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Devi Saraswati
~ Form and Iconography

Appearance: Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, white (rarely, yellow)-skinned goddess, dressed in pure white often seated on a white Nelumbo nucifera lotus [although Her actual vahana (carrier) is believed to be a swan], which symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the Absolute Truth. Thus, she not only has the knowledge but also the experience of the Highest Reality. She is mainly associated with the color white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. Occasionally, however, she is also associated with the colour yellow, the colour of the flowers of the mustard plant that bloom at the time of her festival in the spring. She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold, unlike the goddess Lakshmi, but is dressed modestly — perhaps 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 primary sacred books for hindus. The vedas, in turn, represent the 3 forms of literature:

* Poetry — the Rigveda contains hynms, representing poetry
* Prose — Yajurveda contains prose
* Music — Samaveda represents music.

The four hands also depict this thusly — prose is represented by the book in one hand, poetry by the garland of crystal, music by the veena. The pot of sacred water represents purity in all of these three, or their power to purify human thought, or might even her association to water, flow of water (representing teh smooth flow of knowledge), or even the river Saraswati.

She is shown to hold the following in her hands:

* A pustaka (book), which is the sacred Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures.
* A akshamala (garland of crystals to meditate), representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
* A kamandalu (pot of sacred water), representing creative and purificatory powers, or the smooth flow of knowledge, like water, stored in a pot (to mean its concentration).
* The veena, a musical instrument that represents her perfection of all arts and sciences.

Saraswati is also associated with anuraaga, the love for and rhythm of music which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music. It is believed that children born with that name will prove to be very lucky in their studies.

The carrier: A white swan is often located next to her feet. The air that the living inhales is called (by sound) "ham", and the air that is breathed out is called "sah" (by sound). Swan, in sanskrit, is called "Hamsa". So the glorified goddess Saraswati is supposed symbolically to ride the very essence of being. Again, the sacred swan, if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. The swan thus symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Goddess Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsa-vahini, which means "she who has a swan as her vehicle". She is usually depicted near a flowing river, which may be related to her early history as a river goddess. 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. Although, in different texts, scriptures, historical sculptures, Saraswati is also found to be carried by different other vahanas, like the lion, cock and so on.

Saraswati ~ the river

The hymns of the RigVeda, dedicated to Saraswati, mention her as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties. The best theory regarding the Vedic Sarasvati River states that it 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 instead of east at Paonta Saheb. Next, the river flowed southwest across the Punjab and Haryana regions along the course of the modern Ghaggar-Hakra River in a pathway roughly parallel to the smaller Indus River to its west. The Sutlej flowed further east than it does today, and joined the Sarasvati somewhere near Bahawalpur. Eventually, the wide river 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. Some have postulated that the goddess Saraswati gained her role as personified communication and the giver of knowledge due to the role of the Sarasvati River in the development of written language in ancient India.

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. Some claim that the sanctity of the modern Ganges is directly related to its assumption of the holy, life-giving waters of the ancient Sarasvati.

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 Sarasvati River can be seen along the main highway (GT road).

MahaSaraswati

MahaSaraswati [maha (pronounced "mahaa"), the prefix denoting to something exalted, grand & glorified] 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. Her dhyana-shloka (hymn to meditate the form) is:

Wielding in her lotus-hands the bell, trident, ploughshare, conch, pestle, discus, bow, and arrow, her lustre is like that of a moon shining in the autumn sky. She is born from the body of Gowri and is the sustaining base of the three worlds. The MahaSaraswati I worship here who destroyed Sumbha and other asuras.


MahaNeel Saraswati
(Mahavidya Neel Saraswati)

Mahaneel Saraswati, or NeelSaraswati, is another form of Mahavidya Tara (pronounced, Taaraa) 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). There are separate dhyana shlokas and mantras for her worship in the texts of the Tantric texts of the Tantrasaara.

Matangi

"O goddess of intellect, favoured by your, one becomes a Seer; one becomes a Brahman or a knower of the Supreme. Favoured by you one becomes also possessed of riches. Favoured by you one gains manifold wealth. Being such, O goddess of Intellect, delight in us and confer on us wealth."

- Krishna Yajurveda, Mahanarayana Upanishad, XLI.2

In Hinduism, Matangi (pronounced: Maatangi)is the aspect of Devi (in other words, the Mahavidya) who is the patron of inner thought. She guides her devotee to the uncaused primordial sound. Matangi has a dark emerald complexion and has three eyes, holding the veena, and is the another (Tantric) form of the Goddess Saraswati, which much features and qualities in common between both. The Goddess Meenakshi at Madurai is worshipped as Matangi. Matangi is considered as the daughter of Sage Maatanga. Matangi is the ninth energy of the DashaMahavidya (ten tantric forms of the female cosmic energy, or Durga). She is the Goddess in the form of an Outcaste (Chandala), and in Tantra, represents the Ucchishtha, or leavings of the sacrifice. These are all mystic symbolisms.

Origins and context in Hinduism

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 Vaak, 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.

The original (spiritual) forms of devas including Saraswati are present in the spiritual world:

In the centre [of Vaikuntha] reside the deities of fire, sun and moon, Kurma-avatara, Ananta Sesha, and Garuda, the master of the three Vedas. The Vedic hymns and all sacred mantras also stay in that holy place, which is made of all the Vedas, and which is known in the Smriti-sastra as the yoga-pitha.

Famous Vaishnava scholar Rupa Gosvami elaborates:

Accompanied by Goddess Lakshmi and other associates, the catur-vyuha expansions headed by Lord Vasudeva are manifest in the eight directions, beginning with the east. In the directions beginning with the southeast, the palaces of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Rati, and Kanti respectively are situated.

According to Vedanta she is considered to be the feminine energy and knowledge aspect (shakti) of Brahman, as one of many aspects of Adi Shakti.

Saraswati and the Gods
(Myths about Saraswati from Different Puranas)

The Puranas relate Saraswati to mainly Brahma and Vishnu, and rarely Shiva. Most frequently, she is associated with Brahma. Her connection with him dates earlier than to any other God. She is portrayed mostly as his consort and occasionally as his daughter. When Vishnu's popularity in India increased, myths relating Saraswati to him appeared.

Saraswati and Brahma: When Saraswati is pictured as a wife of Brahma, she is usually portrayed as white complexioned, wearing white or yellow garments, and accompanied by a peacock or/and a swan (symbols of Brahma).

Origin of Brahma's 5 heads due to Saraswati: Brahma created Satarupa (Saraswati) out of his own body, and became enamoured with her. He was looking at her amorously. In order to avoid his glances, Satarupa turned to the right side from his gaze. In order to see her then, Brahma created a second head. As she passed to his left and his rear, in order to avoid his lustful glances, two other heads of the god successively appeared. At last she sprang to the sky, and following her, a fifth head of Brahma was also formed. (From the Matsya Purana)

Brahma's Great Sacrifice: Brahma decided to perform a great sacrifice and for that purpose he and his wife Savitri (one of the names for Saraswati) went to Pushkara. When all the preparations were made with due rites and ceremonies for performing the sacrifice, Savitri, detained by some household affairs, was not in attendance. A priest was immediately advised to call her. But she replied that she had not yet completed her dress, nor arranged several affairs. Since without a wife no advantage could be derived by performing a sacrifice, Brahma advised Indra to bring a wife from wherever he could find one. Indra proceeded accordingly and, he found a milkmaid Gayatri (another form of Saraswati), who was young, beautiful . Indra seized her and brought to the assembly. Then Brahma told that he would espouse the mikmaid and she would be regarded as the mother of the Vedas. Thus Brahma was united with Gayatri. At this time Savitri, accompanied by the wives of Vishnu, Rudra and other gods, come to the place of sacrifice. Seeing the milkmaid in the bride's attire, Savitri became furious and cursed Brahma and all the other gods and left. But Gayatri repaired most of the curses by performing proper sacrifices. (From the Skanda Purana)

Origin of Saraswati and Her Marriage to Vishnu: Once Krishna felt an inclination to create and thus sprang from him Radha, his shakti. Their union produced the mundane egg, which Radha threw into the numdane waters. Krishna was incensed at this unmotherly conduct of Radha and cursed her with everlasting youth and barrenness. At this point, suddently from the lip of Radha sprang forth a lovely daughter Saraswati of white complexion wearing yellow dress, bedecked with jewels and holding a Veena and a book in her hands. Radha again parted herself into two and her left half was transformed into Kamala or Lakshmi. At this, Krishna also parted into two and produced the four-armed Vishnu from the left side of his body. Krishna gave Sarasvati and Lakshmi to Vishnu as wives. (From the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana)

Fight Between Saraswati and Ganga: Besides Saraswati, Vishnu married Ganga (the river Ganges). One day Ganga was looking wistfully at her husband, and Vishnu was reciprocating the glances. This was too much for Saraswati who began to accuse Vishnu of partiality. Vishnu left the place to give Saraswati time to calm herself down. But this only served to anger Saraswati more. She advanced threatingly to Ganga when Lakshmi intervened. Lakshmi held Saraswati away from Ganga. Saraswati then cursed Lakshmi. Vishnu, having found out about what happened, cursed both Saraswati and Ganga with transformation into rivers, and also gave both of them to other husbands. Saraswati was given to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva. (From the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana)

Saraswati's Connection to the Yoga

Sarasvati 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 Sarasvati 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. Therefore, she allows one to exist in the material world while striving for the plane of Brahman. The connection one forms with Sarasvati is one with words and music, which are the very source of the cosmos, the Brahman. She is the impeller of true, sweet speech, she is the creative process with the syllable, ‘OM.’ She is the potent quality of sound.

Sarasvati is the ocean of understanding, the consciousness which vibrates with different types of knowledge. She is the cause of all movements, the source of spiritual light, remover of all ignorance and promoter of knowledge. Students that are here to discover, invent and create a new world fall under Sarasvati'’s grace, that is why we must be open and disciplined to acquire the knowledge which she can give to us. Sarasvati shows that human destiny involves the refinement of nature. Being fully human necessitates molding, enhancing and refining the natural world to make it habitable. Artistic creation as well as knowledge of the sciences epitomize human culture; integrated knowledge refines the world into something beautiful and special.

Saraswati's Connection to Other Religions

Sarasvati is well known in a variety of other religions outside of Hinduism. She appears in Jainism and Buddhism, and has made her way from India to Japan as well as to other places around the world.

In Jainism, Saravsvati has been given many titles, a few of these include: The Dispeller of Darkness & Ignorance, The Remover of Infatuations, The Destroyer of Miseries and The Bestower of Knowledge. As in Hinduism, she also stands as a symbol of purity.

In the transition from early (Theravada) Buddhism to Mahayana Buddhism, may elements of Hinduism were transplanted into Buddhism. In early Buddhist mandalas, various divinities were depicted of Mahayana Buddhism. In those early Buddhist mandalas, Sarasvati 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-Sarasvati, Vajrana-Sarasvati, Vajra-Sarada and Mahasarasvati. 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.

In Tibet, she is known as Vajra-Sarasvati and is often depicted as wielding a Thunderbolt (vajra). In Japan, the goddess Benzaiten or Benten is seen as a manifestation of Sarasvati. Her full name in Japanese is Dai-Ben-Zai-Ten or The Great Divinity of Reasoning Faculty. She is believed to confer power, happiness, riches, long life, fame and reasoning powers. In later times she came to be regarded as one of the seven deities of good fortune. A myth in Japan speaks of a hideous pond dwelling serpent that terrorized the villages and devoured the children for miles around. Benten could not bear to witness such destruction. Therefore she stirred up an earthquake and hovered above the serpent's lair in the dust clouds. Descending, she called it forth. At first Benten was filled with loathing. But the serpent king wooed her with soft and tender words until her heart was melted, and--making him promise to mend his savage ways--she married him. It is interesting to note that Ben-Ten, as goddess of speech was won by words.

Other associations

In Hinduism, Saraswati (also spelt: "Sarasvati") is one of the three main goddesses, the other two being Lakshmi and Durga, that form the female counterpart of the Trimurti [the three main gods: Brahma (of srishti, or creation), Vishnu (of sthiti, or beingness & protection) and Shiva (of samhaar, or destruction)]. Saraswati has been regarded as a river goddess during the Vedic age, and gradually, down the Puranic ages, emerged to be a goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. Most popularly, she is the consort of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.

As a river/water goddess, Saraswati symbolizes fertility and prosperity. She is associated with purity and creativity, especially in the context of communication, such as in literary and verbal skills. In the post-Vedic age, She began to lose her status as a river goddess and became increasingly associated with literature, arts, music, etc. Her name literally means "the one who flows", which apparently was applied to thoughts, words, or the flow of a river (in Sanskrit: "dhaaraa-pravaah").

Festivals

Saraswati Puja is performed on the 5th day of brighter fortnight of the Magha month of Hindu Calendar( Also known as Basant Panchami). This is the most popular celebration in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and millions of Bengali Hindus worldwide.

In several parts of India, generally states to the south, Saraswati Pooja are conducted during Navaratri - a 9 day long festival celebrating the power of feminity. Navratri is celebrated in all goddess-temples of India- esp with great pomp and splendor in south and east India. The last three days of Navaratri starting from Mahalaya Amavasya (the New Moon day) are dedicated to the goddess. On the ninth day of Navaratri (Mahanavami), books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the gods 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. The festival is concluded on the tenth day of Navaratri (Vijaya Dashami) and the goddess is worshipped again before the books and the musical instruments are removed. It is customary to study on this day, which is called Vidyarambham (literally, Commencement of Knowledge). All students are traditionally required to study a part of all that they have learn till that day, and also to start the study of something new on the same day. Gurus ( Preceptors) are worshipped on this day as embodiments of Saraswati. In major part of India this Navratri is associated with Goddess Durga, but down South is celebrated as Saraswati Puja.

Temples

Major temples for the goddess are in Basara Town ( Andhra Pradesh), Shringeri (Karnataka), Pushkar (Rajastan), Panachikkad (Kerala), South Paravoor (Kerala). Though temples for saraswati are rare, there are some minor temples in Kumbakonam,Koothanur (Tamilnadu), Basar, Nuzvid(Krishana Dt..)(Andhra Pradesh), Bharathi temple (known as Kollam Bharathi locally) near Atmakur, Kurnool Dist in Andhra. Also Deupatan, Kamalakshi, Thimi, Bhadrakali ,Gairidhara in the Kathmandu region have her temples.

The Worship of Goddess Saraswati

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 the nectar or the main theme, or essence of the creation's/beauty's (here, flower) being, and is representative of perfect knowledge.

A Prayer to Goddess Saraswati – (Saraswati Vandana Mantra)

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."

Different Names of Saraswati

Vedaroopa - There is nothing in the universe, which is not in the Vedas, and Saraswati is the concrete form of the Vedas.

Vedavaadini - The reciter of the Vedas.

Sarvashukla - Associated to everything, immaculately white and pure.

Shweta - One who is clad and adorned with white.

Vaak - Speech.

Vidya - Knowledge.

Bhaarati - Eloquence, or the soul of Bhaarata, or India

Mahavidya - Ttranscendent knowledge.

Vaak - Speech.

Vaani - Transcendent word.

Aaryaa - The noble one.

Braahmi - Power of the immense being (and also, as the consort of Lord Brahma).

Kaamadhenu - The wish cow.

Bijagarbhaa - Womb of the seed or womb of the elements of speech.

Dhanesvari - Divinity of wealth.

Vaagdevi - Divinity of speech.

Vinapani - The one that holds the vina.

Saarada - Giver of essence.

Vaageshvari - Goddess of speech.