Goddesses from the Samhitas to the Sutras
by Rajeshri Goswami | 1989 | 68,131 words
This essay studies the Goddesses from the Samhitas to the Sutras. In short, this thesis examines Vedic goddesses by analyzing their images, functions, and social positions. It further details how natural and abstract elements were personified as goddesses, whose characteristics evolved with societal changes....
Description of Goddess Mekhala
Mekhala—It is seen that in two hymns of the Chandogya Brahmana Mekhata is personofied as a goddess. h A She makes the truth and also the root of the penance grow, she is a sister of the gods and she kills the demons and ** comes towards her worshippers from all sides, presumably because the belt (which the word means literally) surrounds the worshipper's girth of waist. She glorifies the sacred castes like brahmins, etc., and holds the form of the supreme wealth of asceticism or penance arising from the discipline of Brahmacarya; she tolerates the enemies of her worshippers, and is regarded as rich and fortunate She is beautiful, and is considered as the proctectress of the truth or sacrifice Sacrifice ? The Vedic Aryans looked upon her mainly as the guardian of the truth or sacrifice. They considered her as holding the form of the highest wealth arising from the discipline of brahmacarya.