| Revati | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Opulence[1] | |
 | |
| Affiliation | Vaishnavism, avatar ofLakshmi in some Vaishnava traditions or an avatar ofSheshanaga's consort,NagaLakshmi/KshirSagara |
| Abode | Vaikuntha |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
| Consort | Balarama |
| Children | Nishatha Ulmuka[2] (sons) |
Revati (Sanskrit:रेवती,romanized: Revatī) is a goddess featured inHindu scriptures. She is KingKakudmi's daughter andKrishna's elder brotherBalarama'sconsort,[3] and also one of theDashavatara. However, some think thatBalarama is an avatar ofVishnu'svahana,Sheshanaga.[4] Her account is given within a number of Hindu texts such as theMahabharata and theBhagavata Purana.
Revati has her origins as a mother goddess who was capable of great destruction. When Dirgajihvi, a demon, threatened to attack thedevas, the gods sought the assistance ofSkanda, who in turn requested Revati to fight the former. Taking the form of the vixen Shalavriki, Revati wrought havoc in the demon army to the extent that the demons sought refuge in the wombs of human women. In response, the goddess took the Jataharini form and attacked the demons before their conception, cleansing the women of their wickedness. According to theDevi Bhagavata Purana, Revati is associated with Shasthi Devi, an aspect ofPrakriti. She was revered as the deity of children who was worshipped by childless couples, offered veneration on the sixth day after a child's birth.[5] Due to her later association with fortune and wealth, Revati was assimilated as a form ofLakshmi, symbolic with her marriage to the avatar of Vishnu,Balarama.[6]
According to theBalabhadra Mahatmya, Ravati is considered to be an incarnation ofNagalakshmi, the consort ofShesha.[7]
TheVishnu Purana narrates the tale of Revati.[8]
Revati was the only daughter ofKakudmi. Feeling that no human could prove to be good enough to marry his lovely and talented daughter, Kakudmi took Revati with him toBrahmaloka—abode ofBrahma.
When they arrived, Brahma was listening to a musical performance by thegandharvas, so they waited patiently until the performance was finished. Then, Kakudmi bowed humbly, made his request and presented his shortlist of candidates. Brahma laughed, and explained that time runs differently on different planes of existence and that during the short time they had waited in Brahmaloka to see him, 27chatur-yugas had passed on Earth and all the candidates had died long ago.[9] Brahma added that Kakudmi was now alone as his friends, ministers, servants, wives, kinsmen, armies and treasures had now vanished from Earth and he should soon bestow his daughter to a husband asKali Yuga was near.[10]
Kakudmi was overcome with astonishment and alarm at this news.[10] However, Brahma comforted him and added thatVishnu the Preserver was currently on Earth in the forms ofKrishna andBalarama and he recommended Balarama as a worthy husband for Revati.
Kakudmi and Revati then returned to earth, which they regarded as having left only just a short while ago. They were shocked by the changes that had taken place. Not only had the landscape and environment changed, but over the intervening 27chatur-yugas, in the cycles of human spiritual and cultural evolution, mankind was at a lower level of development than in their own time. TheBhagavata Purana describes that they found the race of men had become "dwindled in stature, reduced in vigour, and enfeebled in intellect." The king's capital of Kushasthali had been renamedDvaraka.[11]
Kakudmi and Revati found Balarama, and proposed the marriage. Because she was from an earlieryuga, Revati was far taller and larger than her husband-to-be, but Balarama, tapped his plough (his characteristic weapon) on her shoulder, and she shrunk to the normal height of people in Balarama's age. The marriage was then celebrated.
Revati bore her husband two sons, Nishatha and Ulmuka. Nishatha and Ulmuka were killed in theYadu fratricidal war, after which Balarama also ended his earthly incarnation in meditation by the sea.[12] Revatiascended the funeral pyre of her husband.
In theKangyur of Tibetan Buddhism, the goddessRematī is often conflated with the goddess Revatī and arākṣasī who is associated with the illness and mortality of children, also named Revatī.
Two extant texts in the Kangyur,In Praise of the Goddess Revatī (Toh 1091) andThe Great Tantra of Supreme Knowledge (Toh 746) include both praises and dharani associated with the goddess. An abbreviated form of the latter narrative was found at Dunhuang titledThe Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Revatī (lha mo nam gru ma’i gzungs, IOL Tib J 442/2).
InThe Great Tantra of Supreme Knowledge, a congregation of deities and sages addressVajrapani with a ritual for taming and pacification. Vajrapani replies with enthusiasm for their benevolence and their entry into the king of mandalas. When Revati appears, she is unable to enter the mandala, but still manages to frighten the gods due to her reputation for being powerful and a killer of children. When the gods seek refuge, Vajrapani becomes wrathful and declares that all hateful beings will be destroyed. The gods become overjoyed and ask Vajrapani to offer praises to Revati so that she may enter the mandala. He proceeds to do so, providing details about her family line and special qualities.[13]
Revati is one among fifteengrahas who alarm children. A classic symptom of possession by Revati includes chewing on one’s own tongue. She appears to children in the form of a dog. This description is found in theMahāsāhasrapramardanī Sutra and theDharani Sutra for the Protection of All Children (佛說護諸童子陀羅尼經, T. 1028A).[14][15]
Revati is also considered a class of supernatural entities associated with disease.[16]
According to theĀryamañjuśrīmūlakalpa, Revati is the name of ayakṣiṇī invoked as follows:
“The mantra of Revatī is, ‘Homage to all the yakṣiṇīs!’ [The mantra to recite is]:
“Oṁ, red one with a red glow and wearing red unguents! Svāhā!
“Revatī is a distinguished yakṣiṇī,Playful and fond of sex.She wears a soft-red garmentAnd has blue, curly hair.
“This yakṣa lady is adorned on every limbAnd always delights in the pleasures of sex.She always grants wishes and gives pleasure.One should depict her displaying a boon-granting gesture.
“Her painting should be done as before, except that Revatī is wearing garments of red silk, including an upper garment of the same material. Her complexion has a reddish glow.”
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