[Robert "Bobby" Oxford Jr]

Saraswati | Goddess of knowledge

Consort of Brahama. Goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science.

It is believed that goddess Saraswati endows human beings with the powers of speech, wisdom and learning.

She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness and ego.

She has sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus – the symbol of true knowledge – in the second. With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on a string instrument called the veena.

She is dressed in white – the symbol of purity – and rides on a white swan – symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity and discrimination.

These four arms also represent the four Vedas, the primary sacred books for Hindus. The Vedas, in turn, represent the three forms of literature:

Poetry — the Rigveda contains hymns, representing poetry.
Prose — Yajurveda contains prose.
Music — Samaveda represents music.

She is shown to hold the following in her hands:

A book, which is the sacred Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures.
A mālā of crystals, representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
A pot of sacred water, representing creative and purification powers.
The vina, a musical instrument that represents her perfection of all arts and sciences. Saraswati is also associated with anurāga, the love for and rhythm of music, which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music.