Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s3.t1.1

v2.c27.s3.t1.1

But we must close this digression; for such is the affinity between the mythology of India, Greece, and Egypt, that a bare recapitulation of the numerous surnames of the Hindu goddess of abundance would lead us beyond reasonable limits; all are forms of Parvati or Durga Mata, the Mater Montana of Greece and Rome, an epithet of Cybele or Vesta (according to Diodorus), as the guardian goddess of children, one of the characters of the Rajput ‘Mother of the Mount,’ whose shrine crowns many a pinnacle in Mewar; and who, with the prolific Gauri, is amongst the amiable forms of the universal mother, whose functions are more varied and extensive than her sisters of Egypt and of Greece. Like the Ephesian Diana, Durga wears the crescent on her head. She is also ‘the turreted Cybele,’ the guardian goddess of all places of strength (durga),³ and like her she is drawn or carried by the lion. As Mata Janavi, ‘the Mother of Births,’ she is Juno Lucina : as Padma, ‘ whose throne is the lotos,’ she is the fair Isis of the Nile : as Tripura,¹ ‘ governing the three worlds,’ and Atmadevi, ‘ the Goddess of Souls,’ she is the Hecate Triformis of the Greeks. In short, her power is manifested under every form from the birth, and all the [577] intermediate stages until death ; whether Janavi, Gauri, or the terrific Kali, the Proserpine or Kalligeneia of the West.