Goddess Saraswati (सरस्वती)                 the Goddess of wisdom and learning.

Goddess Saraswati  Iconography   Saraswati's different forms  Saraswati's mythological  stories  Saraswati River    Saraswati festival  Goddess  Saraswati Vandana   Goddess Saraswati and Yoga  Goddess  Saraswati in other Religions

Goddess Saraswati (सरस्वती)   Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of wisdom and learning. Saraswati is the one who gives the essence (sara) of our own self (swa). She is considered as the personification of all knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and other skills.  She has a beautiful and elegant presence, is pure white in colour, clad in a white sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning; mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has the sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus (a symbol of true knowledge) in the second. With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on the veena.       Goddess Saraswati  is the consort of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. Scripture says that when Brahma resolved to create this world, he went into deep thought. In the course of his contemplation, there appear a hollowed mark on his forehead. After a few moments there is a girl emerged from that celestial sign. Lord Brahma asked: "Who are you?" The girl replied: "My birth has been from your contemplation. Pease give me work."  Lord Brahma asked her to live on the tongue of people and regulate their speech as "Vageshwari", the goddess of speech. While Brhma is the lord of creation, Saraswati is the goddess of creativity. She is the personification of wisdom, learning, intelligence, music and art. As the incarnation of speech, she presides over knowledge.    The Rigvedic hymns dedicated to Saraswati mention her as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties.

Saraswati with Lakshmi (goddess of luck and prosperity). and Lord Ganesha

Iconography    Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, white -skinned goddess, dressed in pure white often seated on a  swan (carrier)  or on a white  lotus. She is mainly associated with the color white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge.  She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold, dressed modestly - representing her preference of knowledge over worldly material things.   She is generally shown to have four arms, which represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego. Alternatively, these four arms also represent the 4 vedas, the  sacred books of Hindus. She is shown to hold the following in her four hands:  1 In First hand a  pustaka (sacred Vedas) , representing the universal, divine, eternal, and  true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures.  2. In Second hand a akshamala (garland of crystals to meditate), representing the power of meditation and spirituality.  3. In Third hand a kamandalu (pot of sacred water), representing creative and purificatory powers, or the smooth flow of knowledge, like water, stored in a pot.   4. In Fourth hand , a musical instrument (Veena) that represents her perfection of all arts and sciences.   The vahana (carrier) is a  white swan is often located next to her feet. Swan, in Sanskrit, is called "Hamsa", hence Goddess Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsa-vahini,. It is said that if the  sacred swan  offered a mixture of milk and water, he will drink the only milk. Thus swan symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. The swan and her association with the lotus flower also point to her ancient origin. Sometimes a peacock is shown beside the goddess. The peacock represents arrogance and pride over its beauty, and by having a peacock as her mount, the Goddess teaches not to be concerned with external appearance and to be wise regarding the eternal truth.

Goddess Saraswati is generally shown to have four arms, which represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego.

Goddess Saraswati's different forms   MahaSaraswati  MahaSaraswati  is the presiding Goddess of the Final episode of Devi Mahatmya. Here she is a part of the trinity of MahaKali, MahaLakshmi and MahaSaraswati. She is depicted as eight armed.  MahaSaraswati destroyed Sumbha and other asuras.     MahaNeel Saraswati (Mahavidya Neel Saraswati)   Mahaneel Saraswati, or NeelSaraswati, is another form of Mahavidya Tara  or UgraTara, or Ugrajataa. This form is mainly associated and has a mixture of the Mahaayana and the Vajraayana sects of Buddhism. Goddess Tara is said to be Vaak-siddhi-pradayini (bestower of the different mystic powers of speech).   Matangi (Mahavidya)   Matangi or Mahavidya has a dark emerald complexion and has three eyes, holding the veena, and is the another (Tantric) form of the Goddess Saraswati. The Goddess Meenakshi at Madurai is worshipped as Matangi.

Goddess Saraswati's mythological   stories    In the Rig-Veda (6,61,7), Saraswati is credited, in association with Indra, with killing the serpentine being Vritraasura, a demon which hoarded all of the earth's water and so represents drought, darkness, and chaos. She is often seen as equivalent to other Vedic goddesses such as Vak, Savitri, and Gayatri. Saraswati represents intelligence, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity, education, enlightenment, music, the arts, and power. She is not only worshipped for secular knowledge, but for the true divine knowledge essential to achieve moksha. She is also referred to as Shonapunya, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘one purified of blood’. In some Puranas (like Skanda Purana) she is associated with Shiva and in some Tantras with Ganesha.    According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana 2.6.13-95 Vishnu has three wives, who constantly quarrel with each other, so that eventually, he keeps only Lakshmi, giving Ganga to Shiva and Saraswati to Brahma.

Saraswati River   It is said that the Vedic Saraswati River  was formed by the present headwaters of the Yamuna River. In ancient times, after they had left the Himalayan foothills, the waters of the Yamuna turned west. The Sutlej river joined the Saraswati somewhere near Bahawalpur. Thus  the wide river Saraswati emptied into the Rann of Kutch, which at the time was a more integral part of the Arabian Sea.  Along the course of the Saraswati, the Harappan Civilization developed. The earliest known examples of writing in India have been found in the ruined cities that line the now dry riverbed of the ancient waterway.     Between 2000 B.C. and 1700 B.C., seismic activity caused the waters of the river's two main sources to change course. The Sutlej moved course westward and became a tributary of the Indus River. The Yamuna moved course eastward and became a tributary of the Ganges. The tremendous loss of water which resulted from these movements caused the once mighty river to become sluggish and dry up in the Thar Desert without ever reaching the sea. Without any water for irrigation or transportation, the dense population of the river basin soon shifted east with the waters of the Yamuna to the Ganges River valley. Late Vedic texts record the river as disappearing at Vinasana (literally, "the disappearing"), and as joining both the Yamuna and Ganges as an invisible river.    Recently, archaeologists using satellite images have been able to trace the course of the river. A small channel of water flows near Kurukshetra. A nearby signboard denoting the former path of the once great Saraswati River can be seen along the main highway .    Saraswati festival   Saraswati Puja is performed on the 5th day of Magha month of Hindu Calendar ( This year on February 11, 2008). It is also  known as Basant Panchami. In several parts of India, generally states to the south, Saraswati Poojas are conducted during Navaratri - a 9 day long festival celebrating the power of feminity.    On the Saraswati Puja day, books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the goddess early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is  considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments. In major part of India  Navratri is associated with Goddess Durga, but down South is celebrated as Saraswati Puja.   The goddess's abode is mentioned as being in the state of Kashmir, among the Himalayas. Her favorite fruit is supposed to be the apple. In hindu mythology, great significance is attached to offering honey to this goddess, as honey is representative of perfect knowledge.   Saraswati Vandana    Yaa Kundendu tushaara haaradhavalaa, Yaa shubhravastraavritha   Yaa veenavara dandamanditakara, Yaa shwetha padmaasana   Yaa brahmaachyutha shankara prabhutibhir Devaisadaa Vanditha   Saa Maam Paatu Saraswatee Bhagavatee Nihshesha jaadyaapahaa  English Translation: "May Goddess Saraswati, who is fair like the jasmine-colored moon, and whose pure white garland is like frosty dew drops; who is adorned in radiant white attire, on whose beautiful arm rests the veena, and whose throne is a white lotus; who is surrounded and respected by the Gods, protect me. May you fully remove my lethargy, sluggishness, and ignorance."

Goddess Saraswati and Yoga   Saraswati gives the essence of one’s self. She provides us with the mundane and spiritual knowledge of our lives. She is a representation of the science of life, or the Vedanta, which attempts to unravel the essentials of human existence and the universe concealed within. She points to the ultimate aim of human life which is to realize the true nature of the self even if it requires an enormous amount of determination, perseverance and patience. The knowledge that Saraswati renders through continual worship, devotion and discipline is one of an integral vision in which both temporal and spiritual levels of study are meditated upon, practiced and developed.  She is the impeller of true, sweet speech, she is the creative process with the syllable, ‘OM.’ She is the potent quality of sound.  There is a Triveni-Sangam (confluence of three) within our subtle-body ( Sukshma- Sharira ). There is a  Triveni at the spot between our eyebrows, the ajna-chakra, which is the actual prayaga. He whose mind  passes through this Chakra, becomes one with the Absolute. The three vital Nadis concur at this point -  Ida, Pingala and Sushumna . Normally people breathe through Ida or Pingala , the left or the right nostril  but the perfect yogins breath through the Sushumna which cannot be perceived by others. Sushumna is Saraswati,who is antah-Salila whereas the other two are Yamuna and Ganga respectively.

Goddess  Saraswati worshiped in other Religions  Jainism: In Jainism, Sarawati has been given many titles, a  Dispeller of Darkness and Ignorance, The Remover of Infatuations, The Destroyer of Miseries and The Bestower of Knowledge. In Janism, she also stands as a symbol of purity.   Buddhism: In early Buddhist mandalas, various divinities were depicted of Mahayana Buddhism. In those early Buddhist mandalas, Saraswati is located in the south-west of the innermost circle, between Brahma and Vishnu, symbolizing her close connection with these two deities. In Buddhism, Sarasvati is the Bestower of Knowledge, Intelligence & Memory; and she confers wisdom and learning upon her worshippers. She possesses many forms within Buddhism, including Vajra-Saraswati, Vajrana-Saraswati, Vajra-Sarada and Mahasaraswati. During a period of Tantric dominance within Buddhism, many of the Mahayana Buddhist texts were transmitted through the Himalayan passes to Nepal, Tibet, Java, China and eventually Japan.

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