Saraswati Archives • Mantra Sacred Sculpture

Saraswati is Goddess of Knowledge and Music and embodies those qualities in her role as an embodiment of Shaktic energy. Her Vedic origins are the banks of the extinct Saraswati River in the Thar Desert where she is believed to be the keeper of the river of knowledge that flows from her consort, Brahma. Saraswati personifies civilized behaviour, refined tastes and artistic talent. She is wife to Brahma and as such created the knowledge and wisdom which brought order to Brahma’s formless creation.

Brahma – The Creator

Brahma (not to be confused with similar terms; Brahman and brahmin) created good and evil, night and day, and gods, demons, ancestors and humans from formless Brahman. It is said the universe was created when Brahma awoke and opened his eyes and will end when he goes back to sleep at the end of his day – a period of 4.32 million human years – the universe will end. Brahma is an abstract metaphysical ideal of a god, and lacks the earthy dramatic myths and legends of other deities, although he does feature in other god’s mythology. He is the bestower of boons upon various demons, boons which invariably create problems requiring divine intervention (and new opportunities) for other gods and goddesses to add to their legends. Brahma is thought to be aloof and unapproachable and isn’t worshipped with the devotional ardour of Shiva, Shakti or Vishnu. It is believed his work is done, and it is the various manifestations of Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti which have the power to power to affect our lives. On the next turn of the Wheel of Time, however, after the weary universe is destroyed by Shiva Nataraja, it is a reborn Brahma who will create the world anew. While his image is venerated somewhere in most major temples, only a handful of the half a million or so temples in India are dedicated solely to Brahma.

Brahma is believed to have created The Vedas, dispersing them in the four cardinal directions from his four mouths, although most of the credit ought to go to his wife, Saraswati, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge.

Brahma is typically depicted in iconography as standing, his weight evenly upon both feet (samabhanga). He has four faces whose mouths disperse The Vedas in the four cardinal directions and four arms. In one hand he holds The Vedas, in the second he holds rosary beads (mala) symbolizing time, in the third he holds a ladle (sruva or shruk) symbolizing the means to feed a sacrificial fire, and in fourth a water jug (kamandalu) symbolizing the means from where all creation originates. In paintings, he is often depicted with the white beard of a sage. His vehicle (vahana) is a swan or goose.

Brahma – The CreatorTerry Curell2019-11-07T16:47:08-08:00

Saraswati – Goddess of Knowledge and Music

Saraswati is young, beautiful, graceful, and alongside Uma and Lakshmi, very much the Maha Devi, or Great Goddess. She fearlessly challenges the great male gods when they try to manipulate her and the only female goddess to keep her name, rank and power intact throughout the millennia. It was Saraswati who organized and transcribed The Vedas, again out of the formless Brahman. She is also responsible for all non-Vedic knowledge (note 1), music, yoga, ritual, speech, Sanskrit and the units of measurement and time (note 2). She personifies civilized behaviour, refined taste and the arts.

She is always dressed in spotless white, the colour of light, knowledge and truth, and seated either on a white lotus or swan. She may have four arms or less often just two. If four, she may hold the same attributes as Brahma or a stringed instrument (veena), representing the arts and sciences, and all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music (anuraga). Finally, Saraswati is often depicted near water, a reference to her ancient Rig Veda history as a river goddess (note 3).

In the Vac Sutra, Saraswati boasts:

“I move among the Gods, I hold them, sustain them… whosoever breathes, sees, hears or eats does so because of me… I create powerful creators and embed them with wisdom and sight… my powers overflow the universe.”

Note 1 – On the fifth day of spring, the festival Vasant Panchami honours Saraswati by teaching young children the alphabet. It is also an Indian tradition that if you step on a book (a symbol of knowledge and therefore Saraswati), you must perform a mudra of apology with the right hand.

Note 2 – Time (Kala) is another term for Yama, the god of Death. At the time of one’s death the soul (Atman, or essence) may depart one of two ways; the Way of the Gods, which brings it through days, bright fortnights, the half-year of the northern course of the sun, to the full year and eventually to Brahman; or the Way of the Ancestors, through nights, dark fortnights, the half-year of the southern course of the sun, and, failing to reach the full year, eventually back to earth clinging to raindrops. If the soul happens to fall upon a plant and that plant is subsequently eaten by a man, the man may impregnate a woman, and thus the soul may be reborn.

Note 3 – Saraswati is also the name of a river which once flowed in the Thar Desert but lost due to a shift in monsoon patterns. It is believed to be on the banks of the Saraswati that The Vedas were composed.

Saraswati – Goddess of Knowledge and MusicTerry Curell2019-11-07T16:46:15-08:00

The Nature of Shakti

Shakti manifests Prakriti, Brahman’s dynamic feminine will and creative energy. Shakti is the Divine Feminine and Brahman’s Force of Life. Prakriti consists of three types of matter, or gunas, which are the essential elements of all nature. Prakriti and it’s counterpart, the male principle of Purusha, consciousness and spirit, are interdependent, equivalent and ineffective without the other.

In mythology, just as Purusha embodies in the form of the male gods, Shakti, as the active, creative power takes physical form as Devi. This form can be one of the three Maha Devis, The Great Goddesses; Saraswati, Goddess of Knowledge, Music and Art, aligned with Brahma, the Creator; Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance and Good Fortune aligned with Vishnu the Preserver; and Uma, The Mother Goddess of Love and Devotion aligned with Shiva, the Destroyer (note 1). As the creative, regenerative and maintaining forces of the universe each Maha Devi, as well as other goddesses such as Kali, Ganga and Mari Amma, has unique set of roles and characteristics.

“She is the creative joy of life; herself the beauty, the marvel, the enticement and seduction of the living world”

Heinrich Zimmer; Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization

In pre-Vedic times, India’s indigenous peoples venerated powerful, independent goddesses, but as Hinduism spread the divine feminine principle was absorbed into the Vedic pantheon, and in doing so the goddesses lost much of their spiritual status. Hinduism’s spiritual source, The Vedas, reflected the values of a patriarchal nomadic culture that suppressed prehistoric feminine power, therefore, the goddesses were relegated to roles as wives and consorts. Devotional hunger for divine feminine energy was not to be denied, however, and powerful deities in their own right have re-emerged; Durga, the dispassionate demon killer; Kali, the fiery protector; and of course, Uma, the cool, sensual beauty and power behind Shiva’s cosmic role. Hindu belief continues to evolve into the modern era and as the need for Shakti’s energy grows, so does the influence of her Devis.

Note 1 – Uma is known by many names, Parvati chief among them, but our Reference Library is primarily focussed on the Chola Bronzes, therefore, we refer to the deities as they are known in south India.

The Nature of ShaktiTerry Curell2019-11-14T17:51:03-08:00