Bhudevi
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Bhuma Devi or Bhumi Devi or Bhu Devi is an earth goddess and the divine wife of Varaha, an Avatar of Vishnu. Bhudevi is the Goddess of Earth, and the fertility form of Lakshmi. Prithvi is also called Dhra, Dharti, Dhrithri, meaning thereby, which holds everything. As Prithvi Devi, she is one of two wives of Lord Vishnu. His other wife is Lakshmi. Prithvi is another form of Lakshmi. Another name for Her is Bhumi or Bhudevi or Bhuma Devi.
Mythology
Vedas
Prithvi (Sanskrit: pṛthvī, also pṛthivī) is the Hindu earth and mother goddess found in the Vedas. She is the personification of the Earth, taking on the attributes of a loving mother.
She shares many common traits with other earth goddesses such as the Greek Gaia, in that she is personified as a mother and paired with a sky god as her consort.
As prithvi mata "Mother Earth" she contrasts with Dyaus pita "father sky". In the Rigveda, Earth and Sky are frequently addressed in the dual, probably indicating the idea of two complementary half-shells.
She is the wife of Dyaus Pita ('father Dyaus'). (The widespread belief that these two were originally a single deity appears to be mistaken. See Dyavaprthivi). She is the mother of Indra and Agni. According to a tradition, when Indra killed Dyaus Pita, she applauded and married him. She is associated with the cow. Prithu, an incarnation of Vishnu, milked her in the cow's form to get food from her.
According to Hindu mythology, the divine saint Andal is a form of her.
The demon Narakasura whose killing by Krishna is celebrated as the festival of Diwali is her son.[1].
Bhumi Devi is also believed to be one of the two forms of Lakshmi. The other is Sridevi, who remains with Narayana.
Epics
She is the mother of Sita, (note the symbolism of the baby Sita being found in a ploughed field). According to the uttara-kanda, when Sita finally leaves her husband Rama, she returns to Bhumi. [2]
Puranas
According to the Puranas, Bhudevi is the consort of Varaha, Vishnu's third avatar. In the story of their pairing, Bhudevi takes on the role of the earth in its most literal, elemental form, while Varaha takes the form of a boar. When mother earth is submerged under a vast oceans by the efforts of the demon Hiranyaksha, Varaha dives into the great waters. Here he kills Hiranyaksha and carries Bhudevi above the water once again. He then maps the geography of the land as we know it today, sculpting mountains and valleys, and dividing it into seven continents.
Iconography
In art she is represented as a woman with four arms and a green skin.
Notes
- ↑ killing of Narakasura.
- ↑ It is interesting to note that several female deities have had births similar to Sita. Alamelu Thayar of Tiruchanur had a similar beginning, being found in a ploughed field by Akasa Raja. Goda (Andal) was found under a Tulasi plant by Perialvar.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Dallapiccola, Anna. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. London: Thames and Hudson, 2002. ISBN 0-500-51088-1
Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0520063396
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