Sarasvatī Upākhyāna
In Vaikuṇṭha, the eternal home of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, three devīs lived with him as his consorts: Mahālakshmī, Gaṅgā and Sarasvatī. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, in the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6, tells how a quarrel broke out among them. The quarrel led to curses. Nārāyaṇa then told each devī how she would go to Bhārata, and promised that all three would return after five thousand years of Kali-yuga.
Three consorts in Vaikuṇṭha
In Vaikuṇṭha, the eternal home of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, three devīs lived together in loving harmony as his consorts. They were Mahālakshmī, Gaṅgā and Sarasvatī. All three are aspects of Mūla Prakṛti (the root nature), and all three were joined in devotion to Nārāyaṇa. Usually they shared Vaikuṇṭha in peace and love for one another.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
The spark: a smile between Gaṅgā and Nārāyaṇa
Once Gaṅgādevī looked at Nārāyaṇa with a smile of love and longing. He saw it and smiled back. Mahālakshmī saw this and said nothing. She took it calmly, as was her nature. But Sarasvatī could not bear it. She was seized by jealousy. Her face turned red, her eyes burned, and her lips shook with anger she could hardly hold back. She went up to Nārāyaṇa.
Sarasvatī accused him of favouring Gaṅgā and Lakshmī together while he ignored her. She said that his name for being fair and equal to all was false, and that only the foolish believed it. Nārāyaṇa saw that no words could calm Sarasvatī at that moment, and he quietly left.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
Sarasvatī curses Lakshmī
When Nārāyaṇa had gone, Sarasvatī turned her anger on the other two. She first cursed Lakshmī. She said that Lakshmī had stood silent like a tree or a river when Sarasvatī’s complaint was just, so she would become a tree and a river in Bhārata.
Lakshmī was gentle and calm, and she took the śāpa (curse) without anger. She took Sarasvatī’s hand in her own and tried to quiet her, but Sarasvatī would not listen to reason.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
Gaṅgā curses Sarasvatī
Gaṅgā then spoke sharply to Sarasvatī. She said Sarasvatī was not worthy, even though she was the devī of speech, because she spoke without wisdom. Gaṅgā declared that the two of them would try their powers openly. Then she cursed Sarasvatī to go down to Bhārata as a river. There she would take a share of the pāpa (sin) of those who bathe in her waters.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
Sarasvatī curses Gaṅgā
Sarasvatī’s anger had not lessened. She answered with a curse of her own: Gaṅgā would be the one to go to Bhūloka (the world of earth) and carry the weight of the pāpa of those who bathe. With this counter-curse the quarrel reached its height. Then Nārāyaṇa came back with his divine companions.
He took Sarasvatī’s hand gently and drew her close. He listened with care to all that had happened. When he understood everything, he spoke to the three devīs to settle the matter.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
Nārāyaṇa’s answer
Nārāyaṇa spoke to each devī.
To Lakshmī: “You will go down to Bhārata in an aṃśāṃśa-rūpa (a part of a part) as the daughter of Mahārāja Dharmadhvaja, and you will be called Tulasī. You will purify all three worlds. You will become the wife of the asura Śaṅkhacūḍa, who is born of a part of me. Later you will come back to me as my consort. You will also flow in Bhārata as the river Padmāvatī.”
To Gaṅgā: “You will go down in a part of yourself to purify all three worlds, through the tapas (austerity) of the Rājarshi Bhagīratha, and you will flow as Bhāgīrathī. You will become holy beyond measure by resting on the head of Paramaśiva. You will also be the wife of Samudra, who is a part of me, and of Mahārāja Śantanu.”
To Sarasvatī: “You will go down as a river to Bhārata in half of yourself (ardhāṃśa-rūpa), as Gaṅgā’s curse says. Your other half will go to Brahmaloka as the consort of Brahmā. The rest of you will stay here with me.”
Nārāyaṇa then spoke to Gaṅgā again: “Go to Śivaloka. Śiva will receive you on his head.” To Sarasvatī he said: “Go to Brahmaloka and become the consort of Brahmā.”
Last, he spoke to Lakshmī: “Stay here with me. Your peaceful and devoted nature, the very nature of Mahālakshmī, will live on in every age through the women who are born as parts of you. They will be dhārmikas (people who follow dharma), pativratās (wives faithful to their husbands) and śīlavatīs (women of good character).”
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
The promise of return
On behalf of all three, Lakshmī asked Nārāyaṇa when they would come back from their life on earth. She asked when the rivers would be freed from taking in the pāpa of others.
Nārāyaṇa answered: “After five thousand years of Kali-yuga have passed, you who have taken the form of rivers (nadī-rūpa) will reach moksha and come back to my presence.” Chapter 7 of the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa agrees. There Nārāyaṇa says plainly that Gaṅgā, Lakshmī and Sarasvatī will leave Bhārata in the form of rivers after five thousand years of Kali-yuga and return to Śrī Hari.
He also explained how the rivers are made pure. His devotees who bathe in these rivers carry his own power to purify. So the tīrthas (holy places) are themselves made clean by the touch of the feet (pāda-sparśa) and the sight (darśana) of Vaishṇavas. The touch of a bhakta (devotee) can purify even the worst wrongdoers in an instant. The wrongs named are brahma-hatyā, go-hatyā and guru-patnī-samāgama.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6 (and Chapter 7 for the return).
The three devīs weep
When they heard Nārāyaṇa’s words, the three devīs, Lakshmī, Gaṅgā and Sarasvatī, held one another and wept aloud. They felt deep pain at the thought of being parted from Nārāyaṇa. Sarasvatī was now calmer. She said she could not live apart from her husband. She begged for a prāyaścitta (a rite of atonement), or else she would give up her body. Gaṅgā said she was innocent and could not bear the parting either.
Lakshmī, who always made peace, spoke up. She asked Nārāyaṇa to find a way to keep his word and also to honour the love of her sisters. Nārāyaṇa was moved by her plea and gave his assurance. Their main presence would remain in Vaikuṇṭha. Only parts of them (aṃśa-rūpas) would go to the earth. When the set time ended, those parts would return too.
With this promise, the three devīs dried their tears and settled again in peace in Vaikuṇṭha.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
What the episode gives to Bhārata
In Bhārata, Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī and Lakshmī (as Padmāvatī and Tulasī) are aṃśa-avatāras (partial descents) of the consorts of Nārāyaṇa. They live on earth to purify it.
Nārāyaṇa also speaks about harmony in the home. A woman who quarrels and speaks harshly makes the home like a forest. A devoted and virtuous wife (śīlavatī) brings moksha to her husband in this life and the next.
In a long passage addressed to Lakshmī, Nārāyaṇa speaks of the glory of his devotees. Even the tīrthas and the sacred rivers are made pure by the touch of the feet of Vishṇu’s bhaktas.
Source: Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7 (named for the return of Gaṅgā, Lakshmī and Sarasvatī after five thousand years of Kali-yuga)