South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s1: I
South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s1
- Language
- English
I
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With each of the chief and minor gods described above are intimately connected one or more goddesses who, so far as the usual routine of worship in temples is concerned, play the subordinate part of consorts, but considered in the higher philosophical sense represent the peculiar energy or virtue of the god without which he could not be in active communion with the world. A cursory analysis of the Hindu cosmogony resolves itself into groups of gods and goddesses, the former being considered the agents or "the lords of *karma*" and the latter their inseparable power or source of energy. Thus Brahmā, the lord of creation, has the goddess Sarasvatī (the goddess of Learning or Speech) dwelling in his mouth. She presides over learning and is the *vāch*, logos, (word) which essentially is the first cause of creation; so is Srī or Lakshmī, the consort of Vishnu, the presiding goddess of Wealth and Happiness and hence, also, the energy that sustains or keeps the world going. Siva's consort Pārvatī or Umā likewise, especially in her manifestation as Kālī, is the energy that destroys, that makes the world involve or draw itself into the quiescent state from which it started or evolved. In fact a sect of worshippers called Sāktas, "the adherents of Sakti or Energy," affirm that this Sakti, the feminine element in god, is the sole, if not the preponderating, cause of all visible phenomena. It may be noted that the word *sakti* is of the feminine gender in the Sanskrit language. Almost every human or divine activity has been personified as a goddess; even the letters of the alphabet being supposed to have their presiding deities. This theory of goddesses has pervaded even Jainism and Buddhism, the latter especially in its Mahāyāna development. Strict Sakti-worshippers do not make any distinction of caste and creed. Perhaps it was thus that Sakti-faith became one of the compromises providing a common meeting ground for the different forms of religion prevailing in India.¹
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¹ *Mayūrabhanja*, Introduction, p. lxii.
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Germs of the energy-creed may indeed be traced even in the Upanishads—the early sacred books of the Hindus—though its extreme development took place at a much later period.
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Saktis may be found depicted in temples in any one of the three aspects, the calm, the terrible or the ugly, as distinguished by the particular positions in which they are placed or the circumstances under which they are worshipped. When merely represented as the consorts of the gods they are mild and pleasing in appearance and have only two hands, in one of which is held the lotus bud. More often, however, the goddesses have independent existence. The majority of these latter are Saivite in their nature, i.e., wild, fearful and destructive and are often propitiated only by bloody sacrifices.¹ Before entering upon a description of these numerous Saivite Saktis, a word may be said of each of the milder ones associated with Brahmā, Vishnu and Siva. It must be noted that the characteristic feature in the worship of Saktis, whether Saivite, Vaishnavite or otherwise, is the association with them of mystic charms, or geometrical figures called *chakras*, *yantras* or *pithas*, with conventional and often mystic incantations and solemn ceremonials which make no appeal to the gentler feelings of human nature.
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¹ A recognized classification of the Saktis under the heads Yōga, Bhōga and Vīra has been already referred to (above, p. 110, note 2). The first is defined to be the goddess who is identical with the pedestal of Siva; the second is the goddess that stands to the left of Siva or the Siva-linga as his consort and the third is the independent goddess generally installed in the third outer *prākāra* of Siva temples.
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III
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Sarasvatī or Vāgīsvarī, the consort of Brahmā, may be represented with two or more hands. In the former case she holds the book and the rosary, and in the latter the noose and the hook in addition (fig. 117).² Vāgīsvarī, who is referred to in *Mayūrabhanja* (Introduction, p. lxxvi) as a goddess worshipped both by the Buddhist and Hindu *Tāntrikas*, is described in the *Pāncharātrāgama* as having three eyes and four hands holding in these latter the staff, book, rosary and the water-pot, which as we have seen above, are the symbols of the creator Brahmā. Two other allied forms of Vāgīsvarī are Dhēnu-Vāgīsvarī and Saubhāgya-Vāgīsvarī, both of which are mild in appearance and beautiful, but as Saktis in essence, they display the Saivite attributes of three eyes, the *jatāmakuta* and the crescent. The former, who is *logos* (Sabda-Brahmā) incarnate, is identical with the illustration from Bāgali given above. Sarasvatī, when represented as the goddess Sāradā (the form in which she is worshipped at Sringēri-matha, in Mysore) presiding over the sixty-four sciences (*chatushsh-ashtikalā*), has five faces and ten arms. The worship of Sarasvatī generally held on the ninth day of the Dasara is conducted by invoking her presence in a library of books and offering fruits, flowers, sandal and incense.
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² In certain cases where she is represented with four hands, she holds the *vīnā* and the water-pot.
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FIG. 117.—Sarasvatī; Bāgali.
Cites (1)
- Pāñcarātrāgama — Sanskrit