Sarasvati

n.
The Hindu goddess of learning and the arts.

[Sanskrit Sarasvatī, name of a sacred river, Sarasvati.]

Sarasvatī means “flowing,” thus this Vedic (See Vedic entries) goddess appears in the ṛg Veda (see ṛg Veda) as a sacred river and as Vāc, a personification of speech. She is a goddess of learning and the arts. As the wife and śakti (See śakti) of the creator god Brahmā (See Brahmā), Sarasvatī is appropriately the inventor of the sacred language, Sanskrit (See Sanskrit), the “flow” by means of which eternal creation is articulated in Time. But with the dying out of the Brahmā cult Sarasvatī was sometimes seen as a wife of another creator, Viṣṇu (See Viṣṇu), and sometimes in the ancient texts she is associated as an aspect of sacrificial fire with the fire god Agni (See Agni).

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: goddess of learning and arts

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