META is, in the epic and Purfinic mythology of India (see religion, under INDIA), one of the principal names of the consort of the god Siva. Other names by which she is also usually designated are Durgei, Devi, Kali, Peirvati, Bharcini, while there are many more belonging to her whidh are of less frequent occurrence, as Keitydyani, Ambikd, Hainzavati, ffiva, etc. As Siva is not yet a deity of the vedic period of India, such of these names as are met with in Vedic writings have there a different import from that assigned to them by the later mythology. Thus, Ambilcei is, in the Yajurveda, a sister of Rudra (q.v.); Ka'll, a word which occurs in the 111un'd'aka Upanishad (q.v.), is there the name of one of the seven flickering tongues of Agni, the god of fire; Durgel in a hymn of the Taittirlya Aran'yaka, is an epithet of the sacrificial flame; and Umei, when mentioned in one recension of the same Aran'yaka (see VEDA and UPANISHAD), and in the Kena Upanishad, means the Brahma-science, or the knowledge of what is the nature of Brahman, the supreme soul; and in this sense she is identified in the Taittirlya Aran'yaka with Ambikil. But since Rudra is in later mythology a name of Siva, and the Vedic.Rudra is a form of Agni, the fire, more especially of the fire of the sun; and since Unlit, in the Kena Upanishad probably designates the power of Sfirya, the sun, it becomes intelligible that Siva (q.v.), who, at a later period of Hindu relig ion, is both the type of destruction and contemplation, had then associated with him deities which originally represented the energy of the fire and the power or wisdom the sun, and that those deities were afterward held to be merely different forms or names of one and the same deity, viz., his female energy (see SlivrAs), or wife. Though this double character of the consort of Siva is not always discernible in the myths which are connected with special designations of hers, and though at a late period the popular creed looked upon her far more as the type of destruction than as that of divine wisdom, yet the works devoted to her praise never fail to extol her also as the personification of the highest knowledge. Thus, in the Devinaciheitznya, the Rishi 3Iiirkan'd'eya, in reply to a question of king Suratha, says: "By Devi, this whole universe, with what is movable and immovable, has been created, and, when propitious, she who bestows blessings leads men to their eternal bliss; for she, the eter nal goddess, is the highest wisdom, the cause of eternal bliss, and also the cause of .bondage for this world; she, who lords over the Lord of the universe." And in another passage of the same work, she is invoked thus: " 0 Devi, thou art the seed of the uni verse, the highest :Maya (q.v.); all this world is bewildered, but, descending on earth, -thou art the cause of its final liberation: all the sciences are merely different modes of thyself." Similarly, also, in the ..1fandblairata Arjuna says to her: " Of sciences thou art the Brahma-science," etc.; and in the Harivans'a, Vishn`u addresses her as Saniswati, the goddess of eloquence, as Smriti, tradition, and, of sciences, as the Brahma-science, etc.
The myths relating to this goddess, who is worshiped in various parts of India- particularly, however in Bengal (see S'Ivris)—are met with in the great epic poems and Puritans, in poetical works, such as the Kimairasambhava (see LiuniisA), and in modern popular compositions; but the text-book of her worshipers is the Devimdhatniya, or, " the majesty of Devi "—a celebrated portion of the 21Iarka•'d'eya Purdn'a, and considered to be of especial holiness by the worshipers of this goddess. In the Rdnuiyan'a (q.v.), she is spoken of as the daughter of mount Himalaya (her names Par Tati, ILuisuea ati, Adrija% Girifri, and similar ones, mean " the mountainous or the moun tain-horu "), and of the nymph Mena, whose elder daughter, however, was the Gauges. According to the Vishnu and other Puran'as, she was in a former life Sad, the daugh ter of Daltsha, who abandoned her corporeal existence in consequence of having been slighted by her father when be performed a great sacrifice, and did not invite Siva to share in it; but it was only as lima that she bore children to her husband, viz., Ganes'a, the god of wisdom, and itiirttikeya (q.v.), the god of war. According to the Ha rivans'a, she was, in another life, born as the daughter of Yas'oda, and exchanged for Thltn'u, when in his incarnation as Kr'ishn'a, he was born as a son of Devaki. See VIsmst'Er. On that occasion, she was killed by Kansa (q.v.). ; but as soon as he had dashed her to the ground; she rose to the sky, leaving behind her corporeal frame, and became a divine virgin, to whom the gods addressed their praises. Hence her names, Kanyd, Kunairi, etc., the virgin. This connection between the legendary history of Uma and Visbn'u is also briefly, referred to in the Derimadtmya, though this work is chiefly con cerned in the narrative of the martial feats of the goddess. The Latter consisted in the
destruction by her of two demons, Nadi/a and .Kait' abha, who had endangered the existence of the god Brahman; and of the demon Mahisha, or Mahishdsura, who, having conquered all the gods, had expelled them from heaven, and who met Devi, assisted only by her lion, with a numberless host of demons; moreover, in her defeating the army of Chan'd'a and a, two demon-servants of S'umbha and Nis'umbha; in her killing the demon Raktar4ja, who had a sort of charmed life, each drop of his blood, when shed, producing hundreds of demons like himself; and ultimately, in her destroying the demons Sumbha and 11is'unzhha themselves. In commemoration of her victory over Mahishfisura, a festival called the Durgdpiijd, or Durgotsava, is annually celebrated in Bengal. "The goddess," the rev. Mr. Banerjea relates in his introduc tion to the Aliirkan'd'ega Pardn'a, "is there represented with ten arms, trampling upon the demon; who is also attacked by her lion, and wounded in the chest by, her spear. She has also laid hold of him by the hair, and is about to chop off his head. The most popular commemoration of this event takes place in the autumn, about the time of the equinox; and if the practice may be supposed to be 800 or 1000 years old, it is not inconceivable that it was originally fixed at the equinox, though the precession has since made it a few days later. The calculation of the day depends, however, on a cer tain lunar day; but it can never be earlier than the seventh of which is -about the time of our present equinox; nor can it be more than a month later than that date. The idea of the•possible connection of the Durgdprijd with the equinox, is suggested by the fact, that there is a corresponding festival about the time of the vernal equinox too, iu which, though it is not so popular as the autumnal pfijd, the same group of fig ures is constructed, and the image of the goddess is in the same attitude, with the same attendance, and the same enemy." For a somewhat more detailed account of this fes tival, see Moor's 17indu Pantheon, p. 156.) Three weeks after the DurgairiVei, another festival in honor of this goddess, called the takes place, to commemorate her victory over Chan'd'a and litin'd'a. `• The sable goddess," Mr. Banerjea says, " is represented holding the severed head of Chan'd'a in her hand, with the heads of his soldiers formed into a garland suspended from her neck, and their hands wreathed into a covering round her loins—the only covering she has in the image constructed for the inljti. The worship of Kali (i.e., lb black), to which the narrative (of her victory over Chan'd'a and Mun'd'a) has given rise, is considered by the Hindus themselves as embodying the principle of lamas, or darkness. She is represented as delig_hting in the slaughter of her foes, though capable of kindlier feelings to her friends. She is, how ever styled the black goddess of terror, frequenting cemeteries, and presiding over ter rible sprites, fond of bloody sacrifices; and her worship taking place in the darkest night of the month." (For this worship, see also the article THUG.) With Siva, she resides on mount Kaildsa, the northern peak of the Himalaya, or in her own palace on the Vindhya mountain, where she amuses herself with hunting. Her representations are numerous and various. Sometimes she is seen riding on a bull, with a trident in her hand, a serpent as bracelet, and a half moon on her forehead; sometimes, when in the act of fighting Mahishasura, she rides on her lion (Jianastat), the latter standing bAween the frontal bones of her elephant. Or, as Bhadra-Kai, she is represented " eight-handed, two of her hands being empty, pointing upward and downward, one of her right hands holding something like a caduceus, its corresponding left hand it cup the next right and left hands a crooked sword, and a shield with an embossed flower of fruit; the superior right band, an agricultural implement; and the left, the noose to strangle victims with [see Tuuo.] Her person is richly dressed and ornamented;" between her full breasts, a five-headed serpent uproars itself; she has a necklace of human heads; her car-drops are elephants; and a low of snake-heads peeps over her coronet. Her forehead is marked either with S'iva's third eye, or her own symbol; and her open month shows her teeth and tusks, giving her a fierce and threatening aspect." See Moor's Hinds Pantheon, where, besides, other descriptions of images of this god dess are given.—For the myths relating to her, see John Muir's excellent work, the Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. iv. (Loud. 1863); the Haricans'a, translated by A. Langlois (Paris. 1834-35); and the .IftirkaaVqpt Pardue a, in the BiLliotheca Indica, edited, with an elaborate preface, by the rev. K. Banerjea (Calcutta, 1862).
'MAW, a t. of Rnssia, in the government of Kiev, 120 In. s. of the town of Kiev, on the Umanka. It is inclosed by carthern ramparts. Pop. '67, 14,791.