History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.133

v2.c23.133

*Mātṛkāpūjana* :—The Mātṛs (the Mother Goddesses) do not figure in the sūtras. But that their worship was prevalent certainly in the first centuries of the Christian era throughout India can be proved from several sources. In the drama Mṛcchakaṭika (I) Cārudatta asks his friend Maitreya to offer *bali* to the *Mātṛs*. The Gobhila-smṛti⁵⁰⁴ (in verse I. 11–12) names 14 mātṛs viz. Gaurī, Padmā, Śacī, Medhā, Sāvitrī, Vijayā, Jayā, Devasenā, Svadhā, Svāhā, Dhṛti, Puṣṭi, Tuṣṭi and one’s own deity (abhīṣṭa-devatā). In the Mārkaṇḍeya (chap. 88. 11–20 and 38) seven mātṛs have been named as Mātṛgaṇa. The Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 179. 9–32) names over a hundred mother goddesses (like Māheśvarī, Brāhmī, Kaumārī, Cāmuṇḍā), while in chap. 261 (24–36), there is a description of the images of some of the mātṛs like Brahmāṇī &c. The Bṛhat-Saṁhitā of Varāhamihira (chap. 58. 56) refers to the images of the mother goddesses. Bāṇa in his Kādambarī frequently refers to the mātṛs, to their worship and to dilapidated temples of these goddesses.⁵⁰⁵ The Kṛtyaratnākara quotes a passage from the Bhaviṣyapurāṇa at p. 261 about the images of the seven mātṛs and pp. 305 and 307 quote the Devīpurāṇa about the worship of mātṛs and the flowers dear to them. The worship of mātṛs is mentioned in the Bihar Stone Pillar Inscription of Skandagupta (Gupta Inscriptions pp. 47, 49). The Cālukyas are often described as ‘cherished by the seven mātṛs’ (I. A. vol. VI. p. 73 in 535 *śake* and E. I. vol. IX. p. 100 in 660 A. D.). The Kadambas are described as meditating on Kārtikeya-svāmī and on the group of mātṛs (I. A. vol. VI. p. 25).⁵⁰⁶ Similarly a temple to the Mātṛs is said to have been erected by Mayūrākṣa, the minister of Viśvavarman in 480 of the Mālava Era i. e. 423-24 A. D. ( Gupta Inscriptions p. 74 ).