sáras—vatī (atī), f., see s.v.
sárasvatī f. (of sárasvat, q.v. under sáras) a region abounding in pools and lakes, [MBh. i, 7745]
N. of a river (celebrated in [RV.] and held to be a goddess whose identity is much disputed; most authorities hold that the name S° is identical with the Avestan Haraquaiti river in Afghanistan, but that it usually means the Indus in the [RV.], and only occasionally the small sacred rivers in Madhya-deśa [see below]; the river-goddess has seven sisters and is herself sevenfold, she is called the mother of streams, the best of mothers, of rivers, and of goddesses; the Ṛṣis always recognize the connection of the goddess with the river, and invoke her to descend from the sky, to bestow vitality, renown, and riches; elsewhere she is described as moving along a golden path and as destroying Vṛtra &c.; as a goddess she is often connected with other deities, e.g. with Pūṣan, Indra, the Maruts and the Aśvins ; in the Āprī hymns she forms a triad with the sacrificial goddesses Iḍā and Bhāratī; accord. to a myth told in the [VS. xix, 12], S° through speech [vācā] communicated vigour to Indra; in the Brāhmaṇas she is identified with vāc, ‘Speech’, and in later times becomes goddess of eloquence See below), [RV.] &c. &c.
N. of a well-known small river (held very sacred by the Hindūs; identified with the modern Sursooty, and formerly marking with the Dṛṣadvatī one of the boundaries of the region Ārya-deśa and of the sacred district called Brahmāvarta [see, [Mn. ii, 17]] in [RV. vii, 95, 2], this river is represented as flowing into the sea, although later legends make it disappear underground and join the Ganges and Jumnā at Allahābād; see tri-veṇī, prayāga), [ib.]
N. of various rivers (esp. of rivers which in sacredness are equal to S° and which are three accord. to [AV. vi, 101], and seven accord. to [MBh. ix, 2188])
any river, [Naigh. i, 13]
N. of the goddess of eloquence and learning (cf. above; she is opposed to Śrī or Lakṣmī [cf. [Vikr. v, 24]], and sometimes considered as the daughter and also wife of Brahmā, the proper wife of that god being rather Sāvitri or Gāyatrī; she is also identified with Durgā, or even with the wife of Viṣṇu and of Manu, and held to be the daughter of Dakṣa), [Mn.]; [MBh.] &c.
speech or the power of speech, eloquence, learning wisdom, [MBh.]; [Kāv.] &c.
a celestial or oracular voice, [Kālid.]; [Kathās.]; [Rājat.]
a cow, [VS. viii, 43]
an excellent woman (= strī-ratna), [L.]
N. of various plants (Cardiospermum Halicacabum, Egle Marmelos, Ruta Graveolens &c.), [L.]
N. of a two-year-old girl representing Durgā at her festival, [L.]
of a poetess, [Cat.]
of various other women (esp. of the wives of Dadhīca, Śaṃkarācārya, Maṇḍanamiśra &c.), [ib.]
of one of the ten mendicant orders traced back to Śaṃkarācārya (whose members add the word to their names).
&c. See p. 1182, col. 2.