Kali or Durga became the main object of wor-
ship for goddess-oriented Hindus, but it must be
understood that there are many, many goddesses
throughout India of independent origin who are
identified with these “greater” divinities. In the
Shakta context TANTRIC forms of worship are more
likely to be found, though the Shaivites have
also always had a well-developed set of tantric
cults drawing on the same prehistorical sources
in Indian culture. There are also rare cults of
Vaishnavite tantra. Sometimes these tantric cults
took up the worship of the DASHA MAHAVIDYA,
a pantheon of goddesses joined for specialized
worship. These included well-known goddesses
such as Kali and Lakshmi, who are worshipped
alongside specialized cult goddesses such as SRI
LALITA or other more unusual divinities such as
Dasha Mahavidya, who is worshipped with pol-
luted things such as cloth that has been stained by
menstruation (see PURITY/POLLUTION).
In Shaktism ferocious, frightening forms of
the divine feminine are common; they often are
worshipped with the understanding that since the
goddess is all of reality, we must learn to love her
in the most frightening, dark forms to understand
her totality. In tantrism this realization about the
divinity takes the form of engaging in activities in
a ritual context that are usually forbidden, such as
eating beef or having sex with someone to whom
one is not married. This is done in order to compre-
hend the divinity beyond all social or mental con-
ception. This sort of tantric practice involves only a
very small minority of goddess worshippers.
Further reading: N. N. Bhattacharya, The History of the
Tantric Religion (Delhi: Manohar, 1982); Cornelia Dim-
mitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythol-
ogy: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1978); John Stratton Hawley
and Donna Wulff, eds., The Divine Consort Radha and
the Goddesses of India (Berkeley: Graduate Theological
Union, 1982); David Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Visions
of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradi-
tion (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986);
———, Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1997).Golden Temple See AMRITSAR.
gopi
A female cowherd. The gopis figure in the story
of Lord KRISHNA as divine lover. When Krishna
went to the woods alone at night to play on his
seductive flute, the cowherds, all married women,
secretly left their houses to rendezvous with
him. They would dance the Rasa Lila (loosely,
the divine play of the essence of divinity); with
Krishna standing in the middle, each gopi thought
he was dancing with her alone. Some versions of
the story say that Krishna multiplied himself so
that he could dance intimately with each of the
cowgirls simultaneously.
The gopi becomes the symbol, in the theol-
ogy of Krishna worship, of the devotee who is
willing even to flout convention to go to her or
his passionate “assignation” with the divine. In
later versions, Radha appears as the favored gopi
of Krishna. She, then, becomes the symbol of the
passionate devotee. The love of Krishna and Radha
is frequently depicted in literature, painting, and
dance and is a central theme in Hindu devotion.Further reading: Edward C. Dimock, The Place of the
Hidden Moon: Erotic Mysticism in the Vaisnava Sajiya Cult
of Bengal (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966);
Friedhelm Hardy, Viraha-Bhakti: The Early History of
Krsna Worship in South India (Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1983); Milton Singer, ed., Krishna: Myths, Rites, and
Attitudes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966).Gorakhnath (c. 12th century) Nath yogi
and philosopher
Gorakhnath (Sanskrit, gorakshanatha) (c. 12th
century) is the most important figure in the NAT H
YOGI sect. In the North Indian Nath tradition,Gorakhnath 169 J