The goddess Saraswati presides over music and art, science and learning. The human psyche normally has dual aspects represented by the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The left side may be correlated to science or daily thinking; the worldly side of our lives. The right side is related to art, music and the mystical. When the society of human beings ignores the spiritual side of life, art and science are seen as opposite poles. Art then becomes bizarre, seeking pleasure or fame & wealth; and science becomes destructive and related to the material world only. Saraswati indicates these aspects with the beads of contemplation in one hand and the text scroll of learning in the other. She also indicates that these two aspects work together in music by placing left and right hands on the vina. This is the condition of the human psyche which best suits Self Development. Hence the Saraswati Society works with music, art and the knowledge of the scriptures in combination as the Sufi and Vedantic traditions have done for many centuries. return to Advaita page . . . return to index page