A few days back, a friend of mine from the US, asked a query: One of the names of Goddess Saraswathi mentioned in the ”ashtothara naamaavali” is SHIVAANUJA, meaning the sister of Shiva. He was curious to know the origin of this relationship. I confessed my ignorance on this subject but went off on a tangent that might have irked him. I said: I’m not aware Saraswathi is Shiva’s sister. Obviously, all our gods are interrelated. Parvati is Vishnu’s sister, Brahma is born out of Vishnu’s navel, etc. It’s all in the family!
I went on to add: This is what our theologies have done. We create a God or gods, and then say the gods created us! Having created gods, we further create a hierarchy, which keeps changing. For instance, during the early Vedic period (Rigveda), Indra was the chief of gods, and Vishnu and Shiva were his lieutenants. Things changed dramatically during Puranic times. The CEO position was taken over by Vishnu. Indra was not only dethroned, he was depicted as a greedy and jealous villain in several stories. There was a new pecking order in which the trinity ruled. Of course, matters didn’t rest there since the tussle for Number One slot continues to the present day between the supporters of Vishnu and Shiva. I will not be surprised if Murugan or Ganesha takes over as CEO in the future depending upon who gets the popular vote!
Evidently, theology has completely distorted truth and brought about divisions and subdivisions among humanity. The original statements on reality made by Upanishads say truth is nameless, formless, and immeasurable and this message is lost completely in the din of theological chaos and the resulting violence. Names and forms have become important in describing the formless. Such are the times we live in.
By the way, for the sake of my academic curiosity, can someone clarify how goddess Saraswathi is the sister of Shiva. Who are the parents of the two? My friend’s second question relates to the Sanskrit word Vidruma which is supposed to be one of the five faces of Gayatri. Any idea what it means?
Csnarasimhan's Weblog 
All Gods & Godesses are man’s mind creation. People worship form of the God rather than essence behind it & they should know that the form itself is either paper/stone/metal. Currently there are none/very few capable enough to do pranpratishtha/Divine vibration/Divinity in the form of God.