
So he began to pray, and Mother Sarasvatī informed her (him) that, “He is God, my husband. So you speak means I speak. So how can I defeat my husband? That is not . . .”
So then he further did not attempt to talk with Him. He went away, and the Mother Sarasvatī advised him that, “You surrender unto Him. That will be your nice role.” Yes. So later on, he became a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, Keśava Kāśmīrī.
(690514 – Conversation with Allen Ginsberg – Columbus)

Prabhupāda: We say by worshiping God, everyone is worshiped. There is no need of separately worshiping goddess of fortune, goddess of learning. Just like if you pour water on the root of the tree, it goes to every branch, leaf and twigs, every . . .
(750519 – Conversation – Melbourne)

Indian guest (4): So you think that we shouldn’t worship the goddess of learning? That Sarasvatī is . . .
Prabhupāda: No, if you are simply satisfied with goddess . . . learning, you can worship goddess of learning. But what your learning will do? That will not save you from the material, I mean to say, tribulations. There are so many learned scholar. Does it mean that he is not subject to birth, death, disease and old age? You become learned, but if you do not become so learned as to understand God, then what is the value of your learning? Ultimately, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
(BG 7.19)

That means learning is not finished—it is still imperfect knowledge, jñānavān—unless he comes and surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Just like goddess of learning . . . this is a long story; it will take time. The goddess of learning, Keśava Bhāratī . . . she advised Keśava Bhāratī to . . .
(break) Rather, the man who comes to the sunshine, he becomes disinfected. You follow what I said?
(720807 – Conversation – London)

Prabhupāda: Suppose by worshiping a demigod, Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, so you get the opportunity of being a, becoming a very nice scholar. But how long you shall remain scholar? As soon as the body is finished, your whole scholarship is finished. Then you have to accept another body, and you have to act according to that body. So how you have…, this scholarship will help you? But if you worship God, as Kṛṣṇa says, that janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ… (BG 4.9). To worship God means to know God, actually what is God, more perfect—how He is managing, how material nature is working under Him. People cannot even imagine that God can be person, but here is everything person. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: (BG 9.10) “Under My supervision the material nature is working.”
(Philosophy Discussion on Socrates)

Before reciting this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the very means of conquest, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, unto Nara-nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, the supermost human being, unto mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, and unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the author.
(SB 1.2.4)

So Devarṣi, when he was comfortably seated, with his hand . . . in his hand that vīṇā, vīṇā-pāṇiḥ. Vīṇā-pāṇiḥ is called Sarasvatī. Vīṇā means that stringed instrument which is carried by Nārada and also Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning. Sarasvatī . . .
Students, they worship Sarasvatī for getting learning, material knowledge. And we Vaiṣṇavas, we also . . . he is also Sarasvatī. Nārada is also Sarasvatī. My spiritual master was known as Sarasvatī, Siddhānta SarasvatīSarasvatī is the knowledge.
So there are two kinds of knowledge: avidyā and vidyā. Real vidyā means brahma-vidyā. This brahma-jijñāsā, athāto brahma . . . that is vidyā. That is real knowledge. And avidyā, karma-saṁjña. Another vidyā is how to learn technology, avidyā. Avidyā. That is avidyā. Avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate (CC Madhya 6.154). So now, at the present moment, the education is being given to the people how to work hard, karma-saṁjña. That is not now; that is the system everywhere, because everyone wants to enjoy senses as far as possible, so he has to work very hard.
(690522 – Lecture SB 01.05.01-4 – New Vrindaban, USA)

One who has learned the classical art of music, who engages in its culture, and who has become expert and completely aloof from material attachment is called Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is the goddess of music and learning, and in one hand she holds a musical instrument called a vīṇā. A sannyāsī who is always engaged in music for spiritual elevation is called Sarasvatī.
(CC Madhya 6.73)

The power of speaking is called Sarasvatī, or the goddess of learning, and the birthplace of the goddess of learning is the mouth of Brahmā. Even if a man is endowed with the favor of the goddess of learning, it is quite possible for his heart to be full of lust and material desire and his eyebrows to display symptoms of anger. One may be very learned in the mundane estimation, but that does not mean that he is free from all low activities of lust and anger. Good qualifications can be expected only from a pure devotee, who is always engaged in the thought of the Lord, or in samādhi, with faith.
(SB 3.12.26)

For instance, in Vedic literature there are so many recommendations: if one wants to cure his disease, he worships the sun, or if a girl wants a good husband, she worships Lord Śiva, or if one wants to become beautiful, he worships such and such god, or if one wants to become educated, he worships goddess Sarasvatī. In this way Westerners often think that the Hindus are polytheistic, but actually this worship is not to God, but to demigods. We should not think that the demigods are God. God is one, but there are demigods who are also living entities just like us. The difference is that they have a considerable amount of power. On this earth there may be a king or a president or a dictator – these are men like us, but they have some extraordinary power, and in order to get favors from them, to take advantage of their power, we worship them in one way or another. But Bhagavad-gītā condemns worship of the demigods. This verse clearly states that people worship the demigods due to kāma, material lust.
(OWK 5 Steering Toward the Supreme)

Rukmiṇī offered her prayers to the deity by saying, “My dear goddess Durgā, I offer my respectful obeisances unto you as well as to your children.” The Goddess Durgā has four famous children: two daughters–the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, and the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī–and two famous sons, Lord Gaṇeśa and Lord Kārttikeya. They are all considered to be demigods and goddesses. Since the goddess Durgā is always worshiped along with her famous children, Rukmiṇī specifically offered her respectful obeisances to the deity in that way; however, her prayers were different. Ordinary people pray to the goddess Durgā for material wealth, fame, profit, strength and so on; Rukmiṇī, however, desired to have Kṛṣṇa for her husband and therefore prayed to the deity to be pleased upon her and bless her. Since she desired only Kṛṣṇa, her worship of the demigods is not condemned. 
(KB 52)