Mauryan punch-marked coin with three deities 4th-2nd century BCE

Ekanamsha ( sa, एकानंशा; ) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

Yogamaya Yogamaya (), also venerated as Vindhyavasini, Mahamaya, and Ekanamsha, is a Hindu goddess. In Vaishnava tradition, she is accorded the epithet Narayani, and serves as the personification of Vishnu's powers of illusion. The deity is regarded ...

. The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the

Vrishni The Vrishnis (Brahmi: ''vri-shņi'') were an ancient Vedic Indian clan who were believed to be the descendants of Vrishni. It is believed that Vrishni was the son of Satvata, a descendant of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari an ...

s. Many "kinship triads", depicting

Vasudeva Krishna According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

Balarama Balarama (Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: ''Balarāma'') is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Balad ...

, and their sister Ekanamsha have been found in the

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

region, which are stylistically dated to the early centuries of the Common era. She is believed to have also reincarnated as the goddess

Subhadra Subhadra ( sa, सुभद्रा, Subhadrā) is a Hindu goddess mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures like the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Bhagavata Purana''. She is described as the favourite child of Vasudeva and the younger sister of de ...

, the daughter of

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

and Rohini.

Etymology

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, Ekanamsha means "the single, portionless one", and is a name of the new moon. Another interpretation of her name is that the goddess Yogamaya came to be known as Ekanaṃsha because she was born of one part (''aṃśa'') of Vishnu himself.

Literature

Harivamsa

According to S. C. Mukherji, a modern scholar, in the

Harivamsa The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to ...

, Ekanamsha is identified as a ''

shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...

'' of Vishnu as the goddess of

Ekadasi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of each of the two lunar phases which occur in an Vedic calendar month - the '' Shukla Pakṣa'' (the period of the brightening moon also known as the waxing phase) and the ''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa ...

, having descended as the daughter of

Nanda Nanda may refer to: Indian history and religion * Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE ** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire ** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...

to protect the baby

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

from

Kamsa Kamsa ( sa, कंस, Kaṃsa, translit-std=IAST) was the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, with its capital at Mathura. He is variously described in Hindu literature as either a human or an asura; The Puranas describe him as an asura, whi ...

. In the Harivamsa, she is represented as sister of

, due to which she is offered the epithets Vimala Devi and Yogamaya.

Vishnudharmottara Purana

The

Vishnudharmottara Purana The Vishnudharmottara Purana (or the ''Vishnudharmottara'') is a Hindu Sanskrit text in the '' Upapuranas'' genre. Like the ''Mahapuranas'', it is also encyclopedic covering a wide range of secular and religious topics in the traditions of Hinduis ...

describes the deity as Gandhari (the power of illusion pertaining to Vishnu), and this Gandhari represents the deities Dhrti, Kirti, Pusti, Sraddha,

Sarasvati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

Gayatri Gayatri (Sanskrit: गायत्री, IAST:Gāyatrī) is the personified form of the Gayatri Mantra, a popular hymn from Vedic texts. She is also known as Savitri, and bears the epithet of ''Vedamata'' (mother of the Vedas). Gayatri is ofte ...

, and

Kalaratri Kalaratri (sometimes spelled Kaalratri) is the seventh of the nine Navadurga forms of the mother Goddess Mahadevi. She is first referenced in the Devi Mahatmya. Kalaratri is one of the fearsome forms of the Mother Goddess. It is not uncommon t ...

Brahmavaivarta Purana

According to the

Brahmavaivarta Purana The ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; ) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (''Maha-purana'') of Hinduism. It is an important Vaishnavism text. This Purana majorly centers aroun ...

, Ekanamsha was the daughter of Nanda and

Yashoda Yashoda ( sa, यशोदा, translit=Yaśodā) is the foster-mother of Krishna and the wife of Nanda Baba, Nanda. She is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the wife of Nanda Baba, Nanda, the chieftain of Gokul, Gokulam, and the siste ...

, who was taken away by Vasudeva. When Kamsa tried to kill her, she transformed into the goddess Yogamaya, also known by the epithet Durga. Though in other versions the baby girl is carried to the Vindhya mountains, in this text, she stays with Vasudeva and Devaki. Later, when

marries his chief consort,

Rukmini Rukmini ( sa, रुक्मिणी, , ) is a Hindu goddess and the first queen and chief wife of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. She is an inc ...

, she is sent with

Durvasa In Hindu scriptures, Durvasa ( sa, दुर्वासा, ) also known as Durvasas (Sanskrit: दुर्वासस्), is a legendary rishi (sage). He is the son of Anasuya and Atri. According to some Puranas, Durvasa is a partial avata ...

to protect and help him.Brahmavaivarta Purana Sri-Krishna-Janma Khanda (Fourth Canto) 7th Chapter English translation by Shantilal Nagar Parimal Publications Link: https://archive.org/details/brahma-vaivarta-purana-all-four-kandas-english-translation

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Hindu goddesses People related to Krishna