{"id":10909,"date":"2017-01-01T20:21:35","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T20:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ganesh.com\/ganeshproducts\/ganeshproducts\/2017\/01\/01\/saraswati-maa-get-a-study-mantra-saraswati\/"},"modified":"2017-01-01T20:21:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-01T20:21:35","slug":"saraswati-maa-get-a-study-mantra-saraswati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ganesh.com\/ganeshproducts\/blog\/2017\/01\/01\/saraswati-maa-get-a-study-mantra-saraswati\/","title":{"rendered":"Saraswati Maa \/ Get a study mantra \/ Saraswati"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In\u00c2\u00a0Hinduism Saraswati<\/strong> (Sanskrit:\u00c2\u00a0\u00e0\u00a4\u00b8\u00e0\u00a4\u00b0\u00e0\u00a4\u00b8\u00e0\u00a5\u008d\u00e0\u00a4\u00b5\u00e0\u00a4\u00a4\u00e0\u00a5\u20ac\u00c2\u00a0sarasvat\u00c4\u00ab<\/em>) is the\u00c2\u00a0goddess of\u00c2\u00a0knowledge,\u00c2\u00a0musicand the\u00c2\u00a0arts. She is the consort of\u00c2\u00a0Brahma.\u00c2\u00a0Saraswati is considered to be the “mother of the\u00c2\u00a0Vedas”.<\/p>\n

The name\u00c2\u00a0Saraswati<\/em> came from “saras” (meaning “flow”) and “wati” (meaning “a woman”). So, Saraswati is symbol of knowledge; its flow (or growth) is like a river and knowledge is supremely alluring, like a beautiful woman.<\/p>\n

Saraswati is known as a guardian deity in\u00c2\u00a0Buddhism who upholds the teachings of\u00c2\u00a0Gautama Buddha by offering protection and assistance to practitioners. She is known in\u00c2\u00a0Burmese asThurathadi<\/em> (\u00e1\u20ac\u017e\u00e1\u20ac\u00b0\u00e1\u20ac\u203a\u00e1\u20ac\u00bf\u00e1\u20ac\u0090\u00e1\u20ac\u00ae,\u00c2\u00a0pronounced\u00c2\u00a0[\u00ce\u00b8\u00c3\u00b9ja\u00cc\u00b0\u00c3\u00b0\u00c9\u2122d\u00c3\u00ac] or\u00c2\u00a0[\u00ce\u00b8\u00c3\u00b9\u00c9\u00b9a\u00cc\u00b0\u00c3\u00b0\u00c9\u2122d\u00c3\u00ac]) or\u00c2\u00a0Tipitaka<\/em>Medaw<\/em>(\u00e1\u20ac\u0090\u00e1\u20ac\u00ad\u00e1\u20ac\u2022\u00e1\u20ac\u00ad\u00e1\u20ac\u2039\u00e1\u20ac\u20ac\u00e1\u20ac\u2122\u00e1\u20ac\u0161\u00e1\u20ac\u00ba\u00e1\u20ac\u0090\u00e1\u20ac\u00b1\u00e1\u20ac\u00ac\u00e1\u20ac\u00ba,\u00c2\u00a0pronounced\u00c2\u00a0[t\u00e1\u00b8\u00adp\u00e1\u00b8\u00adt\u00c9\u2122ka\u00cc\u00b0 m\u00c9\u203a\u00cc\u20acd\u00c9\u201d\u00cc\u20ac]),\u00c2\u00a0Chinese as\u00c2\u00a0Bi\u00c3\u00a0nc\u00c3\u00a1iti\u00c4\u0081n\u00c2\u00a0(\u00e8\u00be\u00af\u00e6\u2030\u008d\u00e5\u00a4\u00a9), in\u00c2\u00a0Thaias Surasawadee (\u00e0\u00b8\u00aa\u00e0\u00b8\u00b8\u00e0\u00b8\u00a3\u00e0\u00b8\u00b1\u00e0\u00b8\u00aa\u00e0\u00b8\u00a7\u00e0\u00b8\u201d\u00e0\u00b8\u00b5) and in\u00c2\u00a0Japanese as\u00c2\u00a0Benzaiten<\/em> (\u00e5\u00bc\u0081\u00e6\u2030\u008d\u00e5\u00a4\u00a9\/\u00e5\u00bc\u0081\u00e8\u00b2\u00a1\u00e5\u00a4\u00a9).<\/p>\n

In\u00c2\u00a0Durga Puja in\u00c2\u00a0Bengal, Saraswati is considered to be a daughter of\u00c2\u00a0Durga along with her sister\u00c2\u00a0Lakshmi and her brothers\u00c2\u00a0Ganesha and\u00c2\u00a0Karthikeya.<\/p>\n

Mythology<\/p>\n

In the\u00c2\u00a0Rigveda, Saraswati is a\u00c2\u00a0river as well as its personification as a goddess. In the post-Vedic age, she began to lose her status as a river goddess and became increasingly associated with literature, arts, music, etc. In Hinduism, Saraswati represents intelligence, consciousness, cosmic knowledge, creativity, education, enlightenment, music, the arts, and power. Hindus worship her not only for “secular knowledge”, but for “divine knowledge” essential to achieve\u00c2\u00a0moksha.<\/p>\n

In some\u00c2\u00a0Puranas (like\u00c2\u00a0Skanda Purana) she is sister of\u00c2\u00a0Shiva (Shivaanujaa) and in some\u00c2\u00a0Tantras with\u00c2\u00a0Ganesha.<\/p>\n

The original (spiritual) forms of\u00c2\u00a0devas including Saraswati are present in the spiritual world:<\/p>\n

Accompanied by Lakshmi and other associates, the chatur-vyuha [Four Expansions] headed by Lord\u00c2\u00a0Vasudeva are manifest in the eight directions, beginning with the east. In the directions beginning with the southeast, the palaces of Lakshmi, Saraswati,\u00c2\u00a0Rati, and Kanti respectively are situated.[4][clarification needed<\/em>]\n

According to\u00c2\u00a0Vedanta she is considered to be the feminine energy and knowledge aspect (Shakti) of\u00c2\u00a0Brahman, as one of many aspects of Adi\u00c2\u00a0Shakti.<\/p>\n

Maha Saraswati<\/h3>\n

In the\u00c2\u00a0Devi Mahatmya, Saraswati is in the trinity of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati. She is depicted as eight-armed.<\/p>\n

Her\u00c2\u00a0dhy\u00c4\u0081na shloka given at the beginning of the Fifth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Devi Mahatmya is:<\/p>\n

Wielding in her lotus-hands the bell, trident, ploughshare, conch, pestle, discus, bow, and arrow, her lustre is like that of a moon shining in the autumn sky. She is born from the body of\u00c2\u00a0Gowri and is the sustaining base of the three worlds. That Mahasaraswati I worship here who destroyed Sumbha and other asuras.[5]\n

Mahavidya Nila Saraswati<\/h3>\n

Nilasaraswati is another form of\u00c2\u00a0Mahavidya Tara. There are separate dhyana shlokas and\u00c2\u00a0mantras for her worship in\u00c2\u00a0Tantrasara.[6]\n

Iconography<\/h2>\n

The goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful, light-skinned woman dressed in pure white often seated on a white\u00c2\u00a0Nelumbo nucifera, which symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the Absolute Truth. Thus, she not only has the knowledge but also the experience of the Highest Reality. She is mainly associated with the color white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. Occasionally, however, she is also associated with the colour yellow, the colour of the flowers of the\u00c2\u00a0mustard plant that bloom at the time of her festival in the spring. She is not adorned heavily with jewels and gold, unlike the goddess\u00c2\u00a0Lakshmi, but is dressed modestly \u00e2\u20ac\u201d representing her preference of knowledge over worldly material things.[7]\n

She is generally shown to have four arms, which represent the four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego. Alternatively, these four arms also represent the 4 Vedas, the primary sacred books for Hindus. The Vedas, in turn, represent the 3 forms of literature:<\/p>\n