Saraswati is the Sakti, the power and consort of Brahma the creator.   She is the God of Knowledge and wisdom. She is considered as the personification of all knowledge -arts, science, crafts and skills. Hence she is depicted as pure white in colour. Clad in spotless white apparel and seated on a lotus seat, she holds in her four hands a Veena, Akshamala (rosary) and pustaka (book). Though these are most common, there are several variations. Some of the other objects shown are: pasa (noose ) Ankusa (goad), padma (lotus) Trisula (trident) Sankha (conch) chakra (discus) and so on. Occasionally she is shown with five face or with eight hands. Even three eyes or blue neck are not uncommon. In this case she is the Mahasaraswati aspect of Durga or Parvati. Her vahana (vehicle)  is the swan and sometimes a peacock is shown accompanying her.  The swan is known for its exceptional characteristic of being capable of separating out water from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination to segregate the bad from the good.