Mahagauri
| Mahagauri | |
|---|---|
Goddess of beauty and purity | |
 Murti of Mahagauri | |
| Affiliation | Navadurga |
| Abode | Mount Kailash |
| Planet | Jupiter |
| Mantra | oṁ devi mahāgauryai namaḥ śvete vṛṣe samārūḍhā śvetāmbaradharā śuciḥ mahāgaurī śubhaṁ dadhān mahādevapramodadā |
| Weapon | trident, damaru, abhayamudra, varadamudra |
| Mount | Ox |
| Festivals | Navaratri, Durga Puja, Durga Ashtami |
| Genealogy | |
| Consort | Shiva |
| Children | Kartikeya, Ganesha |
Mahagauri (Sanskrit: महागौरी, romanized: Mahāgaurī, lit. 'the great fair-complexioned one')[1] is a form of the Hindu goddess Mahadevi, venerated as the goddess of beauty and purity.[2] She is the eighth of the Navadurga, and is worshipped on the eighth day of Navaratri.
Iconography
[edit]Mahagauri is usually depicted as riding on a white bull.[3] She is shown with four arms: in her upper right hand she holds a trident, in her upper left a damaru, her lower right hand is in the gesture of abhayamudra, and her lower left hand holds a japamala, or performs the varadamudra.
Legend
[edit] |
According to a legend from the Shiva Purana, The asuras Shumbha and Nishumbha had gained a boon that may only be killed by a virgin form of Parvati from Brahma
In the past Parvati's complexion was dark. Shiva repeatedly called Parvati as Kali (black) to deliberately infuriate her. Parvati was agitated by this teasing, so she performed severe penance to Brahma so as to gain a fair complexion. Brahma instead requested her to stop her penance and slay the asuras Shumbha and Nishumbha.
Parvati agreed and went to take a bath in the Ganga river in Himalaya. She saw the gods who were praying to her for the destruction of Shumbha and Nishumbha, and worriedly asked them who they were worshipping [4]
Parvati entered in the Ganga river and as she took a bath, her dark skin washed off entirely, goddess Kaushiki emerged from her skin. Parvati became a fair woman again, wearing white garments and ornaments, lending her the epithet Mahagauri.[5]
Koushiki went to the battle. She transformed into Chandi (Chandika) and killed asura Dhumralochana. Chanda and Munda were killed by the goddess Chamunda who appeared out from the third eye of Chandi. Chandi then killed Raktabija and his clones, while Chamunda drank their blood. Ultimately goddess Kaushiki killed Shumbha and Nishumbha, that giving her the titles of Mahasaraswati or Ambika. in the Shiva Purana and the Devi Mahatmya (part of the Markandeya Purana) respectively.[6]
After that she transformed back into Mahagauri. Mounted upon the back of an ox, rode back home to Kailasha, where Shiva awaited for her. The two became reunited once again and lived happily with their sons, Kartikeya and Ganesha.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Sinha, Atul K. (2009). Approaches to History, Culture, Art and Archaeology. Anamika Publishers & Distributors. p. 500. ISBN 978-81-7975-248-7.
- ^ Sharma, Arvind (2002-09-26). Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women's Studies. SUNY Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7914-5347-6.
- ^ Dasgupta, Sayantani (2016). "GODDESSES: Durga in Perspective". India International Centre Quarterly. 43 (2): 104.
- ^ Shastri, J. L. (2017-01-01). The Siva Purana Part 4: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 4. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 1857–1865. ISBN 978-81-208-3871-0.
- ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2014-09-12). "The Devī-Māhātmya: The goddess' conversation with the Asura's messenger [Canto LXXXV]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
- ^ Shastri, J. L. (2017-01-01). The Siva Purana Part 4: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 4. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1868. ISBN 978-81-208-3871-0.
- ^ Books, Kausiki (2021-10-24). Siva Purana: Vayuveeya Samhitha: Poorvardham English Translation only without Slokas. Kausiki Books. p. 162.