Page:Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Purānic.djvu/132



Brahmā 's wife is Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom and science, the mother of the Vedas, and the inventor of the Devanāgiri letters. She is represented as a fair young woman, with four arms. With one of her right hands she is presenting a flower to her husband, by whose side she continually stands; and in the other she holds a book of palm-leaves, indicating that she is fond of learning. In one of her left hands she has a string of pearls, called Sivamāla (Siva's garland), which serves as a rosary; and in the other is a damaru, or

small drum. At other times she is represented with two arms only, seated on a lotus playing a kind of banjo. She dwells on earth amongst men, but her special abode is with her husband in Brahmāloka.