Devī (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva. Devi and Deva mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are gender-specific terms for deity in Indian religions.
Reverence for the divine feminine in Hinduism appears in the Vedas, composed around the 2nd millennium BCE. Though the goddesses did not play a vital role in that era, goddesses such as Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Parvati, Radha, Saraswati, Sita and Rukmini have continued to be revered into the modern era. The medieval era Puranas witnessed a major expansion in mythology and literature associated with Devi, with texts such as the Devi Mahatmya, wherein the goddess is revered as the ultimate truth and supreme power. The goddess centric tradition within Hinduism, namely Shaktism, is centred around Devi. Further, Devi is considered a central figure in the Hindu tradition of Shaivism.Flood, Gavin, ed. (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., , pp. 200–203. In Indian religions, the concept of Shakti explores the idea of divine feminine, and women are regarded as manifestations of Devi, as seen in the Kumari worship.
Etymology
Devi and deva are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature around the 3rd millennium BCE. Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is devi. Monier-Williams translates it as 'heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones'.Klostermaier, Klaus (2010). A Survey of Hinduism, 3rd Edition. State University of New York Press, , pages 101–102 Etymologically, a cognate of devi is Latin dea.Hawley, John Stratton and Donna Marie Wulff (1998). Devi: Goddesses of India, Motilal Banarsidass. , page 2 When capitalised, Devi maata refers to the mother goddess in Hinduism.John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff (1998), Devi: Goddesses of India, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 18–21 Deva is short for devatā and devi for devika.
According to Douglas Harper, the etymological root dev- means "a shining one", from *div-, "to shine", it is an Indo-European cognate of the Greek dios, Gothic divine and Latin deus (Old Latin deivos); see also *Dyēus.Deva Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper (2015)
A synonym for the word Devi in the Vedas is Bhagavati. Bhagavatī (Devanagari: भगवती, IAST: Bhagavatī), is an Indian epithet of Sanskrit origin, used as an honorific title for goddesses in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, it is primarily used to address the goddesses Lakshmi and Durga. In Buddhism, it is used to refer to several Mahayana Buddhist female deities, like Cundā.Gimello, Robert (2004). ″Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti and the Role of Images in the Occult Buddhism of China." In Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts ed. Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara: pp. 71-85.
History
The worship of Devi-like deities dates back to period of Indus Valley civilisation.
The Devīsūkta of the Rigveda (10.125.1 to 10.125.8) is among the most studied hymns declaring that the ultimate reality is a goddess:
The Vedas name numerous cosmic goddesses such as Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction), Ratri (night) and Aranyani (forest); bounty goddesses such as Dinsana, Raka, Puramdhi, Parendi, Bharati and Mahi are among others are mentioned in the Rigveda. However, the goddesses are not discussed as frequently as gods (devas). Devi appears in late Vedic texts dated to be pre-Buddhist, but verses dedicated to her do not suggest that her characteristics were fully developed in the Vedic era. All gods and goddesses are distinguished in Vedic times, but in post-Vedic texts, particularly in the early medieval era literature, they are ultimately seen as aspects or manifestations of one Devi, the Supreme Power.Fuller, Christopher John (2004). The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton University Press, , page 41
Devi is the supreme being in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism; in the Smarta tradition, she is one of the five primary forms of Brahman that is revered. In other Hindu traditions, Devi embodies the active energy and power of Deva, and they always appear together complementing each other. Examples of this are Parvati with Shiva in Shaivism, Saraswati with Brahma in Brahmanism and Lakshmi with Vishnu, Sita with Rama and Radha with Krishna in Vaishnavism.Stella Kramrisch (1975), The Indian Great Goddess, History of Religions, Vol. 14, No. 4, page 261Ananda Coomaraswamy, Saiva Sculptures, Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 118, page 17
Devi-inspired philosophy is propounded in many Hindu texts such as the Devi Upanishad, which teaches that Shakti is essentially Brahman (ultimate metaphysical Reality) and that from her arises prakṛti (matter) and purusha (consciousness) and that she is bliss and non-bliss, the Vedas and what is different from it, the born and the unborn and all of the universe. Shakti is Parvati, Shiva's wife. She is also mentioned as the creative power of Shiva in Tripura Upanishad, Bahvricha Upanishad and Guhyakali Upanishad.
Devi identifies herself in the Devi Upanishad as Brahman in her reply to the gods stating that she rules the world, blesses devotees with riches, that she is the supreme deity to whom all worship is to be offered and that she infuses Ātman in every soul. Devi asserts that she is the creator of earth and heaven and resides there. Her creation of the sky as father and the seas as the mother is reflected as the 'Inner Supreme Self'. Her creations are not prompted by any higher being and she resides in all her creations. She is, states Devi, the eternal and infinite consciousness engulfing earth and heaven, and 'all forms of bliss and non-bliss, knowledge and ignorance, Brahman and Non-Brahman'. The tantric aspect in Devi Upanishad, says June McDaniel, is the usage of the terms yantra, bindu, bija, mantra, shakti and chakra.
Among the major world religions, the concept of Goddess in Hinduism as the divine feminine has had the strongest presence since ancient times.
Hindu goddesses
Parvati
Parvati is the Hindu goddess of love, beauty, purity and devotion.Dehejia, H.V. Parvati: Goddess of Love. Mapin, .James Hendershot, Penance, Trafford, , pp 78.Chandra, Suresh (1998). Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. , pp 245–246 She is the mother goddess in Hinduism and has many attributes and aspects. Each of her aspects is expressed with a different name, giving her over 1008 names in regional Hindu mythologies of India, including the popular names such as Gauri.Keller and Ruether (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Indiana University Press, , pp 663 Along with Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and learning), she forms the trinity of Hindu goddesses.Schuon, Frithjof (2003). Roots of the Human Condition. , pp 32
Parvati is married to Shiva – the destroyer, recycler, and regenerator of the universe and all life.Balfour, Edward The Encyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia. , pp 153. She is the mother of Hindu gods Ganesha and Kartikeya.Haag, James W. et al. (2013). The Routledge Companion to Religion and Science, Routledge, , pp 491–496 Her parents are Himavan and Maināvati. According to Puranas she performed strict tapasya and achieved the position of consort of Shiva.
Rita Gross states,Gross, Rita M. (1978). Hindu Female Deities as a Resource for the Contemporary Rediscovery of the Goddess. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 46(3): 269–291. the view of Parvati only as an ideal wife and mother is an incomplete symbolism of the power of the feminine in the mythology of India. Parvati, along with other goddesses, are involved with a broad range of culturally valued goals and activities. Her connection with motherhood and female sexuality does not confine the feminine or exhaust their significance and activities in Hindu literature. She manifests in every activity, from water to mountains, from arts to inspiring warriors, from agriculture to dance. Parvati's numerous aspects, states Gross, reflect the Hindu belief that the feminine has a universal range of activities, and her gender is not a limiting condition.
In Hindu belief, Parvati is the recreative energy and power of Shiva, and she is the cause of a bond that connects all beings and a means of their spiritual release.Ananda Coomaraswamy, Saiva Sculptures, Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 118 (Apr., 1922), pp 17Stella Kramrisch (1975), The Indian Great Goddess, History of Religions, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 261
Devi is portrayed as the ideal wife, mother, and householder in Indian legends.Wojciech Maria Zalewski (2012), The Crucible of Religion: Culture, Civilization, and Affirmation of Life, , pp 136 In Indian art, this vision of ideal couple is derived from Shiva and Parvati as being half of the other, represented as Ardhanarishvara.Betty Seid (2004), The Lord Who Is Half Woman (Ardhanarishvara), Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1, Notable Acquisitions at The Art Institute of Chicago, pp. 48–49MB Wangu (2003), Images of Indian Goddesses: Myths, Meanings, and Models, , Chapter 4 and pp 86–89.A Pande (2004), Ardhanarishvara, the Androgyne: Probing the Gender Within, , pp 20–27 Parvati is found extensively in ancient Indian literature, and her statues and iconography grace ancient and medieval era Hindu temples all over South Asia and Southeast Asia.Hariani Santiko, The Goddess Durgā in the East-Javanese Period, Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2 (1997), pp. 209–226Ananda Coomaraswamy, Saiva Sculptures, Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 118 (Apr., 1922), pp. 15–24
Lakshmi
Lakshmi, also called Sri, is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity (both material and spiritual). She is the consort and active energy of Vishnu.A Parasarthy (1983), Symbolism in Hinduism, CMP, , pages 57–59 Her four hands represent the four goals of human life considered important to the Hindu way of life – dharma, kama, artha, and moksha.Rhodes, Constantina (2011). Invoking Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony. State University of New York Press, , pp. 29–47, 220–252.Divali - THE SYMBOLISM OF LAKSHMI National Library and Information System Authority, Trinidad and Tobago (2009) She is the mother goddess in Hinduism. She is also part of Tridevi which consists of Lakshmi, Parvati (goddess of power, love, beauty), and Saraswati (goddess of music, wisdom, and learning).
In the ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi. The marriage and relationship between Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband, states Patricia Monaghan, is "the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings."Monaghan, Patricia. (ed.) (2010). Goddesses in World Culture, Volume 1. Praeger, , pp. 5–11.