Goddess Saraswathi is
the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of
wisdom and learning. She is considered as the personification of all
knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and all skills.
She is seen as a
beautiful and elegant presence, pure white in colour, clad in a white
sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She
is depicted with four hands. In one hand she holds a book and in the
other a rosary. With her other two hands, she is seen playing the veena.
Her vahana is the swan and sometimes a peacock is shown accompanying
her.
The swan is known for
its exceptional characteristic of being capable of seperating out water
from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination to segregate
the bad from the good.
Like Brahma, she is
not worshipped much in temples. However, every year the Saraswathi Pooja
(Navarathiri) is celebrated by all - schools, students, workers,
craftsmen, businessmen offering their prayers for a successful and
fruitful coming year. |