Much is often written about the Divine in Its absolute form (Nirguna Brahman). Yoga and Tantra invariably tell us about Shiva and Shakti, the passive masculine and the active creative feminine energy. These can be viewed as abstract ways of understanding and experiencing something of the Divine working in nature, and beyond our individual selves and the universe. The Divine Feminine is traditionally linked with creativity and the Earth in just about all spiritual traditions. Because of this I felt impelled to write something about Saraswati, one of the popular Goddess figures, to give a balanced view of the richness of the Hindu and yogic tradition.

It can be said that if we did not approach the Divine in a personalised way it would be difficult to comprehend anything about Divinity and the sacredness of life within and around us. We often need to approach the Divine in an individual way before opening to wider knowledge and understanding. The various Gods and Goddesses of India all represent One Ultimate Reality. The Hindu spiritual tradition is not polytheistic, as sometimes believed, but generally either monotheistic or monistic, depending on the teachings followed.

The personalised forms found in temples and devotees’ homes help people to understand something about the Divine and Its abundant qualities (Saguna Brahman), such as love and forgiveness, as well as something about its Ultimate Transcendence. They remind devotees of their relationship with the Divine, the spiritual qualities within them, and the Divine as everyone’s individualised being and consciousness.

In the West we have, rightly or wrongly, tended to focus on posture work, the practices of meditation and on intellectual philosophies of yoga, and often overlook the important symbolism depicted in various statues and paintings, and how they can help us to focus our minds on higher aspects of ourselves and realise our profound unity with all life upon the Earth.

Goddess worship is Hinduism at its more popular level. She is often found, in one aspect or another, as the main deity of many small villages in India. The following pages of this chapter are a description of the Goddess Saraswati and what she profoundly represents.

The Divine Mother Saraswati
The Mahabharata says, “Behold Saraswati, Mother of the Vedas abiding in me”. The Divine Mother is everywhere and manifests in many forms. Saraswati is revered in both Tibetan Buddhism, and in the Hindu spiritual tradition, and was extremely popular in the medieval period of Nepal.

In one of her aspects, she is Brahma-Shakti, seen in conjunction with the personalised Hindu God Brahma and considered to be his consort. She is also seen as the knowledge behind the power of Brahman, the Supreme Absolute, and the Devi of speech, art, music and wisdom.

Ramachandra said that Saraswati is a “Goddess full of knowledge and flowing stream of wisdom, divine speech inspired from Ritam, truth, consciousness, inner illumination and insight, enlightening all undertakings”. It is said that she resides in all the chakras as the Devi of speech. Her seed mantra is ‘Aim’, which can be interpreted in the following way:

Ai = Saraswati
m = Bindu (the dispeller of sorrow)

We, through the worship of Saraswati – or what she signifies – gain the bounty to speak words of truth and inspiration to others, which helps to create harmony amongst those around us. One of the traditional prayers to Saraswati is the following one:

Saraswati is known as the Supreme Devi, Mother of the Vedas and of all worlds. The Goddess Saraswati is depicted clothed in white garments. Her vehicle is a swan, peacock or lotus flower. Her beautiful smiling face is always serene. Her hair is dark in colour and she is often shown with four arms depicting different aspects, qualities and powers of her nature. In two hands she holds a ‘veena’ (a stringed musical instrument). In another she holds a book or scroll. In a fourth hand she holds a japa-mala (beads used for counting repeated chants and mantras). In some cases she holds a lotus blossom (a type of water lily), a symbol of purity and of humankind’s spiritual growth from the mud that lies at the bottom of ponds to a flower with its petals open to the pure rays of the sun.

In her headdress there is usually set the eye of a peacock’s tail feather. Her smiling countenance and posture radiate harmony and peace. Her name denotes ‘flow’ or ‘motion’ (saras). Her smiling countenance shows compassion and benevolence to those who seek her bounty.

Her white garments represent the colour of akasa and buddhi, which are symbols of purity and uncontaminated wisdom. The veena is often regarded as the only instrument capable of producing pure melody. So we see that Saraswati has qualities of harmony and creativity, through sound vibrations depicted by this musical instrument. The veena also denotes all sounds (sabda) of which Saraswati is the Mother.

The book or scroll is seen as the wisdom of God and/or the ancient Srimad Bhagavatam, which is said to contain the teachings of the highest knowledge and wisdom. The japa-mala is a reminder of the importance of mantra (sound), including the creative vibrations of Om and So-ham/Hamsa (the latter being a variation of So-ham and a name also given to the saints who have attained God Consciousness), and the unbroken remembrance of God and truth.

Saraswati’s vehicles
Her lotus vehicle – along with the fore-mentioned points about the flower – is a symbol of love and of the blossoming of higher consciousness, creation and evolution. The peacock feather represents the many-faceted glory of the Spirit. The eye in the peacock feather can also be seen to represent the all-seeing eyes of the Divine Mother, as well the insight of spiritual wisdom. It can also symbolise the third eye or even vanity that has to be overcome in order to reach a true state of perfection.

The swan which accompanies her, or on which she is sometimes depicted riding, is also a symbol of wisdom. The swan is said to have the ability to separate milk from water when the two have been mixed, so reminding us that wisdom consists in the ability of being able to discern spiritual truth and knowledge from watered-down and unnecessary rituals or dogmas, or from unclear teachings.

Sir John Woodroffe pointed out that in Tantric texts the swan is Ham-sa, which is no material bird, but a symbol for the vital force (pranic energy) manifesting as the inhaling Sa/So and the exhaling Ham breath. This universal force acts within all life.

We see from these symbols how Saraswati is regarded as the Goddess of life, wisdom, learning and intelligence, and is the patron of students, scholars and artists. To use Sir John Woodroffe’s words, “She … is the Divine in the aspect as Wisdom and learning, for she is the Mother of Veda, that is, of all knowledge touching Brahman and the Universe ... not therefore idly have men worshipped Vak or Saraswati as the Supreme Power”. Swami Radha pointed out how she is also bound up with inspiration and the harmonious aspects of life:

Appreciation of the harmonious aspects of life is personified in Saraswati, the Goddess of speech, of art, of music. When we can speak words of inspiration that touch an inner chord in another person, we can say that this is the worship of the Goddess Saraswati. We thereby have created our own world of harmony in which we function.
SWAMI RADHA

A Vedic hymn to Saraswati pleads with her to open her “beautiful form containing the treasures of Vedic wisdom, for us to behold and drink deep the soma juice of exhilarating delight”. Saraswati also has associations with the main nadis (energy channels in the subtle body). In Tantric texts it describes that, “In the Ida is the Devi Yamuna and in Pingala is Saraswati and in Susumna dwells Ganga”. There is a variation of this shown in the Sammahana Tantra, which reads, “In the Ida is the Devi Jahnavi and Yamuna is in Pingala, and Saraswati is in Susumna”.
These names also refer to three sacred rivers, which were said to have joined at Allahabad, just as the three nadis (energy channels) are said to conjoin at the three granthis (meaning ‘knots’). This shows the conjunction of the three rivers with the Saraswati River in the centre, which is believed to have disappeared thousands of years ago. But, of course, the Ganges is perhaps the best known river in India and the Jumna River still flows into the Ganges. Interestingly, in 1988 an article appeared in a daily newspaper describing the discovery underground of the Saraswati River while engineers were drilling for oil in the hills and valleys of the Shivaliks, near Dehra Dun.

Saraswati and mantra
There are certain days which are associated with particular deities. If one wishes to take advantage of a particular auspicious day, then a mantra for the appropriate deity should be chanted. If you already have a mantra, this is chanted first.

Auspicious days for Saraswati fall between mid-January and mid-February, five days after the new moon and between mid-September to mid-October. Seven to nine days after the new moon.

The mantra Jaya Saraswati can be chanted, or Om Sri Saraswati Namali (Hail to Saraswati), or Mangalum dishtu me Saraswati (May Saraswati give me auspiciousness). There are many others. Saraswati is also included in one of the numerous triplets represented by Om: the three Devis, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga. Each deity will reveal their truth and spiritual aspect behind their form to the sincere devotee.