USHAS

'Ushas' (उषस्; ''), Sanskrit for "dawn",^[1] is a Vedic deity. She welcomes birds and wards off evil spirits. She is the chief goddess (sometimes imagined as several goddesses, Dawns) exalted in the Rig Veda. She is portrayed as a beautifully adorned, sexually attractive young woman riding in a chariot. She is the daughter of Dyaus "Heaven", '' (e.g. RV 6.64.5).
Twenty out of 1028 hymns in the Rig Veda are dedicated to Dawn: Book 7 has seven hymns, books 4–6 have two hymns each, and the younger books 1 and 10 have six and one respectively.
E. g. RV 6.64.1-2 (trans. Griffith):
:1. ''The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendour like the waves of waters.''
: ''She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and, rich, hath shown herself benign and friendly.''
:2. ''We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams, thy splendours have flown up to heaven.''
: ''Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty, thou Goddess Morning.''
"Throughout the Veda, Usha (Dawn), daughter of Heaven, has always the same function. She is the medium of the awakening, the activity and the growth of the other gods; she is the first condition of the Vedic realisation. By her increasing illumination the whole nature of man is clarified; through her he arrives at the Truth, through her he enjoys the Beatitude." — ''The Secret of the Veda'', by Sri Aurobindo, p. 283
The name is an ''s''-stem, i.e. the genitive case is ''. It is from PIE '', cognate to Greek
★ Ηως and Latin ''Aurora''.

Contents

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

See also

★ Hindu mythology

★ Hindu deities

★ List of Hindu deities

★ List of Hinduism-related articles

★ History of India

★ Hindu scriptures

Notes

1. Apte, p. 304

References

★ The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, , Vaman Shivram, Apte, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1965, (fourth revised & enlarged edition).

Further reading

★ ''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola

★ ''Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions'' (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley