Saraswati Mantra is used to spark creative inspiration.
Muse of Creation, Saraswati is the Goddess of Language, Sound, and Communication. She is the stimulus of spiritual discernment and eloquence in all manners of speech or written word.
She is the one you would call upon to spark inspiration and master a new skill.
One of the three Goddesses of the Tridevi—the Supreme Trinity of the Universe—Saraswati initiates the rhythm that sustains all life. The cycles are Creation, Preservation, and Destruction.
Each cycle is associated with a Goddess and God of the Hindu Pantheon.
Keep reading to learn the Saraswati mantra, origin story, themes, and ways you can embody the energy of the deities.
Table of Contents:
Why You Would Call Upon Saraswati.
Themes and Mythology of Saraswati.
Saraswati Mantra and Meditation.
Chakras to Activate Saraswati’s Energy.
Yoga Classes to Embody Saraswati.
Questions to Consider Through Saraswati.
Understanding Saraswati’s Shadow Side.
The Power of Archetypal Energy – Integration in Your Life.
Why Call Upon Saraswati?
“To be blessed by Saraswati is to be able to transform the world through words.”
— Sally Kempton.
Inviting Saraswati’s energy benefits those seeking to ignite their creative spark. She is for the artists, dreamers, visionaries, and those who seek the fantastic.
Saraswati’s wisdom serves linguists, speech therapists, translators, musicians, singers, and those who work within the realm of speech and sound.
She also serves educators, students, technical communicators, philosophers, and poets. Her wisdom transcends the spiritual world and serves all those who implore the unseen and ask the bigger questions.
Themes and Mythology of Saraswati
The Goddess of Creation, Saraswati’s consort and masculine counterpart, is Brahma, the God of Creation.
Saraswati sits in a lotus pose to express that she is grounded in pure knowledge and absolute light. She has four arms to symbolize mind, intellect, intelligence and ego.
The four arms also represent the four Vedas, the most sacred scriptures of Hinduism.
Colors: yellow and white.
Animals: swan and peacock.
Objects: veena (instrument), book, and mala/rosary.
In each of her hands, Saraswati carries:
- A book of the Vedas – represents true knowledge.
- Crystal malas – expresses meditation and spirit.
- A pot of water – illustrates the intuitive and creative power of being in flow.
- A veena – symbolizes the perfect alignment of art and science.
The Mythology of Saraswati
Brahma, Lord of Creation, checked in with the stars to do a particular ceremony and discovered that the stars were aligned for him to perform the ceremony on a particular day and time. The ritual required the presence of masculine and feminine energies, so Brahma asked Saraswati to host the ritual with him. Saraswati is the Muse of Creation and Goddess of Wisdom. In this myth, Saraswati is the true artist who performs on her own time regardless of what is happening around her.
Brahma worries that Saraswati will not make it to the ceremony, so he sends his men to check in on her and remind her of the ceremony’s time. Many people arrive to celebrate the ceremony, and food is prepared, yet Saraswati has not appeared. The time is drawing closer and closer for the ceremony to align with the stars, and Saraswati has not appeared. Brahma sends more men to remind her, saying she will be there.
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As the time for the ritual gets closer, Brahma is anxious that Saraswati will not appear, so he asks one of his men to find a woman who will be his wife to assist him in the ceremony as his consort. The man finds Gayatri and brings her to Brahma. Brahma tells Gayatri that she must marry him for the ceremony and be his wife to facilitate the ceremony.
Just as the marriage vows are said, Saraswati arrives and sees Brahma with Gayatri. Furious, she approaches Brahma and asks what’s going on. Brahma says that Saraswati is late, but she responds that she is on time.
For his lack of trust in her, Saraswati curses Brahma by saying, “Because you did not trust me, no one will recall your name for centuries to come.” To this day, there is only 1 temple for Brahma in India. To Gayatri, Saraswati says, “Because you helped Brahma, everyone will remember your name,” and to this day, we still celebrate the Gayatri Mantra.
Saraswati Mantra and Meditation
“Deity meditation can unsnarl psychological knots—for instance, issues with power or love—and call forth specific transformative forces within the mind and heart. It puts us in touch with the protective power within us and can change the way we see the world.” — Sally Kempton.
Saraswati Mantra
Chant Saraswati mantra when you’re seeking inspiration, embarking on a new project, studying for an exam, or looking for the words to express your feelings.
Om Aim Klim Sarasvatiye Namaha
Om – the primordial sound that connects us all
Aim Klim – the bija seed sounds for Saraswati
Sarasvatiye Namaha – I bow to the goddess Saraswati
Saraswati Mudra Meditation
The mudra/gesture done in this meditation is known as chin/jnana/wisdom mudra. It is done by placing the tip of the thumb and index finger together.
Benefits of Chin Mudra
Brightens mood and energy.
Heightens senses and awareness.
Calms the mind and creates receptivity.
Meaning of Chin Mudra
Chin = consciousness
Mudra = seal or hand gesture
Known as the mudra of wisdom (Jnana), this gesture draws the individual towards Saraswati to break stagnant energy and shift energetic patterns to spark creativity and intuition.
To Perform Chin Mudra;
Take a comfortable seat and rest the back of your palms on your thighs.
Spread your palms upward and take the tip of the index finger to your thumb.
Extend the other three fingers away from the center of the palm gently.
Press the tip of the finger to the thumb in a relaxed gesture.
Rest with ease in this pose, and breathe deeply into your body.
Chakras to Activate Saraswati’s Energy
Saraswati is commonly identified with the throat chakra (5th) known as Vishuddha. The throat chakra is ruled by ether and responsible for speech, truth, purification, sound, mantra, voice, authenticity, and self-expression through word and silence.
As the Goddess of Sound, Speech, and Communication, Saraswati is activated through the Vishuddha chakra. Mantras are a potent way to integrate Saraswati’s energy and develop your voice.
Additional chakras to explore through Saraswati are the sacral chakra (2nd) and third eye (6th) chakra, the two that govern opposite ends of the spinal column.
The sacral (2nd) chakra, Svadhisthana, is ruled by the water element and is responsible for our emotions, creative spark, pleasure, desire, relationships, sexuality, flexibility/reception of life, and reproduction. Svadhisthana aligns with the reproductive organs and womb.
The brow (6th) chakra, Ajna, is ruled by light and responsible for intuition, mood, visualization, imagination, sleep, ideas, and clairvoyance. Ajna aligns within the pituitary gland.
Chakra translates from Sanskrit as ‘disk’ and refers to the energy points that link the physical and energetic bodies.
The chakras are segmented into three different groups: the lower chakras (1-3), heart chakra (4), and upper chakras (5-7). The second chakra and sixth chakra express a polarity. Regarding placement, the second and sixth chakra directly oppose each other. Each work together within the context of their integration and affect.
The saying, ‘as above, so below is used to describe chakra polarity.
Hermes Trismegisto was the first to use the phrase. An Egyptian Sage noted to have created alchemy, Hermes Trismegisto is mentioned in occult literature and combined the knowledge of the material and subtle realms. His words are recorded in the Emerald Tablet and express that that which is below directly corresponds to that which is above and that the two accomplish the miracles of the One Thing.
Saraswati’s Element
The Sarasvati River is a defined site known as a great and holy space where individuals can source great power. Saraswati’s element is water. She is associated with the Sarasvati River mentioned in the earliest Indian Texts, including the Rig Veda and Post Vedic Literature.
Saraswati’s name means ‘flowing one’ or ‘flowing.’ Saraswati combines the Sanskrit word saras, which means “pooling water,” and vati, which means “she who possesses.”
As the Muse of Creation, Saraswati’s energy aligns with the themes and potential available to us at the second chakra, where creativity and self-expression are born. She is related to the sixth chakra, where intuition and the imagination preside to allow the individual and collective consciousness to dream up what has never been seen or done before.
Yoga Classes to Embody Saraswati
Saraswati Flow – Experience Mandala Namaskars
In this yoga class, you’ll dance across your mat in Mandala Namaskars from Prana Flow Yoga by Shiva Rea. Ideal for all levels, benefits include a trance-like state of calm and spaciousness in the body.
- Style: Vinyasa
- Element: Water and Fire.
- Strengthens quads, hamstrings, abdominals, obliques, biceps, and triceps.
- Lengthens inner thigh, outer hip, side waist, frontline.
- Benefits: Inner leg-line strengthening to support the low back and spine.
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Saraswati’s River – Express Flow with No Peak Pose.
In this yoga class, you’ll move through sun salutations and three waves featuring Shiva Rea’s Wave Theory. Open to all levels, benefits include playful and flowing transitions to build heat in the body.
- Style: Slow Flow
- Elements: Water and Earth.
- Strengthens biceps, triceps, abdominals, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
- Lengthens hip flexors, front of the pelvis, spinal column, chest, and shoulders.
- Benefits: no peak pose to explore a full-body class that calms the nervous system.
Questions to Consider for Saraswati:
Where do I seek/source inspiration?
Where do I move with the flow of the universe?
Where do I block/restrict flow?
How do I express pleasure? What activities please me?
How do I express desire? What do I desire?
Who stimulates my creative spark?
Where do I feel my creative spark?
How do I feed my creative spark?
Where do I feel supported in speaking my truth?
How do I work with music- instruments, singing, silence?
How do I express my creativity- what do I create?
Saraswati’s Shadow Side of Unrequited Needs
Carl Jung was a psychoanalyst who integrated the ideas of Sigmund Freud into analytical psychology. Jung’s work was influenced by mythology and the pseudoscientific and established four main archetypes the persona, the anima/animus, the shadow, and the self.
Unrequited desires belong to the shadow. The shadow contains our most basic, instinctual needs that are repressed. It’s part of the unconscious mind that develops in response to what is not culturally or socially accepted.
Greed, anger, shame, hate, and prejudice; all belong to the shadow.
The shadow is the dark side where the wild, chaotic, and unknown erupt.
Repression typically draws out the shadow. Integrating all aspects of the self – the ugly, unconscious, and unmet needs helps one merge with the shadow.
Simply acknowledging the darker aspects of the self and bringing them into the conscious foreground, to the ego/light, will help create balance and harmonious the lack/disparity within.
Saraswati’s shadow appears as gossip, manipulation, untruths, plagiarism, and lack of focus.
The aspects that give us purpose, life, and unique flavor are typically inverted through the shadow. As the creative who spreads gifts of wisdom, learning, sound, music, and speech,
Saraswati’s shadow takes the form of one who lacks individuality and inspiration.
Activities to bring Saraswati’s shadow into balance:
Listen to music or a podcast episode.
Read a poem, essay, or short story.
Harmonize the right and left sides of the brain; music, mantra, meditation, and learning a new language work with both hemispheres.
According to Jungian psychology, Melancholia, angst, overwhelm, and confusion may all be served through awareness of one’s own shadow, though not through over-identification.
The Powerful Presence of the Archetypes
“As with any powerful symbolic form, the Hindu deities represent, and in my experience actually can uncover, helpful psychological forces. They personify energies that we feel but may never have thought to name or invoke.” — Sally Kempton.
Archetypes allow us to develop a strong point of focus through the embodiment of qualities, emotions, and behaviors that empower. Each archetype’s unique and precise characteristics create a foundation to explore qualities that foster growth, receptivity, and acceptance.
Working with an archetype may assist with the release of stagnant/blocked memories, ideas, thoughts, and emotions. It may also support revealing the individual’s innermost desires, goals, needs, and expressions.
Saraswati is a potent figure to work with to harness creative energy, refine attention to language in verbal and written forms, and enhance all aspects of learning, communication, and discernment.
Advantages to Archetype Work:
Influence behavior
Universal role models
Invoke potent personality traits
Provide strength, focus, support
Lean on individual development
