History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.752

v6.c81.752

Why two Navarātras were recognized (in Caitra and Aśvina) is a matter of conjecture. It is possible that these two pūjās arose from the fact that spring crops and autumn crops became ready at these two times The worship of Durgā was very much influenced by Śākta doctrines and practices. Ghosh in his work on 'Durgāpūjā' (p XVI ff) tries to establish that the Vedic idea of Dawn (Uṣas) spreading over the sky was changed by the Purāṇas and Tantras into the terrific goddess Durgā I am not prepared to accept this explanation at all, as the links between the Vedic goddess Dawn and the terrible goddess of the Kālikā-purāṇa are altogether wanting and as there is a gap of many centuries between the disappearance of Uṣas from the ancient pantheon and popular worship and the emergence of Durgā. There may be some astrological connection between Durgā (Virgo) riding a lion (Leo). But this also cannot be clearly made out.