Saraswati Ma

The beautiful Saraswati Ma murti pictured above was a gift to me from the students in my 300-hour yoga teacher training course when they graduated. She has a special place on my home altar, and here you see her adorned with fresh flowers I have offered to her.  Her name means "Flowing One," and she is the goddess of a sacred river in one of her oldest forms. She is associated with flow in all aspects. 

To learn more about Saraswati and other Hindu Goddesses, check out the wonderful book by Sally Kempton called "Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga." In it you'll find the following information, along with so much more: 

Some other names for Saraswati include: Bharati, Eloquence; Mahavidya, Great Knowledge; Vac, Speech; Brahmi, Vastness; Sharada, Autumnal; Vani, Speech or Sound. She is associated with the colors white and yellow, and her flowers are white lotus and jasmine. 

She is the Goddess of: speech; learning; creativity; music; sound; creative intuition; insight; books; knowledge; spiritual discrimination; wisdom. 

Recognize Saraswati in: the swan; crystal; clear-running water; mantras; flowing speech; refined singers and musicians; inspired writing, oratory, and scholarship; computer programs; computers; libraries; classrooms; Google searches; language; intellectual activity; bookstores; mathematical formulations; literary and writers' conferences; musical instruments, especially stringed instruments; the first quarter of the moon. 

Invoke Saraswati for: study; learning; enhanced memory; musical skill; skill and eloquence in speaking or writing; deeper meditation; insight; answers to intellectual and practical questions; mathematical insight; help with computer glitches; improved communication; test taking; learning languages; intution; auspicious speech. 

Her bīja mantra is Aim (pronounced ai-eem), and it is the seed of creative speech and inspiration. Her invocational mantra is: 

Om aim hrim saraswatyai namaha, meaning

Om, I bow to the flowing one whose essence is wisdom and the power to manifest. 

Read more about Saraswati in the February Jivamukti Yoga Focus of the Month essay.