Saraswati | Maa Saraswati Story | Basant Panchami | Saraswati Shaligram

The name Saraswati means 'elegant', 'flowing', and 'watery'. Goddess Saraswati is a Hindu Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, music, art and nature. She is a member of the trinity of Saraswati, Laksmi and Paravati. Along with Lakshmi and Parvati, she helps the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva in the creation, maintenance & destruction of the Universe.

Actually, word Saraswati is a fusion word of Saras & Vati where Saras means pooling water and Vati means she who posses. Thus the word Sarawati means she who has ponds/ lakes/ pooling water or one with plenty of water. Originally Goddess Saraswati is associated with the river known as Saraswati. You will get all about Sarawati through this article i.e. worship & rituals, Saraswati & Brahma, Sarawati Shaligram and much more.

Appearance & Attributes of Saraswati

Generally, Saraswati appears as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white and seated on a white lotus. She symbolizes light, knowledge & truth. She is not only a symbol of knowledge but also the experience of the highest reality. The iconography of Saraswati is typically in white themes i.e. white dress, white flowers, white swan. White colour symbolizes Sattwa Guna or purity, discrimination for true knowledge, wisdom & insight.

She is as white as the moon, wears white ornaments, radiating with beauty, holding a book & a pen in her hands. Goddess Sarawati always appears near a flowing river or another body of water. One of the most famous features of Saraswati is Veena which is a musical instrument. It represents all creative arts & sciences.

Worship & Rituals/ Vasant Panchami

Saraswati has her on festivals Saraswati puja which is celebrated on the 1st day of Spring so this festival is also known as Basant Panchami. Once, the world creator Lord Brahma went on a world tour then he found the whole universe silent. After seeing this he felt like somewhat missing in the creation of the universe.

Brahmaji stayed in a place and sprinkle a little water from his Kamandal (a holy pot) then suddenly a goddess appeared with a veena in his hand i.e. Goddess Sarawati. She bowed to Brahmaji and in this way she was called a daughter of God Brahma. Thus on this occasion every year Banasnt Panchami is celebrated.

On the appearance of Maa Sarawati, Brahma told her that all the creatures in this world are silent and they can not talk to each other. Mother Sarawati asked him on this that what she has to do now. Brahma instructs her that she has to give the sound to this world with the sound of her Veena so that they can communicate and talk to each other. In this way, they can also understand the emotions of each other and can help each other. Thus she provided a voice to all the creatures.

Story Behind Saraswati/ Saraswati & Brahma

According to Hindu methodology, Saraswati is the wife of God Brahma. Lord Brahma represents the abstract whereas Saraswati represents action & reality. It is mentioned in Majayapuran & Saraswati Puran that Brahma is the creator of this universe. While creating this universe he gave birth to Saraswati, Sandhya, and Brahmin. As Goddess Saraswati was beautiful and magnificent so many started adoring her along with Brahma Ji himself.

When she came to know that he got attracted towards her she seeks help from Shiva and started running away from the eyes of Brahma. But as we know that Brahma has four faces & eyes in all directions she cannot hide from him. At last Saraswati give up and married with God Brahma. It is also mentioned that the goddess hid in the sky but he found her with the help of his 5th head.

Saraswati Shaligram

Saraswati Shaligram has the power to give the kingdom and lots of wealth. Saraswati Shaligram is kept Lord Vishnu lives there along with Goddess Laxmi. Shaligram purifies a person and gives success in all walks of life. The benefits that one get by reading all the Vedas and doing Tapasya. The one who does Abhishek of Shaligram with water gets lots of benefits and happiness. It is said that if a dying person is given the water of Shaligram then he is purified from all the sins committed by him and goes to Vishnu Lok. Along with Saraswati Shaligram, you should also worship Vishnu Shaligram, Laxmi Shaligram, Ganesh Shaligram etc.