Devalok
God · All traditions · Pan-India

Ushas

Also called: Usha, Dawn, Divo Duhita, Maghoni

The Dawn, the most celebrated goddess of the Rigveda, with about twenty hymns. Daughter of the Sky and sister of Night, she drives up in the east in a shining cart drawn by red horses or red cows, opens the doors of the sky, wakes every creature and has the fires lit. The Sun follows her as wife or beloved, and she is called Mother of the Cows. One hymn says Indra once shattered her cart. After the Vedas she has no myth or temple of her own; the dawn offering of the Chhath festival is named for her.

dawn light awakening time

Sources: Hymns of the Rigveda, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (1896), hymns read for the Vedic layer; Vedic Mythology, A. A. Macdonell (1897) · see Ushas's web

Relations 7

Ushas sibling of

  • Ratri (God)
    Night sets her sister Dawn in her place; Dawn drives off her sister Night.
  • Bhaga (God)
    Dawn is the sister of the Aditya Bhaga (RV 1.123.5).
  • The Ashvins (God)
    The sister of the Ashvins (RV 1.180.2) seems to be Dawn, says Macdonell.

Ushas rival of

  • Indra (God)
    Indra struck Dawn, the daughter of the Sky; her cart lay broken in the river Vipash and she fled (RV 4.30.8-11).
  • Indra (God) · Indra breaks Dawn's cart
    Indra shatters Dawn's cart; in other verses he is said to have produced or lit the dawns.

Ushas child of

  • Dyaus (God)
    Dawn is constantly called the daughter of Heaven; about three quarters of the genitive uses of Dyaus name her.

Ushas consort of

  • Surya (God)
    Dawn is called the wife of Surya; because she comes before him she is at times thought of as his mother.

Stories 8

Cited