#vak

I fear this is gonna be a long post.

1. Vasanta

Everyone knows "vasanta" as the spring season but barely anyone knows that all the seasons in Hindu mythology are personified, including Vasanta, who's heralded as the "king of seasons".

Secondly he's the third member of the Kama-Rati gang, making them a well-established trio and Kama-Rati treating him like a younger bro and even son sometimes.

Vasanta is as coquette as the rest of his gang, and also Krishna is constantly compared to him and he is compared to Krishna. They are sometimes even called the same names, like "Madhu" or "Madhav". And Indra the King of Gods himself keeps glazing Vasanta for his beauty (ngl I would too). In fact, one time he told Rambha, an apsara, that Vasanta should go before her to woo a sage. So yeah. He's just slay like that.

Also Vasanta Panchami's predecessor (Vasantapuja) actually worshipped Vasanta alongside Kama, Rati, and Shiva. But now we don't really have a trace of a puja offering towards him, and it's mostly about Saraswati.

2. Vedic Saraswati

Speaking of Saraswati, she was Athena before she became Hestia. She rode a chariot (almost every deity had a chariot at the time), fought battles, had immense water powers, given she was the literal personification of THE legendary Saraswati river, and you can tell the Rigvedic priests were obsessed by it (since the river began to decline rapidly by the time their ancestors arrived India).

But people these days barely acknowledge her Vedic era self. She gives retired war veteran Bob Ross vibes to me because of this. But it's about time we acknowledge her badass past.

3. Sarasvān

Saraswati's OG husband (but sometimes also her son.... So you gotta pick one. The 'son' thing happened in the Puranas). I usually headcanon Saraswati as aroace but if she were to have a husband, I would pick him over Brahma every single day. Sarasvān is often considered the guardian of water, ocean and even as the sun. I just think he needs more recognition as a water deity yk.

4. Vāk

Goddess of speech and mother of the Vedas, before she became just another form of Saraswati. She and Indra are guardians to each other, and Pushan also guards her. Sometimes she's heralded as the queen of serpents, and sometimes she's represented as a cow (ofc it's a cow). She is even considered the Brahman sometimes, and that the universe arose from her. She has such immense power and versatility (in regards to the domains she's in charge of) that she probably was the predecessor to the current Shakti, as both of them have similar qualities and power. She doesn't seem to have any consort (slay), cuz she's just that OP yk.

She and Saraswati barely have anything in common except their aroace-like personality and being deities of speech. But again, Saraswati was initially mostly (if not only) a river goddess, so even that doesn't hold much water (pun unintended). I guess in a way, Vak is similar to Khaos/Chaos from Greek mythology, since she's so conceptual, abstract and shrouded in mystery in terms of appearance and all. No wonder she was compared to the Brahman, who has similar qualities.

5. Shishira

We usually think that we don't have a snow god like other mythologies. Wrong. Shishira, or the personification of winter mentioned in the Lalitopakhyana, is our snow AND winter god. Every season there is personified so we also have Grishma (summer), Varsha (monsoon), Sharada (autumn) and Hemanta (Early winter). And we already know about Vasanta.

Literal description of Shishira:

So he's just a chill guy (pun intended). Also the fact that he's called Shyāmā. Awesome.

6. Aryaman

Summer Bloom earrings by Vak