Saraswati

Goddess associated with art, aesthetics,
learning, sacred speech, and wisdom.
Saraswati is the patron deity of culture
in all its manifestations. The spoken
word is considered very powerful in
Hindu culture and Saraswati can either
promote or frustrate one’s efforts by
conferring or withdrawing the ability to
speak clearly. Her association with
sacred speech goes back to the time of
the sacrificial manuals known as the
Brahmanas, in which the cult of sacrifice was based on the precise performance of sacred speech and ritual.
Her iconography emphasizes her
connection with the life of the mind:
She holds a book, a crystal (symbolic
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Saraswati
A depiction of Saraswati, the goddess associated with art, aesthetics, learning, sacred speech, and wisdom.
of a purified mind), a vina (musical
instrument), and a rosary (associated
with religious rites, and particularly
with the repetition of the sacred
sounds known as mantras). Her animal vehicle is the swan, whose white
color is a symbol of purity and whose
high flight is a symbol of transcendence. Through Saraswati’s blessings
(ashirvad) human beings can transcend their biological condition to
create works of art and culture.
Saraswati is usually believed to be
married, although different mythic
sources give her different husbands. In
some cases she is described as the wife of
the god Brahma, the creator; here their
joint activity encompasses the formation
of the material world and its transformation through human cultural activity. In
other stories she is described as the wife
of the god Vishnu, and thus a co-wife of
Lakshmi. Here the realms of Lakshmi and
Saraswati can be seen as giving differing
messages about the “good things” in life—
while Lakshmi grants wealth and material prosperity, Saraswati brings wisdom
and culture. A popular Indian saying
reports that Saraswati’s devotee (bhakta)
will never make money, while a follower
of Lakshmi (whose vehicle is the owl) will
be “blind” to spiritual wisdom. For more
information on Saraswati and all the goddesses of Hinduism, see David R. Kinsley,
Hindu Goddesses, 1986.