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 Vaishvadevi
Very few references to Vaishvadevi are found in the Vedas. She is supplicated to come and purify her worshippers; she is also 20 related to all the gods and is proficient in purification. The Vedic Aryans looked upon her as a goddess whose main function and characteristic was the purification of her worshippers. They also considered her to be related to all the gods. She too is a very minor Vedic goddess. Vaisvadevi is clearly an extension of the collective god Vishve Devah. She was conceived at a time when most male gods were given consorts, or feminine figures were mythically created corresponding to male counterparts.