Ushas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ushas ( Sanskrit उषस् uṣas ) is a goddess of Vedic mythology ; the personification of dawn and friend of the people. It is associated with light, life, wisdom, fame, salvation, blessings and prosperity (6.64). She is also considered the goddess of poetry and the muse of the Rishis . Of the Vedic goddesses, she is by far the most important and the most frequently mentioned.

myth

Ushas is the mother, wife, sister or daughter of the sun, the daughter or sister of the night ( Ratri ) , maybe also the daughter of darkness, the virgin daughter of heaven. Or she appears as the daughter of Dyaus Pita and the Prithivi and as the sister of Surya , Indra and Agni . According to another legend, she is the daughter of the creator god Prajapati , who greedily approaches her and wants to commit incest with her, but the goddess turns into a deer and flees. Sometimes she is also considered to be the beloved of Agni. "Like the great sun through its light the dawn, so you generate all blessings" . She opens the gates of heaven every day and rides on a richly decorated chariot drawn by white steeds or seven pink cattle - symbols of the morning clouds -, awakens all beings and creates new life everywhere. She wears a light robe and thus drives away the darkness. "She is old, but is always reborn and walks the paths of the past dawns that will forever follow each other." However, Kramrisch ascribes a "dark and demonic" second nature to her.

Twenty of the 1028 hymns of the Rigveda are dedicated to the dawn, which appears as a richly adorned beautiful young but arrogant (IV.30.8–11) woman and is praised as the bringer of daily light (RV 7.78; 6.64: 10.172). She is generally friendly towards people, she is a benevolent goddess. She is also described as a bride in a pink robe and with a golden veil, sometimes presented as a dancer with bare breasts and rich jewelery or as a beautiful woman coming out of the bath. She is called in dual .

She wakes the curled up sleepers so that they can offer their sacrifices and thus does the other gods a service (RV 1.113). Ushas gives strength and fame (RV 1.44). It is what drives life, sets things in motion, drives out darkness and thus reveals all things hidden in it and it is associated with the breath and life of all living creatures (RV 1.48). It is also closely connected with rta and moves with it (RV 3.61; 7.75). She is often compared to a cow. In Rigveda 1.92 she is called the mother of the cows and like a cow that offers its udder for the benefit of humans, Ushas bares her breasts in order to bring the light for the benefit of humanity (RV 3.58; 4.5). Although Ushas is usually described as a young and beautiful girl, she is also called the mother (RV 1.113.12) of the gods and the Ashvins (RV 3.39.3). She is called by her supplicants as a mother who takes care of all things like a good head of house (RV 1.48). She is also the goddess of the hearth (RV 6.64). Ushas is said to be the eye of the gods (RV 7.75). She is also described as a skilful huntress who lets people's lives slip away (RV 1.92). Its task is to wake people up in order to call them to work and to fulfill their duties (RV 148,92), but it does not disturb the beings who have sunk into deathly sleep. She is often asked to destroy, punish, and drive away enemies whom she is supposed to send far away. She appears as the enemy of the chaotic forces that terrify the world (RV 1.113.12). The gods beg them to awaken only the good people. She also appears as the goddess who lets youth pass (RV 7.75). She can see everything, but is rarely asked for forgiveness of sins. She is the mistress and sign of the times and is often asked to grant a long life (RV 7.77). It reminds people of their mortality.

In the course of his fight against demons Indra also defeats Ushas, ​​whom he punishes for their incest with her father and her brothers: “You crushed Usha's daughter of heaven, Indra, the great who did great. From their chariot, the crushed one, Ushas fled away in fear when the bull (Indra) beat him up. Her car [anas] lay completely crushed in the Vipas ; she herself escaped into the distance. ” This process is interpreted by authors such as DD Kosambi as a struggle of the Aryan god Indra against autochthonous mother goddesses. However, this myth is no longer fully passed down.

The god Brihaspati freed Ushas from the cave of demons in the deep abyss (Rigveda X.68.9).

A volcano on Venus , the Ushas Mons , was named after the goddess.

literature

  • Ushas . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, pp. 327-328 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Georges Dumézil: Déesses latines et mythes védiques. Collection Latomus 25. Brussels 1956.
  • William Joseph Wilkens: Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta / London 1882; New edition: Rupa, Calcutta u. a. 1975, pp. 48-52 ( online at Internet Archive ).
  • Gerhard J. Bellinger: Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie. Knaur, Munich 1999, keyword: Ushas .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ uṣas . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 240, col. 1 .
  2. ↑ Bellinger: Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie , Knaur 1999, Ushas
  3. ↑ Rigveda 10.36.1
  4. ↑ Rigveda II.23.2
  5. ↑ Rigveda I.113.2-3
  6. ↑ Rigveda III.55.12
  7. ↑ Rigveda I.123.9
  8. ↑ Rigveda 10.36.1
  9. ↑ Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie , Knaur 1999, Ushas
  10. ↑ Rigveda II.23.2, J. Brough, Uṣas and Mater Matuta. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 21 / 1-3, 1958, 397
  11. ↑ Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie , Knaur 1999, Ushas
  12. ↑ Christian Lassen : She is old and yet forever young and immortal. Indian antiquity . 1867, p. 900; Rigveda I, 48, 1f., 49, 1f., 62, 8, 92, 1f., 113, 1f.
  13. ↑ Stella Kramrisch, The Indian Great Goddess. History of Religions 14/4, 1975, 255
  14. ↑ Stella Kramrisch: The Indian Great Goddess. History of Religions 14/4. 1975, p. 255
  15. ↑ Rigveda IV, 30, 9-11.
  16. ↑ Janaky: On the Trail of the Mahabharata: A Response. Economic and Political Weekly 27, No. 37 (September 12, 1992), 1997