Saraswati

Vagdevi · Sharada

Goddess of knowledge, music, art, and speech.

Abode: Brahmaloka
Consort: Brahma
Vahana: Hamsa (swan); sometimes a peacock
Colour: White, like the moon or jasmine
Arms: 4

Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, learning, music, and the arts, the flowing current of knowledge and creativity. Dressed in white and seated on a lotus or swan, she holds the veena and the sacred texts. Students and artists invoke her blessings, especially during Vasant Panchami.

Mantra

ॐ ऐं सरस्वत्यै नमः

Om Aim Saraswatyai Namaha

Salutations to Saraswati, with her seed syllable Aim: a prayer for clarity, learning and eloquence.

रूप और प्रतीक

How Saraswati is shown

A serene goddess in a white sari seated on a white lotus beside a river, playing the veena.

Veena: Music and the harmony of all knowledge.
Pustaka (book): The Vedas and every form of learning.
Akshamala (rosary): Meditation and steady practice.
Swan: Discernment: the swan is said to separate milk from water.

कथाएँ

Stories

The river of speech

In the Rigveda Sarasvati is a mighty river, the best of mothers and of goddesses. Over time the river became the goddess of vak, speech, and of the learning that flows through it.

Related forms

ब्रह्मा
Brahma