God and gender in Hinduism
Goddesses, other than Ushas, mentioned in early Vedic literature include Prthivi (earth), Aditi (mother of gods, abundance), Sarasvati (river, nourishment), Vac (sound and speech), and Nirrti (death, destruction).
[4] Similarly male gods feature prominently in the Vedas, with Indra (rain, lightning), Agni (fire), Varuna (rta, law), Dyaus (sky, virility), Savitr (Surya, sun), and Soma (drink) some of the most mentioned.
They are profusely praised, with ceremonies and prayers to all gods and goddesses symbolically organized around fire (Agni yajna).
Max Muller states that, while there are difference in frequency of mentions, gods and goddesses in Rig veda are "neither superior nor inferior; almost every one is represented as supreme and absolute".
[9] Most major schools of Hindu philosophy focus their philosophical discourse on the Universal Absolute, called Brahman, which is a grammatically genderless noun.
These were the sons of Dharma; one of whom, Kama (love, emotional fulfillment) had baby Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight).
The wife of Adharma (vice, wrong, evil) was Hinsá (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Máyá (deceit) and Vedaná (torture), who became their wives.
The son of Bhaya (fear) and Máyá (deceit) was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka (hell) and Vedaná (torture).
The children of Mrityu were Vyádhi (disease), Jará (decay), Soka (sorrow), Trishńa (greediness), and Krodha (wrath).
On the contrary, Daksha and the other Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in the path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation.The Smarta tradition, which by and large, follows Advaita philosophy believes all forms, male and female, to be different forms of the impersonal Absolute, Brahman which is of neuter gender and can never be defined.
N. N. Bhattacharyya[citation needed] explained that "[those] who worship the Supreme Deity exclusively as a Female Principle are called Shakta.
[17] Every masculine form of god has their partner, female counterpart (shakti) and without this divine energy he is sometimes viewed as the one without the essential power.
[21][22][23] In the Sri Vaishnava tradition, Lakshmi is described to be the mediatrix of Vishnu's grace, regarded by devotees to intercede on their behalf.
[24] In the Shaiva tradition, the supreme goddess Mahadevi is regarded to assume the form of Sati and later Parvati to become the divine energy of Shiva.
[26] Rasa and other dances are a feature of the regional folk and religious tradition and often the dancer portrays both Krishna and his consort Radha in the same piece.
