Water Deities of Hindus
(Compiled
for a discourse by N.R.Srinivasan, Nashville, TN, USA, January 2014)
Satapata Brahmana mentions twelve
Aadityas as Vedic deities. These are
Mitra (the friend), Varuna (one who encompasses and binds), Aryaman (the
destroyer of foes), Daksha (the skilful), Bhaga (the giver), Amsa (the liberal)
Tvastru (the shaper), Savitar (the vivifier), Poosan(the nourisher), Sakra (the
mighty), Vivasvat (the resplendent) and Vishnu (one who pervades). All the
deities mentioned in samhitas of the Vedas—Mitra, Varuna, Indra and so on—are
different names of the same Truth. So it is said in the Vedas: “Ekam sat vipraah
bahudaa vadnti” (the One Truth the pundits call by many names). Rigvedic mantra
says Agni is Brahman. Agni in his birth is called Varuna and when he is fully nourished and strong he is called Mitra
justifying the statement that One Supreme is called by many names (tvamagne
varunoe jaayase yatvam mitro bhavaci)—Rigveda V-3-1.
Varuna, the one who encompasses
the whole world is one of the oldest Vedic deities. He is associated with
clouds and water, rivers and ocean. He is sometimes clubbed with Mitra and
praised as Mitraavaruna. In mythological literature Varuna is described as the
presiding deity of the Western quarter and as the lord of ocean, water and
aquatic animals. He is considered one among the eight deities ruling over the
eight quarters of the universe (Ashta dikpalakas). Though invoked in all prayers in temple worship
Varuna is rarely worshiped directly. He is represented on the ceiling in the
chief pavilion (mahaamandapa ) of the temples of today. In some of the temples
in his iconic description he is depicted as riding on a crocodile. In two of
his four arms he holds the serpent and noose. Sometimes he is pictured as
riding in a chariot drawn by seven swans and holding lotus, the noose, the
conch and a vessel of gem in the four
hands. There is an umbrella over his head.
But why we have to worship
Varuna, who is considered as a separate deity today and also the guardian of
Western quarters and not directly Supreme Being, one may ask. In other
religions the one God is worshiped directly by all. Among us the highly
enlightened Sanyaasins (holy people) worship the Paramaatman directly. Others
have to please and propitiate the various deities and obtain well-being through
their blessings. It is to please the deities we perform a variety of
sacrifices. Paramaatman is the Supreme king-emperor. We, human beings, are his
subjects. Varuna, Agni, Vayu and such celestials are his officials. We have to
obtain a number of benefits through them and so we perform sacrifices with a
view to enhancing their power to do us good. We say “na mama’’ (not mine),
making the prayere universal, when we offer any material in the sacred
fire. Such an oblation is consumed by
Agni and conveyed to the celestial like Varuna (mythological deity), who is
thus invoked. It is thus they obtain
their sustenance. Vedas contain directions and mantras about how to propitiate
celestials as Vyaahritis (identitieas)of Brahman.
This earliest and most ancient
worship of Varuna as Brahman has now deeply penetrated into the religious minds
and hearts of Hindus as a separate deity. This can be seen in the
worship of the seven holy rivers where a
male deity Varuna is replaced by a female deity. It is all water worship.The
rivers are country’s life-line. Hindus look upon rivers as divinities,
goddesses of prosperity. Of all the
rivers in India no river has captivated the minds of the people more
than river Gangaa. A bath in Gangaa is a life-time’s ambition of a Hindu. No
religious act can be ceremoniously complete without its being used in some form
or the other. If it is not readily available she is invoked
by prayers to enter into the water and make her presence. A few drops of its
water poured into the mouth of a dying person will remove all the sins;
Immersion of the ashes of a dead person’s body in it is believed to give him
liberation. So, people even carry a sealed copper pot of Ganges water and keep
it safe for several years, to administer the dyeing person the holy water and to pray for the departing soul to reach heaven, wherever he is settled. anywhere on the globe. The credit goes to Bhagiratha who by
his prayers brought her down to earth from heaven to redeem the sins of 60000
sons of Sagara who were reduced to ashes, according to Puranas. Thus Gangaa is
considered to be heavenly abode on earth or ladder to heaven. Goddess Ganga is ceremoniously and gorgeously
worshipped every day during twilight period in Hardwar and Varanasi by Hindus
where the river flows.
Physical and spiritual cleanliness and
well-being... a striving to attain purity and avoid pollution is important to
all Hindus. This widespread aspiration lends itself to a reverence for water as
well as the integration of water into most Hindu rituals, as it is believed
that water has spiritually cleansing powers. Water represents the
"non-manifested substratum from which all manifestations derive and is considered by Hindus to be a
purifier, life-giver, and destroyer of evil. Every spring, the Ganges River
swells with water as snow melts in the Himalayas. The water brings life as
trees and flowers bloom and crops grow. This cycle of life is seen as a
metaphor for Hinduism. Milk and water are symbols of fertility, absence of
which can cause barrenness, sterility leading to death.
Water is very important for all
the rituals in Hinduism. Water is
essential for rituals --cleaning the vessels used for the poojas (rituals), and
for Abhishekas or bathing of Deities.
Water offered to the Deity and the water collected after bathing the
Deities are considered very sacred. This water is offered as “Theertha” or blessed
offering to the devotees. Poorna Kumbha
is an object symbolizing God and it is regularly used during different
religious rites. The water in the jar is said to be divine essence. Varuna
japa, mantras invoking the God Varuna are chanted to produce rains. Many of the
poojas in Hinduism start with keeping a Kalasa which is a brass, silver or gold
pot filled with water adorned with a coconut amid mango or other sacred leaves.
Kalasa symbolizes the universe and becomes an integral part of the Mandalic-liturgy
as it still forms an indispensable element of certain poojas in Hinduism. The
pot is the first mandala into which the Deities descend and raise themselves.
1.
Swami Harshananda, Hindu Gods and Goddesses,
Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India
2.
Swami Harshananda, Hindu Pilgrim centers,
Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India
3.
Jagadguru Chandrasekharananda Sarswati, Dharma,
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India
4.
Ananta Rangachar, Rigvedaratna Samputa, D.V.K. Murthy
Publishers, Mysore, India
[This discourse material is a compilation from the reference materials
above as well as other sources for a prepared lecture for delivering at Vedanta
Class of Sri Ganeha Temple which is gratefully acknowledged. These
lectures are posted on the blog
for the benefit of those who are not able to attend my lectures due to personal
reasons or due to not living in Nashville or able to go through the various
sources as I have done. They are free to
circulate the contents partly or wholly for wider circulation to spread
the wisdom of Vedas and scriptural values with or without any reference to my
name.]
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