Matrikas

Matrika
Goddesses of War, Children and Emancipation.[1]
The Seven Mother Goddesses (Matrikas) flanked by Shiva (left) and Ganesha (right)
Devanagariमातृका
Sanskrit transliterationmātṝkā
AffiliationShakti, Devi, Mahadevi
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Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṝkā, lit. "mothers")[2] also called Matar or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses who are always depicted together in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group of seven, the Saptamatrika(s) (Seven Mothers).[3] However, they are also depicted as a group of eight, the Ashtamatrika(s).[4] In the Brihat Samhita, Varahamihira says that "Mothers are to be made with cognizance of (different major Hindu) gods corresponding to their names."[5] They are associated with these gods as their spouses or their energies (Shaktis).[6] Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from Indra, Kaumari from Kartikeya, Varahi from Varaha and Chamunda from Chandi.[7] and additionals are Narasimhi from Narasimha and Vinayaki from Ganesha.

Originally believed to be a personification of the seven stars of the star cluster the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century and a standard feature of goddess temples from the ninth century onwards.[8] In South India, Saptamatrika worship is prevalent whereas the Ashtamatrika are venerated in Nepal, among other places.[9]

The Matrikas assume paramount significance in the goddess-oriented sect of Hinduism, Tantrism.[10] In Shaktism, they are described as "assisting the great Shakta Devi (goddess) in her fight with demons."[11] Some scholars consider them Shaiva goddesses.[12] They are also connected with the worship of warrior god Skanda.[13] In most early references, the Matrikas are associated with the conception, birth, diseases and protection of children.[14] They were seen as inauspicious[15] and the "personification of perils", propitiated in order to avoid those ills, that carried off so many children before they reached adulthood.[14] They come to play a protective role in later mythology, although some of their early inauspicious and wild characteristics continue in these legends.[15] Thus, they represent the prodigiously fecund aspect of nature as well as its destructive force aspect.[6]

  1. ^ Wangu 2003, p. 99.
  2. ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1872). Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Clarendon. p. 765. matrika
  3. ^ Berkson 1992, p. 134.
  4. ^ "Mantras to the Aṣṭamātṛkās". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  5. ^ Brihat Samhita, Ch.57, v.56. Panda, S. S. (September 2004). "Sakti Cult in Upper Mahanadi Valley" (PDF). Orissa Review. Government of Orissa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  6. ^ a b Jain & Handa 1995, p. 162
  7. ^ Leeming, David; Fee, Christopher (2016). The Goddess: Myths of the Great Mother. Reaktion Books. p. part 33. ISBN 9781780235387.
  8. ^ Wangu 2003, p. 187, Glossary.
  9. ^ Van den Hoek 1993, p. 362.
  10. ^ Wangu 2003, p. 41
  11. ^ Bhattacharyya 1974, p. 126.
  12. ^ Wangu 2003, p. 75
  13. ^ Collins 1988, p. 143.
  14. ^ a b Wangu 2003, pp. 58–59.
  15. ^ a b Kinsley 1998, p. 151.