Sāvitrī Devī, Wife of Brahmā and Mother of the Vedas

Sāvitrī Devī is the Devī who arose from the tongue of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa at the beginning of creation. She is white as pure crystal and holds a japamālā (a rosary for chanting). She became the dharmapatnī (lawful wife) of Brahmā.

She is not the same as Sāvitrī of the Sāvitrī and Satyavān narrative, which the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa tells. Sāvitrī Devī is the Devī of the Vedic mantra, above all the Gāyatrī. She is honoured in saṃdhyāvandana (the prayers at the junctions of the day) and in Vedic ritual.

Her birth from Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa’s tongue

At the beginning of sṛṣṭi (creation), Sarasvatī, Mahālakṣmī and Durgā appeared first. Then a shining form arose from the jihvā (tongue) of Kṛṣṇa. She was:

White as śuddha-spaṭika (pure crystal)
Beautiful
Dressed in white
Decorated with every ornament (sarvālaṃkāra-suśobhitā)
Holding a japamālā in her hand

Her name is Sāvitrī. She stood before Kṛṣṇa, bowed and sang a stotra (hymn of praise). In it she called him sarva-kāraṇa-bhūta (the cause of all causes), brahma-svarūpa, sanātana, parātpara, nirvikāra and nirañjana. The Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, tells this.

The same account says that Sarasvatī, the Devī of speech, arose from the mouth (mukha), and Sāvitrī arose from the tongue.

Wife of Brahmā

In the discourse of Nārāyaṇa Muni in Chapter 30, Sāvitrī is the dharmapatnī of Brahmā. She is the same Devī whom the Gāyatrī mantra calls on as Sāvitrī, who lights up the mind. In the Brahma Vaivarta system, every chief deva has his own Prakṛti, and Brahmā’s is Sāvitrī.

Sāvitrī in the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa

The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa places Sāvitrī within the teaching on Mūla Prakṛti. She is the fourth of the five chief forms of Mūla Prakṛti. Durgā is first, Lakṣmī second, Sarasvatī third, Sāvitrī fourth and Rādhā fifth.

Here Sāvitrī is vedamātā, the mother of all the Vedas. She is the source of these, and she keeps them alive:

The four Vedas: Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva
The six vedāṅgas (limbs of the Veda): śikṣā, kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, chandas and jyotiṣa
The various chandas (Vedic metres)
The saṃdhyāvandana mantras of daily devotion
The tantra traditions

She is brahmateja-virajitā, shining with the light of Brahman, and pure as crystal. The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa says that every sacred tīrtha (pilgrimage place) longs for her darśana (sight) and wishes to be blessed by her presence. It also says that Sāvitrī is the one who gives mokṣa (liberation).

This account is from the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1.

Sāvitrī at Brahmā’s yajña in Puṣkara

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells of Sāvitrī at the great yajña (fire ritual) of Brahmā at Puṣkara. Brahmā was performing it at the beginning of the Kṛta Yuga. His wife Sāvitrī was late. She was waiting for all the devīs to come with her, and she was busy with household preparations.

The auspicious muhūrta (hour) was passing. Brahmā told Indra to find a kanyā (young woman). Indra brought a beautiful gopikā (cowherd girl) to the yajña. Bhagavān Viṣṇu named her Gāyatrī. Brahmā married her by the gāndharva rite so that the yajña could go on.

When Sāvitrī arrived, she saw Gāyatrī sitting beside Brahmā in her own place. Her anger blazed. She spoke five great śāpas (curses) against Brahmā, Indra, Viṣṇu, Agni and the brāhmaṇas. Then she went away to live at Jyeṣṭha Puṣkara. This is told in the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16 and 17.

The five śāpas

All five are from the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 17.

To Brahmā. “O Brahmā, you have left me and done this wrong. From now on the brāhmaṇas, in all their gatherings and in all their different places, will never worship you. They will make one single yearly pūjā to you, in Kārtika.”

To Indra. “O Indra, you brought that girl to Brahmā. You will taste the fruit of this act. When you are in the middle of the ocean, your enemies will seize you, bind you and drag you away. You will suffer the deepest shame in the city of your enemy. Then you will be set free quickly.”

To Viṣṇu. “By the word of Bhṛgu Maharṣi you are already cursed. When you are born in the world of mortals, you will suffer the grief of losing your wife. Your enemy will carry off your wife. She will be far away, across the ocean, on the other shore. You will wander with your brother, weeping, and you will not find her. You will be born in the Yadu family as Kṛṣṇa and for a long time you will live as the servant of a cowherd.”

To Agni. “O Agni, you already eat everything. You cannot burn what is already burning. Jātaveda! The Vedas arose from you. But Rudra will flood you with his retas (seed), and your tongue will blaze only amid that medhya.”

To the brāhmaṇas. “You held out your hands to receive the gopī as the wife of the yajamāna (the one who sponsors the ritual). From now on you will live only by holding out your hands to beg. You will wander in forests and live on the banks of rivers and lakes. You will be addicted to the pleasures of the senses and fall from your vows. You will chase the wives of other men, gamble, neglect your parents and live on the food of others. You will do what should not be done, take gifts from those who are not worthy, and own nothing. Your only living will be the rites for the dead.”

Sāvitrī also spoke a śāpa on Lakṣmī, that she would be fickle and would stay among low-minded people. She spoke a śāpa on Śacī, that Nahuṣa would shame her when Indra was a prisoner. After these śāpas Sāvitrī withdrew to Jyeṣṭha Puṣkara and stayed there.

The answer of Gāyatrī Devī

Gāyatrī Devī answered each of the five śāpas with a vara (a boon):

To Brahmā: those who worship Brahmā will enjoy happiness in this world and mokṣa.
To Indra: Brahmā himself will come and free Indra from captivity. After that Indra will rule without challenge.
To Viṣṇu: even in his birth among mortals, Viṣṇu, as Rāma, will defeat the enemy and be joined again with his wife. People will reach mokṣa through him.
To Agni: those who keep the agnihotra with bhakti (love) for Viṣṇu will meet no evil.
To the brāhmaṇas: those who please them with food and gifts will reach the highest lokas (worlds). Even brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa) is removed by three rounds of Gāyatrī japa (chanting).

This is from the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 17.

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa
Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1
Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16 and 17
Bhaviṣya Purāṇa (for the Sāvitrī and Satyavān narrative)