Saraswati
Saraswati
Salter Street Films
Category="Hindu goddesses"Category="Hindu mythology"[image] Saraswati is the first of the three great goddesses of Hinduism, the other two being Lakshmi and Durga. Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma, The Creator.Origins and context in Hinduism
Saraswati (Sarasvati, Saraswathi) is the first goddess worshipped in the Hindu religion. She is first mentioned in the Rig Veda. She is also mentioned in Puranic texts, such as Ramayana. She likely originated as a river goddess.Saraswati as a river
The Rig Vedic hymns, dedicated to Saraswati, mention her as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties. It was on these banks that the entire vedic civilisation took root, as the Holy Vedas were composed here. The location of the river that once bore her name cannot be verified, but along the banks of the river that is believed to have been the one, the earliest writing in India has been found. Other associations
As a water goddess, she symbolises Fertility, and prosperity. She was associated with purity and creativity, especially in the context of literary and verbal skills. In the post-vedic age, she began to lose her status as a river goddess and was increasingy associated with literature, arts, music--i.e., anything that flowed.In the Rig-Veda (6,61,7), Saraswati is credited with killing the Asura (demon) Vritra, who represents Drought, Darkness, and Chaos. She is often seen as equivalent to the other Vedic goddesses like Vāk (divine word, also romanised as Vac), Savitri (illumination) and Gayatri. Saraswati represents Intelligence, Consciousness and cosmic knowledge.
Perhaps as the ancient river dried up or changed course, the goddess became less related to the river. The Divine Mother Saraswati is the wife or consort of Lord Brahma, the creator. Therefore, she stands for creativity. Goddess Saraswati stands for knowledge, education, enlightenment, music, arts and power. She is not only worshipped for secular knowledge, but for the true divine knowledge which is essential to achieve self-realization (moksha).
Saraswati Stuthi tells us that she is the only goddess to be revered by all the three great gods of Hinduism, Brahma and Vishnu and Shiva. She is the only goddess to be worshipped equally by all the gods, the demons, the gandharvas (the divine musicians) and the nagas (the divine serpents).
Appearance
Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful fair woman dressed in pure white often seated on a white Lotus. She is associated with the colour white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. She is also associated with the yellow of the mustard flowers that bloom at the time of her festival in the spring. She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold like the goddess Lakshmi, but is dressed austerely--perhaps representing her preference of knowledge over worldly material things. She is generally shown to have four arms, holding:- - A book, which is the sacred Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, true knowledge and her perfection of all the sciences and the scriptures.
- A Rosary of white pearls, representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
- A pot of sacred water, representing creative and purificatory powers.
- The musical instrument called the veena, representing her perfection of all arts and sciences.
A white Swan is often besides her feet. 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 discrimation 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 origins as a water goddess. The swan and her association with the lotus 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 us not to be proud of external appearances and be wise to know the eternal truth.
Festivals for Saraswati
The goddess Saraswati is worshipped during Navarathri. In southern India, Saraswati Puja is a very important festival. The last three days of Navarathri starting from Mahashtami 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 puja is concluded on the tenth day of Navarathri (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 Vidya-aarambham (literally, Commencement of Knowledge). During Basant Panchmi, which is either at the end of January or the beginning of February, prayers and pujas are offered to her, especially by artists, musicians, scientists, doctors, lawyers.In Pushkar in Rajasthan, a temple has been made in her name on a mountain higher than that of Lord Brahma's.
Saraswati in other cultures
Besides her role in Hinduism, she was also, like the Hindu goddess Tara, absorbed from Vedic culture into the Buddhist pantheon and came to China via the Chinese translations of the Sutra of Golden Light, which has a section devoted to her. Now largely forgotten in China, she is still worshipped in Japan under the name Benzaiten. Other names for her include:-
External links
- Detailed information about Goddess Saraswati
- Tales of Saraswati in Mythology and Art
- Goddess Saraswati Mantra
References