Devalok
Legend · 3 tellings · Pan-India

Night colours the unborn Parvati

Who is in it

  • Ratri the Night sent into the unborn child
  • Brahma plans it and rewards her
  • Parvati the child made dark who later turns golden
  • Mena the sleeping mother
  • Shiva teases Parvati about her colour
  • Taraka the demon the plan is aimed at
  • Kaushiki the dark goddess who steps out

Places: Vindhya mountains

The story, beat by beat

  1. The gods cannot defeat Taraka; only Shiva's son can.
  2. Brahma calls to mind Ratri, born from his own body.
  3. He tells her to enter Mena's womb and make the child dark.
  4. He promises she will later be worshipped as Ekanamsha.
  5. Ratri enters the sleeping Mena by the mouth and colours the embryo.
  6. Parvati is born at an auspicious hour.
  7. Teased by Shiva for her dark colour, Parvati does penance and asks Brahma for a golden colour.
  8. Her dark skin separates and becomes the goddess Ratri, three-eyed, with a bell.
  9. Brahma gives her the lion born of Parvati's anger and sends her to the Vindhya; she is called Kaushiki.

night colour birth penance

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Matsya Purana 154 and 157

Pan-India All traditions

After the gods leave, Brahma remembers Ratri, who first emanated from him, and tells her that Sati will be reborn to Mena; she is to enter the womb and make the child black, so that Shiva's later teasing sends Parvati to penance and their son can kill Taraka. Ratri is to gain Parvati's qualities and be known as Ekanamsha. She enters Mena's mouth as she grows sleepy at night and stays until the birth. Later Parvati asks Brahma for a golden colour; her dark skin becomes Ratri again, three-eyed, bell in hand, in yellow and red. Brahma gives her the lion born of Parvati's anger and sends her to the Vindhya; the text then calls her Kaushiki.

The Matsya Puranam, Part II (chapters 129-292), translated by a Taluqdar of Oudh (Sacred Books of the Hindus 17.2, 1917) § 154.47-95; The Matsya Puranam, Part II (chapters 129-292), translated by a Taluqdar of Oudh (Sacred Books of the Hindus 17.2, 1917) § 157.1-19

Primary text (translation)

Skanda Purana, Kaumarika Khanda 22 and 29

Pan-India All traditions

Brahma remembers Nisha, his own body born formerly, and speaks to her privately. She is to make the child dark, a Kali; after leaving Parvati's body she is to kill the demons led by Chanda and Munda and be known as Chamunda. She enters when Mena's eyes close slightly; the text calls her Vibhavari. Parvati is born at the brahma muhurta. Later a blue-lotus-coloured, three-eyed lady with a bell comes out of Parvati; Brahma gives her the lion and sends her to the Vindhya to kill Shumbha and Nishumbha, called commanders of Taraka's army. She is named Kaushiki.

What is different here:

Names Nisha and Vibhavari, not Ratri or Ekanamsha; foretells Chamunda, Chanda and Munda, Shumbha and Nishumbha; birth at the hour before dawn; no nightfall scene.

The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Maheshvara Khanda, Kaumarika Khanda, on wisdomlib.org § kaumarika.22.32-69; The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Maheshvara Khanda, Kaumarika Khanda, on wisdomlib.org § kaumarika.29.36-51

Primary text (translation)

Devi Mahatmya (Markandeya Purana canto 85)

Pan-India Shakta

When the gods praise the Goddess on the Himalaya, an auspicious goddess springs from the sheath of Parvati's body and is named Kaushiki; after she has come out, Parvati becomes dark and is known as Kalika.

What is different here:

The direction is reversed and Night plays no part.

The Markandeya Purana, tr. F. E. Pargiter (Bibliotheca Indica, 1904) § 85.38-41

Sources: The Matsya Puranam, Part II (chapters 129-292), translated by a Taluqdar of Oudh (Sacred Books of the Hindus 17.2, 1917); The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Maheshvara Khanda, Kaumarika Khanda, on wisdomlib.org; The Markandeya Purana, tr. F. E. Pargiter (Bibliotheca Indica, 1904)

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