Deities & Iconography: Saraswati

It is only fitting that we begin this series on Deities and Iconography with the goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. Brahma's consort personifies learning and purity and hence the highest states of being. She was associated with the river Saraswati in the Vedic period, but was associated with speech in the form of Vac Devi in the Brahmanas and decreed a goddess of culture in later Hinduism.

In her popular form, the goddess Saraswati is depicted with four arms, in which she holds a book, a rosary, and kamandalu and a veena. The book stands for all secular knowledge, the rosary for spiritual education, the water pot stands for cleansing and purification and the veena represents other finer aspects of culture, especially musical arts.

Saraswati's white attire and her lotus seat also signify purity and an embodiment of the Sattva Guna. Her mount, the swan, stands for wisdom. In some places, the goddess is also shown seated upon a peacock. The peacock is thought to symbolise ignorance and ego and when Saraswati mounts it, it signifies her victory over such darkness of the mind.

She is also known by names like Vedagarbha, Sarvavidyaswarupini, Sarvashastravasini and Granthakarini among others.

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