Shakambhari

Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी, IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to as Shatakshi, is a goddess of nourishment. She is regarded to be an incarnation of Mahadevi, and identified with Durga in Hinduism. After the malevolent asura Durgamasura 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

After the asura Durgamasura 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 four-handed 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 Durgamasur


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

* Annapurna
* Ishtar
* Ceres
* Demeter

References

{{Hindu Culture and Epics

Hindu goddesses
Forms of Lakshmi
Forms of Parvati
Folk deities of Rajasthan