Sarasvati

Sarasvati, or Saraswati, is the Hindu Goddess of learning, wisdom, music, and aesthetics. She was originally associated with the Sarasvati River, which, like the Ganges, flows from the Himalayas and is considered a sacred source of purification, fertility, and good fortune for those who bathe in her waters. Her name means flowing one and her water conferred divinity on kings when it was used in their baptism. Her role as a river Goddess may also extend to the Heavenly River, the Milky Way, which was seen as a road to immortality and heavenly afterlife.

Sarasvati is often depicted with four arms, holding a Veena - a stringed musical instrument, a book, and a strand of beads or ritual pot. She's known for brilliant white skin representing the light of knowledge. Her companion is a white swan or hamsa, who in myth is believed to be able to separate milk from water --a representation of Sarasvati's ability to separate good from evil. Source: Legendary Ladies by Ann Shen. Sarasvati is also associated with the lotus flower, which symbolizes purity, rebirth, culture, and enlightenment.

Sarasvati original painting available through Saatchi Art. Prints and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Sarasvati is considered to be the wife of Brahma, but like Hera, worship of her probably predates her husband's existence. Barbara G. Walker writes, "Sarasvati was ... the Queen of Heaven assimilated to Brahmanism as Brahma's wife, a combination that suggests the biblical A-brahm and Sara(h). She was said to have invented all of the arts of civilization: music, letters, mathematics, calendars, magic, the Vedas, and all other branches of learning." Sarasvati was sometimes referred to as "Daugher of the Sun". Her role in learning and wisdom combined with being the daughter of the Sun reminds me of Sophia, the Gnostic Christian Goddess of wisdom and daughter of the Sun.

The goddess has her own festivals, notably the Saraswati Puja, held on the first day of spring, during which children are taught to write for the first time, since she created the Sanskrit alphabet.

Sarasvati is also the special Goddess of the Jains, "a religion that began in the late centuries BCE and emphasizes not divinity but transcendant jinas, highly evolved souls. Even this nontheistic religion could not entirely eliminate devotion to the Goddess, of whom Sarasvati was the favorite form." Source: Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan.

The earliest depiction of Sarasvati that has been found is from Kankali Tila, an important Jain archaeological site excavated between 1870 and 1896.

Metal sculpture of Goddess Sarasvati dated to 132 CE, from the Jain site of Kankali Tila. Source

Her posture here reminds me of the lotus headed Lajja Gauri who birthed the universe.

Comments

Sophia and the Apocryphon of John

In 1945, thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by an Egyptian farmer near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These early Christian texts date from the 3rd century CE, and include writings attributed to John the Baptist. The writings of John became known as the Secret Book of John, or the Apocryphon of John. A translation by Frederik Wisse can be read online . In the Apocryphon, there is a female counterpart to the Father - the holy Mother, Barbelo. "She is the forethought of the All - her light shines like his light - the perfect power... The first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation... she became the womb of everything, for it is she who is prior to them all, the Mother-Father." I became aware of the Apocryphon of John after reading a graphic novel by Marisa Acocella, The Big She-Bang, The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother (highly recommended, by ...

Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism

Ardipithecus ramidus. Our first great grandmother to walk upright. The Eve of bipedalism. Dating to about 4.4 million years ago. Males and females of the species are similarly sized and both have canine teeth that are feminized. The males don't bare their fangs to scare off rivals. They don't have fangs. Based on these features, it can be assumed that Ardipithecus society was likely relatively egalitarian and cooperative. That's nice. Inspired by Cat Bohannon's new book, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art . Stickers and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America .

Homo Habilis, Eve of Serious Tool Usage

Homo Habilis as a species lived from about 2.8 - 1.5 million years ago. They are best known for the vast quantity of stone tools found with their fossils, and according to Cat Bohannon, "associated intelligent sociality". Old, sexist, white male anthropologists associated the development of tools with men's needs during the hunt. However, based on primatology studies, that theory seems unlikely to be correct. In modern chimpanzees (with whom we share 99 percent of our DNA), females are three times more likely than males to hunt with spears. Female chimps are also more adept than males at using stones to crack nuts. In Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Millions Years of Human Evolution, Cat Bohannon discusses how female chimps use sticks to stab sleeping bush babies (nocturnal squirrel-like creatures). Using sticks while hunting allows her to keep her distance, which is important, since she's often carrying her offspring while hunting....

Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body

I've been reading a lot about evolutionary psychology lately. It seems that what really made us human was the bond between mother and child. Our big brains force us into the world before we can even hold up our own heads. We essentially must continue gestating outside the womb. The learning and empathy that develops between mother and child in infancy forms the basis of everything we call love, and lays the foundation for our cooperative culture. Evolution, driven by the mothers. It's been a series of fascinating reads, and it's reminded me of the quote about how having a child is like forever having a piece of your heart walking around outside your body. Or, in the case of my painting, your whole heart. My heart and I, walking through the parking lot of the New York Renaissance Faire a couple of years ago. Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body, original painting by Echoing Multiverse. Available via S...

Feminist Protest Fist

I first saw a version of the feminist protest fist symbol on a t shirt that said, "I'd rather be fighting the man." I really wanted it, but didn't have the money to buy it at the time. If I was making a new version, I'd pair the symbol with "I'd rather be fighting the patriarchy." It's a system, not an individual. Feminist Protest Fist - I'd Rather Be Fighting the Patriarchy, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art . Stickers, t shirts, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Patriarchy is also not a universal system. There are many matrilineal cultures still existing in the world, even with the global imperial capitalist missionary patriarchy actively working to squash them into submission. Patriarchy with patrilineal descent is not the natural state of humanity. It is one possibility, that is actually pretty rare historically. Fighting the patriarchy is not futile. Fi...

Bi Pride Symbol

It's Diversity and Inclusion week at the offspring's school. Last year they had Wear the Rainbow day and of 1700ish students and staff, the teen saw three others participating. So afterwards I asked teachers and her guidance counselor to consider participating next time because it didn't make the kid feel good diversity and inclusion vibes to be so alone. Direct result or just coincidence: this year's Diversity and Inclusion week substituted On Wednesdays We Wear Pink day in the place of Wear the Rainbow day. Mean Girls peer pressure totally says diversity and inclusion to me. So, in protest, the kid has made every day this week gay day with their wardrobe choices. So proud. And it coincided with me reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, which is an amazing book. Quote from the author: "...you deserve ridiculous, over-the-top high school rom-coms about teenagers like you, just like the straight kids have!" Recent surveys have s...

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog