Saraswati

[22][1] Other names include: Ambika, Bharati, Chandrika, Devi, Gomati, Hamsasana, Saudamini, Shvetambara, Subhadra, Vaishnavi, Vasudha, Vidya, Vidyarupa, and Vindhyavasini.

[27] She is praised in the Vedas as a water goddess of purification, while in the Dharmashastras, Sarasvati is invoked to remind the reader to meditate on virtue, and on the meaning (artha) of one's actions (karma).

Primarily linked with the celestial domain of Waters (Apas) and the formidable Storm Gods (Maruts), this deity forms an integral triadic association alongside the sacrificial goddesses Ila and Bharati within the pantheon.

[47] Like Indra, Sarasvati is also called a slayer of Vritra, the snake like demon of drought who blocks rivers and as such is associated with destruction of enemies and removal of obstacles.

[51] There are numerous depictions of people making pilgrimages to the river to perform sacrifices and bathe in her waters and she often appears in her human form to great seers like Vasishtha.

[19] In the epic Ramayana, when the rakshasa brothers Ravana, Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna, performed a penance in order to propitiate Brahma, the creator deity offered each a boon.

[58] Puranas like the Matsya also contain iconographic descriptions of Sarasvati, which provide the basis for her classic four armed form holding a book (representing the Vedas), mala, veena, and a water pot while being mounted on a swan (hamsa).

[59] According to the Matsya Purana, Brahma generated Sarasvati, here also called by other names like Shatarupa, Savitri, Gayatri and Brahmani, out of himself for the purpose of creation, and mistakes her for his own daughter.

Brahma lost his powers as a result of his actions and told his sons to carry out his task, after which he married Sarasvati and they made love for one hundred years.

[61][62] Brahma felt shame and due to his act, the god loses his ascetic power (tapas) and his sons are left to create the world.

[66] However, as Sarasvati’s association with knowledge, speech, and culture grew in prominence through the later Hindu texts, her direct connection with the physical river diminished.

Despite this, the Puranas sustain Sarasvati's riverine character by incorporating new narratives that preserve her role as a cosmic river in addition to her expanded identity.

Sarasvati appears in the Puranic Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), a central text for Shaktism which was appended to the Markandeya Purana during the 6th century CE.

There are various chants and odes (stotras) to this deity, perhaps the most important being the Śrī Śyāmalā Daṇḍakam by the great Indian Sanskrit poet Kalidasa.

Her iconography is typically in white themes from dress to flowers to swan – the colour symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity, discrimination for true knowledge, insight and wisdom.

The four hands hold items with symbolic meaning – a pustaka (book or script), a mālā (rosary, garland), a water pot and a musical instrument (vīnā).

[1] The most famous feature on Sarasvati is a musical instrument called a veena, represents all creative arts and sciences,[83] and her holding it symbolizes expressing knowledge that creates harmony.

This characteristic of the bird serves as a metaphor for the pursuit of wisdom amidst the complexities of life, the ability to discriminate between good and evil, truth from untruth, essence from the outward show, and the eternal from the evanescent.

The peacock symbolizes colorful splendor, the celebration of dance, and – as the devourer of snakes – the alchemical ability to transmute the serpent poison of self into the radiant plumage of enlightenment.

In some regions of India, such as Vindhya, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam, as well as east Nepal, Sarasvati is part of the Devi Mahatmya Shakta mythology, in the Tridevi of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and MahaSarasvati.

Her meditation verse given at the beginning of the fifth chapter the Devi Mahatmya 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.

[90]MahaSarasvati is also part of another legend, the Navshaktis (not to be confused with Navdurgas), or nine forms of Shakti, namely Brahmi, Vaishnavi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Varahi, Narsimhi, Aindri, Shivdooti, and Chamunda, revered as powerful and dangerous goddesses in eastern India.

She shares the same attributes and iconography as Sarasvati in Hindu literature of India – in both places, she is the goddess of knowledge, creative arts, wisdom, language, learning and purity.

On this day, Hindus of Bali go to the sea, sacred waterfalls or river spots, offer prayers to Sarasvati, and then rinse themselves in that water in the morning.

This text is first attested in a Chinese translation in 417 CE and includes an entire chapter devoted to the goddess, which is our best source for the earliest Buddhist depictions of Sarasvati.

As Shaw writes, she then "promises that she will grace the preachers of the scripture with eloquence, oratorical power, perfect memory, inconceivable knowledge, penetrating wisdom, illumination, skill in liberating others, scholarly expertise in every field, proficiency in all the arts, merit, prosperity, and long life.

[113] The Golden Light goes as far as to claim that Sarasvati can provide the wisdom to understand all the Buddhist teachings and skillful means (upaya) so that one may swiftly attain Buddhahood.

[114] In some versions of the Golden Light Sutra, such as Yijing's, the goddess then teaches an apotropaic ritual that can combat disease, bad dreams, war, calamities and all sorts of negative things.

[121] As the Golden Light Sutra is often concerned with the protection of the state, it is not surprising that the fierce, weapon-wielding Durga, who was widely worshiped by rulers and warriors alike for success in battle, provides the model for the appearance assumed by Sarasvati, characterized as a protectress of the Buddhist Dharma.

[110] Sarasvati is also briefly mentioned in the esoteric Vairochanabhisambodhi Sutra as one of the divinities of the western quarter of the Outer Vajra section of the Womb Realm Mandala along with Prithvi, Vishnu (Narayana), Skanda (Kumara), Vayu, Chandra, and their retinue.

Sarasvati on a Lotus throne playing veena, sandalwood, Mysore, 18th century CE
12th-century Brahma and Sarasvati at Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka, India.
Depiction of Sarasvati from a market in Bengal (19th century, pre-1895 CE). The British Library curator's summary states, "Sarasvati, the goddess of learning and knowledge, is seated on the banks of a river. Her feet rest on a lotus flower, a palm leaf manuscript to represent the vedas is next to her and she holds a vina. Her mount, a swan, is positioned nearby."
19th century South Indian painting of Raja-Matangi with veena and parrot
Dancing Sarasvati with eight-hands (above) is depicted in three panels of the Hoysaleswara temple, Halebid Karnataka ( c. 1150 CE ). One of these is shown above. She is in a classical Indian dance posture, and in one of her eight hands she holds a pen, a palm leaf manuscript, a musical instrument and the tools of major arts. The shilpins thus depicted her as the goddess of knowledge and all arts.
A carved idol of the crowned goddess Sharada from late-9th century Kashmir
Sarasvati Puja, Chandannagar , West Bengal
Pura Taman Sarasvati, Bali
Statue of Thurathadi at Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple (Yangon)
A Japanese depiction of Sarasvati as a protector deity with eight arms holding various weapons (c. 1212), University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts
A statue of Vajraśāradā, a classic Buddhist form of Sarasvati, Pala Period (8th century CE), Indian Museum , Kolkata
Japanese illsutration of Benzaiten (Sarasvati) riding a dragon
Sarasvati in an 18th-century CE Tibetan artwork, holding a stick zither
Sarasvati Pata. The painting is divided into nine parts. In three central panels a temple enshrining Sarasvati and her vahana , Hamsa , are depicted. Other panels are filled with attendants, musicians, dancers and Jain monks . Jain style , Gujarat , 1475–1500. National Museum, New Delhi .