Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Feminine Divine in the Oldest of Books



HYMN CXXV. Vāk.
1. I TRAVEL with the Rudras and the Vasus, with the Ādityas and All-Gods I wander.
I hold aloft both Varuṇa and Mitra, Indra and Agni, and the Pair of Aśvins.
2 I cherish and sustain high-swelling Soma, and Tvaṣṭar I support, Pūṣan, and Bhaga.
I load with wealth the zealous sacrificer who pours the juice and offers his oblation
3 I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship.
Thus Gods have stablished me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.
4 Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them,—each man who sees, brewhes, hears the word outspoken
They know it not, but yet they dwell beside me. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.
5 1, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods and men alike shall welcome.
I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a Ṛiṣi, and a Brahman.
6 I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may strike and slay the hater of devotion.
I rouse and order battle for the people, and I have penetrated Earth and Heaven.
7 On the world's summit I bring forth the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean.
Thence I extend o’er all existing creatures, and touch even yonder heaven with my forehead.
8 I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, the while I hold together all existence. Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens I have become so mighty in my grandeur.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Been rereading this a few times. I focus much on the green terra, as I love the Buddha, but all healthy and real sources of the divine seem to come to me in a feminie image? Thanks
Have you looked at Robert Graves' book White Goddess? I think most of human histroy was based on matriarchal systems. One of the biggest stinks I have with western ideas and the church is this image of a solar male god. Its a good and natural image and has a place but it seem silly to not first look at the mother?

The Fool