The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c20.s5.12

v1.c20.s5.12

Most of these abstractions are clearly rather thin and feeble, and some at least seem more poetic than living realities. This is not, however, the case with the goddess Nirṛti, dissolution, or misfortune, who is found in the Rigveda¹¹ as a personification presiding over death. In the ritual the reality of Nirṛti appears in the many rites, which are mentioned in connexion with her, and which display certain marked peculiarities. The Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā¹ connects with her specifically dice, women, and sleep as the three most evil things. Her ceremonies are performed with black grain or with nail parings. The sacrificial fee in such cases is a black cow with imperfect horns. In the piling of the fire altar, black bricks are built in for her. In the consecration of the king the wife of the king who has failed to give him a child is brought into connexion with Nirṛti, and the oblations to that deity are offered in her house.² Other points in the ritual affecting her will be noted later on.