The exact origin of the Saraswat Brahmins is difficult to ascertain. The Saraswat Brahmins are mentioned in the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and even the Bhavisyottara Purana.Eiher they may have come from Central Asia to the Indian sub-continent through the Hindu-Kush mountains and the Khyber pass to south in about 2000-1500 B.C or they were Indigenous.The meaning of the word 'Saraswat' has more than one origin. One refers to 'offspring of Saraswati', the Goddess of learning applied usually to learned and scholarly people. It may also denote the residents of Saraswati river basin. The brahmins of this region who are referred to as 'Saraswats' in Mahabharata and Puranas were learned in Vedic lore. They concentrated on studying subjects like astronomy, metaphysics, medicine and allied subjects and disseminating knowledge.To trace the gaud saraswat brahmins ancestry from kashmir to goa,story of famous seer "saraswata" is considered,when there was a famine in north India,he continued to recite vedic texts by consuming fishes.
Due to geo-morphosis in the Himalayas, the Saraswati began to dry up and the Saraswats were forced to migrate to greener pastures. Some went to Kashmir in the north, others went eastwards. Few made their way to the Konkan and Goa. These came to be recognized as Goud Saraswats or Dakshinatya Saraswats, to distinguish them from other Saraswat groups of North.
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