GODS and GODDESSES
Saraswathi - Goddess of Wisdom, Consort of Brahma
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.
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