वसंत पंचमी सरस्वती पूजा विधि

There is a story the folk tradition tells with great affection. At the beginning of creation Brahma made the earth, the waters, the forests, the animals and birds, and human beings, but looking at what he had made, he felt something was missing. There was a deep silence everywhere: no birdsong, no murmur of rivers, no rustle of leaves, and no words on human lips. The world was there, but it had no voice.

Then Brahma took water from his kamandal and sprinkled it on the earth. From that water a radiant goddess appeared: dressed in white, seated on a white lotus, four-armed, holding a veena, a book and a mala. At Brahma's word she touched the strings of the veena, and with that first note the world found its voice: the birds began to sing, the rivers to murmur, the wind to rustle, and human beings were given speech. Brahma called her Vagdevi, the goddess of speech, and she came to be worshipped as Saraswati. The story says that the day was Magha Shukla Panchami.

The Puranic tradition, usually traced to the Brahmavaivarta Purana, also tells that Lord Krishna was the first to worship Saraswati and gave the blessing that the world would worship her on Magha Shukla Panchami. The stories differ, but their heart is one: this is the day of the goddess of speech, learning and the arts, and all that we speak, learn, write and sing is her gift.

Saraswati's name is very old: in the Rigveda she appears both as a sacred river and as a goddess. Her vahana is the swan (hamsa), which is said to separate milk from water; this is neer-ksheer vivek, the discernment that tells the essential from the useless, and it is the true fruit of learning.

Vasant Panchami is also a festival of the season. Spring is called Rituraj, the king of seasons. By the bright half of Magha the hard cold eases, the fields of north India sway with yellow mustard flowers, ears form on the wheat and barley, the mango trees blossom and the koel begins to call. Spring arrives in full in Phalgun and Chaitra, but its first footstep is counted from here; by the folk reckoning Holi is about forty days away.

Yellow is the colour of this season: of the mustard fields, the ripening crop and the sunshine. So on this day people wear yellow or basanti (spring-yellow) clothes, offer yellow flowers to the goddess and cook sweet rice coloured with saffron and turmeric, and saffron kheer. In Jyotish yellow is also the colour of Jupiter, the graha of knowledge and the guru. Saraswati herself is dressed in white, so her puja brings white and yellow together.

In the tradition spring is called the friend of Kamadeva, the god of love, and in ancient times this season was celebrated as Vasantotsava or Madanotsava. In memory of this, some families also offer a simple worship to Kamadeva and his consort Rati on this day (flowers, especially mango blossoms, and a lamp) for love and sweetness in married life. The main puja of the day remains Saraswati's.

For the puja: an image or picture of Saraswati and a small image or picture of Ganesh, a low stool, a yellow or white cloth, a kalash (water, mango leaves, a betel nut, a coin and a coconut tied with mauli), a ghee lamp, incense, camphor, white sandal paste, turmeric, saffron, roli, mauli, unbroken rice coloured yellow with turmeric, yellow and white flowers (marigold, mustard flowers, jasmine, and a white lotus if you can find one), a marigold garland, mango blossoms and a few fresh ears of wheat or barley (a village custom), betel leaves, cloves and cardamom, a yellow or white chunri for the goddess, and Ganga water.

Things placed for worship: the children's books and notebooks, pens and pencils, a slate or wooden writing board, instruments such as the veena, sitar, harmonium, tabla or flute, and for artists and craftsmen their tools: brushes, colours, pens. The food offering: saffron kheer, boondi or boondi laddoos, sweet rice coloured with saffron and turmeric, ber (Indian jujube), seasonal fruit and rock sugar. If a child is to write the first letters, keep a plate of rice (or a slate and chalk) aside. If you cannot gather everything, do not worry: a lamp, a few yellow flowers, a little rice, one book and a sincere heart are enough.

1. The time: Vasant Panchami is kept on the day on which Magha Shukla Panchami falls in the purvahna kaal. Purvahna is the first part of the day: from sunrise to midday, and midday here is the exact midpoint between sunrise and sunset. The Saraswati puja is done within this window, because a fresh morning mind is held to be the time for learning. The box above gives the times for New Delhi; for another city open the panchang for that day.

2. Morning: rise before sunrise, bathe and put on yellow or white clothes. Bathe the children too and dress them in yellow. Sprinkle Ganga water through the house and draw a swastika in turmeric or roli at the door.

3. The place: set the stool in the north-east corner, or in the east or north, and spread the yellow or white cloth on it. Place Saraswati in the middle and Ganesh to her right (your left). Draw a swastika in roli on the prepared kalash and set it to the right beside the stool. Sit on a mat before the goddess, facing east or north.

4. Books and instruments: in front of the stool spread a clean yellow cloth and lay the books, notebooks, pens and slates on it, with the instruments and tools of work. Keep the books closed and with respect: not straight on the floor, and never touched by a foot.

5. Lamp and vow: light the ghee lamp, set it to the goddess's right, and light incense. Take water, yellow rice and a flower in your hand and make the vow (sankalp) in simple words: 'On Vasant Panchami I worship Mother Saraswati for the learning, wisdom, pure speech and growth in the arts of my family.' Then let the water fall to the ground. All the family, the children above all, sit together.

6. Ganesh first: offer Ganesh a sprinkle of water, a tilak of roli and rice, durva grass, a flower, incense, the lamp and a laddoo or rock sugar, and chant 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah' a few times. Then offer roli, rice and flowers to the kalash.

7. Inviting the goddess: with folded hands, invite Mother Saraswati in your heart. Those who know it recite the dhyana verse beginning 'Ya Kundendu…'; others close their eyes and dwell on her form (white clothes, a white lotus, the swan, the veena, book and mala in her hands, a calm smile) and say inwardly, 'Mother, please come.'

8. Offerings and food: sprinkle water over the goddess (only a sprinkle if the image is clay), drape a yellow or white chunri, mark her with white sandal paste and a tilak of saffron and turmeric, then offer yellow rice, yellow and white flowers, the marigold garland, mango blossoms and the ears of wheat or barley. With each offering say 'Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah'. Place betel leaf, cloves and cardamom and a coin as dakshina, then set the saffron kheer, boondi, sweet yellow rice, ber and fruit before her and ask her to accept the offering.

9. Worship of books and instruments: put a small tilak of turmeric or roli on the books, pens and instruments and offer rice and flowers to them. In many homes a swastika or 'Om' is written in saffron or turmeric on the first page of a notebook. Those who learn music play a few notes or sing a short prayer before the goddess, offering her their art.

10. Mantra and recitation: chant one mala (108 times) of 'Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah'; for children 11 or 21 times is enough. 'Aim' is held to be Saraswati's seed syllable (bija). Then recite the Saraswati Chalisa with the family; it is in this library. If a child in the house is to write the first letters, do it now; the method is given below.

11. Aarti, flowers and prasad: first the Ganesh aarti 'Jai Ganesh Deva', then whichever Saraswati aarti your family has always sung. Then everyone offers flowers at the goddess's feet (pushpanjali), prays for learning and discernment, and asks forgiveness for any mistake. Give the prasad to the children first, then to everyone. Giving a book, notebook or pen to a child in need on this day is held to be part of the Saraswati puja too.

12. The next morning: by the custom of many homes the books and instruments stay before the goddess through the night. The next morning, after bathing, bow to her, light the lamp, and then take up the books and begin study, first reading a few lines with reverence or writing 'Om'. Immerse a clay image the next day, or as your family's custom says, in flowing water, a pond or the soil of a pot at home.

In many homes, especially in Bengal, the custom is that one does not read from the books placed in the puja that day, nor write with those pens: the feeling is that on this day learning is handed to the goddess and returns the next morning with her blessing. But it is a folk custom, not a rule everywhere; follow your own family's tradition.

Vasant Panchami is counted among the most auspicious days to begin a small child's education. This is called akshar-arambh, akshar-abhyas or vidyarambh: having the child write the first letter of their life before the goddess. It is usually done between about two and a half and five years of age, before school begins, but every family has its own custom. The method is simple. After the Saraswati puja, still within the purvahna, the mother, father, a grandparent or the family guru seats the child, dressed in yellow, on their lap facing east. Spread rice on a plate in front, and holding the child's index finger, guide it to write 'Om', then 'a' (अ) or the first few letters of the alphabet in the script of your own language. A slate and chalk also serve. Say 'Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah' together.

Then let the child offer a flower to the goddess with their own hand, give them their first book or slate, feed them prasad of kheer or boondi, and let the elders bless them. The rice is later scattered for the birds. Do not scold the child that day or force them to write: this is not the first lesson of study but the first love of learning. Schools too hold the Saraswati vandana, the puja and small children's first letters on this day.

The Vasant Panchami fast is not compulsory; it is left to one's faith. Some eat nothing, or take only fruit and milk, until the puja is done and break the fast with the prasad; some take one sattvik (pure, simple) meal in the day. The ill, pregnant women, the elderly and children should not fast, or keep only a light, symbolic fast: fruit, milk, and their medicines on time. For children this day means sitting before the goddess and receiving prasad, not going hungry.

Keep the food of the house sattvik: no onion, garlic, meat or alcohol. Yellow food is the mark of the day: saffron sweet rice, saffron kheer, boondi, besan laddoos, khichdi and the ber of the season. Saraswati is the goddess of speech, so avoiding harsh words, lies and quarrels on this day is her truest worship. Do not touch books, pens or instruments with your feet, or throw them.

During periods, the traditional view is that a woman does not touch the puja materials or the image; another member of the household does the puja while she sits nearby, hears the mantras, joins the aarti and bows in her heart. Today many families and scholars hold that the goddess looks at the feeling, and that daughters who are students may take part in these days too, by placing their books, chanting inwardly and receiving the prasad. Follow your family's custom and your own heart.

In Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Jharkhand, Vasant Panchami is known simply as Saraswati Puja and is counted among the students' greatest festivals. Pandals go up in schools, colleges and neighbourhoods, clay images are installed, and in the morning the students, the girls often in basanti saris, offer pushpanjali together as the mantras are said. In Bengal a child's first letters are called 'hate khori', and many people do not eat ber (kul) before this day: they first offer it to the goddess. The image is usually immersed the next day.

In Punjab, 'Basant' is the festival of kites: yellow clothes, yellow dishes and a sky full of coloured kites. (Avoid glass-coated or nylon 'Chinese' manjha; it can kill birds and passers-by.) In Braj the first sounds of Holi begin with Vasant Panchami, and gulal and the songs of spring appear in the temples.

In many parts of north India Vasant Panchami is considered an 'abujh muhurat': a day auspicious in itself, for which a separate muhurta is not thought necessary. So many weddings, engagements, house-warmings and first lessons take place on this day. In the south too, at Saraswati temples such as Basar in Telangana, many children write their first letters on this day, though in many parts of the south vidyarambh is done on Vijayadashami.

By tradition the Saraswati puja of Vasant Panchami is done for learning, intelligence, memory, sweetness of speech and skill in the arts. Students before their exams, musicians and artists for their practice, and writers, teachers and speakers for their voice and their pen seek the goddess's blessing on this day. But keep the message of the story in mind: Saraswati gave the world its voice, and the swan taught it to choose what is essential. Learning is completed not by rote but by discernment, and the goddess's blessing bears fruit only with hard work. The puja does not take the place of study; it gives study love and focus.

The puja ends with the Ganesh aarti 'Jai Ganesh Deva' first, then whichever Saraswati aarti your family has sung by tradition. Our library does not yet carry a Saraswati aarti; those who do not remember one can recite the Saraswati Chalisa instead, which is in this library. Do the aarti with a ghee or camphor lamp and the bell, then pass your hands over the flame and touch them to your eyes and head, have the children bow to the goddess, and share the yellow prasad.