Shakambhari

Shakambhari
Shakambhari
Goddess of Nourishment
	Artistic depiction of Shakambhari
Devanagari	शाकम्भरी
Venerated in	Shaktism
Festivals	Navaratri, Durga Puja, Durga Ashtami, Lakshmi Puja

Shakambhari (

Durgamasura deprived the earth of nourishment by causing the sages to forget the Vedas, the goddess appeared to offer human beings and devas sufficient fruits and vegetables to restore their strength.^[3]

Etymology

The word śākaṃbharī means 'she who bears vegetables'. The word is derived from two words- śāka (Sanskrit: शाक) which means 'vegetable/vegan food' and bharī (Sanskrit: भरी) which means 'holder/bearer/wearer' which is ultimately derived from the root word bhṛ (Sanskrit: भृ) which means 'to bear/to wear/to nourish'.[4]

Legend

Devi Bhagavata Purana, seeing the misery of the people, she showered incessant tears from her eyes, streaming into rivers, and offering medicines.^[5] Lakshmi shares her deed with Indra in the Lakshmi Tantra:^[6]

O Sakra, men will then extol me as the hundred-eyed (deity) and I shall nourish the whole world with wonderful life-sustaining plants issuing from my own body and filled with (my essence: dvistaih). Then, Vasava, the gods will worship me as Sakambhari (the embodiment of vegetation).
— Lakshmi Tantra, Chapter 9

Temple

There is the main temple in Badami, Karnataka.There are many various temples of Shakambhari Devi including one of the ancient temples in Saharanpur utter Pradesh among the mountain range as it is most famous and visited by devotees after Vaishno Devi apart from that there is another major temple which is situated in Rajasthan near at Sambhar Lake Town jheel, a huge ground of dry salt lake. Shakambhari is worshiped as the ninth number among the nine deities in Navaratri after the beginning of Vaishno Devi.

References

^ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Printed at the Government Central Press. 1884.
^ SINHA, N. (1991). A STUDY OF THE ORIGIN MYTHS: SITUATING THE GUHILAS IN THE HISTORY OF MEWAR (A.D. SEVENTH TO THIRTEENTH CENTURIES). Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52, 63–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44142569
^ www.wisdomlib.org (22 May 2018). "Shakambhari, Śākambharī, Śākaṃbharī: 12 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
^ Thirugnanam (December 2012). Devi Mahatmyam English Transliteration. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^ www.wisdomlib.org (15 May 2013). "On the glory of the Śatakṣi Devī [Chapter 28]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
^ Lakshmi Tantra A Pancharatra Text Sanjukta Gupta. pp. 51–52.

[1] Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Printed at the Government Central Press. 1884.

[2] SINHA, N. (1991). A STUDY OF THE ORIGIN MYTHS: SITUATING THE GUHILAS IN THE HISTORY OF MEWAR (A.D. SEVENTH TO THIRTEENTH CENTURIES). Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52, 63–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44142569

[3] www.wisdomlib.org (22 May 2018). "Shakambhari, Śākambharī, Śākaṃbharī: 12 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 23 September 2022.

[4] Thirugnanam (December 2012). Devi Mahatmyam English Transliteration. Retrieved 18 September 2022.

[5] www.wisdomlib.org (15 May 2013). "On the glory of the Śatakṣi Devī [Chapter 28]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 23 September 2022.

[6] Lakshmi Tantra A Pancharatra Text Sanjukta Gupta. pp. 51–52.

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Etymology

Legend

Temple

Further reading

References