Nirṛti () sometimes spelled Nirruti or Nirriti, is a
Hindu deity
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist.Julius J. Lipne ...
, personifying death, decay, and sorrow. In
early Hindu scriptures, Nirṛti is a
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
who lives in the kingdom of the dead. In later Hinduism, Nirṛti and Nirṛta is also a
male god, who is regarded as a
dikapala
The Guardians of the Directions (, ) are the deities who rule the specific directions of space according to Hinduism, Jainism and '' '' Buddhism—especially . As a group of eight deities, they are called (अष्ट-दिक्पाल), li ...
("guardian of the directions") of the southwest.
Etymology
The Sanskrit word ''Nirṛti'' means 'decay' and is derived from ''nirṛ'' (lit. 'to separate'). It can be interpreted as meaning "devoid of ''
ṛta/i''", a state of disorder or chaos.
[Witzel, Michael. “Macrocosm, Mesocosm, and Microcosm: The Persistent Nature of 'Hindu' Beliefs and Symbolic Forms.” International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 1, no. 3, 1997, pp. 501–539. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20106493. Accessed 10 Mar. 2020.]
The name ' has the meaning of "absence of ṛta", meaning 'disorder', or 'lawlessness', specifically the guardian to the absence of divine or cosmic disorder.
This term was used in Vedic texts to indicate a realm of non-existence and absolute darkness, which threatened to consume those who failed in their duties to sacrifice and procreate. In ''nirṛti'', there was no light, no food, and no children: none of the necessary elements of Vedic life and ritual.
Goddess
Nirṛti is mentioned in the hymns of the ''
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...
'', mostly to seek protection from her or imploring for her during a possible departure. In one hymn (X.59), she is mentioned several times. This hymn, after summing up her nature, also asks for her departure from the sacrificial site. In the ''
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...
'' (V.7.9), she is described as having golden locks. In the ''
Taittiriya Brahmana'' (I.6.1.4), Nirṛtī is described as dark, dressed in dark clothes and her sacrificial shares are dark husks. In the sacred ''
Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana (, , abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Yajurveda, Śukla Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the ...
'' (X.1.2.9), she is associated with the southwest quarter as her region. But elsewhere in the same text (V.2.3.3.) she is mentioned as living in the kingdom of the dead.
[Kinsley, David (1987, reprint 2005). ''Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, , p.13]
In later Hindu texts, Nirṛti was re-conceptualized as a deity. According to some texts, she is the wife of
Adharma
Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of dharma. It means "that which is not in accord with the dharma". Connotations include betrayal, discord, disharmony, unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, unrighteousness, wickedness, and vice.
Descriptio ...
(not-''
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
'') that signifies an important component of
Prakriti
Prakriti ( ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by the ''Samkhya'' school, where it does not refer merely to matter or nature, but includes all cog ...
for the
Purusha
''Purusha'' (, ʊɾʊʂᵊ ) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic being or self, awareness, and universal principle.Karl Potter, Presupposit ...
who dwell in forests and the mother of three
rakshasa
Rākshasa (, , ; ; "preservers") are a race of usually malevolent beings prominently featured in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Folk Islam. They reside on Earth but possess supernatural powers, which they usually use for evil acts such as ...
s—
Mrityu (death), Bhaya (fear) and Mahabhaya (terror)—who were collectively referred to as Nairrita.
Other texts portray her as the daughter of Adharma and Himsa (violence, the opposite of
Ahimsa
(, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
(also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...
); she married her brother—Arita (not ''
ṛta
In the Historical Vedic religion, Vedic religion, ''Ṛta'' (International Phonetic Alphabet, /ɹ̩t̪ɐ/; Sanskrit ' "order, rhythm, rule; truth; logos") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the un ...
'') and became the mother of
Naraka
Naraka () is the realm of hell in Indian religions. According to schools of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, ''Naraka'' is a place of torment. The word ''Neraka'' (modification of ''Naraka'') in Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malaysian langu ...
(personification of the hell) and Bhaya.
In the ''Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...
'', he is presented as Aprajaḥ (one without children) who takes Adharma and Mṛṣā (untruth), two of Brahma's sons or creations, as adopted sons. Some texts identify Nirṛti with other inauspicious goddess, Jyeshtha Jyeshtha may refer to:
* Jyeshtha (month), month of the Hindu calendar
* Jyestha (goddess), Hindu goddess of adversity and misfortune
* Jyeshtha (nakshatra), the 18th nakshatra (lunar mansion) in Hindu astronomy and Vedic astrology
See also
* Jye� ...
or Alakshmi. In this context, she is described to have emerged from the Samudra Manthan
The Samudra Manthana () is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita.
Nomenclature
*Sāgara manthana (साग� ...
a (the churning of the ocean).
Dikpala
According to some scholars and authors, the goddess Nirṛti transformed into a male in later Hindu mythology and became a '' dikpala''. Nirṛti is regarded as the guardian of the southwest direction.
Nirṛti is sometimes included as one of the rudras
Rudras refer to the forms of the god Rudra, whose traditions have since been associated with lord Shiva. They make up eleven of the thirty-three gods in the Vedic pantheon.Hopkins pp. 172-3 They are at times identified with the storm deities ref ...
and described as the son of Sthanu. Varying descriptions of the god Nirṛti are found in different scriptures. According to the Agamas
Religion
*Āgama (Buddhism), a collection of Early Buddhist texts
*Āgama (Hinduism), scriptures of several Hindu sects
*Jain literature (Jain Āgamas), various canonical scriptures in Jainism
Other uses
* ''Agama'' (lizard), a genus of lizards ...
, Nirrti is dark-skinned with a large body and draped in yellow garments. His vahana
''Vāhana'' () or ''vahanam'' () denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular Hindus, Hindu deity is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's "mount". Upon the partnership b ...
is either a man or a lion. 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 topics in the traditions of Hinduism. It is included in ...
'' states that Nirṛti has a terrific appearance with ill-looking eyes, gaping mouth, and exposed teeth. The same scripture also gives a varying account that Nirṛti's vahana is a donkey and he holds a ''danda
In Indic scripts, the daṇḍa (Sanskrit: दण्ड ' "stick") is a punctuation mark. The glyph consists of a single vertical stroke.
Use
The daṇḍa marks the end of a sentence or line, comparable to a full stop (period) as commonly us ...
'' in his hands. ''The Vishnudharmottara Purana'' also mentions that Nirṛti has four consorts named Devi, Krishnangi, Krishavandana and Krishnapasha. According to the scripture ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana
The Devi Bhagavata Purana (, '), also known as the Devi Purana or simply Devi Bhagavatam, is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas as per Shiva Purana of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit by Veda Vyasa, the text is considered a major purana for Devi ...
'', Nirṛti resides in a city named Krishnajana, which is located in the southwestern part of Mount Meru
Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...
. The city is said to have an area of 2500 ''yojanas
A yojana (Devanagari: योजन; Khmer language: យោជន៍; ; ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Various textual sources from ancient India define Yojana as ranging from 3.5 to 15& ...
''.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nirrti
Hindu goddesses
Death goddesses
Hindu gods
Lokapala
Rigvedic deities