31. Some Other Female Deities

Apart from the female deities, discussed in the foregoing passages, there are some other female deities, extolled in the Atharvaveda. Of them, Sūṣā, Sūṣaṇi and Viṣkalā have already been mentioned in the previous chapter as the goddesses of safe delivery. The deification of cows by different names has already been observed. A barren cow^[1] or a barren goat^[2] is, again, deified by the name Vaśā. However, Vaśā is celebrated in two hymns^[3] with great zeal. Vaśā accepts the sacrifice and the Sun is sustained by her.^[4] She is spoken of as amṛta, i.e. immortal and she belongs to human beings, demons, manes and seers.^[5] She is the Heaven, she is the Earth, she is Viṣṇu and she is Prajāpati.^[6] Thus, Vaśā, i.e. the barren cow is extolled as a deity of higher status. Besides these, Brahmajāyā is also one of the female deities of the Atharvaveda,^[7] who is extolled in one hymn of the Atharvaveda. Whitney^[8] interpretes Brahmajāyā as the wife of a Brāhmaṇa.