sisters in hindu mythology

Only God can help him, that's what Wibisana thought. This scene from the Ramayana depicts Sita undergoing the ordeal by fire to test her chastity (Credit: British Museum), Take, for instance, the Panchakanya or Five Virgins five iconic heroines from mythology who are enshrined in a Sanskrit verse that reads: Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, Mandodari tatha / Panchakanya smaren nityam, mahapatak naashaka. Roughly translated, it reads: Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara and Mandodari / Invoking daily the virgins five / Destroys the greatest sins.. One day, a man questions Sita's purity and in order to prove her innocence and maintain his own and the kingdom's dignity, Rama sends Sita into the forest near the sage Valmiki's ashram. They are capable of stopping Lord Sun in his tracks. [25] Sita had caught a pair of divine parrots, which were from Valmiki's ashram, when she was young. He was deified in the 5th century and since then has also been worshiped as the supreme god himself. In addition to Vashishtha's rebirth, Agastya is also born from the pitcher. [1], In the Puranic literature, Yamuna is described as the daughter of the sun god Surya (though some say that she was the daughter of Brahma) and his wife Saranyu (Sanjna in later literature), the goddess of the clouds, and the twin sister of Yama, the god of death. The concept is known in varied forms across South India. The eighth child born to Devaki and Vasudeva was Krishna. Words, our primary agent of expression, Christine C Keating points out in her essay, Unearthing the Goddess Within: signify a discourse that has been established by a patriarchic myth. We were given these characters, with their beauty and flaws, by men. The sisters are companions of Artemis and daughters of the titan, Atlas, and the sea-nymph, Pleione. "Soleil et Lune: les jumeaux mythiques et le caractre tricheur". "Yami" and "Kalindi" redirect here. Since Sanjna had tried to keep the eyes open, Yamuna was blessed that she would worshipped as a goddess and remembered throughout time. Kamsa is generally described as the son of the Yadava ruler, Ugrasena. The field of Hindu mythology, and indeed Indian publishing itself, is male-dominated. Rama was extremely distraught on hearing the news, but finally told Lakshmana that as a king, he had to make his citizens pleased and the purity of the queen of Ayodhya has to be above any gossip and rumour. Ravana was furious. [11]:33, Before the seventh child was born, Vishnu ordered the goddess Yogamaya to transfer the seventh child of Devaki into the womb of Rohini. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Alakshmi. [8] Yama and Yami are a divine pair of creator deities. [21], The Mahabharata mentions Yamuna being one of the seven tributaries of the Ganges. [11]:52, Krishna, Balarama,Kamsa as depicted in Yakshagana, "Putana, Ptan, Ptana, Puana: 25 definitions", "Kamsa had eight brothers, headed by Kanka, all of them younger than he, and when they learned that their elder brother had been killed, they combined and rushed toward Krsna in great anger to kill Him - Vaniquotes". [4] Her confluence with the Ganges and the mythical Sarasvati River is called Triveni Sangam, which is a very holy pilgrimage spot. The first time is in the town of Chitrakuta where she narrates an ancient story to Rama, whereby Rama promises to Sita that he will never kill anybody without provocation. Why was Krsnas Uncle Kamsa a Demon? Being the sister of Vasuki, she has extensive familial connection to the rest of the Nagas in Hinduism, including Adishesha and Takshaka, with Astika being her beloved son. [14] Yamuna wanted to touch the feet of the baby which she did at deeper depths of the river and as a result the river became very calm. Following this, Ugrasena was reinstated as the King of Mathura. The eldest Pandava Yudhishthira requests Krishna to stay with them for a couple of days. Poleramma is the known Goddess that is found in almost every village. She gives birth to Rishyashringa, and he is raised by his father. Urvashi - Wikipedia Ever thinking of Sati, Shiva jumped into Yamuna to overcome the sorrow and memories of Sati, turning her waters into black by his sorrow and unfulfilled desire. Emma- | Buddhist mythology | Britannica Amish Tripathi is known for his modern retellings of Hindu myths, many of which are bestsellers, but his . So Vashishtha is told to enter the body of Mitra-Varuna. "Ahura Mazda (Ohrmazd) and Ahriman." Meanwhile, the baby girl who was dumped by Wibisana was carried by the river to the territory of the Mantili Kingdom. Just as my sister and I huddled together as children while our mother read to us each night, so too did our forebears. Syahdan a hermit named Prabu Janaka from the land of Mantili, begged the gods to be blessed with offspring. Next morning, in the middle of the hall, Rama lifts up the bow of Shiva with his left hand, fastens the string taut and breaks the bow in the process. Thus Sita was forced into exile a second time. After Ugrasena failed to show up for public events, Kamsa announced his coronation. These shifts all stem from retelling age-old tales through a feminist lens. Greek mythology talks about seven sisters namely Pleiades who are also a cluster of stars just like the Saptarishis. Yamuna in Hinduism - Wikipedia [12] In the hermitage, Sita raised her sons alone, as a single mother. Following their birth, Urvashi suggests Pururavas to perform penance to transform himself into a Gandharva and ascend to heaven. Yami is thus further described as an association with the earth, relating her to the goddess of graveyards and sorrow, Nirriti, another partner of Yama in the Vedas. He judges the souls of men, while his sister judges the souls of women. He and Krishna went to the Yamuna and bathed and drank the clear water. She soon becomes pregnant with a son, whom she also curses be killed by a member of his family. Meanwhile, Urvashi's presence is missed in heaven. . The most popular of these, at least in English, is Chitra Banerjee Divakarunis The Palace of Illusions. She is summoned from her bath by Duryodhana, a winning Kaurava. One day, Krishna and the middle Pandava Arjuna go for hunting in the forest. Seven Sisters - IndiaNetzone.com After his death from the king Nimi's curse, he takes rebirth through Urvashi and Mitra-Varuna. Wibisana (Ravana's sister) who is holy and full of humanity, immediately took the baby and put it in Sinta's diamond, then anchored it into the river. Due to this, Jayanta is cursed to be born as bamboo, and Urvashi is cursed to take birth on Earth as a woman named Madhavi. Urvashi would return once every year to him and bore six sonsAyus, Shrutayus, Satyayus, Raya, Vijaya, and Jaya. The occasion of her marriage to Rama is celebrated as Vivaha Panchami. He is variously described in Hindu literature as either a human or an asura; The Puranas describe him as an asura, [2][3] while the Harivama describes him as an asura reborn in the body of a man. Later on Vivaha Panchami, a marriage ceremony is conducted under the guidance of Satananda. 2, Nepal,[19][20] is also described as Sita's birthplace. Arjuna conveys Kalindi's message to Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, who readily agreed to marry the beautiful damsel. With Jarasandha's support, Kamsa became even more powerful. They are identified as seven sisters. A female deity of agricultural fertility by the name Sita was known before Valmiki's Ramayana, but was overshadowed by better-known goddesses associated with fertility. The only difference here is that stories from Hindu mythology born thousands of years ago including religious epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata remain largely unchanged compared to the ones told in India today. A cluster of goddesses - Devdutt [4], In Krishna's birth-story, Krishna's father Vasudeva was carrying the new-born Krishna to safety was crossing the Yamuna river. Read about our approach to external linking. A pacified Balarama ordered the river to flood the forest so he could bathe and play in her waters, and the river complied. [1] Twins in mythology also often share deep bonds. They were seven sisters married to seven brothers. [1] Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. Why is this important? The Sita of the Ramayana may have been named after a more ancient Vedic goddess Sita, who is mentioned once in the Rigveda as an earth goddess who blesses the land with good crops. Shiva, married to Kali, is both his brother-in-law and his guru. Her story has been portrayed in the book Sitayanam. He says the goddess Morjai has no link whatsoever to the concept of the seven sisters in Goa. Of course, Rama was successful, because he was the incarnation of Vishnu. [4] Another source suggests that she derives the name Kalindi from her "earthly" source, the mountain Kalinda. She prays to Krishna to preserve her dignity, and he does so by ensuring her ekavastra never stops unrolling. Sita and Lakshmana willingly renounced the comforts of the palace and joined Rama in exile. [15][24][23][21], In the Vayu Purana, the sage Agastya once arrives in Indra's court and is welcomed by a dance performance of Urvashi. Cue the thunder of chariots, bows spewing arrows in all directions, and utter mayhem for 1.8 million words. Hindu mythology is the body of sacred stories attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Sanskrit texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Puranas, and mythological stories specific to a particular ethnolinguistic group like the Tamil Periya Puranam and Divya Prabandham, and . In the confines of the prison, Devaki repeatedly conceived and Kamsa cruelly murdered the first six children. [29] The values that she enshrined and adhered to at every point in the course of a demanding life are the values of womanly virtue held sacred by countless generations of Indians. While the individual celebrations find popular resonance, their cumulative worship remains lesser known, Copyright 2023 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. On the instructions of his teacher, Resi Maruta, Rahwana learns that Widawati will incarnate as his own daughter. It was the hearth where ancient humans gathered to keep warm, and as they did they talked, sang and laughed. Sita is often worshipped with Rama as his consort. Described as the daughter of Bhmi (the earth), Sita is brought up as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha. With a heavy heart, he instructed him to take Sita to a forest outside Ayodhya and leave her there. Hanuman wants an immediate union of Rama and Sita and thus he proposes to Sita to ride on his back. There is a key scene in the Mahabharata in which Draupadi, who is the wife of all five Pandava brothers, is gambled away and lost in a game of dice. We have Yama. A decade ago, the Ramayana the story of the prince, Rama was fairly standard. They finally plunged in poverty and resorted to robbery and were killed by beasts in the forest. [6][7][8] Urvashi is remains a prominent figure in later texts. In Greek, the word "pleiades" means "doves." Their parents were Pleione and Atlas who was condemned by Zeus to support the Heavens on his .more Ahsonnutli Ahsonnutli was the sky father and chief god for the Navajo. [15], According to Ramayana, Janaka found her while ploughing as a part of a yagna and adopted her. She is imprisoned in the garden of Ashoka Vatika, in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor. Ravan and Shurpanakha The children of sage. Pururavas manages to bring back the sheep but Urvashi vanishes. The Legend of the Three Sisters - Oneida Indian Nation Akanksha Singh takes a look. These epics were written in Sanskrit and in their essence described the power of the Hindu gods in poetic verse. If you read about Greek civilisation, their worship was fairly common, he says. Her other brothers include Vaivasvata Manu, the first man, the twin Ashvins, or divine physicians,[4][1] and the planet Saturn (Shani). In Harivamsa, Sita is invoked as one of the names of the goddess Arya: O goddess, you are the altar's center in the sacrifice, The priest's fee Similar accounts of this story appear in the Brihaddevata and some Puranic scriptures. Similarities between Saptarishis and Seven Sisters. [4] His royal house was called Bhoja; thus, another of his names was Bhojapati. She tells him about her desire, but the latter jilts her advances, considering her to be an ancestor of his, as well as a mother, because of her past marriage to Pururavas. Both of them reached Yama's court for judgement. These divine twins can function alone in one body, either functioning as a male or as male and female as they desire. She is also the chief goddess of Rama-centric Hindu traditions. Lesser-Known Goddesses of Indian Mythology | Amar Chitra Katha Very long ago, there were three sisters who lived in a field. As a result of her infidelity, Mitra curses Urvashi to become the wife of a mortal man, which eventually causes Mitra's seed to fall from her womb. [11]:48, After Krishna grew up and returned to the kingdom, Kamsa was eventually killed and beheaded by Krishna, as was originally predicted by the divine prophecy. Soon, Rohini gave birth to Devaki's seventh son, named Balarama. Sita ( Sanskrit: ; IAST: St) also known as Siya, Janaki, Maithili, Vaidehi and Bhumija is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, Ramayana. In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux share a bond so strong that when mortal Castor dies, Pollux gives up half of his immortality to be with his brother. Garuda; Krishna Garuda is described in one text as emerald in colour, with the beak of a kite, roundish eyes, golden wings, and four arms and with a breast, knees, and legs like those of a kite. In Hindu mythology, Yamuna devi is the daughter of the sun god Surya and his wife Saranyu, and also the sister of the death god Yama. The king of the country named Janaka took and made her an adopted daughter, with the name Shinta. Pururavas successfully accomplishes the task and is able to reunite with Urvashi in heaven. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to ourFacebookpage or message us onTwitter. This led to a fierce battle between Ram and Ravana in which Ram won. [7] Some legends also explain Yamuna's darkness and thus her name Kalindi. Just like Hindus have each god for wealth, power, knowledge, wisdom, etc. The Mahabharata is, as far as epics go, hyper-masculine. The Pleiades may be the oldest human myth [5] He was the cousin of Devaki, the mother of the deity Krishna; Krishna ultimately fulfilled a prophecy by slaying Kamsa. the uniqueness of the feminine experience, shortlist for the Womens Prize for Fiction this year, Rejecting Sita: Indian Responses to the Ideal Man's Cruel Treatment of His Ideal Wife. Yogamaya was tasked to be born as the daughter of Yashoda. Urvashi becomes attracted to him and reaches Arjuna's residence adorned in beautiful attire. The scene started with Shurpanakha's love for Rama. Like Yama is the god of netherworld in Hindu and Hades in Greek. Sita is considered to be a child of Mother Earth, produced by union between the king and the land. asura, (Sanskrit: "divine") Iranian ahura, in Hindu mythology, class of beings defined by their opposition to the devas or suras (gods). Greek gods hindu equivalents - The Equivalent However, Shinta's suffering did not end there. These are the different faces of Mother Goddess Earth, says folklorist and researcher Jayanti Naik. These have various names in different countries. The river is mentioned many times in the epic as backdrop for events like yajnas (sacrifices), austerities and even a suicide by a defeated minister Hamsa of Jarasandha. He supplicates her to return but she refuses. The next story is not much different from the original version, namely the marriage of Shinta to Sri Rama, her kidnapping, and the death of Ravana in the great war. [3] In an ancient painting she is shown as a beautiful maiden standing on the banks of the river. Among these, the most popular one is the play Vikramorvashiyam by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, who probably lived in 4th - 5th century Gupta Period. Shinta is believed to be the incarnation of Btari Widawati, the wife of Lord Vishnu. One day he intended to sacrifice a horse to the gods, but the. The first month absolved him of sins and the second one granted him a place in heaven.[3]. [18][17][19][20], The most prominent myth featuring Urvashi is about her marriage to Pururavas, a mortal king who is credited as the founder of Chandravamsha (lit. The Hindu Goddess Worshipped By India's Transgender Community - Homegrown MYTHS AND LEGENDS | Lucinda Riley Following their encounter, Varuna approaches Urvashi and expresses his wish to have a union with her. Once she had witnessed the acceptance of her children by Rama, Sita sought final refuge in the arms of her mother Bhmi. Sita (Sanskrit: ; IAST: St) also known as Siya, Janaki, Maithili, Vaidehi and Bhumija is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, Ramayana. He rose from his throne and wanted to behead Kanun. Among these are Sita: Daughter of the Earth A Graphic Novel by Saraswati Nagpal, The Girl Who Chose: A New Way of Narrating the Ramayana, Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana by Devdutt Pattanaik, and Sita: The Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi. Ravana has come to her in the form of a mendicant and Sita tells him that he does not look like one. Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. As the country celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters today, we bring to you tales of some brother-sister duos in Hindu mythology. [d] Arjuna, a prince belonging to Chandravamsha and the spiritual son of Indra, comes to heaven to learn under Gandharva Chitrasena. She was the affectionate sister of Balarama too. When Sita is abducted by the King of Lanka, a demon with 10 heads named Ravana, Rama goes through extreme efforts to save his wife, kill Ravana, and return to his kingdom on a new-moon night. In some versions of the Ramayana, during this test the fire-god Agni appears in front of Rama and attests to Sita's purity, or hands over to him the real Sita and declares it was Maya Sita who was abducted by Ravana. This enraged the demoness and she tried to kill Sita. But before it was realized, Ravana suddenly canceled his intention because he thought who knew his child would become a beautiful child. Maricha, his uncle, disguised himself as a magnificent deer to lure Sita. However, Manohar Shetgaonkar, a Marathi writer based in Morjim, strikes a discordant note in the entire earth cult discussion. According to the ancient Greeks, the Pleiades were seven sisters. He is also depicted anthropomorphically, with wings and hawklike features. At the request of his stepmother, Rama is exiled for 14 years by his father Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya. The concept is known in varied forms across South India. The number is not fixed but changing in the myths between six and seven. This is an obvious statement for Draupadis character to make but its an important one to make in print. Two related families the Kauravas and the Pandavas fight in the Kurukshetra War for the Hastinapura throne. [23], Ravana took Sita back to his kingdom in Lanka and she was held as a prisoner in one of his palaces. The common folk started gossiping about Sita and questioned Ram's decision to make her queen. Siblings Ties In Indian Mythology - My City Links In the Purushamedha rite in the Shatapatha Brahmana, a mother of twins is sacrificed to Yami, while twins are offered in the Taittiriya Brahmana. She requested Sita to let them go, but Sita only allowed her male companion to fly away, and the female parrot died because of the separation from her companion. The story of the seven sisters and their brother has been a popular folklore in Hindu mythology. [15], Sita is known by many epithets. She waters the Earth alongside Saraswati. When Sita reaches adulthood, Janaka organizes a Swayamvara in Janakpurdham with the condition that Sita would marry only that person who would be able to string Pinaka, the bow of the god Shiva. Since Janaka was a king, it is likely that ploughing was part of a royal ritual to ensure fertility of the land. However, by RV 10.13.4, Yama is stated to have chosen to leave offspring, but Yam is not mentioned. Learning of his birth, Kamsa sent a host of asuras to kill the child Krishna, but Krishna killed every one of them. Of the five virgins, Kunti and Draupadi are characters from the Mahabharata, and Ahalya, Tara, and Mandodari are from the Ramayana. Two Much: Twins in Mythology - Kavita Kane's Column For - SheThePeople Not only can Kijang Kencana be caught, but moreover he is captured and held captive by his own lust, which is manifested in the form of Ravana. It has perhaps been preserved as a cautionary tale for anyone with any incestuous intent. Seven Sita, attracted to its golden glow asked her husband to make it her pet. In Goa, it exists in the tale of the sisters Kelbai, Mahamaya, Lairai, Mirabai (or Milagres), Morjai, Sheetalai, Adadeepa and their brother Khetoba. [1], A tale explains her name Yamuna: Sanjna was unable to bear her husband, the sun's heat, and its light and closed her eyes in his presence. A similar change is happening in India. However, another avatar of Vishnu, Parashurama, became really angry as the bow of Shiva was broken. She has a brother named Bhamandal who is kidnapped soon after his birth by a deity due to animosity in a previous life. Janaka is greatly pleased to learn that Rama and Lakshmana are sons of Dasharatha. A key scene in the Mahabharata is the disrobing of Drapaudi, who is gambled on and lost in a game of dice (Credit: Alamy). Thus, the relationship between Rama and Shinta, who in the previous life was husband and wife, turned into brother and sister in the next life.[31]. Hindu Myth about the seven Krttika (Pleiades) - Windows to the Universe The term asura appears first in the Vedas, a collection of poems and hymns composed 1500-1200 bce, and refers to a human or divine leader. Years later, Sita returns to the womb of her mother, the Earth, for release from a cruel world and as a testimony of her purity, after she reunites her two sons Kusha and Lava with their father Rama. They have Hades. [6], After a heavenly voice prophesied that Devaki's eighth son would slay him, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and her husband Vasudeva, and killed all of their children; however, just before the birth of the seventh child of Devaki and Vasudeva, Vishnu ordered the goddess Mahamaya to transfer the child from the womb of Devaki to that of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva. Although Sita's statue is always kept with Rama's statue in Rama temples, there are some temples dedicated to Sita: Janaki Mandir of Janakpur, Nepal is a center of pilgrimage where the wedding of Sri Rama and Sita took place and is re-enacted yearly as Vivaha Panchami. [19], The Bhagavata Purana also narrates: Krishna's elder brother Balarama was staying in Ambadi on Yamuna's banks for a few months. [5] This etymologically explains why their constellation, the Dioskouroi or Gemini, is only seen during one half of the year, as the twins split their time between the underworld and Mount Olympus. Indian children dressed as Hindu deities Rama and Sita celebrate Diwali (Credit: Getty). [15], Urvashi is said to have caused the birth of the sage Rishyashringa. This stems from the ancient concept of saptamatruka, the worship of the seven mother goddesses, which was popular in Goa prior to the Kadamba period, says folk researcher Poornima Kerkar, adding that while today one sees temples dedicated to the. [5][11] The concept of the pair of twins with the festival of Bhau-beej, celebrated by a brother and a sister, honors the divine siblings. Ibeji twins are viewed as one soul shared between two bodies. According to the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the sage-brothers Nara and Narayana perform penance to please the creator god Brahma, but this makes Indra (the king of the devas) insecure about his throne and he does not want the sages to acquire divine powers. [18] The Sita Kund[5] pilgrimage site which is located in present-day Sitamarhi district,[6][7] Bihar, India is viewed as the birthplace of Sita. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service. But when his wife named Dewi Kanung gave birth, Ravana went to expand the colony. [9][7] Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (18611941) has also written a poem about Urvashi. [21] The context for this scene is provided in subsequent texts. 8. Kamsa (Sanskrit: , romanized:Kasa) was the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, with its capital at Mathura. She declines it, nevertheless, as she had already promised Mitra that she would court him. Grief-sickened, he searches for her across the country and finds her disguised as a swan in a lake. Jatayu, the vulture-king, tried to protect Sita but Ravana chopped off his wings. And yet we see that it has neither been suppressed by the collective consciousness not has it been erased with various storytelling devices. The king beseeches her to return, but she harshly refuses, complaining that he made too much love with her. We have The Saptarishis or The Seven Sages. [7] Scholars note that while in Rigveda Urvashi is portrayed as being a self-willed and unyielding woman who married Pururavas for her own desire and abandons him after giving birth to their son, the later adaptations mark her for her love for Pururavas and blame the celestial beings for their separation. The king and queen bring him up as their own son. Assuming her true form, Yogamaya proclaimed to Kamsa, "The eighth child, who shall kill you, has been born. She is associated with the deity Krishna as one of his eight principal consorts, called the Ashtabharya. The baby boy was finally recognized by Ravana as his son, and later became known as Indrajit. In Hindu scriptures, she is the daughter of Surya, the sun god, and Sanjna, the cloud goddess. Finally, Krishna arrived in Mathura and slew his uncle, Kamsa. She is famous for her marriage with Pururavas, the first king of the legendary Chandravamsha (lunar dynasty), whom she later abandoned. To restrict retellings in the purest form of mythology as Patnaik does is to ignore the manner in which society itself functions and is changing. In Puranic mythology, Kritikas are identified as wet nurses to the son of Shiva and Shakti, known as Murugan in Tamil tradition.