Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी, IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to as Shatakshi, is the goddess of nourishment. She is regarded as a form of Mahadevi, and identified with Durga in Hinduism.[SINHA, N. (1991). A STUDY OF THE ORIGIN MYTHS: SITUATING THE GUHILAS IN THE HISTORY OF MEWAR (A.D. SEVENTH TO THIRTEENTH CENTURIES). Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52, 63–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44142569] After the malevolent asura Durgasur deprived the earth of nourishment by causing the sages to forget the Vedas, the goddess appeared to offer human beings and devas sufficient fruits and vegetables to restore their strength.
Etymology
The word
śākaṃbharī means 'she who bears vegetables'. The word is derived from two words-
śāka (Sanskrit: शाक) which means 'vegetable/vegan food' and
bharī (Sanskrit: भरी) which means 'holder/bearer/wearer' which is ultimately derived from the root word
bhṛ (Sanskrit: भृ) which means 'to bear/to wear/to nourish'.
Legend
the asura
Durgasur sought to plunge the earth in drought and scarcity, a century of suffering endured on earth, when the sages finally remembered the goddess after the asura had made them forget about the Vedas, she appeared upon the worlds in a dark-hued blue form, casting her hundred eyes on the sages. When the sages extolled and chanted the hymns of
Ishvari, the
Chaturbhuja goddess appeared bearing a lotus, arrows, a great bow, and vegetables, fruits, flower, and roots. According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, seeing the misery of the people, she showered incessant tears from her eyes, streaming into rivers, and offering medicines.
The Uma Samhita of Shiva Purana identifies Devi Satakshi and Shakambari as manifestations of Goddess Parvati. A parallel account is also found in the Skanda Purana and Devi Bhagvatam, where Parvati is said to have slain the demon Durgamasura.[1] [2]
The narration also found in Laxmi Tantra, where
Lakshmi shares her deed with Indra :
O Sakra, men will then extol me as the hundred-eyed (deity) and I shall nourish the whole world with wonderful life-sustaining plants issuing from my own body and filled with (my essence: dvistaih). Then, Vasava, the gods will worship me as Sakambhari (the embodiment of vegetation).
— Lakshmi Tantra, Chapter 9
Temple
There is the main temple in Saharanpur, Uttar pradesh .There are many various temples of Shakambhari Devi including one of the ancient temples in
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh among the mountain range as it is most famous and visited by devotees after
Vaishno Devi apart from that there is another major temple which is situated in Rajasthan near at Sambhar Lake Town jheel, a huge ground of dry salt lake. Shakambhari is worshiped as the ninth number among the nine deities in
Navaratri after the beginning of
Vaishno Devi.
Further reading
