Vedic Mythology c5.s5.t1.1

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Goddesses occupy a very subordinate position in Vedic belief and worship. They play hardly any part as rulers of the world. The only one of any importance is Uṣas, who judged by the statistical standard ranks as a deity of the third class (p. 20). But, unlike nearly all the gods, she received no share in the Soma offering¹. Next to her comes Sarasvatī (§ 33), who, however, only ranks with the lowest class of deities. A few other goddesses are praised in one hymn each. Pṛthivī, hardly separable from Dyaus, is praised in one short hymn of three stanzas (§ 34). Rātrī, Night, is also invoked in one hymn (10, 127). Like her sister Dawn, she is called the daughter of Heaven. She is not conceived as the dark, but as the bright starlit night. She shines manifoldly with her eyes. Decked with all splendour, she fills the valleys and heights, driving away the darkness with light. At her approach men return home like birds to their nests. She is invoked to keep away the wolf and the thief, guiding her worshippers to safety. Night probably became a goddess by way of antithesis to Dawn, with whom she is invoked in several verses as a dual divinity² (pp. 48. 129). Vāc, personified Speech, is celebrated in one hymn (10, 125 cp. 71), in which she describes herself. She accompanies all the gods and supports Mitra-Varuṇa, Indra-Agni, and the Aśvins. She bends Rudra's bow against the unbeliever. Her place is in the waters, the sea. She encompasses all beings. In another passage (8, 89[^10.

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11]) she is called queen of the gods and divine³. In the Naighaṇṭuka (5, 5) Vāc is enumerated among the deities of the atmosphere; and thunder, or *mādhyamikā vāc*, 'the voice of the middle region', in the terminology of the commentators (Nir. 11, 27), may have been the starting point of the personification. A legend about Vāc frequently referred to in the Brāhmaṇas is that of Soma being bought back from the Gandharvas at the price of Vāc transformed into a woman (AB. 1, 27). Puraṃdhi, whose name occurs about nine times in the RV., is goddess of Plenty⁴. She is nearly always mentioned with Bhaga⁵, two or three times also with Pūṣan and Savitṛ, and once with Viṣṇu and Agni. Pārendi, commonly regarded as identical with Puraṃdhi, is generally considered a goddess of riches and abundance (cp. Yaṣt 8, 38) in the Avesta⁶. Hillebrandt, however, thinks Puraṃdhi is a goddess of Activity⁷. Another goddess of abundance is Dhiṣaṇā, mentioned nearly a dozen times in the RV.⁸. Iḷā, Nourishment, is the personification (mentioned less than a dozen times in the RV.) of the offering of milk and butter, thus representing plenty derived from the cow. Hence Iḍā is in the Brāhmaṇas frequently connected with, though never an actual name of, the cow; and in the Naighaṇṭuka (2, 11) it occurs as one of the synonyms of cow. Owing to the nature of the offering Iḷā is called butter-handed (7, 16⁸) and butter-footed (10, 70⁸).

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As a personification she generally appears in the Āprī hymns, in which she usually forms a triad with Sarasvatī and Mahī or Bhāratī⁹. It is doubtful whether the literal or the personified sense is intended by the phrase *iḷāyās pade*, 'in the place of nourishment' (i. e. of the sacrificial fire). Agni is once called the son of Iḷā, clearly in allusion to the place of his production (3, 29[^9. 10]). Purūravas is also said to be her son (10, 95¹⁸). She is once called the mother of the herd (*yūtha*) and connected with Urvaśī (5, 41¹⁹). She is once mentioned with Dadhikrāvan and the Aśvins in reference to the morning sacrifice (7, 44²). In the ŚB. she is called the daughter of Manu (1, 8, 1⁸; 11, 5, 3⁵) as well as of Mitra-Varuṇa (1, 8, 1²⁷; 14, 9, 4²⁷; ĀŚS. 1, 7⁷). The name of the goddess Bṛhaddivā occurs four times in hymns to the Viśvedevas. She is called a mother (10, 64¹⁰) and is mentioned with Iḷā (2, 31⁴; 5, 41¹⁹), Sarasvatī and Rākā (5, 42¹²). Rākā (probably from *√rā*, to give) is mentioned only twice in the RV. as a rich and bountiful goddess, who is invoked with others (2, 32⁷; 5, 42¹²). Sinīvālī is referred to in two hymns of the RV. (2, 32; 10, 184). She is a sister of the gods, broad-hipped, fair-armed, fair-fingered, prolific, a mistress of the family, and is implored to grant offspring. She is invoked with Sarasvatī, Rākā, as well as Guṅgū (who is only mentioned here). In the AV. (8, 46³) Sinīvālī is called the wife of Viṣṇu.

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The later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas also mention a goddess Kuhū, a personification of the new moon¹⁰. Rākā and Sinīvālī are in later Vedic texts connected with phases of the moon, the former being the presiding deity of the actual day of full moon, and the latter, of the first day of new moon. There is nothing to show that any such connexion is to be found in the RV¹¹.