Just as the River flows, so does Knowledge & so does Life itself. These are all borderless flows of continuity even though each of us perceives these as finite, during our waking hours.

Just as the “Ganga” is not just one finite river but refers generically to all rivers in Indian culture, “ Saraswati” is not just one Goddess but a reference to Knowledge itself.

Breaking free from the nebulous connections of the English word culture, Sanskriti to the beginning of civilization defined through the language in which we think. Just as the river flows and takes everything within its course, Sanskriti keeps flowing too. Let us now revisit Sanskriti in local allegory, in different parts of the World:

Asia/Australia Sanskriti

It is the Sanskrit root “Sr” meaning “to flow”, “to stream”, from which emerges Sarita, the river. The Sara or water of the Sarita Saraswati, flows through Asia. And it was Sara, water, with which it all began in Australian mythology, when the two Bagadjimbiri brothers woke from ground in the middle of the desert. They dug in the earth until they reached life-giving water. They founded rivers, mountains, flowers and trees. When these brothers died, they were reborn as water snakes, flowing through the rivers until their spirits flew to the sky forming the clouds. These clouds continue to bring rain, and the water continues to flow through streams of knowledge into Asia/Australia Sanskriti.

Africa Sanskriti

To the Yoruba, Orunmila is the Orisha (spirit manifested in physical form) of knowledge, acumen and foresight. His wife Osun the deity of river, is the spirit of fresh water, fertility and beauty. While her water nurtures the land and people, Orunmila the linguist, travels across cities and villages, healing people’s lives through divination. Like Orunmila, the streams of Africa Sanskriti flow across places and languages, drawing insight from the river of knowledge.

Europe Sanskriti

Athena (Athene), the Goddess of war and protector of city, values reason and instinct above conflict and violence. A patron of crafts, literature and agriculture, Athena invented the flute, and is represented by the owl- a symbol of her wisdom and knowledge. Referring to the lake or the stream near which she is said to have been born, Athena is also known as Trito or Tritogenes. As Nedu’sia she has a sanctuary on the river Nedon, and as Aethyia (Aithuia), she is skilled in ship-building and navigation. Navigate through Europe Sanskriti to pursue the many streams of knowledge flowing through its cities. On these banks is also worshipped Sophia, the Goddess of wisdom, knowledgeable and caring. She is the deity of fate, the female God, the wife of Solomon; she reigns across time and space.

China Sanskriti

At the source of the river Qingshui, is Mount Wutai, one of the four sacred mountains in Shanxi, China. It is the abode of Manjushri the youthful Bodhisattva- an incarnation of great wisdom, resplendent with gentle glory. With a flaming sword of insight Manjushri cuts through ignorance and suffering. At his heart, with his left hand, he holds the lotus on which rests the Great Wisdom Sutra- the essence of Buddha’s wisdom. Just as Manjushri’s Lotus stalk leads to transcendental wisdom, the streams of China Sanskriti lead to the greater river of knowledge.

Middle East Sanskriti

Seshat the ancient Egyptian Goddess of wisdom and knowledge is the female scribe and record keeper who invented writing. Wearing a headdress with the seven-pointed star (or flower), Seshat is the equivalent of Thot, the moon God of writing and knowledge of whose Library she is the Mistress. She is also associated with Isis, the Goddess providing fertility through water and credited with the invention of hieroglyphic writing. Seshat is however the only Goddess depicted in the act of writing. She is the deity of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, history and surveying. And these varied streams of knowledge from across space and time are merging into the river of Middle East Sanskriti.

America Sanskriti

Quetzelcoatl is the Mesoamerican God of learning, knowledge and writing. Along with his twin Xolotl, he is the creator of mankind, of wind and rain. Represented as the feathered serpent deity, Quetzelcoatl transcends from this world and moves across the elements of earth, air and water. Besides inventing the calendar and books, as the deity of mankind he signifies the vital energy within us. The vitality of America Sanskriti is in its streams of knowledge that transcend and move beyond borders.