Sumati Jnana

SR No.: 012067
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shivkant Dwivedi, Navneet Jain
Publisher: Shantisagar Chhani Granthamala
Publication Year: 2007
Total Pages: 468
Language: English, Hindi
Classification: Smruti_Granth & Articles
File Size: 14 MB

Page 176

Saraswati, Goddess of Knowledge and Scripture
Prof. Dr. John E. Cort
An ancient Indian saying has it that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, cannot live in the same house. A person can have wealth or knowledge, but not both. This certainly seems to be the case in modern society. Go into the homes of many rich people, and you will look in vain for any books, except perhaps a few trashy novels. On the other hand, teachers rarely are paid what they should be.
This disjunction between Lakshmi and Saraswati, between wealth and learning, is also the experience of many Jains today. How many young Jains have discovered that they were interested in intellectual lives, but were told by their parents in no uncertain term that their future lay in a degree in business or computers, not a “worthless” degree in literature or the arts? In the Jain calendar Diwali is the anniversary of the liberation of Mahavir, and the enlightenment of Gautam Swami; but most Jains observe it by worshiping Lakshmi in the form of their account books. Lakshmi is the patron deity of the Shrimali caste, an important merchant caste in western India. She is also the lineage deity of many Jain families throughout India. Jains are lavish supporters of her temples wherever they are found. It would appear that Lakshmi is the real deity of Jains. Icons of Saraswati But if one takes another look, one will find ample evidence that many Jains are followers of Saraswati, the Goddess of Flowing Speech. One of the two oldest icons of Saraswati in all of India, dated by scholars to either 132 or 231 AD, is a Jain icon that was excavated at Mathura in north India in 1889, and is now in the State Museum in Lucknow. Many people saw it when it traveled with the Peaceful Liberators exhibition in the mid-1990s to Los Angeles, Fort Worth, New Orleans, and London. This beautiful icon unfortunately lacks its head and right hand, but is otherwise intact. It shows the goddess seated in squatting posture, with her knees in front of her. She holds a manuscript in her left hand,