अम्बितम इति मन्त्रस्य गृत्समद ऋषिः । अनुष्टुप् छन्दः । सरस्वती देवता । ऐमिति बीजशक्तिः कीलकम् । मन्त्रेण न्यासः । नामरूपात्मकं सर्वं यस्यामावेश्य तां पुनः । ध्यायन्ति ब्रह्मरूपैका सा मां पातु सरस्वती ॥ ऐं अम्बितमे नदीतमे देवितमे सरस्वती । अप्रशस्ता इव स्मसि प्रशस्तिमम्ब नस्कृधि
ambitama iti mantrasya gṛtsamada ṛṣiḥ | anuṣṭup chandaḥ | sarasvatī devatā | aimiti bījaśaktiḥ kīlakam | mantreṇa nyāsaḥ | nāmarūpātmakaṃ sarvaṃ yasyāmāveśya tāṃ punaḥ | dhyāyanti brahmarūpaikā sā māṃ pātu sarasvatī || aiṃ ambitame nadītame devitame sarasvatī | apraśastā iva smasi praśastimamba naskṛdhi
"She into whom all that consists of name and form is introduced, and her they then contemplate — one, in form brahman — may that Sarasvatī protect me. 'Aiṃ. O best of mothers, best of rivers, best of goddesses, Sarasvatī! We are as though unpraised: make for us praise, O mother.'"
39d176300c59 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The series of ten mantras ends with the ṛc most famous of all about Sarasvatī: Ṛgveda 2.41.16. Ambitame naditame devitame — "best of mothers, of rivers, of goddesses." It is worth noting that the three superlatives are placed in this order: first mother, then river, then goddess.
That is, the river is named before the goddess; and this is the surest indication of what Sarasvatī originally was: an actual river, now vanished, of which the Ṛgveda speaks as the greatest. Let us add the request: apraśastā iva smasi praśastim amba naḥ kṛdhi, "we are as though unpraised: make for us praise, O mother." It is worth noting the phrase iva, "as though."
The petitioners do not say "we are worthless"; they say "we are as though unpraised" — that is, with a qualification, almost with embarrassment. This detail is vivid and, to my mind, charming: one hears in it a person uncomfortable asking for glory. The Vaiṣṇava side speaks her own word about asking for glory, and it is sharp: pratiṣṭhā, "standing, reputation," is counted by her among the most dangerous hindrances, as was discussed when reading the Yājñavalkya (p17).
But it is worth noting the difference too: here they ask of a mother, and ask as children; and what is named a hindrance is not the asking but the thirst. And the difference between "asking a mother" and "striving for" is, to my mind, the whole difference between these two passages.