Brahma Deva and Saraswati Devi

Brahma is the God of creation and according to the Brahma Purana he is the father of Manu from whom all human beings are said to have descended. According to Puranas, Brahma born in water in a lotus flower is also known as ‘Kanja’ (born in water). The idol of Brahma is depicted sitting on a lotus holding a rosary to keep account of all time, a book symbolizing knowledge and a water pot (kalamandal). One arm is shown blessing devotees. Brahmas vehicle is the swan which can separately identify milk from water just as Lord Brahma has the power to distil good from evil. The four faces of Brahma represent the four Vedas as the source of all knowledge

Brahma’s wife is Devi Saraswati who has taken different forms in different ages, also known by other names as Savitri, Gayatri, Sharda, Vani, Veenapani, Chaduvula talli in Telugu and Kalaivaani, Kalaimagal in Tamil. Saraswati is revered as a Goddess since Vedic times and known as the Goddess of learning and Goddess of speech. Prayers to Saraswati  are for wise thoughts and wise speech. The four arms of the Devi represent the mind, intellect, ego and alertness of humans as depicted by the scriptures and lotus held by Saraswati. The other two arms are shown playing the musical instrument, Veena and thus this is another blessing which is offered to devotees by Saraswati, dressed in white and riding the white swan as a symbol of purity.

STORIES

Saraswati is credited with helping Lord Brahma to bring harmony and order into creation of the universe. She is said to have provided the knowledge and wisdom to lord Brahma so as to create thought, the intellect, the senses and artistic beauty through in musical notes of sound. Thus the different worlds (lokas) for Gods, humans, demons were created and nature was formed. The puranas thus narrate a tale of the creation of the universe by Lord Brahma with assistance from Devi Saraswati.

Saraswati is also credited to have wittily saved the devas from the wrath of the demon Kumbhakarna who after severe penance pleased Brahma and was about to ask for a boon that would enable him to be very powerful so as to rule all the worlds. Saraswati sat on Kumbhakarna’s tongue just as he was about to ask his wish to Brahma. As a result he ended up saying that he wanted to be asleep for six months and stay awake for just one day, the exact opposite of the wakeful and powerful state he was supposed to ask form. Brahma granted the wish as came out of his mouth and thus the demon was put to sleep for most of the time.

Story also goes that Brahma fell in love with his first creation, beautiful and learned Saraswati and wanted to be able to see Saraswati at all times. He therefore gave himself four heads facing every direction so as to be able to see the beauty of Saraswati no matter where she might be. However Saraswati wanted to curb the feelings of the senses and encourage only spiritual love, so she took the form of various creatures on the earth to escape Brahma's vision. Brahma however followed her as abull when she became a cow and as a horse when she became a mare and so on leading to all creatures of the universe coming into existence. 

In the end when Saraswati went up in the air, Brahma tried to create another head to view upwards and see Saraswati which enraged the Devi and she implored lord Shiva's help. Then Shiva prevented him and thus Brahma's idols typically have four heads. Some mythologies also suggest that Saraswati did not like Brahma's passionate love and therefore cursed him that he would not be revered and worshipped as much as the other Gods' owing to his pursuit of her. Hence there are very few temples or festivals celebrating and praying to God Brahma.