Goddess Swaraswati

Goddess Swaraswati 

Mt. Adu,  Dilwara Temple,14th Century AD,National Museum, New Delhi

           Considered to be the purest of the three Goddesses, Goddess Swaraswati is the goddess of learning and wisdom. Without learning there can be no creation. Thus, She is the shakti (power) of Lord Brahma, the creator.  According to Hindu iconography all goddesses are to be depicted as eternally young, bejewelled, and bare chested. Here even Goddess Swaraswati is shown as bare chested. But when M. F. Hussain painted her thus, a national outcry was raised as offending religious sentiments. Bare chest is merely symbolic of the life giving energy which is so essential for survival. Goddesses personify the life energy. Thus, they are bare from the top. 

          Despite the fact that Japan happens to be a Buddhist nation, Goddess Swaraswati is the second most popular diety in Japan , after Lord Buddha. We are progressively forgetting her as a Hindu diety.