Benzaiten

Benzaiten
Goddess of all that flows: water, music, arts, love, wisdom, wealth, fortune
Member of the Seven Lucky Gods
Benzaiten with a lute (biwa) seated on a white dragon
Other names	Benzaitennyo (弁才天女) Daibenzaiten (大弁才天) Benten (弁天) Myōonten (妙音天) Bionten (美音天) Sarasabakutei (薩羅婆縛底) Sarasabattei (薩羅薩伐底) Sarasantei (薩羅酸底)
Japanese	弁才天, 弁財天 (shinjitai) 辯才天, 辨才天, 辨財天 (kyūjitai)
Affiliation	Deva Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva (assumed traits of) Kisshōten (assumed traits of) Ichikishimahime (conflated with) Ugajin (conflated with)
Mantra	Oṃ Sarasvatyai svāhā (On Sorasobateiei sowaka)
Animals	snake, dragon
Symbols	lute (biwa), sword, cintāmaṇi
Consort	None Daikokuten (some traditions)
Equivalents
Hindu equivalent	Sarasvatī Durgā (eight-armed form) Lakṣmī (via Kisshōten)

Benzaiten (shinjitai: 弁才天 or 弁財天; kyūjitai: 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence", Benten, Chinese: 辯才天, Biancaitian), is an East Asian Buddhist goddess (technically a Dharmapala, "Dharma protector") who originated mainly from the Hindu Indian Saraswati, goddess of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mainly via Classical Chinese translations of the Golden Light Sutra (Sanskrit: Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra), which has a section devoted to her.^[1] Benzaiten was also adopted into Shinto religion, and there are several Shinto shrines dedicated to her.

While Benzaiten retains many of the Indic attributes of Saraswati (as patron of music, the arts, eloquence, knowledge), she also has many unique aspects, roles and functions which never applied to the Indian goddess. As such, Benzaiten is now also associated with dragons, snakes, local Japanese deities, wealth, fortune, protection from disease and danger, and the protection of the state.