the “others” being addressed may have been Buddhist, and eventually,
Islamic communities.
Whatever the factors, there appeared during this period a Sanskrit text
known as the Devı ̄ma ̄ha ̄tmya. The “text” was a series of myths, first recited, no
doubt, in oral form, but reduced to writing somewhat later. The first two
cycles of myths, at least – the “birth” of the goddess from the navel of the
sleeping Vis.n.u and her battles with troublesome asurassuch as the buffalo
Mahis.a – were probably datable between the sixth and tenth centuries and
represented many of the factors mentioned above: 1) The patronage of a
royal house – perhaps the Ca ̄lukyas of the Southwestern Deccan where
one finds the oldest extant Durga ̄ temple in Aihole and images of Durga ̄
slaying the buffalo and of the squatting goddess (Lajja ̄ Gauri) by the seventh
century (though Bengal is another possible venue for such patronage).
2) Mythmakers who used the repertoire of legitimating strategies to
announce the exploits of a powerful deity (that is, she was “born” of an
authenticating deity, given the weapons of older deities, etc.). 3) Evidence
of folk elements being incorporated into the myth. For example, the slaying
of the buffalo demon Mahis.a had a long history in folk culture and was also
seen earlier as the protagonist in battles with Skanda. 4) There are even hints
of a Buddhist presence in the way the goddess personified such attributes as
wealth and prosperity (laks.mı ̄) etc. In any case the Devı ̄ma ̄ha ̄tmyaannounced
the arrival of the goddess as the most powerful deity on the landscape, and
once in place, her persona could be applied to any and all goddesses. Part
three of the Devı ̄ma ̄ha ̄tmya, in fact, does precisely that, indicating how
the goddess was indeed an expression of Durga ̄ and Ka ̄lı ̄, goddesses which
were perceived to have destroyed “demons” associated with Northern India,
more than likely Bengal where the third myth of the Devı ̄ma ̄ha ̄tmyamay have
been composed.^31
After the tenth century, temples to goddesses proliferated as did their
worship in classical contexts. Local goddesses were linked to those already
known in the Sanskritic traditions (seven sisters, Pa ̄rvatı ̄, etc.) and assumed
a role not theirs hitherto. Such goddesses as Durga ̄ and Ka ̄lı ̄ had by now
entered the “national stage,” while another figure – that of Ra ̄dha ̄ – had
become part of classical culture by the twelfth century. In fact, the story of
Ra ̄dha ̄ can illustrate something of the way goddesses became increasingly
important. For the first six centuries CEshe was mentioned only in certain
Pra ̄krit sources (that is, in any of several indigenous dialects) and in Jain
writings, so she may have been a part of lower class S ́aivism and folk culture.^32
She “entered” textualized classical religion in Jayadeva’sGı ̄tagovinda(twelfth
centuryCE) where she is transfigured from a human cowgirl into a deity. As
such, she may represent the opportunity/model for women (such as earlier
poets like A ̄n.t.a ̄l had done) to transcend normal social conventions. In any
The Post-classical Period 113