Devi

“ The devi’s mother took the maiden and hid her. The devi appeared, no one knows whence. He carried dead game and firewood. He unbound them from his back, went in, and said: ‘Mother, I smell a man! Who has come hither?’ ‘Why dost thou ask?’ said the old woman; ‘for fear of thee bird cannot fly in heaven, nor can worm creep on earth.’ The devi insisted, and his mother at last gave way, and said: ‘I have here a maiden whom I wish thee to marry; if thou wilt not eat her, I will let thee see her.’ The son promised, and his mother brought the girl out. ”

“ The generous monarch begged, thereupon, that his faithful servant might be restored to life, together with all his high-minded family; and the goddess Devi in the twinkling of an eye fetched from Patala, the regions below the earth, a vase full of Amrita, the water of immortality, sprinkled it upon the dead, and raised them all as before. After which the whole party walked leisurely home, and in due time the king divided his throne with his friend Birbal. ”

“ Before dawn great preparations were being made for a grand festival in honour of the great idol Devi. Hundreds of banners waved, hundreds of drummers drummed, hundreds of singers chanted chants, hundreds of priests, well washed and anointed, performed their sacred rites, whilst the rajah sat, nervous and ill at ease, amongst hundreds of courtiers and servants, wishing it were all well over. At last the time came for the sacrifice to be offered, and the poor bâdshah was led out bound, to have his head chopped off. ”

“ And then he went to the temple of Maha Lakshmi, where he offered his obeisances, and then started to pray, "O Devi, whose heart is full of mercy, who is worshipped throughout the three worlds and who is the giver of all fortune and the mother of Creation. All glories to You, o shelter of all living entities. O fulfiller of all desires, You are the wonderful energy of Lord Achyuta, who is maintaining the three worlds. You are the Supreme Goddess. O protector of the devotees, all glories to You. ”

“ Devi signifies ‘the goddess’ par excellence. She is often the tutelary goddess of the village and of the family, and is held to have been originally Mother Earth, which may be supposed to be correct. In tracts where the people of northern and southern India meet she is identified with Anna Pūrna, the corn-goddess of the Telugu country ”

“ Devi is usually venerated in her Incarnation of Marhai Māta, the goddess of smallpox and cholera—the most dreaded scourges of the Hindu villager. They offer goats and fowls to Marhai Devi, cutting the throat of the animal and letting its blood drop over the stone, which represents the goddess ”

“ And having performed the rites ordained, he struck himself with a sword a mighty blow upon his neck, so that his head, being separated from his body, rolled even to the pillared stem of the marble lotus upon which Devi sat.
Now after the wife and the dead man's friend had long waited vainly, the friend said: "Surely he hath been gone a great time; remain thou here while I go to bring him back!" So he went to the temple, and entering it beheld his friend's body lying in blood, and the severed head beneath the feet of Devi. And he said to his own heart: "Verily this world is hard to live in!... ”

“ Lyf said. "It's as true as the fact that I'm a Devi from Hel. Actually, my dear Miss Twilley, I had no intention of coming here even though your gateway appeared in my library. But I was intrigued enough to scan through it. And when I saw you at the other end, frightened, diseased, and friendless, I could not help feeling pity for you. You needed my help badly." He sighed. "Empathy is a Devi's weak point. ”

“ Yet for this alone, Âtma Devi might be useful to her in the immediate future; since she would need every atom of knowledge, every possible fulcrum, ere she could lay hands on the King's Luck. Aye! Âtma might help, though she was for the King; but that made it all the more imperative, all the more worthy skill, that she should be bent from her purpose, and be made unconsciously to work for the King's disadvantage.
So once more the whole vitality of the courtesan leapt up toward evil.
Woman against Woman! ”

“ The days most holy to Devi are the first nine days of the moon in the months of Chait and Kuâr. Some persons will fast in the name of Devi on the eighth lunar day (ashtami) of every month, and perform special ceremonies on that day. Sometimes they will light lamps of flour, and when a Brâhman has read the Devipâtha, will prostrate themselves before the lamps. Sometimes it is customary to distribute rice and sweetmeats on this day to unmarried girls; and goldsmiths will often close their shops in honour of the day. ”

“ In his incarnations of Rāma and Krishna there are temples to Vishnu in large villages and towns. Khermāta, the mother of the village, is the local form of Devi or the earth-goddess. She has a small hut and an image of Devi, either black or red. She is worshipped by a priest called Panda, who may be of any caste except the impure castes. The earth is worshipped in various ways. A man taking medicine for the first time in an illness sprinkles a few drops on the earth in its honour. ”

“ The caste worship the goddess Singhbāhani. or Devi riding on a tiger. They make an image of her in the most expensive metal they can afford, and worship it daily. They will on no account swear by this goddess. They worship [539] their trade implements on the day of the new moon in Chait (March) and Bhādon (August) . A trident, as a symbol of Devi, is then drawn with powdered rice and vermilion on the furnace for casting metal. A lamp is waved over the furnace and a cocoanut is broken and distributed to the caste-fellows, no outsider being allowed to be present. ”

“ They call on Devi, saying, ‘Maiji, Maiji Mata meri, kahe ko janam diya’ or ‘Mother, mother, why did you bring me into the world?’ Women who have no children sometimes vow to dedicate their first-born son as a Karohla, and it is said that such children were bound to sacrifice themselves to the goddess on attaining manhood in one of three ways. ”

“ The man who sells his goods, or fulfils his contract, is cheated if he fails to realise payment, but he who gives form to some ideal may never get his due and be fully paid. What I have felt in the women of India is the consciousness of this ideal—their simple faith in the sanctity of devotion lighted by love which is held to be divine. True womanliness is regarded in our country as the saintliness of love. It is not merely praised there, but literally worshipped; and she who is gifted with it is called Devi, as one revealing in herself Woman, the Divine. ”

“ A man who is travelling offers a little food to the earth before eating himself. Devi is sometimes considered to be one of seven sisters, but of the others only two are known, Marhai Devi, the goddess of cholera, and Sitala Devi, the goddess of smallpox. When an epidemic of cholera breaks out the Panda performs the following ceremony to avert it. He takes a kid and a small pig or chicken, and some cloth, cakes, glass bangles, vermilion, an earthen lamp, and some country liquor, which is sprinkled all along the way from where he starts to where he stops. ”

“ They are Hindus, not belonging to any particular sect, visiting no particular shrine, and worshipping no special saint. Their goddess is Devi, whom [84] they propitiate with an offering of goats. Their priests are Brâhmans of low social position. Their festivals are the Holi, the Janamashtami, on the eighth of the dark half of Bhâdon. They fast all day and eat at midnight. They observe the Diwâli, or feast of lamps, and the Shivrâtri, on the thirteenth of the dark half of Phâlgun, when they fast all day and night, and worship the idol of Siva. ”

“ Does she then reside in the heavens? The early Chaldæans and Phœnicians from their knowledge of the heavenly bodies fell at last to their worship. The Hindus as well as the other Arian nations have adored from time immemorial the heavenly luminaries as beings superior to man, and have from their supposed extraordinary influence adorned them with suitable attributes. In the heavens therefore we must seek for the Devi, for in the heavens we find the heavenly Virgin shining in full lustre and throwing light on the grand mystery of her origin. ”

“ Dewār.1— (Derived from Devi, whom they worship, or from Diābār, ‘One who lights a lamp,’ because they always practise magic with a lighted lamp.) A Dravidian caste of beggars and musicians. They numbered about 2500 persons [473] in 1911 and are residents of the Chhattīsgarh plain. The Dewārs themselves trace their origin from a Binjhia named Gopāl Rai, who accompanied Rāja Kalyān Sai of Ratanpur on a visit to the Court of Delhi in Akbār’s time. Gopāl Rai was a great wrestler, and while at Delhi he seized and held a mast elephant belonging to the Emperor. ”

“ The devi struggled and struggled, but could not move his brother-in-law. Then Asphurtzela attacked him, and buried him in the ground up to the neck. He took his bow and arrow, aimed at the devi, and cried out: ‘Tell me quickly what thou hast done with my brothers, or I shall shoot thee.’ The devi was afraid, and said: ‘Do not kill me and I shall tell thee. In my breast is a little coffer, in it they are lying dead ”

“ In the tenth chapter comes a peculiar hymn — for the sage is a woman — and it is dedicated to the one God who is at the background of all these gods. All the previous hymns are spoken in the third person, as if someone were addressing the deities. But this hymn takes a departure: God [as the Devi] is speaking for herself. The pronoun used is "I". "I am the Empress of the Universe, the Fulfiller of all prayers." (Vide “Devi Sukta”, Rig-Veda 10.125)
This is the first glimpse of women's work in the Vedas. ”

“ Another day a Mīyan or Musalmān ogled me, and forgive me, Devi, my looks encouraged him.’ If Devi is satisfied the sheep or buffalo shivers, and is then sacrificed and provides a feast for the caste.”28 On the other hand, Mr. Crooke states29 that in northern India, “The standard of morality is very low because in Muzaffarnagar it is extremely rare for a Bāwaria woman to live with her husband. Almost invariably she lives with another man: but the official husband is responsible for the children.” The great difference in the standard of morality is certainly surprising. ”

“ A man seldom, however, takes more than one wife, except for the sake of children.
[Contents]
3. Religion.
They worship the ordinary Hindu gods and especially [491] Devi, to whom they offer female kids. During the months of Baisākh and Jeth (April–June) those living in Betūl and Chhindwāra make a pilgrimage to the Nāg Deo or cobra god, who is supposed to have his seat somewhere on the border of the two Districts. Every third year they also take their cattle outside the village, and turning their faces in the direction of the Nāg Deo sprinkle a little water and kill goats and fowls. ”

“ Such, then, was the country, and such the Prince to whom Keshub Chunder Sen gave his daughter.
The Maharani Sunity Devi was born in 1864, being not quite fourteen at the time of her marriage, and still almost a child in years when she entered upon the duties of an exceptionally difficult position.
"The fierce light which beats upon a throne" often proves a great obstacle in the way of change and reform. ”

“ Birtiya is regarded as the special guardian of cattle. The only one of the regular pantheon, to whom they offer regular sacrifices, is the Vindhyabâsini Devi, of Vindhyâchal, to whom they occasionally sacrifice a goat. In other parts of the Province they seem, as a rule, to worship Devi. They are served by Brâhmans of all the ordinary priestly classes.
Worship of Kâsinâth. 25. To the east of the province the worship of Kâsinâth is very popular. In most of their villages there is a man who is supposed to be possessed by this deity, who is generally a young, strong man, who lets his hair grow. ”

“ If my nephew knew that his heir had filched his Luck from him----" and then suddenly she dissolved into tears, "Oh! Gulu! Gulu! beloved of thy father! why didst not think of this before, thou silly--old--fool?"
Umm Kulsum joined her in tears, only Âtma Devi sate calm, frowning. "Aye," she assented gravely, "I see. The Most High must never know. Therefore if the Beneficent Lady will give me the letter I will see it delivered, and when dark comes I can take the King's Luck to the place appointed."
Aunt Rosebody gave a sigh of relief. "Truly thou art not so bad, good red-woman. Ummu! ”

“ Woman-like, the bereaved Devi submits to the inevitable after a period of passionate mourning, and promises her heart and hand to the stronger if not more dexterous suitor on condition of his building a thousand temples in one night between the first crowing of the cock and daybreak. With the help of the gods of Jonggring Saloko he accomplishes the task, but at the moment that he whispers astaga [119] chandi Sewu, struck by the sight of the moonlit plain blossoming into a city of holiness, the immortals change him for his arrogant prayer into a monster of horrible aspect. ”

“ He came home, gave his mother the bristle, and again hastened out to the chase. His mother ran immediately to the devi, and said complainingly: ‘Ghvthisavari has returned unharmed, and has brought me the boar’s bristle.’ The devi replied: ‘Then go, again, pretend to be ill, and say to Ghvthisavari: “If thou wilt go to a certain place, where a certain griffin (phascundzi) lives, and bring me the flesh of its young, I shall be well; if not, I shall die.” ”