Sati (Hindu goddess)
| Sati | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Power, Marital Felicity and Longevity | |
Kumarasambhavam, Tantra | |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Shiva |
Sati (, who was Sati's reincarnation after her death.
The earliest mentions of Sati are found in the time of the
Sati's story plays an important part in shaping the traditions of two of the most prominent sects of Hinduism —
Etymology
The name "Satī" means "truthful", "virtuous" or "noble" in Sanskrit.[3][4] The word is derived from the "sat" which means "truth".[5]
She is known by various patronymics, though these names can be used for any of the daughters of Daksha. Some of these names include Dakshayani, Dakshakanya and Dakshaja.[6]
History and textual background
According to scholars William J. Winkins and David R. Kinsley, the Vedic scriptures (2nd millennium BCE) do not mention Sati-Parvati but hint to two goddesses associated with
The Mahabharata mentions the destruction of
Legends
Birth and early life
Sati was the daughter of
Even as a child, Sati adored the tales of Shiva and grew up an ardent devotee. As she grew to womanhood, the idea of marrying anyone else, as intended by her father, became unfair to her. It is believed that Brahma intended to get Sati married to Shiva and bring him into worldly affairs.[18][21][22]
Marriage
Sati is described to be very beautiful but the legends emphasize her penance and devotion, which won the heart of the ascetic Shiva.[24][25] According to the legend, Sati left the luxuries of her father's palace and retired to a forest to devote herself to austerities of a hermetic life and the worship of Shiva. She was often tested by Shiva or his attendants. Finally, Shiva acceded to her wishes and consented to marry. Despite Daksha's unwillingness, the wedding was held in due course with Brahma serving as the priest. Sati moved with Shiva in Kailash.[24] Tension between Shiva and Daksha further arises when Daksha starts to dislike Shiva because of Shiva's odd appearance and behaviour.[2][26]
According to the Bhagavata Purana, Daksha arranged Sati's
Testing Rama's divinity
In a legend from the Shiva Purana, Sati and Shiva were once wandering the earth. They passed through the Dandaka forest, where they came across Rama, accompanied by Lakshmana, searching for his wife Sita after her abduction by Ravana. Observing Rama's lament, Shiva bowed before him, following which he blessed the former with victory and revealed himself before him. Overcome by maya, Sati asked her consort to whom he had bowed. Shiva informed her that Rama was a full incarnation of Vishnu. Seeing that she was unconvinced, Shiva encouraged her to test Rama's divinity for herself. Sati did so by assuming the guise of Sita and appearing before him. Rama laughed, seeing through the goddess's disguise, wondering why she had assumed his wife's form. Her doubts fading, Sati asked Rama how he was worthy of being saluted by Shiva. Rama explained to her his true identity and circumstance and spoke to her of his devotion to Shiva, after which she praised him and returned to her consort.[27][28]
Daksha yajna and self-immolation
The most prominent legend associated with Sati is her self-immolation to protest against her father.
According to the most popular narrative, Daksha organized a yajna (sacrifice) to which all the deities, except Sati and Shiva, were invited. Wanting to visit her relatives, Sati sought to rationalize this omission and reasoned that as family, such formality was unnecessary. Shiva tried to stop her as he knew that Daksha would humiliate her, but when she was not convinced, he sent her with his gana attendants. Sati was received by her mother and her sisters, but Daksha was furious by her uninvited arrival and humiliated her and mocked Shiva. Wanting to break all ties with her father and uphold the honour of her husband, Sati self-immolated.[32][17][33]
Deeply hurt by the death of his wife, Shiva performed the destructive Tandava dance. He created two ferocious deities — Virabhadra and Bhadrakali, who wreaked mayhem at the sacrificial place. Nearly all those present were felled overnight; Daksha was decapitated by Virabhadra. After that night, Shiva, who is considered the all-forgiving, restored the slain to life and granted them his blessings. Daksha was restored both to life and to kingship. His severed head was substituted with that of a goat.[15][34][2]
There are varying accounts of this event. The
Formation of the Shakti Pithas
Another important legend associated with Sati is the formation of the
The legend ends with Sati's body being dismembered into many pieces which fell on earth at various places. Several different listings of these holy places, known as Shakti Pithas, are available; some of these places have become major centres of pilgrimage as they are held by the Goddess-oriented
Rebirth
A depressed Shiva returned to his ascetic world while Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himavat, king of the mountains and personification of the Himalayas, and his wife, Mena. Himavat appreciated Shiva ardently. Consequently, Parvati like Sati, won Shiva over by her penance and married him.[21][44]
Legacy and worship
The legend of
Notes
Explanatory notes
- ^ Rudrani is described as Rudra's wife. Ambika, on the other hand, is described as his sister in the earlier verses, but later verses suggest that she was his wife.
- ^ Both Winkins and Kinsley note that later commentaries on Kena Upanishad confirm that Uma was Parvati, leaving no doubt about her relationship with Shiva.
- ^ Further details: Vishnu advised Shiva to disguise as a sanyasi and ask for alms from Daksha. When Daksha promised to give anything, Shiva asked for Sati. During the marriage, Vishnu used his maya (illusion) to deceive Sati's parents.
Citations
- ^ Kinsley 1998, p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Kinsley 1998, p. 38.
- ^ Journal of Historical Research. Department of History, Ranchi University. 2004.
- ^ Gandhi 1993.
- ^ Gámez-Fernández 2020, p. 287.
- ^ Monier-Williams 1872, p. 396.
- ^ Wilkins 1913, p. 294.
- ^ Kinsley 1998, p. 36.
- ^ a b Kinsley 1998, p. 36, 37.
- ^ a b Mittal & Thursby 2009, p. 307.
- ^ a b Bose 2018.
- ^ Kramrisch 1988.
- ^ Shastri 2000.
- ^ Coulter & Turner 2013.
- ^ a b c d Dalal 2014.
- ^ Sinha 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Mukhopadhyay 2018.
- ^ a b c Mani 1975, p. 576.
- ^ a b McDermott & Kripal 2003, p. 43.
- ^ Viswanathan, Priya (2015-07-15). "Devi Sati - A Tale of Passion and Honour". Dolls of India. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
- ^ a b Kinsley 1998.
- ^ Jones & Ryan 2006.
- ^ Sunity Devee 1919, p. 10-11.
- ^ a b Kinsley 1998, p. 37.
- ^ Michaels 2004.
- ^ a b c Birkenholtz 2018, p. 142.
- ^ Books, Kausiki (2021-10-24). Siva Purana: Rudra Samhitha: 2 Sati Khanda: English Translation only without Slokas. Kausiki Books. pp. PR II.
- ^ Hiltebeitel 2011, p. 451.
- ^ Hiltebeitel 2011.
- ^ Klostermaier 2014.
- ^ Kinsley 1998, p. 36-37.
- ^ Mittal & Thursby 2009.
- ^ a b c Shimkhada & Herman 2009, p. 177.
- ^ Mani 1975, p. Dakṣa.
- ^ Mani 1975, p. 577.
- ^ Kinsley 1998, p. 23.
- ^ Hawley & Wulff 1998, p. 79.
- ^ Shimkhada & Herman 2009, p. 176.
- ^ Monaghan 2010, p. 27.
- ^ a b c d Shin 2018.
- ^ Monaghan 2010, p. 26.
- ^ Pintchman 2015, p. 7.
- ISBN 978-81-7139-280-3.
- ^ Dehejia 1999.
- ^ "Mata Hinglaj Yatra: To Hingol, a pilgrimage to reincarnation". The Express Tribune. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
- ^ "Kottiyoor Devaswam Temple Administration Portal". kottiyoordevaswom.com/. Kottiyoor Devaswam. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "Navadurga | 9 Swaroop of Maa Durga Hindu Devi knows as Navadurga". MaaDurga. 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
Bibliography
- Kinsley, David (1998). Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-0394-7.
- Mittal, Sushil; Thursby, Gene (2009-01-19). Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-41829-9.
- Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. 576. ISBN 978-0-8426-0822-0.
- Dalal, Roshen (2014-04-18). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.
- Wilkins, William J. (1913). "Uma – Parvati". Hindu Mythology – Vedic and Puranic. Thacker Spink London.
- Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2014-10-01). Hinduism: A Short History. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-78074-680-7.
- Bose, Mandakranta (2018-05-30). The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-107969-6.
- McDermott, Rachel Fell; Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2003-05-05). Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23240-2.
- Hiltebeitel, Alf (2011-07-27). When the Goddess was a Woman: Mahābhārata Ethnographies - Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-19380-2.
- Gandhi, Maneka (1993). The Penguin Book of Hindu Names. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-012841-3.
- Birkenholtz, Jessica Vantine (2018). Reciting the Goddess: Narratives of Place and the Making of Hinduism in Nepal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-934116-0.
- Monier-Williams, Monier (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Clarendon.
- Gámez-Fernández, Cristina M. (2020-05-15). India in the World. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-5118-3.
- Balfour, Edward (1885). The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures. B. Quaritch.
- Sinha, Purnendu Narayana (2020-09-28). A Study of the Bhagavata Purana: Or, Esoteric Hinduism. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 978-1-4655-2506-2.
- Shin, Jae-Eun (2018-05-30). Change, Continuity and Complexity: The Mahāvidyās in East Indian Śākta Traditions. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-83102-7.
- Hawley, John Stratton; Wulff, Donna Marie (1998). Devī: Goddesses of India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1491-2.
- Monaghan, Patricia (2010-12-31). Goddesses in World Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-35465-6.
- Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (2013-07-04). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-96390-3.
- Shastri, J. L. (2000-01-01). Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 1: The Siva Purana Part 1. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-3868-0.
- Sunity Devee, Maharanee (1919). Nine ideal Indian women. University of California Libraries. Calcutta : Thacker, Spink & Co.
- Mukhopadhyay, Anway (2018-04-20). The Goddess in Hindu-Tantric Traditions: Devi as Corpse. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06352-4.
- Shimkhada, Deepak; Herman, Phyllis K. (2009-03-26). The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-0702-9.
- Kramrisch, Stella (1988). The Presence of Siva. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-0491-3.
- Dehejia, Harsha V. (1999). Parvati: Goddess of Love. Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-81-85822-59-4.
- Pintchman, Tracy (2015-04-08). Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition, The. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-1618-2.
- Michaels, Axel (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-08952-2.
- Ph.D, James G. Lochtefeld (2001-12-15). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8239-3180-4.
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External links
Media related to Sati (goddess) at Wikimedia Commons
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