Who is Saraswati Devi?

Mother Saraswati is the goddess of pure wisdom discrimination, knowledge and art

There are many different stories about her birth She is mentioned as the daughter of Lord Shiva and Ma Durga, and  the Devi Bhagavatam describes her origin as comming from the lips of Radha "The amorous Devî Sarasvatî sprang from the end of the lips of Râdhâ and so she desired to marry Krisna out of amorous feelings"  Lord Krishna ,then sends her to live in Vaikuntha as a whife of Hari, Narayana.

Later on, due to a quarrel between Saraswati  and Ganga, Saraswati was currsed by Ganga to descent on earth as a river. as a result of the same incident Lord Hari also gave Saraswati to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva as whives, and kept Lakshmi with Him.

The four sons of Saraswati and Brahma are the four Vedas.

The river Saraswati is celebrated in the Vedas, especially in the Rig Veda as a holy river with creative, purifying, and nourishing qualities.

The Rig Veda (2.41.16) says: 

ámbitame náditame dévitame sárasvati    

"Saraswati is the best mother, the best river and the best goddess"

Saraswati is wearing white saree, which is representing purity, and riding a white swan, , The swan is symbolizing the power of discrimination because of its ability to drink milk out of water when they are mixed together. She is sitting on a lotus flower, the lotus is representing the spiritual wisdom. Sometimes she is also seen with a peckock nearby which is representing beauty. Saraswati Devi has four hands. In one she is holding a Japa Mala (Prayer rosary), representing devotion and wisdom, in the second hand she is holding a book, representing knowledge, and with the other two hands she is playing the Vina, an ancient Vedic string instrument, representing art and inspiration.  

The name Saraswati means the one who is flowing or the one who is full of ponds. other names of Saraswati Devi are Sharada Devi and Vag (speach) Devi.

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