Saraswati

Saraswati (cast)

BRAHMA

VISHWAMITRA, A GREAT KING

WHO BECAME A SAGE

SARASWATI, GODDESS OF KNOWLEDGE

AND WISDOM

VASHISHTHA, A GREAT SAGE

FIRST PILGRIM

SECOND PILGRIM

THIRD PILGRIM

SHIVA

Saraswati (act I, Scene I)

(Vishwamitra is meditating in his forest hermitage. Enter Brahma.)

BRAHMA: Vishwamitra, you have been humiliated by Vashishtha.

VISHWAMITRA: Brahma, at last! At last you have come! You have listened to my prayers. I have prayed to you for so many years. Today you have come to me.

BRAHMA: Yes, I have come to fulfil your desire. I have come to give you the knowledge of Brahman. Today you equal Vashishtha.

(Vishwamitra bursts into joyous laughter.)

VISHWAMITRA: Ah! Today at last I have equaled Vashishtha. That Vashishtha, who smashed my pride, whose cow Nandini smashed my pride! Now I equal him in the knowledge of Brahman. (Touching Brahma's feet.) Oh Lord Brahma, I am so grateful to you. You have given me the knowledge of Brahman today.

(Brahma blesses Vishwamitra.)

(Exit Brahma)

VISHWAMITRA: Now I have got the knowledge of Brahman. I have equaled Vashishtha. Now I am not inferior in the knowledge of God and Truth. But still, I want to take revenge on him. He humiliated me like anything. I am on this side of the river Saraswati, and he is on the other side. Let me invoke the presiding deity of Saraswati.

(He invokes Saraswati, the presiding deity. Saraswati appears.)

VISHWAMITRA: Saraswati, I want you to do me a favour. Go to the other side of the river and bring Vashishtha here. If you do not do this, I shall annihilate you.

SARASWATI: O Sage, certainly I shall do it.

Saraswati (act I, Scene Ii)

(Vashishtha is meditating, deep in trance. Enter Saraswati.)

VASHISHTHA: Can I be of any service to you?

SARASWATI: Yes, O Sage of the highest magnitude. Please come with me. Come, I shall take you to the other side of the river in a special boat, my boat. Vishwamitra needs your presence.

VASHISHTHA: Vishwamitra? What for?

SARASWATI: I do not know. But if I cannot take you to him, I am sure he will destroy me. You have more compassion than any human being on earth; your compassion is boundless. I know you will come with me. If I come to you with Vishwamitra's message, I know this message of mine will not irritate you. You will not kill me with your occult power. You have the capacity to destroy but you are all forgiveness, you are all compassion. But if I don't bring you, Vishwamitra will certainly destroy me.

VASHISHTHA: Saraswati, do not worry. I will come with you.

Saraswati (act I, Scene Iii)

(Vishwamitra's forest hermitage. Enter Saraswati and Vashishtha.)

VISHWAMITRA: Ah, Saraswati. You have done your job well. Any boon you ask for I shall fulfil. But first I am going to get a weapon to kill Vashishtha here and now.

(Exit Vishwamitra)

SARASWATI (grabbing Vashishtha): Come! Come! Come! Let us go!

(Exeunt Saraswati and Vashishtha)

Saraswati (act I, Scene Iv)

(Vashishtha's side of the river. Enter Saraswati and Vashishtha.)

VASHISHTHA: What a divine Lila -you take me and you bring me back.

SARASWATI: If I hadn't taken you, he would have killed me. So I took you, and then he wanted to kill you. But I don't want him to kill you. It is better for me to be killed. You have done no harm to him. You are all forgiveness, you are all compassion. Since I won't be able to fulfil his desire, since I won't be able to bring. . .

VASHISHTHA: Why not? You can take me. You did take me.

SARASWATI: Yes, you went, and you are ready to go again. You are most kind to me. But I don't want you to be killed by him. You are a Brahmin. He is a Kshatriya. For a Kshatriya to kill a Brahmin is very bad. I will not allow it. No, I shall not. If he invokes me, I shall go to him and say that I am ready to be killed by him.

(Vashishtha blesses Saraswati.)

(Exit Saraswati)

Saraswati (act I, Scene V)

(Vishwamitra is invoking Saraswati. Enter Saraswati.)

VISHWAMITRA: Saraswati, you have deceived me. You have deceived me! Now you deserve punishment. I shall destroy you. No. Just by destroying you I won t get enough satisfaction. I shall degrade you. I shall dishonour you. Everybody says your water is extremely pure. Everybody drinks your water. I am going to turn your water into blood. Nobody will ever drink your water again. It will be disgusting-all red.

SARASWATI: My water, my existence, will be all red?

VISHWAMITRA: Yes, everybody will loathe you. Nobody will come near you. Nobody will dare to touch your water. Nobody will ever want to look at you.

Saraswati (act I, Scene Vi)

(A group of pilgrims come to the river Saraswati which is all red. )

FIRST PILGRIM: This Saraswati was once upon a time such a beautiful river. It had such clear, pure water.

SECOND PILGRIM: Everybody drank, everybody swam here. It gave everybody such joy, such fun, such comfort, such delight.

THIRD PILGRIM: Now the river Saraswati has become an object of fear and disgust. Let us pray for its restoration.

(They sit down and pray to Lord Shiva. Shiva descends.)

SHIVA: I have heard your prayer. I am making Saraswati once again clear and pure for you to use, for everybody to use. Long ago, Vishwamitra did not have the knowledge of Brahman. Because he didn't have the knowledge of Brahman, Vashishtha and Vashishtha's divine cow defeated him. Now he has got the knowledge of Brahman from Brahma. Now he has equaled Vashishtha. But nature's transformation is a different matter. God-realisation is one thing. Vishwamitra didn't have it before. Now he has it. But for God-manifestation, one needs the transformation of human nature. Vishwamitra lacks this transformation of nature. Vashishtha has it. Unless and until Vishwamitra has changed his nature, he will not be able to manifest God on earth. Vashishtha is all love, all compassion for mankind. He has transformed his nature and is manifesting God on earth. Vashishtha still remains unparalleled, infinitely superior to Vishwamitra.