kids encyclopedia robot

Saraswati facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Saraswati
Personification of the Saraswati River
Goddess of Knowledge, Music, Art, Speech
Member of Tridevi
Saraswati.jpg
Painting of Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma
Other names Sharada, Savitri, Brahmani, Bharadi, Vani, Vagdevi
Devanagari सरस्वती
Affiliation Devi, River goddess, Tridevi, Gayatri
Abode Satyaloka, Manidvipa
Mantra ॐ ऐं महासरस्वत्यै नमः, om̐ aim mahāsarasvatyai namaḥ
Symbols The colour white, lotus, Veena, Saraswati river, books
Mount Swan or peacock
Festivals Vasant Panchami and seventh day of Navaratri
Personal information
Consort Brahma
Children Narada
Saraswati Pata
Saraswati Pata. The painting is divided into nine parts. In three central panels a temple enshrining Saraswati 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

Saraswati (Sanskrit: सरस्वती, IAST: Sarasvatī) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.

The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in the Rigveda. She is generally shown to have four arms, holding a book, a rosary, a water pot, and a musical instrument called the veena. Each of these items have a symbolic meaning in Hinduism.

Some Hindus celebrate the festival of Vasant Panchami (the fifth day of spring, and also known as Saraswati Puja and Saraswati Jayanti in many regions of India) in her honour, and mark the day by helping young children learn how to write the letters of the alphabet on that day. The goddess is also revered by believers of the Jain religion of west and central India, as well as some Buddhist sects.

Etymology

Saraswati, is a Sanskrit fusion word of saras (सरस्) meaning "pooling water", but also sometimes translated as "speech"; and vati (वती) meaning "she who possesses". Originally associated with the river or rivers known as Saraswati, this combination, therefore, means "she who has ponds, lakes, and pooling water" or occasionally "she who possesses speech". It is also a Sanskrit composite word of surasa-vati (सरसु+अति) which means "one with plenty of water".

Saraswati is known by many names in ancient Hindu literature. Some examples of synonyms for Saraswati include:

  • Brahmani (power of Brahma),
  • Brahmi (goddess of sciences),
  • Bharadi (goddess of history),
  • Vani and Vachi (both referring to the flow of music/song, melodious speech, eloquent speaking respectively),
  • Varnesvari (goddess of letters),
  • Kavijihvagravasini (one who dwells on the tongue of poets),
  • Vidyadatri (Goddess who provides knowledge),
  • Veenavadini (Goddess who plays Veena, the musical instrument held by Goddess Saraswati),
  • Pustakadharini (Goddess who carries a book),
  • Veenapani (Goddess who carries a veena in her hands),
  • Hamsavahini (Goddess who sits on swan), and
  • Vagdevi (Goddess of speech).

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

In some interpretations, "Sara" is translated as "Essence", and "Sva" is translated to "Self". Thus, the name Saraswati would translate to "She who helps realize the essence of self" or "She who reconciles the essence (of Parabrahman) with one's self".

Birth

Saraswati was born from the Samudra Manthan that arranged between the Devatas and the Asuras. She was born from the sea and was married to Lord Brahma thereafter. In another legend, Brahma created her by his imagination. However, she turned out to be so beautiful that he could not takes his eyes off her. Since he had five heads - four in the four cardinal directions - and one on top, his head kept turning in whichever direction Saraswati went.

Symbolism and iconography

Iconography of Saraswati: the goddess depicted with her veena, swan, peacock, crystal japamala and lotus. (Two images: above, a tile mural in Kerala, below, a sculpture in cultured marble in Karnataka).

The goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white, often seated on a white lotus, which symbolizes light, knowledge and truth. She not only embodies knowledge but also the experience of the highest reality. 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.

Her dhyana mantra describes her to be as white as the moon, clad in a white dress, bedecked in white ornaments, radiating with beauty, holding a book and a pen in her hands (the book represents knowledge).

She is generally shown to have four arms, but sometimes just two. When shown with four hands, those hands symbolically mirror her husband Brahma's four heads, representing manas (mind, sense), buddhi (intellect, reasoning), citta (imagination, creativity), and ahamkāra (self consciousness, ego). Brahma represents the abstract, while she represents action and reality.

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). The book she holds symbolizes the Vedas representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as all forms of learning. A mālā of crystals, representing the power of meditation, inner reflection, and spirituality. A pot of water represents the purifying power to separate right from wrong, the clean from the unclean, and essence from the inessential. In some texts, the pot of water is symbolism for soma – the drink that liberates and leads to knowledge. The most famous feature on Saraswati is a musical instrument called a veena, represents all creative arts and sciences, and her holding it symbolizes expressing knowledge that creates harmony. Saraswati is also associated with anurāga, the love for and rhythm of music, which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music.

A hamsa – either a swan or a goose – is often shown near her feet. In Hindu mythology, the hamsa is a sacred bird, which if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. It thus symbolizes the ability to discriminate between good and evil, essence from the outward show, and the eternal from the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsavāhini, which means “she who has a hamsa as her vehicle”. The swan is also a symbolism for spiritual perfection, transcendence and moksha.

Sometimes a citramekhala (also called mayura, peacock) is shown beside the goddess. 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.

Festivals

One of the most famous festivals associated with Goddess Saraswati is the Hindu festival of Vasant Panchami. Celebrated on the 5th day in the Hindu calendar month of Magha (month), it is also known as Saraswati Puja and Saraswati Jayanti in India.

In 2018, the Haryana government launched and sponsored the annual National Saraswati Mahotsav in its state named after Saraswati.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Sarasvati para niños

kids search engine
Saraswati Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.