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Hindu goddess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Goddesses are an integral part of Hinduism, and the worship of goddesses is a significant aspect of Hindu religion. The number of goddesses in the ancient and the contemporary Hinduism is overwhelming, and each one of the goddess has her own mythology and history, appearance and roles, characters and attributes. Some scholars believe that all goddesses of the Hindu pantheon are different manifestations of the single super-goddess (Devi), and there are Hindu texts, myths and traditions that affirm this theory. Others believe they represent feminine aspects of a greater, unitary divine entity.
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The Indus Valley Civilization, with its neighboring cultures of Zhob and Kulli regions in Balochistan, have yielded data on prehistoric religious practices on the Indian subcontinent dating back to 3000 BC. Some scholars suggest that the Indus Valley culture has a cult of the Great Mother or the Divine Mother, similar to such cults in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean; and some have even hazarded a guess that this may be the earliest form of Shaktism.
The Vedic literature describes a number of significant goddesses including Ushas, Prithivi, Aditi, Saraswati, Vac, Nirrti, Ratri; and a number of minor ones, including Puramdhi, Parendi, Raka, Dhisana, – hardly mentioned about a dozen times in the Rig Veda, and they all are associated with bounties and riches. Few others like Ila, Bharati, Mahi, Hotra are invoked and summoned through hymns to take their share during certain rituals.
Other Hindu goddesses include Lakshmi(also called Mahalakshmi), Parvati,Radha, Durga, Kali (also known as Mahakali), Mahadevi, Matrakas, Tara, Chhinnamasta, Mahavidyas,*SaptaShrungi,Renuka,Bhavani,Shree Mahalasa, Andal(also known as Kothai) and several other goddesses associated with rivers and places.
According to the Vedas, Shakti is claimed to be Maya or illusion that casts a veil over Brahman, the Ultimate reality. Shakti and Brahman are inseparable entities that lie in a single body which reaffirms the claim that Shakti and Shiva coexist.
Sri, commonly known as Lakshmi and also called Sri Lakshmi, is one of the most popular and widely worshiped Goddess in Hindu tradition since pre-Buddhist period. She has a considerable body of mythology and history. The earliest legend states that Sri is born as a result of austerities of Prajapati, and she represents ten qualities and objects, namely, food, royal power, universal sovereignty, noble rank, power, holy luster, kingdom, fortune, bounteousness, and beauty.
The earliest Vedic literature does not have any goddess named Sri Lakshmi or Lakshmi, but Sri appears in several Vedic hymns, and Sri is indicative of several positive attributes including beauty, glory, power, capability, and higher rank. In later Vedic literature, Sri signified the ruling power and the majesty of kings. Sri-Sukta, a hymn appended to the Rig Veda, is a famous Vedic chant, extolling Sri, and presents a detailed account of her, both conceptually and visually. The hymn also associates her with lotus and elephant – an association, which has not changed in subsequent history.
By the late epic period (400 AD), Lakshmi became associated with Vishnu, and emerged as his wife or consort, and acquired - in addition to her earlier attributes - characteristics of a model wife.
Parvati, that is the daughter of the mountains (the Himalayas), is wife of Shiva, and is generally considered a benign goddess. She has been identified as a reincarnation of Dakshayani, Shiva’s first wife, who destroyed her by self-immolation because her father, Daksha, insulted Shiva. Parvati when depicted alongside Shiva appears with two arms, but when alone, she is shown having four arms, and astride a tiger or lion. She is also known by a number of other names, including Ambika (mother), Gauri (golden), Shyama (dark complexioned), Bhairavi (awesome) and Kali (black-colored)
In classical Hindu mythology, the raison d’être of Parvati, and before that of Sati, is to lure Shiva into marriage and thus into a wider circle of worldly affairs. With the plays of Kalidas (5th-6th centuries) and the Puranas (4th through the 13th centuries) the myths of Sati, Parvati and Shiva acquired comprehensive details.
Mahalasa Devi is a female form of Vishnu. During the churning of the Ocean, Vishnu took the form of a woman to distract the Asuras from the pitcher of nectar. It is said that Mahalasa is another form of Durga and a sister of Kali. The temples for the Goddess are largely located in Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and in Nepal. In all these places, she is flanked by Santeri (Durga) on the right and the five Ganas, the five male attendants of the Goddess.
The Goddess has a very large following among the Saraswat Brahmins in Goa, Karnatake this Goddess as their family Goddess.
She wears a Yadnopavitra (the holy thread) that only Brahmin males and male Gods usually wear.
Saraswati, the flowing one, is one of the most celebrated goddesses from the Vedic period through current times. She has been repeatedly mentioned in the Rig Veda, and has been identified with the Saraswati River. Over a period of time, in later Hinduism, her connection with a river decreased considerably, and she is no longer a goddess who embodies sacrality of a river, but has acquired her independent history and attributes.
She is the goddess of speech and learning, and is the creator of Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas. She is equally revered by Hindus, Jains and the Buddhists. Her iconography depicts her association with art. science and culture, which is dramatically different from some other major goddesses who are identified with fertility, wealth, and battles. She is shown as having four arms, and the most common items held by her in her hands are a book, a vina (lute), a rosary, and a water pot. The book signified art, science and learning; the vina associates her with music and performing arts; and the prayer beads and water pot signify her association with religious rites.
Sita is one of the most popular divinities of Hinduism. Currently, Sita is associated with Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) as his wife, and she receives worship along with her husband Rama. She is one of the many incarnations of Lakshmi.
A female divinity called Sita was known before the Ramayana of Valmiki. Sita literally means “furrow”, that is, the line made while plowing the land, and in Vedic period, she was one of the goddesses associated with fertility. A Vedic hymn recites:
Auspicious Sita, come thou near;
We venerate and worship thee
That thou mayst bless and prosper us
And bring us fruits abundantly.
The Kausik-sutra and the Paraskara-sutra associates her repeatedly as the wife of Parjanya (a god associated with rains) and Indra.
She emerged as a significant divinity with Valmiki’s Ramayana, written sometime between 200 BC and 200 AD, and various vernacular renditions of the same, with slightly modified contents, over next several centuries. These texts extols Rama and Sita as the divine couple, and countless mythology, legend, and folklores revolve around them. Sita is always represented in association with Rama, her husband, and Rama is central to her life and existence. She has the dominant role of all Hindu mythological tradition as far as the portrayal of ideal woman and ideal wife is concerned. She represents wifely devotion, forbearance and chastity. She overshadows several other divine Hindu wives including Parvati and Lakshmi, and other similar devoted wives of Hindu mythology like Savitri and Damayanti.
Her current history states that she emerged from the earth when king Janaka was plowing the field during a ritual to invoke rains. She was married to Rama, was abducted by Ravana, reclaimed by Rama, and then banished out of his kingdom. In the forests, in an ashram of Valmiki, she raised her two sons, Kusha and Lava, who engaged the royal forces of Rama and inflicted heavy damage. Rama himself comes to fight with the, when Valmiki told him that they were his own sons. Rama requests Sita to come back, but remembering the injustices meted out to her, she called her mother Earth to receive her back, the ground opens up and she returned to where she had originally emerged.
Radha, which means prosperity and success, is one of the Gopis of Vrindavan, and is a central figure of Vaishnava theology. Early literature speaks of a favourite Gopi of Krishna, but her details emerge clearly centuries later. Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda (12th century) presents a full depiction of Radha and her association with Krishna. She is also regarded as an incarnation of Lakshmi, particularly by followers of Chaitanya (16th century).
Traditionally, Radha’s love for Krishna is likened to human soul’s yearning for God, and she is regarded as an ultimate model for devotees. Her role is also to be an intermediary between man and God.
In Hindu pantheon, Durga is one of the most popular goddesses, and her creation takes place in the context of a cosmic crisis. The asuras were on the ascent, and they had become a threat to cosmic stability. The male gods were unable to contain and subdue them. A number of male gods having failed to subdue the demons led by Mahishasura, assemble into a conclave and emitted their energies upon Uma/Parvati, the wife of Shiva, who became the warrior goddess, Durga, that is, the invincible.
Vedic literature does not have any particular goddess matching the concept of Durga though it has references to certain goddesses as slayers of demons. Taitriya-aranyaka mentions Durga, but not in a manner comparable to Durga of later Hinduism. Around 4th century AD, images of Durga slaying Mahishasura begin to become common in many palaces in the Indian subcontinent.
At certain point of her history, Durga became associated with Shiva as his wife, and she acquired homely characters in this role. This is often characterized in her iconography in which she is shown flanked by four deities identified as her children: Karttikeya, Ganesh, Saraswati, and Lakshmi.
The theology underlying Durga’s emergence and exploits are revealed in Devi Mahatmyam, the most famous text extolling her exploits, and is described: "Though she is eternal, the goddess becomes manifest over and over again to protect the world". This makes her on par with various avatars of Vishnu.
One of the most famous festivals associate with her is Durga Puja cleberated in the month of Ashvin (September-October), and is also called Navaratri festival.
Kali is one of the most significant divinities, and many texts and contexts treat Kali as an independent deity, not directly associated with a male god. In case she is associated with a male god, it is invariably Shiva. In this aspect, she represents the omnipotent Shakti of Shiva. She holds both the creative and destructive power of time.
The earliest reference to Kali in Hindu tradition date back to the 6th Century, and locate her in the battle fields fighting asurs. Her temples are recommended to be built away from human habitations. Vana Bhatta's 7th century drama Kadambari features a goddess named Chandi, an epithet of both Kali and Durga.
Kali’s most famous appearance in battle contexts are found in the Devi Mahatmya when during the battle with asuras, Durga becomes angry. Her face turns pitch dark, and suddenly Kali springs forth from Durga’s forehead. She is black, wears a garland of human heads, is clothed in a tiger skin, and wields a staff topped by a human skull. She destroys the asuras. Later, Durga seeks her assistance once more to annihilate Raktabija. Kali’s mythology recounts several such appearances, mostly in terrible aspects.
Many texts, myths and rituals concerning goddess subsume them all under one great female being, named generally as Mahadevi or simply as Devi. Earliest Hindu tradition as reflected in the Vedas speak of discrete goddesses like Lakshmi and Parvati. Later, there emerged a tendency to relate all goddesses to one ultimate goddess, the best example of such texts being the Devi Mahatamaya. Another important feature of Mahadevi mythology and theology is the insistence that assumes both benign and terrible aspects of Mahadevi.
Mahavidyas, that is, the supreme knowledge, revelations and manifestations, refer to a group of ten goddesses. They constitute an important aspect of Mahadevi theology, which emphasizes that the Devi has a tendency to manifest and display herself in a variety of forms and aspects. Mahavidyas find no mention in the earliest Hindu texts, but appeared relatively late in Hindu tradition. According to some scholars, [attribution needed] they are actually ten Tantric goddesses and parts of Kali, personifying her different facets. Seven of them represent creative forces embodies in Kali, and the remaining three embody her destructive nature and aspects. In the context of Hindu mythology, the origin of the ten Mahavidyas takes place in the story of Sati and Shiva.
Ten Mahavidyas are: Kali herself, Tara, Chinnamasta, Bhuvanesvari, Bagla, Dhumavati, Kamla, Matangi, Sodasi, and Bhairavi.
Matrikas, that is, the mothers, are a band of divinities, which always appear in a group.
- Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley
- The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition (ISBN 0-7914-2112-0) by Tracy Pintchman
| Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Indian epic poetry |  |
|---|---|
| Female Deities: Saraswati | Mariamman | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Gayatri | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more... | |
| Male Deities: Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Murugan | Hanuman | Ayyanar | Indra | Surya | more... | |
| Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata | Rigveda | |