None can think that the poem entitled Sri Panchami was included in Kasiprasad Ghose’s The Shair and Other Poems which saw the publication of the day long back in 1830. The poem describes the arrival of Saraswati and the herald of Spring which, but the woodlands and forested tracts too seem to be whispering about the swift footfall of it, doing the rounds with a new spirit, enigma to be seen in flora and fauna. The change in scenery, beauty, sound and sight adds to the magical beauty of the landscape. Against such a backdrop, Saraswati comes as the Devi of Vaani, Lipi and Varnamala, Dhvani, Shabda and Akshara, Vidya, Buddhi and Gnan.

Call it Sri Panchami or Vasant Panchami, which but heralds the arrival of Vasant, Spring and Saraswati the ordaining Goddess of the change in time and season, taste and flavor, all this tells of a different mood pervading the spirit of Nature with its bowers and woodlands going to be in a new bearing and the process to undergo will take time. Mango blossoms, ripening plums and an aroma emitting around pervade the spirit and take over us with a new feeling and sentiment doing the rounds. A poem of some twelve stanzas, it relays in its way the thoughts and contents incorporated in.

No. V. Sri Panchami; Or Saraswati Puja, a festival in honor of Saraswati, the goddess of Learning is the poem which Kasiprasad wrote commemorating the festival. Generally, Indian festivals and festive occasions draw the attention of the poet to write on and he has too on them.

Saraswati is the goddess of speech and eloquence and other arts which but show the triumph and omnipotence of genius. It is she who can groom talents and geniuses. How to say whom she will endow with?

I.

Goddess of speech and eloquence!
And other arts which show,
The triumph and omnipotence
Of genius here below.

Without her blessing, mental grace and sensibility cannot be gotten. If grace is not, life will not be beauteous. Divine Grace gives it peace and calm. Calm composure is quintessential for our well-being and prosperity.

II.

Goddess of every mental grace,
And virtue of the soul,
Which high exalt the human race,
And lead to glory’s goal !

She is Akshara, Shabda, Gnan and Buddhi. It is she who nourishes and nurtures with good thoughts and ideas. A child becomes able to learn the three R’s as for her.

III.
‘Tis thou who bid’st the infant mind,
Its growing thoughts display,
Which lay within it undefined —
In regular array.

What has he not chosen to dwell upon? Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Kartika Puja, Akshay Tritiya, Janmashtami, Doil Yatra, Ras Lila and so on have not escaped his pen and eye. Here Vasant Panchami is the chief attraction of the poem. All the folks look up to her in thankfulness as she is the ordaining deity of knowledge and wisdom. The woodlands seem to be a buzz with the coming of Spring. The whiffs and wisps of the wind seem to be pleasing enough.

IV.

Benignant power! the young, the old,
The infant, and the sage,
With gratitude in thee behold
A guide in every age.

Brahma’s daughter Saraswati is the goddess of speech and learning. Had we been not endowed with reasoning and logical faculties, could we have? Vidya and buddhi comes from Saraswati, is a fact which we cannot negate it. It we are knowledgeable only then we can be good-mannered, delicate, modest and gentle.

V.

Daughter of Brahma ! thou hast given
Reason and wisdom’s ray,
To mortals blind to light to heaven
Their earthly, dreary way.

Look, had she been not, what would it have happened to the world? We would have loitered into the circles of gloom and darkness. She is graceful and lenient. She is calm and composed. Her bounty and blessing people comfort us with a strange serenity and stillness rarely to be marked. She is allied with Vishnu and is like him as people look up to in calm composure and elegance. The lotus, the swan, the book, the lute and the serene poise add to her grace.

VI.

But O ! without thy lenient grace
What would this world have been ?
Involved in utter gloom, a place
Deprived of wisdom’s sheen.

VII.

Thou art allied with Vishnu high
Lord of the universe,
Whose praises in the earth and sky,
The gods and men rehearse.

VIII.

Thy silver-shining brow is bound
With learning’s halo bright.
Thou bear’st a lute whose magic sound
Breathes sweetness and delight.

What to say about the arrival of Spring and with it the arrival of Saraswati? New buds will come out and glisten. Pale leaves have started to flutter and fall and a new symptom of change can be marked it. An aroma is spread around sweetly scenting the atmosphere strangely, keeping us spell-bound. Spring is a season of songs and beauty. Birds can be seen hopping, singing and playing. Song birds keep breaking newest tunes of ecstasy and delight. Spring is a season of blossoms and flowers. Different types of flowers bloom during this season with the butterflies hovering on from flower to flower.

IX.

0 ! be upon our earth again
As thou hast ever been.
Leaving thy heavenly bower and plain
Of never-fading, green.

X.

Spring has resumed her cheerful sway,
And nature smiles around,
The whispering zephyrs lightly play
A heart-inspiring sound.

XI.
The merry song-birds from the sprays
Pour out their notes of love,
The flowerets blush kissed by the rays
Of the bright sun above.

In section XII, the poet talks of the beauties arranged by spring, the basket full of flowers and fruits lying. There is a change in season and time. Woodlands and hilly tracts are going to have a change. In such a   scenario, the poet prays to the deity to come and bless.

The section number, XIII is the last stanza of the poem. If she comes, her heavenly presence will grace the occasion. Though he has tried to write the verses in her glory, the poet thinks that there is nothing substantial in them as these are the outpourings of the poetic heart which often splashes with loose emotions and feelings.

On Saraswati Puja, small children and students like to offer flowers to the deity before taking food and pray for her utmost blessing. The would-be school goers are made to write on the slate with a chalk pencil or lime-stick that too with the goddess as a witness for or this is the best auspicious time to start with or begin a new lesson.