Introduction
Bhudevi, "the goddess Earth", is the Hindu goddess who personifies the earth. She is also called Bhumi, Prithvi, Dharitri, Vasundhara and Medini. She is the mother who bears all creatures, and in the Puranic tradition, the consort of Vishnu. She is one of the oldest deities of the Indian tradition, and is still honoured in daily ritual, in the ground-breaking rites of any building, and in temple images of Vishnu.
Family
In the tree, Varaha is Vishnu in his boar avatar, and Bhudevi is recorded as the consort of both. Her son Mangala (Mars) is one of the Navagraha. Other traditions give her further children, among them the demon king Naraka (Bhauma), and, in a different sense, Sita, who is "born of the earth".
Names and epithets
- Bhumi, Bhu, "the earth", and Bhudevi or Bhumi Devi; in Tamil and Telugu, Boomadevi or Bhoomadevi
- Prithvi, "the broad one", and Prithivi Mata, "Mother Earth"
- Vasundhara, "bearer of wealth", Vasudha, Dharitri, "she who holds", Dhara, and Medini
- Kshama, "patience", since the earth is said to bear all things
In the Vedas
In the Rigveda, Prithivi is a goddess, and is most often praised together with Dyaus, the sky, in the pair Dyavaprithivi, "heaven and earth", the parents of the gods (for example, Rigveda 1.185). The most famous early text on the earth as mother is the Bhumi Sukta (Prithvi Sukta), a long hymn of sixty-three verses in the Atharvaveda (12.1). It praises the earth for her mountains, rivers, forests and creatures, and contains the well-known line in which the worshipper declares that the earth is his mother and that he is her son. It is often described as one of the earliest expressions of reverence for the natural world in the Indian tradition.
In the Puranas
Prithu and the cow
In the Bhagavata and Vishnu Puranas, the earth was once barren under the misrule of King Vena. His son Prithu, the first consecrated king, was angry that the earth withheld her produce. The earth took the form of a cow and fled. Prithu pursued her to the ends of the universe, and she finally offered to yield. Prithu made Svayambhuva Manu the calf and milked her of grains and plants, and the gods, sages and other beings also milked her, each obtaining what they needed. She was named Prithvi for him.
Varaha and the rescue of the Earth
When the demon Hiranyaksha dragged the Earth to the bottom of the cosmic ocean, Vishnu took the form of the boar Varaha, dived, killed the demon, and lifted the Earth on his tusks. In this story Bhudevi is his consort, and there are many images showing her seated on his tusk or in his arm. In the Puranas, their children include Mangala (Mars) and, in some accounts, Naraka.
Appeals to Vishnu
When the earth is oppressed by the weight of arrogant kings and demons, she goes in the form of a cow, weeping, to Brahma and the gods, and they to Vishnu. This is the frame story of the Bhagavata Purana's account of Krishna's birth: Krishna descends to relieve the earth's burden.
Consort of Vishnu
In Vaishnava tradition, Vishnu has Sri (Lakshmi) and Bhu (Bhudevi) as his two consorts, and in South India there is also a third, Neela Devi. Sri is the goddess of fortune and grace, and Bhu is the goddess of support and patience. In temple images of Vishnu, especially in South India, Sri stands or sits on his right and Bhu on his left. Utsava murtis, the processional images, show the deity with his two wives.
Bhudevi in the tradition
- Sita: in the Ramayana, Sita is found in a furrow of the earth and is called Bhumija, "born of the earth". At the end of her life, she calls on her mother, and the earth opens to take her back.
- Satyabhama: in a popular South Indian and Vaishnava tradition, Krishna's wife Satyabhama is regarded as an incarnation of Bhudevi, who kills her own son, the demon Naraka.
- Andal: the Tamil saint-poet Andal (Goda Devi), one of the Alvars, is regarded in Sri Vaishnavism as an incarnation of Bhudevi. She was found as an infant under a tulsi plant in the garden of the poet-saint Periyalvar, and is honoured for her poems, the Tiruppavai and Nachiyar Tirumozhi, in which she longs for union with Vishnu.
Iconography
Bhudevi is shown as a graceful woman, with two arms, often holding a lotus (a blue lotus, nilotpala) in one hand, seated or standing beside Vishnu. She is often shown with a dark or greenish colour, and wears a crown and jewels.
Worship
- Bhumi Puja: before any building is built or the ground is ploughed, Hindus perform a ritual (bhoomi pooja) to ask the earth's forgiveness and blessing.
- Morning prayer: many Hindus recite a verse to the earth when getting out of bed:
samudra-vasane devi parvata-stana-maṇḍale / viṣṇu-patni namas-tubhyaṃ pāda-sparśaṃ kṣamasva me
This is understood as: "Goddess, clothed by the ocean, with mountains for breasts, wife of Vishnu, I bow to you. Forgive me for touching you with my feet."
- Temples: Bhudevi is worshipped in the temples of Vishnu, and in the Varaha temples such as those at Srimushnam and Tirumala.
Meaning
Bhudevi is the earth as a living being who is patient, generous and burdened. The stories of her rescue by Varaha and of her appeals to Vishnu express the idea that the earth needs protection, and that the divine restores balance when the world is oppressed. Her morning prayer is a reminder of the respect for the earth that is expected in daily life.