Sarasvati - Grant us intellectual wealth

There is a beautiful ṛk in the Rg Veda extolling Devi Sarasvati. It is the 10th ṛk in the 3rd sukta of the 1st mandala. It was visioned by the sage Madhuchandas Vaiśvāmitra in the Gāyatri metre. It is in Gayatri metre since as you will note below - there are 3 lines are of 8 syllables each - so 8x3 = 24 syllables in all. And when you sing it in this proper rhythm one can really feel the beauty of this ṛk. 

First I give the translation by Shri R L Kashyap, then my own attempt at translation and understanding - at least literally. Finally I end by the deeper import given by Kashyapji. I have found that in general his translations are giving the deeper meaning of the Vedic suktas, which I have not seen in other English translations. 

01.003.10 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)

पा॒व॒का नः॒ सर॑स्वती॒ 

वाजे॑भिर्वा॒जिनी॑वती । 

य॒ज्ञं व॑ष्टु धि॒याव॑सुः ॥

pāvakā ǀ naḥ ǀ sarasvatī ǀ 

vājebhiḥ ǀ vājinī-vatī ǀ 

yajñam ǀ vaṣṭu ǀ dhiyā-vasuḥ ǁ

Rishi: Madhuchandas Vaishvamitra; Chandas: Gayatri; Devata: Sarasvati

Translation by Shri R L Kashyap

pāvakā ǀ naḥ ǀ sarasvatī ǀ - May the purifying Sarasvati; yajñam ǀ vaṣṭu ǀ - desire our yajna
vājebhiḥ ǀ - (She has) plentiful types of riches; vājinī-vatī ǀ She has felicities in plenty or potent energy in expression
dhiyā-vasuḥ ǁ - She is rich (substance) in substance made by thought (dhi)

Now I attempt to translate with my very basic knowledge of Vyākaraṇa

naḥ is dvitiya vibhakti, uttama purusha in plural i.e. us i.e. “to us” i.e. we as objects
pāvakā – indicates a noun form
sarasvatī – the Devi Sarasvati
So pāvakā is referring to Sarasvati as an adjective. Pāvaka means “purifying”. Pavate means “to purify”
So pāvakā sarasvatī means “purifying Sarasvati”

Now in the 2nd and 3rd ṛks – the words “vajinīvatī” and “dhīya-vasuh” also indicate the karta i.e. Sarasvati. 

Vajinīvati indicates she who has lot of “vājin”. Vajin means mares or horses. So she who has lots of horses. But deeper meaning is I suppose that horse, mares indicates speed. The speed of thought, the ability to grasp something quickly. Also indicates possessing lot of energy. So its quick and vigorous intellect. 

One devata who is associated with mares is the Sun God – Vivasvān, who as a horse begot upon his wife Sanjña, the divine physicians Ashwini Kumaras, of whom one is a great astrologer. Sun himself indicates Time. Thus there is a jyotīṣa purport to the above term - vajinīvati.

Dhiyā-vasuḥ is a compound of dhiyā and vasuḥ. Dhiyā means “by the mind” – it is the Chaturthi form of “dhi" - intellect. Vasu means light, wealth. This clearly shows the purport is not material wealth, but wealth of the mind i.e. intelligence, knowledge. 

So all these are alternate names or adjectives of Sarasvati i.e. pāvaka, vājinīvatī, dhiyāvasuḥ, which means: 

O Sarasvati who is purifying, rich in horses (thought, intellect), possessing wealth of thought, intelligence 

Another word mentioned is "vājebhiḥ" - this is a tritiya vibhakti, bahu vaćana i.e. 3rd case, Plural. So it indicates either by vāje or with vāje. Vāje is a word related to vājinī, both from the root "vaj" which means to go, hence vāja means something vigorous, strong, energetic. 

Now the 3rd can be used in the sense of instrument i.e. what we say "by something" or it could mean accompanying i.e. "with something". I think it is the later here. 

So Sarasvatī is vajinīvatī i.e. rich in thought, speed of thought as well as vājebhiḥ i.e. "with" her speed and vigor". 

So: sarasvatī pāvakā vajinīvatī dhiyavasuḥ vajebhir

Meaning: O Sarasvati who is 

pāvakā - is purifying, 

vajinīvatī - is rich in thought (speed of thought), 

dhiyavasuḥ - possessing wealth of thought, intelligence 

vajebhir - and with lot of speed and vigor

Now what are we asking of Saraswati. 
“nah” – means “we” as an object – karma
"Yajñam" – this is again in dvitiya vibhakti. So it means “our yajna”.
"Vaṣtū" – is the verb with Lot Lakara i.e. Imperative mood – which is a request or prayer. Vaṣti means to desire. So we are asking us Devi Sarasvati to desire or to like our yajna. 

Yajna means an offering as a worship – a worshipful offering. In Bhagavad Gita there are various types of yajñas described. Sarasvati is Goddess of Learning and Wisdom. She bestows one with intellectual ability. So what is the yajna she will like – what is the offering she would want. She would want us to learn. Even young children are taught the famous shloka “Sarasvati namastubhyam varade kāmarupini…”. So what we are offering to Sarasvati is our learning efforts. We ask her to be pleased with this effort – for she is purifying, possessing intellectual acuity, vigour and wealth of knowledge, light. Our unstated expectation is that she bestows us with all these intellectual riches in return for our worshipful efforts to learn. 

So put together the complete translation along with the anvaya is:

sarasvatī pāvaka vājinīvatī dhiyāvasuḥ vājebhiḥ - O Sarasvati who is purifying, is rich in thought (speed of thought), possessing wealth of thought, intelligence, and with lot of speed and vigor.

naḥ yajñaṃ vaṣṭu - Our Yajña, please desire.

Following is the deeper import of the ṛk by Shri Kashyap. As you can see he beautifully sees a sequential progression in terms of spiritual evolution. 

Overall meaning & import by Kashyap:
May the purifying Sarasvati, be pleased by our yajna (offering, effort)
She is full of various riches and she is possessor of potent energy in expression
She is full of wealth (vasuh) of thought, intellect (dhi)

This is first of triplet of riks, wherein the first (i.e. the above rik) is about purifying ourselves, removal of sins and giving our offering. In the second rik, she supports our yajna or offering i.e. she supports the process of spiritual evolution. In the third rik, she bestows the offering of successful completion of the yajna, where the revelations flow down in a flood, and the soul is fully awakened.