Saraswati & Benzaiten: When Gods Grow

Introducing Saraswati: A River Embodied

Saraswati begins as a river. In the Rig Veda she is a mighty, flowing presence, nourishing lands, hearts and minds. Her waters are invoked for clarity of thought, eloquence of speech, and potency of creation. 

As hymns and praises to Saraswati evolved, the river became personified: She grew into Saraswati Devi, radiant in white, riding upon her hamsa, strumming her veena and harmonizing the cosmos through her very being. Her flowing speech, melody, inspiration, conversation, and freshwaters are all felt as currents of the same source.

Saraswati Goes to Pataloka

Once one of the great rivers of the Indian subcontinent, the physical river Saraswati is said to have since disappeared from the known surface of the earth. Some stories say she went underground, merging into groundwaters and subterranean streams. 

To me, her descent into the underground speaks to her relationship with Pataloka, the Underworld. An inner earth ruled by nagas: Serpentine beings and dragon-like creatures that protect the riches of the earth. From minerals to metals to precious stones and oils, and now the Saraswati herself, the underworld is home to the Earth’s deepest wealths. 

With her shift of domain into Pataloka, Saraswati embodies the way wisdom itself sometimes must flow underground, through subtler channels, surfacing only where one knows how to truly listen in devotion. 

Still, Saraswati’s descent does not stop the true seeker from encountering and flowing with her. As the Vedic era gave way to Buddhism, Saraswati’s power and embodiment sustained and grew with those devoted to cultivating divine wisdom. 

Saraswati as Dharma Protector

As Buddhism traveled beyond the Subcontinent, Saraswati was carried along in its sutras, no longer bound by the surface. In Buddhist texts like the Suvarṇaprabhāsottama Sutra (Sutra of Golden Light), Saraswati appears as a fierce protector of Dharma. Here she is invoked not only as the patroness of wisdom and learning, but as a protective guardian who ensures the flourishing of divine law.

As a Dharmapalaka, Saraswati not only imbues devotees with wisdom, but takes an active and fierce interest in ensuring Dharma is carried out. Felt in this form, Saraswati offers a more vital and ferocious frequency — Her protective qualities are activated.

In this new form, Saraswati is translated in new ways. In China her name becomes Biàncáitiān (辯才天, or “Heavenly Eloquence”). Her association with speech itself is reflective of how her naming and etymology guide her growth: In this form, as an embodiment of Eloquence, she is carried further still from the plains of the Subcontinent, into Japan. Through the spreading sutras, Saraswati becomes the current that makes words flow, protecting wisdom in motion. 

Everything That Flows: Connecting Wisdom and Wealth

Her domain grows beyond eloquence alone, to encompass the flow state itself.
There is a generative power in all that flows: words, melodies, waters, wealth, ideas. 
This was the bridge that would allow Saraswati, a Vedic river goddess, to become Benzaiten, a goddess of wealth, music, and protection in Japan.

In India Saraswati remains associated with purity and knowledge on the surface. In East Asia, her aspect of “eloquence” expands into the broader domain of the worldly – informed by the power of the underworld. In these new neighboring lands, eloquence goes beyond persuasion and poetry, speaking to ones’ capacity to attract wealth, harmony, and success. As rivers sustain crops, and words sustain communities, so flow sustains prosperity. 

In my own practice, the greatest offering I’ve found in cultivating connection with Saraswati is flow state. Flow State is a feeling of deep presence and joyful embodiment experienced when wholly absorbed in task or activity. Dedicating a flow state practice — be it writing, reading, doodling, or an intentional conversation full of gems — to Saraswati is beautiful and potent nourishment for one who flows and protects divine wisdom.

Benzaiten: How the Goddess Grew in a New Land

In Japan, Saraswati became Benzaiten (弁才天 or 弁財天). Flowing through layers of translation, first in Chinese as the goddess of eloquence, then reinterpreted as the goddess of fortune (with zai meaning wealth), each name and region Saraswati meets expands her nature.

From her embodiment as a river that touches inner earths, to her role as a Dharma protector, Saraswati – now Benzaiten – is absorbed into Shinto belief as a water kami. Syncreticized with both Buddhism and Japanese animism, Saraswati-Benzaiten comes to be honored as one of the Seven Lucky Gods. Her veena became the biwa, her hamsa replaced by serpents and dragons. She grows from a river, to a muse of scholars and poets, to a beloved of sailors and water-faring merchants, encompassing all in her ever-changing flow. 

Benzaiten retains Saraswati’s essence as a goddess of eloquence, music, and the arts. But in Japan, she became more worldly: A guardian of Dharma, wealth and prosperity. After all, wealth flows too.

In Benzaiten, the underground river of Saraswati surfaces anew, transformed by new landscapes and new devotions, yet carrying the same current: of flow, wisdom, creation, and fertile devotion.

When The River Met The Dragon

The legend of Enoshima Island tells of a terrible five-headed dragon, a spirit of flood and storm. He terrorizes villages along the coast, demanding sacrifices. When Benzaiten descended from heaven, she raised the island of Enoshima further from the sea to soothe its coastlines, and subdue the dragon. This moment is a fascinating mythological rememberance of geological and geographic events: The island is said to have rose from the sea quite recently in the 6th century, its entirety dedicated to the Goddess.

In some versions of this tale, the Enoshima dragon fell in love with Benzaiten and pledged to be her guardian. In others, Benzaiten refused marriage but accepted his repentance and fealty on behalf of the people, transforming the ocean serpent’s destructive power into protective strength for her devotees. Here the nagas rear their heads again, echoing the Vedic river currents.

Going underground allowed this subcontinental river to meet and make new alliances among the serpentine and dragon kingdoms. Traveling through groundwaters and on tongues, Saraswati is a deity that expands as she meets new lands, kingdoms, and devotees.

From an interdimensional river to a protector of Dharma to a beloved of an oceanic dragon:
This is how gods grow.