Jyestha (goddess)
Encyclopedia
Jyestha or Jyeshtha is the Hindu
goddess
of inauspicious things and misfortune. She is regarded as the elder sister and antithesis of Lakshmi
, the goddess of good fortune and beauty.
Jyestha is associated with inauspicious places and sinners. She is associated with sloth, poverty, sorrow, ugliness and the crow. She is sometimes identified with Alakshmi
, another goddess of misfortune. Her worship was prescribed for women, who wished to keep her away from their homes.
Jyestha appears early in the Hindu tradition, as early as 300 BCE. Her worship was at its highest point in South India
in the 7th-8th century CE, but by the 10th century, her popularity waned pushing her into oblivion. Today, numerous ancient images of Jyestha still exist, though she is rarely worshipped.
such as Amshumadbhedagama, Suprabhedagama and Purvakarangama; Vishnudharmottara Purana
and other shorter references in Baudhayanagrhyasutra.
Jyestha is usually depicted as two-armed. Her nose is long and prominent to the extent that she is sometimes called elephant-faced. Jyestha is described as having "large pendulous breasts descending as far as her navel, with a flabby belly, thick thighs, raised nose, hanging lower lip, and is in colour as ink." Her large stomach is described to support her swollen pendulous breasts. Her complexion is black or red. She wears blue-black or red garments. She is often depicted seated comfortably on a throne with her legs hanging down and her feet on the ground.
According to textual descriptions, Jyestha holds a blue or white lotus in her right hand. A water-pot is held in her left hand or placed near her throne or placed in the hand that makes the abhaya mudra
- gesture of protection. Her left hand usually rests on her seat or on her thigh. Sometimes, Jyestha holds a broom, in her hand.
Jyestha wears different ornaments and a tilaka
mark on her forehead, a sign of married status. Her hair is usually braided and piled on top of her head or wound around her head in the hairstyle called vasikabandha.
Jyestha has a banner depicting a crow, and is popularly called "crow-bannered" (Kakkaikkodiyal) in Tamil
. A group of two attendant goddesses sometimes stand beside her, usually carrying a crow and a bundle of sticks which is used as a broom. Sometimes a crow stands next to her. Jyestha is often depicted with two attendants, identified sometimes as her son and daughter. The man is bull-faced and holds a rope or cord. The woman is depicted as a beautiful damsel with a conical crown.
Though Jyestha is almost never depicted astride on a mount
, she is described in most texts as riding a donkey like Alakshmi. In other texts, she is drawn in a chariot by lions or followed by tigers or astride a camel or lion.
. She is usually born when poison
streams from the ocean, while Lakshmi - her antithesis, the goddess of good fortune - is born when the elixir of life
emerges.
In Padma Purana
, when the churning of the ocean commences, poison first appears from the ocean. It is swallowed by god Shiva
and then Jyestha appears from the ocean, wearing red garments. When she asks the gods what she is supposed to do, she is ordered to dwell in inauspicious places. She is described to bring sorrow and poverty. She is said dwell in houses with quarrel, where liars use harsh language, where evil and sinful men live, where there is long hair, skulls, bones, ashes or charcoal (signs of an unorthodox mendicant).
According to the Linga Purana
, god Vishnu
divides the world into the good and the bad. He creates Lakshmi (Sri) and Jyestha, both born from the churning of the cosmic ocean. While Lakshmi marries Vishnu, Jyestha is married to sage Dussaha. The sage soon discovers that his ugly wife can not tolerate the sound or sight of any auspicious things and complains to Vishnu or sage Markendeya (in some versions) - about this. Vishnu/Markendeya recommends Dussaha to take Jyestha only to inauspicious places. Jyestha is described to stay away from religious people. Jyestha then earns the epithet Alakshmi
, "one who is inauspicious". She dwells in places where "family members quarrel and elders eat food while disregarding the hunger of their children". She is described to comfortable in company of false mendicants, naked Jain monks and Buddhists, who were considered as heretics by Hindus. Eventually tiring of her anti-social nature, Dussaha abandons Jyestha in a place where non-Vedic
(heretical) rituals are performed. She then approaches Vishnu for relief. Vishnu decreed that Jyestha would be sustained by offerings of women.
According to Kamba Ramayana, during the churning of the cosmic ocean Jyestha appears from the cosmic ocean. The Hindu trinity - the Trimurti
find her and order her to live in inauspicious places. As Jyestha emerged before Lakshmi
- the goddess of good fortune from the cosmic ocean, Jyestha is considered the elder sister of Lakshmi. Thus, Jyestha is also called Mudevi or Mudhevi.
Shaiva Puranas
extol her as one of eight portions of the Supreme Goddess (Parashakti), who regulates human lives in different ways.
(constellation) - Jyestha
, which inherits the negative qualities of the goddess. If a bride enters a household in the Jyestha constellation, then her eldest brother-in-law is believed to die.
According to Leslie, as Jyestha is described as elephant-faced and invoked to remove obstacles, a role akin to the elephant-headed god Ganesha
, Jyestha could be precursor of Ganesha. In some parts of India, she is identified with Sitala
, the goddess of small pox. The lotus, the abhaya mudra and her relationship with Lakshmi associate her with the Vaishnava (related to Vishnu) pantheon. Her terrifying aspects and her association with Shaktism suggest a Shaiva (related to god Shiva
) connection. The crow - the symbol of bad luck - links her deities like Nirriti and Yama
. Kinsley associates Jyestha with Dhumavati
, a widow goddess, part of the Tantric
Mahavidya
goddess group. Like Jyestha, Dhumavati is dark, ugly and is associated with the crow. Also like Jyestha, she dwells in quarrels, inauspicious places, and has a bad temper. Lakshmana Desika, the commentator on the Saradatilaka-Tantra, identifies Dhumavati with Jyestha.
While Jyestha does not fit in the class of saumya benevolent Hindu goddesses with beautiful bodies, she is a contrast to other class of the fierce (ugra) Hindu goddesses with terrible features, emaciated bodies and malevolent qualities. Jyestha is often described ugly. As the "goddess of sloth", Jyesth's ugliness and obesity streams from her laziness. She is merely inauspicious and troublesome, but not terrifying.
. As Shaktism
spread, her fame slowly declined. The Vaishnava Alvar
saint Thondaradippodi Alvar
, dated between 7th to 9th century, comments on number of "foolish devotees" who worship this goddess, who keeps away from the truth. He decreed that it was useless to worship her. By the 10th century, her worship more or less ceased.
Jyestha's images are rarely worshipped today. They are kept unrecognized in neglected corners in temples or thrown out of temples. Where they are still recognized, they are objects of fear. In a temple in Uttaramerur, the Jyestha image is kept with the face towards the ground. The mere glance of the goddess is believed to bring death on the village.
However, at the height of the popularity, Jyestha was a goddess, who needs to propitiated by a good wife daily. The Stridharmapaddhati declares that a wife must offer food offerings to Jyestha before having her own meal. One who does not do so would end up in hell after death; but the one who follows this routine would be blessed with progeny and prosperity. A text named Bodhayana Sutra also elaborates on the worship of Jyestha. As per the legend in the Linga Purana, it is believed that the women of houses that please the goddess by offerings can keep her away from their homes.
The 13th century Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri prime minister Hemadri, who wrote a book on religious vows and fasts, notes that Jyestha should be worshipped by a male devotee to bring fortune to his wife and progeny. The Saradatilaka-Tantra describes that in Tantric ritual, Jyestha is worshipped to cause enmity between friends (Vidvesa). Jyestha as the presiding deity of Vidvesa, was invoked before the start of the rituals.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
goddess
Devi
Devī is the Sanskrit word for Goddess, used mostly in Hinduism, its related masculine term is deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents...
of inauspicious things and misfortune. She is regarded as the elder sister and antithesis of Lakshmi
Lakshmi
Lakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
, the goddess of good fortune and beauty.
Jyestha is associated with inauspicious places and sinners. She is associated with sloth, poverty, sorrow, ugliness and the crow. She is sometimes identified with Alakshmi
Alakshmi
Alakshmi is the older sister of Lakshmi and the Hindu goddess of misfortune. She is also the second wife of Kali, the male demon from the Kalki Purana and the Mahabharata.-Background:...
, another goddess of misfortune. Her worship was prescribed for women, who wished to keep her away from their homes.
Jyestha appears early in the Hindu tradition, as early as 300 BCE. Her worship was at its highest point in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
in the 7th-8th century CE, but by the 10th century, her popularity waned pushing her into oblivion. Today, numerous ancient images of Jyestha still exist, though she is rarely worshipped.
Description and Iconography
Texts that elaborate on the iconography of Jyestha are: AgamasĀgama (Hinduism)
Agama means, in the Hindu context, "a traditional doctrine, or system which commands faith".In Hinduism, the Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit scriptures which are revered and followed by millions of Hindus.-Significance:...
such as Amshumadbhedagama, Suprabhedagama and Purvakarangama; Vishnudharmottara Purana
Vishnudharmottara Purana
The Vishnudharmottara Purana is a Hindu text, encyclopedic in nature. Along with the narratives, it also deals with cosmology, cosmogony, geography, astronomy, astrology, division of time, pacification of unfavourbale planets and stars, genealogies , manners and customs, penances, duties of...
and other shorter references in Baudhayanagrhyasutra.
Jyestha is usually depicted as two-armed. Her nose is long and prominent to the extent that she is sometimes called elephant-faced. Jyestha is described as having "large pendulous breasts descending as far as her navel, with a flabby belly, thick thighs, raised nose, hanging lower lip, and is in colour as ink." Her large stomach is described to support her swollen pendulous breasts. Her complexion is black or red. She wears blue-black or red garments. She is often depicted seated comfortably on a throne with her legs hanging down and her feet on the ground.
According to textual descriptions, Jyestha holds a blue or white lotus in her right hand. A water-pot is held in her left hand or placed near her throne or placed in the hand that makes the abhaya mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
- gesture of protection. Her left hand usually rests on her seat or on her thigh. Sometimes, Jyestha holds a broom, in her hand.
Jyestha wears different ornaments and a tilaka
Tilaka
200px|thumb|right|Indian woman with tilaka and [[Bindi |bindi]]In Hinduism, the tilaka or tika or tilak is a mark worn on the forehead and other parts of the body...
mark on her forehead, a sign of married status. Her hair is usually braided and piled on top of her head or wound around her head in the hairstyle called vasikabandha.
Jyestha has a banner depicting a crow, and is popularly called "crow-bannered" (Kakkaikkodiyal) in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
. A group of two attendant goddesses sometimes stand beside her, usually carrying a crow and a bundle of sticks which is used as a broom. Sometimes a crow stands next to her. Jyestha is often depicted with two attendants, identified sometimes as her son and daughter. The man is bull-faced and holds a rope or cord. The woman is depicted as a beautiful damsel with a conical crown.
Though Jyestha is almost never depicted astride on a mount
Vahana
Vāhana denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular deva is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's mount. Upon the partnership between the deva and his vāhana is woven much iconography and mythology...
, she is described in most texts as riding a donkey like Alakshmi. In other texts, she is drawn in a chariot by lions or followed by tigers or astride a camel or lion.
Legends
Most Hindu legends narrate about Jyestha's birth during the churning of the cosmic oceanSamudra manthan
In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas...
. She is usually born when poison
Halahala
Halāhala or Kalakootam is the name of a poison created from the sea when Devas and Asuras churned the sea in order to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortality.Fourteen different ratnas were recovered in this exercise mostly retained by Gods after Demons tried to cheat...
streams from the ocean, while Lakshmi - her antithesis, the goddess of good fortune - is born when the elixir of life
Amrit
Amrit, also known as Marathos or Marathus, was an ancient city located near Tartous in Syria. It was founded during the Amorites period, 3rd millennium BC....
emerges.
In Padma Purana
Padma Purana
Padma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts.In the first part of the text, sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...
, when the churning of the ocean commences, poison first appears from the ocean. It is swallowed by god Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and then Jyestha appears from the ocean, wearing red garments. When she asks the gods what she is supposed to do, she is ordered to dwell in inauspicious places. She is described to bring sorrow and poverty. She is said dwell in houses with quarrel, where liars use harsh language, where evil and sinful men live, where there is long hair, skulls, bones, ashes or charcoal (signs of an unorthodox mendicant).
According to the Linga Purana
Linga Purana
The Linga Purana is one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text. The extant text is divided into two parts, comprising 108 and 55 chapters respectively. These parts contain the description regarding the origin of universe, origin of the linga, and emergence of Brahma and Vishnu, and...
, god Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
divides the world into the good and the bad. He creates Lakshmi (Sri) and Jyestha, both born from the churning of the cosmic ocean. While Lakshmi marries Vishnu, Jyestha is married to sage Dussaha. The sage soon discovers that his ugly wife can not tolerate the sound or sight of any auspicious things and complains to Vishnu or sage Markendeya (in some versions) - about this. Vishnu/Markendeya recommends Dussaha to take Jyestha only to inauspicious places. Jyestha is described to stay away from religious people. Jyestha then earns the epithet Alakshmi
Alakshmi
Alakshmi is the older sister of Lakshmi and the Hindu goddess of misfortune. She is also the second wife of Kali, the male demon from the Kalki Purana and the Mahabharata.-Background:...
, "one who is inauspicious". She dwells in places where "family members quarrel and elders eat food while disregarding the hunger of their children". She is described to comfortable in company of false mendicants, naked Jain monks and Buddhists, who were considered as heretics by Hindus. Eventually tiring of her anti-social nature, Dussaha abandons Jyestha in a place where non-Vedic
Vedic
Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...
(heretical) rituals are performed. She then approaches Vishnu for relief. Vishnu decreed that Jyestha would be sustained by offerings of women.
According to Kamba Ramayana, during the churning of the cosmic ocean Jyestha appears from the cosmic ocean. The Hindu trinity - the Trimurti
Trimurti
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
find her and order her to live in inauspicious places. As Jyestha emerged before Lakshmi
Lakshmi
Lakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
- the goddess of good fortune from the cosmic ocean, Jyestha is considered the elder sister of Lakshmi. Thus, Jyestha is also called Mudevi or Mudhevi.
Shaiva Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
extol her as one of eight portions of the Supreme Goddess (Parashakti), who regulates human lives in different ways.
Associations
Jyestha denotes the negatives of a Hindu wife, while Lakshmi denotes the positives. Jyestha is also associated with the senior wife - who is also called Jyestha in Sanskrit - in a polygamous family. She is also associated with her namesake nakshatraNakshatra
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...
(constellation) - Jyestha
Jyeshtha (nakshatra)
Jyeshtha is the 18th nakshatra or lunar mansion in Vedic astrology associated with the heart of the constellation Scorpii , and the stars α , σ, and τ ....
, which inherits the negative qualities of the goddess. If a bride enters a household in the Jyestha constellation, then her eldest brother-in-law is believed to die.
According to Leslie, as Jyestha is described as elephant-faced and invoked to remove obstacles, a role akin to the elephant-headed god Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
, Jyestha could be precursor of Ganesha. In some parts of India, she is identified with Sitala
Sitala
Sitala is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae. Sitala is the type genus of Sitalinae, that is a synonym of Durgellini.-Species:Species within the genus Sitala include:...
, the goddess of small pox. The lotus, the abhaya mudra and her relationship with Lakshmi associate her with the Vaishnava (related to Vishnu) pantheon. Her terrifying aspects and her association with Shaktism suggest a Shaiva (related to god Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
) connection. The crow - the symbol of bad luck - links her deities like Nirriti and Yama
Yama (Hinduism)
Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
. Kinsley associates Jyestha with Dhumavati
Dhumavati
Dhumavati is one of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten Tantric goddesses. Dhumavati represents the fearsome aspect of Devi, the Hindu Divine Mother. She is often portrayed as an old, ugly widow, and is associated with things considered inauspicious and unattractive in Hinduism, such as the crow and...
, a widow goddess, part of the Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
Mahavidya
Mahavidya
Mahavidyas or DashaMahavidyas are a group of ten aspects of the Divine Mother or Devi in Hinduism. The Ten Mahavidyas are Wisdom Goddesses, who represent a spectrum of feminine divinity, from horrific goddesses at one end, to the ravishingly beautiful at the other.The development of Mahvidyas...
goddess group. Like Jyestha, Dhumavati is dark, ugly and is associated with the crow. Also like Jyestha, she dwells in quarrels, inauspicious places, and has a bad temper. Lakshmana Desika, the commentator on the Saradatilaka-Tantra, identifies Dhumavati with Jyestha.
While Jyestha does not fit in the class of saumya benevolent Hindu goddesses with beautiful bodies, she is a contrast to other class of the fierce (ugra) Hindu goddesses with terrible features, emaciated bodies and malevolent qualities. Jyestha is often described ugly. As the "goddess of sloth", Jyesth's ugliness and obesity streams from her laziness. She is merely inauspicious and troublesome, but not terrifying.
Worship
Jyestha appears early in the Hindu tradition. She first appears in the Baudhayanagrhyasutra, which is dated to 300 to 600 BCE. Many images of her still exist, usually on outskirts of villages. During the seventh and eighth century, she was a popular goddess in South IndiaSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. As Shaktism
Shaktism
Shaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
spread, her fame slowly declined. The Vaishnava Alvar
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
saint Thondaradippodi Alvar
Thondaradippodi Alvar
Thondaradippodi Alvar or Bhaktanghri renu swami was a Tamil Vaishnava Saint who is also named as "Vipra Narayanar" led his life in devotion to Lord Narayana and worked for the Perumal by dedicating him with Garlands...
, dated between 7th to 9th century, comments on number of "foolish devotees" who worship this goddess, who keeps away from the truth. He decreed that it was useless to worship her. By the 10th century, her worship more or less ceased.
Jyestha's images are rarely worshipped today. They are kept unrecognized in neglected corners in temples or thrown out of temples. Where they are still recognized, they are objects of fear. In a temple in Uttaramerur, the Jyestha image is kept with the face towards the ground. The mere glance of the goddess is believed to bring death on the village.
However, at the height of the popularity, Jyestha was a goddess, who needs to propitiated by a good wife daily. The Stridharmapaddhati declares that a wife must offer food offerings to Jyestha before having her own meal. One who does not do so would end up in hell after death; but the one who follows this routine would be blessed with progeny and prosperity. A text named Bodhayana Sutra also elaborates on the worship of Jyestha. As per the legend in the Linga Purana, it is believed that the women of houses that please the goddess by offerings can keep her away from their homes.
The 13th century Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri prime minister Hemadri, who wrote a book on religious vows and fasts, notes that Jyestha should be worshipped by a male devotee to bring fortune to his wife and progeny. The Saradatilaka-Tantra describes that in Tantric ritual, Jyestha is worshipped to cause enmity between friends (Vidvesa). Jyestha as the presiding deity of Vidvesa, was invoked before the start of the rituals.