Panchajani
Asikni (goddess)
Consort of Daksha in Hinduism
In Hindu mythology, Asikni (Sanskrit: असिक्नी, romanized: Asiknī, lit. 'the dark one' or 'night'), also known as Panchajani and Virani, is a consort of Daksha in the Puranic pantheon. Most scriptures mention her as the mother of 6000 sons and 60 daughters.
Asikni | |
---|---|
Other names | Panchajani, Virani, Virini |
Devanagari | असिक्नी |
Gender | Female |
Personal information | |
Parents | Virana or Panchajana (father) |
Consort | Daksha |
Children |
The Sanskrit word "Asikni" means 'dark' or 'night'; it can also refer to "a girl attending woman's apartment".[1][2] The word is used in the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE) to describe the river Chenab.[3][4][lower-alpha 1]
She is also known by the patronymic "Panchajani" and "Virani".[7]
Birth
Puranas differ about her parentage.
Devi-Bhagavata Purana,[7] Kalika Purana,[8] Garuda Purana, and Brahma Purana[9] note Asikni to have been born of Brahma's left thumb. According to the Bhagavata Purana[10] and Shiva Purana,[11] she was the daughter of Prajapati Panchajana.
Brahma Purana,[9] Brahmanda Purana,[12] Vayu Purana,[13] Kalika Purana, Kurma Purana,[14] Padma Purana,[15] Garuda Purana,[16] and Shiva Purana[11] note her to be the daughter of Prajapati Virana.[17]
Marriage
The broad theme is common to Vayu Purana,[18] Bhagavata Purana,[8] and Brahma Purana.[9][7][lower-alpha 2]
Daksa was delegated by Brahma to create beings to populate the cosmos; he went on to create gods, sages, asuras, yaskhas and rakhashas from his mind, but failed to be further successful.[7][9][lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4] Upon a successful penance, Vishnu granted Asikni as his wife and urged him to engage in sexual union.[7][10][lower-alpha 5]
Children
Through their union, numerous children were born.[8] A common theme spans across the Brahmanda Purana,[12] Bhagavata Purana,[10] Linga Purana[19][lower-alpha 6], Garuda Purana,[16] Kurma Purana,[14] Shiva Purana,[11][17] Vishnu Purana,[20][21] Vayu Purana,[20][13] Padma Purana[15][lower-alpha 7], and Brahma Purana[9] in this regard.[8]
Daksha and Asikni initially produced five thousand sons, who were known as Haryashvas.[7] They were interested in populating the Earth but upon the advice of Narada, took to discovering worldly affairs instead and never returned back.[7][lower-alpha 8] Daksha and Asikni again produced another thousand sons (Shabalashvas), who had similar intentions but were persuaded by Narada to the same results.[7][lower-alpha 9] An angry Daksha cursed Narada to be a perpetual wanderer. This time, he birthed sixty daughters from Asikni.[8][lower-alpha 10] They were married off to different sages and deities, and went on to give birth to various species.[8][9][lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 12]
The Shiva Purana notes that thereafter Shiva had himself reincarnated within Asikni's womb; Asikni was widely respected and eulogized by all the deities during this span.[11][lower-alpha 13] In the tenth month, Asikni gave birth to Sati; she and Daksa went on to take good care of her.[11][lower-alpha 14]
- Marriage list is as follows:
- 10 (Arundhati, Vasu, Yami, Lamba, Bhanu, Maruvati, Sankalpa, Muhurta, Sadhya, Vishva) of those daughters were married to Dharma
- 13 (Aditi, Diti, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Khasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ira, Kadru, Muni) to sage Kashyapa
- 27 (Ashvini, Bharani, Krttika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Tarakam or Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Janakam or Magha, Phalguni, Uttarphalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Svati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyestha, Mula, Purvashadha, Uttarasadha, Srona or Shravana, Dhanistha or Shatabhisha, Abhijit or Prachetas, Purvabhadrapada, Uttarabhadrapada and Revati) to Chandra
- 4 to Arishtanemi
- 2 to Bahuputra
- 2 to sage Angiras
- 2 to Krisasva
- Vishnu Purana notes these sixty daughters to have been created from His mind.[21]
Agni Purana notes the same.[22] Further, there is no mention of Asikni or their 6000 sons.[22] - "Sati", true to the boon (see prev. note), desired for Shiva since an early age and went on to marry Him. Also, see Daksha Yajna myth.
- Gandhi, Maneka (1993). The Penguin Book of Hindu Names. Penguin Books India. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-14-012841-3.
- Williams, Monier; Leumann, Ernst; Cappeller, Carl (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House. p. 120. ISBN 978-81-208-3105-6.
- Habib, Irfan (2001). "Imaging River Sarasvati: A Defence of Commonsense". Social Scientist. 29 (1/2): 48. doi:10.2307/3518272. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 3518272.
- Neelis, Jason (2011). "TRADE NETWORKS IN ANCIENT SOUTH ASIA". Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks. Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia. Brill. p. 193. JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctt1w8h16r.9.
- Söhnen-Thieme, Renate; Schreiner, Peter (1989). Brahmapurāṇa: Summary of Contents, with Index of Names and Motifs. Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-3-447-02960-5.
- Tagare, Ganesh Vasudeo (1976). The Bhagavata Purana: Part II. Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology. Vol. 8. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 803–809.
- Shastri, J. L. (1950). The Siva Purana: Part I. Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology. Vol. 1. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 252, 328–335.
- G. V. Tagare (1958). Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 2 of 5. pp. 407–414.
- Tagare, G. V. (1988). Bhatt, G. P. (ed.). The Vayu Purana: Part II. Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology. Vol. 38. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 478, 494–497.
- Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (1951-01-01). Kurma Purana Full (Parts 1 and 2). pp. 142–143, 177.
- N. A., Dehpande (1988). G. P., Bhatt (ed.). The Padma Purana: Part I. Ancient Indian Tradition And Mythology. Vol. 39. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 47.
- J.L. Shastri (1957-01-01). Garuda Purana English Motilal 3 Volumes In 1. pp. 20, 24–25.
- Long, J. Bruce (1977). "Dakṣa: Divine Embodiment of Creative Skill". History of Religions. 17 (1): 57. doi:10.1086/462778. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR 1062496. S2CID 162060462.
- Shastri, J. L. Ed. The Linga-purana. p. 242.
- "PUI Cologne Scan". www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de. p. 226, 229. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- Hara, Minoru (2009). "Divine Procreation". Indo-Iranian Journal. 52 (2/3): 231. doi:10.1163/001972409X12562030836697. ISSN 0019-7246. JSTOR 24664700.Also, Schreiner, Peter (2013). Visnupurana : Althergebrachte Kunde über Visnu (in German) (2 ed.). Verlag der Weltreligionen im Insel Verlag. ISBN 9783458734956.
- J. L. Shastri, G. P. Bhatt (1998-01-01). Agni Purana Unabridged English Motilal. p. 44.