literature glossary

Vahana — Sanskrit for a deity’s divine vehicle or mount; each god and goddess is traditionally carried by one.

Hansa — Sanskrit for swan; the vahana of Devi Maa Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and the written word.

Etymology — the study of where a word comes from, and how its meaning has traveled to reach us.

on this site’s name

The witty swan takes its name from Devi Maa Saraswati, whose vahana is the hansa. Dhawal, the name behind this site, means pure white in Sanskrit — fitting, for a swan.