Introduction
Saraswati, also spelled Sarasvati, is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, learning, speech, music and the arts. She is worshipped by students, scholars, musicians and artists. She is shown in white, seated on a lotus or a swan, playing the veena. She is regarded in the Puranic tradition as the consort of Brahma, and she is also a major goddess in Jainism and Buddhism.
Her name comes from a river in the earliest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the name literally means "she who has pools" or "flowing".
Family
- Husband: Brahma
Names and epithets
- Vak, the goddess of speech, and Vagdevi or Vagishvari, "goddess of speech"
- Sharada, in Kashmir and South India, and Shatarupa
- Brahmani and Mahavidya
- Veenapani, "she who holds the veena", and Hamsavahini, "she who rides a swan"
Vedic origins
Saraswati is first known from the Rigveda, where she is both a great river and a goddess. One hymn (6.61) praises her as a mighty river, while another (10.75, the hymn of the rivers) lists her among the great rivers. In the Rigveda, she is associated with purification, inspiration and the power of speech. The goddess Vak, "Speech", is praised in the Devi Sukta (10.125). In the Brahmana texts, Saraswati and Vak merge, and by the epic and Puranic period, she is the goddess of speech and knowledge.
The location of the Vedic Sarasvati river has been much studied. Many scholars associate it with the Ghaggar-Hakra river system in north-western India, which dried up in ancient times. Others identify it with rivers in Afghanistan. Traditional belief holds that the river continues to flow unseen and joins the Ganga and Yamuna at Prayagraj (Triveni Sangam).
Iconography
Saraswati is shown as a fair woman in white clothes, with four arms, holding a veena (lute), a book (the Vedas), a rosary (mala) and a water pot. Her vehicle is a swan, which in Indian tradition can separate milk from water, a symbol of discernment. In some regions she rides a peacock. She sits on a white lotus.
Family
In the Puranic tradition, she is the consort of Brahma and, in some accounts, his daughter or born from him. In other traditions she is a consort of Vishnu.
Worship and festivals
Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja, on the fifth day of the bright half of Magha (January or February), is the main festival, when people wear yellow and place books, pens and musical instruments before her image. Children are traditionally introduced to writing on this day (Vidyarambham or Akshara Abhyasam). In South India, Saraswati is also worshipped on the ninth day of Navaratri, called Saraswati Puja or Ayudha Puja.
Famous temples of Saraswati include the Gnana Saraswati Temple at Basar in Telangana, the Sharadamba Temple at Sringeri in Karnataka, and the ancient Sharada Peeth in Kashmir, which was once a major centre of learning.
Meaning
Saraswati represents not only formal learning, but the flow of creative knowledge and speech. In Hindu tradition, she is honoured before any study, and books are treated with reverence.
In other traditions
In Jainism, Saraswati is worshipped as Shrutadevi, the goddess of sacred knowledge. In Buddhism, she is Benzaiten in Japan, Biancaitian in China and Thuyathadi in Myanmar, and in Tibetan Buddhism a related figure is Yangchenma.