SARASVATI
Real Name:
Sarasvati
Occupation:
Queen of the Hindu gods, goddess of language, art and learning, River-goddess
Legal Status:
Citizen of Nirvana
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Sarasvati except as a mythological character.
Other Aliases:
River-goddess, Sata-Rupa, Savitri, Saraswati (Balinese), Mother of the Veda
Place of Birth:
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives:
Himavat (father), Menahka (mother), Lakshmi,
Parvati,
Ganga, Yamuna, Uma (sisters), Brahma
(husband), Vach (daughter), Adharma (son), Vishnu,
Shiva, Agni,
Yama,
(brothers-in-law), Ganehsa, Skanda, Kama (nephews), Kali, Padma (nieces),
Group Affiliations: The Hindu Gods
Base of Operations:
First Appearance: (historical) "Pantheons of the Megaverse" by C.J. Carella, (recent) Thor I #301
History: Sarasvati is one of the Apsaras, a group of water-goddesses descended from the primal being known as Himavat, a member of the extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Devas, who were worshipped by the ancient Vedic tribes of Ancient India and later the modern Hindu religion. Himavat was the great snow-god of the Vedic pantheon, and the waters trickling from his peaks into rivers and ravines were protected by his daughters, the Apsaras. The Apsaras were water-deities that helped carry the pious into heaven and had emerged from the sea during the deluge which covered the earth during the Earth's primeval past. Among them, the most revered were Ganga who protected the sacred Ganges river, Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu and Parvati, wife of Shiva. Many of the Apsaras became wives of gods and mortals; Sarasvati became the wife of the god Brahma who had lead the Devas to victory against the Rakshasas, the eternal enemies of the Hindu gods.
According to one account, Brahma had fell in love with Sarasvati in her incarnation as the goddess Sata-Rupa and grew over five faces to look upon her beauty, but he lost one of these faces to Shiva. Brahma eventually married Sarasvati, and she gave birth to Vach, goddess of speech, and Adharma, god of prayer among other gods.
Sarasvati is one of the most revered goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, but she was also linked to the Persian pantheon as the water-goddess, Haurvatat. In this guise, she is often called the daughter of Ormazd, but it is uncertain if she actually was this goddess or just merely linked to this deity. Several of the Vedic deities who lost worship rites to the ascendant Hindu gods were worshipped as gods under Zoroasterism in Persia (modern Iran), but it is unrevealed if a goddess like Sarasvati would be so revered among the Persian gods in view of animosity between the two pantheons.
After the
Third Host of the Celestials, Sarasvati and her sisters Lakshmi and Parvati
united with the mother-goddesses from all the pantheons of gods once worshipped
or still worshipped on earth. This gathering included Frigga
of the Asgardian
gods and Hera
of the Olympian
gods. The Celestials and threatened to sever the gods connections to earth
if they did not cease trafficking with mortals and had predicted to return in a
thousand years to decide if humanity was fit to exist. Frigga had asked the
wives of the god-kings of earth to locate twelve human beings of pure genetic
potential to serve as prime examples of humanity when the Fourth Host of the
Celestials should occur. The Hindu goddesses had succeeded in locating Jahahanel
Patel of the Brahmin caste at the turn of the century
to be their representative and concealed him in an underground location where he
was attended by several minor Hindu goddesses. When the Fourth Host occurred,
the supreme mother-goddess Gaea who was the ancestor of all the gods of earth
presented these twelve examples known as the Young Gods. The Celestials voted in
favor of earth in view of the Young Gods and departed Earth with them into outer
space.
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 345 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Unusual Physical Features: In her true godly form,
Sarasvati has four arms.
Strength Level: Sarasvati possesses superhuman strength enabling her to
lift (press) 75 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Sarasvati possesses the conventional physical attributes
of the Devas or Hindu gods. Like all Devas, she is virtually immortal: she has not aged since
reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to all
Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow
wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It
would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her
bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
a god of significant power, such as Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva or for a number of
Hindu gods of equal power working together to revive her. Sarasvati also possesses
superhuman strength and her Deva metabolism provides her with far greater than
human endurance in all physical activities. (Deva flesh and bone is about three
times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman
strength and weight of the Hindu gods.)
Sarasvati also has the power to tap into and conjure the energies of her shakti, primal female energies, in order to perform feats of magic. She can control the weather to create rain and transmit thought, offering insight and inspiration in mortal man. She can travel between dimensions, such as from Nirvana to Earth, alter her size and appearance and project her life-force and likeness into other levels of existence. Her exact level of power is unrevealed, but with the obvious exception of Lakshmi and Parvat,, she is possibly the most powerful of the Hindu goddesses.
Abilities: Sarasvati has some inventive and mental
acuity. She was credited with inventing the Sanskrit alphabet and to have
inscribed the Vedas.
Pets: Sarasvati sometimes rides upon a swan or peacock.
Comments: This bio includes Sarasvati as she once appeared in the Marvel
Universe.
Last updated:
02/10/12