Tapati () is a goddess in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. She is known also as the goddess of the river

Tapati Tapati () is a goddess in Hinduism. She is known also as the goddess of the river Tapati (regionally rendered Tapti) and mother-goddess of the south (home of the sun) where she brings heat to the earth. According to Hindu texts, Tapati is the ...

(regionally rendered Tapti) and mother-goddess of the south (home of the sun) where she brings heat to the earth. According to Hindu texts, Tapati is the daughter of

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

, the sun god, and

Chhaya Chhaya or Chaya (), also known as Savarna, is the Hindu personification and goddess of shadow, and a consort of Surya, the Hindu sun god. She is the shadow-image or reflection of Saranyu (Sanjna), the first wife of Surya. Chhaya was born from th ...

, one of the wives of Surya.

Etymology

Tapati's name literally means the "warming", "the hot one", "burning one". This name is possibly connected to that of the queen of the

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

gods,

Tabiti Tabiti (Scythian: ; ; ) was the Scythian goddess of the primordial fire which alone existed before the creation of the universe and was the basic essence and the source of all creation. She was the most venerated of all Scythian deities. Name The ...

, and it is possible that there was originally a dominant fire goddess in ancient

Proto-Indo-Iranian religion Proto-Indo-Iranian religion was the religion of the Indo-Iranian peoples and includes topics such as the mythology, legendry, folk tales, and folk beliefs of early Indo-Iranian culture. Reconstructed concepts include the universal force ''*Hṛ ...

Legend

Tapati is originally mentioned in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' two dozen times, as the wife of

Samvarana Samvarana (), the name of a king in the Mahabharata. He was the son of Riksha, husband of Tapati and father of King Kuru, Kuru. Samvarana in the Mahabharata In the Adi Parva, it is reported that once a great disaster overtook his people when S ...

and the mother of Kuru (the founder of the Kuru dynasty and the Kuru Kingdom). The story of both characters has also been found in other Hindu texts such as the ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

''. According to these texts, Tapati's home is situated on the banks of river Tapati. The text extols the goddess with the statement that no one in the three worlds could match her in beauty, having perfect features, and severe religious self-discipline. In the ''Mahabharata'',

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

asks a

gandharva A ''gandharva'' () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they ...

about the origin of the name Tapatya. The gandharva tells him that the sun once had a beautiful daughter named Tapati, for whom he wished to find a suitable husband. An early Kaurava king named Samvarana worships the sun and is selected as her husband. One day, while out for hunting, the king's horse dies. While wandering, Samvarana sees Tapati bathing in the sunshine and is mesmerised by her beauty. When he asks Tapati about her identity, she immediately disappears. The king falls unconscious, but when he stirs, he sees that Tapati has returned. He declares his love for her, and begs her to be with him. Tapati informs him that she is smitten with him as well, but refers him to her father for his approval for their marriage. The king starts to meditate upon the sage

Vasishtha Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigve ...

for two weeks, who appears and gathers that the king had fallen in love with a goddess. Vashishta ascends to the sky, asking Surya to approve the marriage of Samvarana and Tapati. Surya agrees to it, and the two promptly get married. According to some Hindu texts,

Yami Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...

is the elder sister of Tapati, and she has two brothers,

Shani Shani (, ), or Shanaishchara (, ), is the divine personification of the planet Saturn in Hinduism, and is one of the nine heavenly objects ( Navagraha) in Hindu astrology. Shani is also a male Hindu deity in the Puranas, whose iconography cons ...

and

Yama Yama (), also known as Kāla and Dharmarāja, is the Hindu god of death and justice, responsible for the dispensation of law and punishment of sinners in his abode, Naraka. He is often identified with Dharmadeva, the personification of ''Dharm ...

Worship

Since the goddess Tapati is regarded to be the named after or the personification of the river Tapati, people worship her both in the form of a goddess and as that of an important river having many admirable qualities, enumerated in Hindu texts.

References

{{Hindu deities and texts Hindu goddesses Characters in the Mahabharata Sea and river goddesses Rigvedic rivers Hindu pilgrimage sites Water and Hinduism Personifications of rivers Children of Surya