Saraswati or Sarasvati, is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture.
She forms the Trinity known as the Tridevi along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. She is also known as Vagdevi (goddess of speech), Sharada (bestower of essence or knowledge), Savitri, Brahmani (power of Brahma) Brahmi (goddess of sciences), Bharati (goddess of history) and Vani (goddess of speech and language).
Saraswati is also known as the personification of the Sarasvati River. She is the consort of Lord Brahma.
The iconography of Saraswati:
She is portrayed as a serene woman with a radiant white complexion, dressed in white attire, representing the quality of sattva (goodness). She has four arms, each holding a symbolic object: a book, a rosary, a water pot (kamandalu), and a musical instrument known as the veena. Beside her is her mount, either a hamsa (white goose or swan) or a peacock.
Legends:
As part of the Apas (water deities), Sarasvati is associated with wealth, abundance, health, purity and healing. 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 the destruction of enemies and removal of obstacles. The Yajur Veda sees her as being both the mother of Indra (having granted him rebirth through healing) and also as his consort
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, “Sarasvati appears above all as a sacred river, along which pilgrimages are made. She is also represented as the goddess of speech and knowledge.” She is called the mother of the Vedas in the Shanti Parva Book of the epic.
In the epic Ramayana, when the rakshasa brothers Ravana, Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna, performed a penance to propitiate Brahma, the creator deity offered each a boon. The devas pleaded with Brahma to not grant Kumbhakarna his boon. Brahma called upon his consort Sarasvati and instructed her to utter that which the devas desired. She acquiesced, and when the rakshasa spoke to invoke his boon, she entered his mouth, causing him to say, “To sleep for innumerable years, O Lord of Lords, this is my desire!”. She then left his form, causing him to reflect upon his misfortune.
Many Puranas relate the myth of her creation by the creator god Brahma and then describe how she became his consort. Other Puranas give her slightly different roles and see her as the consort of other gods, such as Vishnu. A legend in the Bhagavata Purana describes Sarasvati as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu, along with Lakshmi and Ganga. The story of Sarasvati becoming a river is introduced in the Srishti Khanda of Padma Purana as well as in Skanda Purana. Sarasvati appears in the Puranic Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), a central text for Shaktism which was appended to the Markandeya Purana.
In Tantric Shakta sources, Sarasvati takes many forms. A key tantric form is Matangi, a deity considered to be the “Tantric Sarasvati”. Mātaṅgī retains many attributes of Sarasvati, like music and learning, but is also associated with defeating enemies, disease, pollution/impurity, and outcasts (chandalas). She is often offered half-eaten or leftover food and is green in colour. Matangi is also part of the Shakta set of goddesses known as the ten Mahavidyas.
