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Saraswati

The Goddess of Knowledge, Arts, and Wisdom

Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, arts, and culture. She is portrayed as a beautiful woman with a white complexion dressed in white clothes and seated on a white lotus, a symbol of great knowledge. 

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Saraswati's beginnings can be found in the ancient Rigveda, where she is revered as a river goddess connected to wisdom and creative inspiration. She developed into a well-known Hindu divinity over time, revered for her assistance in directing people towards knowledge and enlightenment. She is held in high esteem as a source of knowledge, creativity, and artistic expression, and she has a significant influence on Hinduism's cultural and spiritual environment.

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Saraswati is regarded as the consort of Lord Brahma, the universe's creator. Together, they stand for the fusion of inventive intelligence and the capacity to birth fresh concepts and artistic manifestations.

Iconography

Generally, Saraswati is shown with four arms, holding a book, a rosary, a water pot, and a musical instrument called Veena but there are many other depictions of her. Padma Purana depicts her with two arms holding a white lotus and deer horn. The Shilparatna, a classical text on traditional performing arts of South India, describes her with ten arms holding a veena, chakra, conch, skull, noose, battle-axe, Sudha-Kumbha, book, rosary, and a Padma.

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A rare depiction of Saraswati from Bengal, Pala school, shows her with the ram as her vahana. It may be related to her Vedic rituals when the rams were sacrificed to her. She is also shown near a river in artwork which creates a link to her early history. In Halebidu Temple, Karnataka, Saraswati is presented under a tree performing a dance, called Natya Saraswati. She represents the three Vidyas, which are natya, yoga, and naada vidya.

Forms of Saraswati

Saraswati is known to manifest in a variety of forms, as are many other prominent deities in Hindu traditions. While Saraswati is frequently depicted as a graceful goddess associated with the realms of creativity, music, learning, and wisdom, she also takes on fierce forms, emphasising her role as a protective deity.

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The existence of both gentle and fierce forms of Saraswati in Hindu literature shows the divine feminine's dynamic nature. It emphasises that Saraswati's wisdom and artistic expression can take on various dimensions to both nurturing and protects the cosmic order's balance.

Vac

Vac represents speech and creative expression. She inspires poets, scholars, and artists, allowing them to express their thoughts and emotions. Vac connects gods and mortals by transmitting knowledge and divine truths. She is associated with the sacred sound "Om." She is frequently depicted as a two-armed woman holding a pen and a manuscript. Her characteristics were absorbed into the concept of Saraswati during the Puranic period.

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Astha Vac Devis

There are eight forms of Vac Devi, according to the Srikula tradition of Shaktism. These eight goddesses are the epitome of speech, and they wrote the Sahasranama, a type of stotra literature. These forms of the goddesses are also said to reside in the 7th Avarana of the Sri Chakra. These are the goddesses: 

  1. Vasini

  2. Aruna

  3. Kameshwari

  4. Koulini

  5. Jayini

  6. Modini

  7. Vimala

  8. Sarveshwari

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Gayatri and Savitri

In some traditions, Saraswati is shown with her two other personalities, Savitri and Gayatri. Savitri is frequently associated with Savitr, a solar deity in the Vedas. Savitri embodies the life force energy. She is depicted with a golden complexion and holding a lotus, a book, a rosary, and a water pot (Kundika). Her mount is a swan. Worship of Savitri is primarily conducted through breathing techniques involving the nostrils. 

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Gayatri is the personified form of Gayatri Mantra, a hymn in Veda. She is also called Vedamata, the mother of the Vedas. She is stated to be a form of Saraswati but some Puranic literature states Gayatri as distinct from Saraswati. She was a cow herder who helped Brahma in a Yajna in Pushkar and she married Brahma as his second wife. Saivite literature identifies her as a form of Shakti and the consort of Shiva, in his Sadasiva, who has five heads and ten hands similar to the depiction of Gayatri.

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Gayatri is shown with five faces, looking in eight directions plus the earth and sky, and ten hands holding, a sword, lotus, trident, disc, skull, goad, noose, a manuscript, jar, Varada mudra in left and Abhaya mudra in right. Her mount is either Swan or Nandi. In recent art, she is shown with two arms sitting on a swan holding a book and Kamandalu, a water pot. She also has a fearsome three-faced form where her two faces with tongue hanging from her mouth. As mentioned in Varaha Purana and Mahabharata, Gayatri also turned into a fierce goddess who slew a demon, Vetravati. 

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(Read: Consorts of Brahma)

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Sharada

Sharada is a form of Saraswati or Parvati, that was historically worshipped in Kashmir, Pakistan. She is the goddess of learning, and it is said that on the ninth day of the seventh month of the year, Ashwin, which falls in Sharada (autumn), she enlightened other deities, earning her the name Sharada. She appears as a fierce goddess with three eyes and six arms. She carries Shakti (weapon), a bow, an arrow, a bell, a pot of gemstones, and a pot of nectar. She sits on a lion. The goddess is also said to be a manifestation of Goddess Parvati.

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She is depicted with four hands in a Kashmiri idol and wearing a distinctive Kashmiri-style dress. She holding an upright sword in one hand and the severed head of a goat in the other. Her two lower hands rest on the shoulders of two smaller male figures, each holding a manuscript and possibly representing knowledge (vidya) and wisdom (jnana).

 

In Sringeri Matha, Karnataka, there is a renowned temple dedicated to Goddess Sharada. The temple is said to have been founded by Vedic scholar Sri Adi Shankaracharya. The goddess is depicted with four arms and a white complexion. She is exquisitely beautiful and is shown sitting on a lotus. She holds a lute (Veena), a book, a rosary, and one hand in blessing posture in her four hands. 

Nilasaraswati and Matangi

Nilasaraswati is a fierce form of Saraswati that is commonly associated with Mahavidya's Goddess Tara. She is also thought to be a manifestation of Goddess Matangi, another Mahavidya goddess who represents knowledge and wisdom. In various Dhyana (meditative works of literature) Nilasaraswati is described as having a dark blue complexion, holding a trident, asi (sword), severed head, and bell in her four arms, and is killing Mahishasura, a demon. 

(Read: Mahavidya)