Nirṛti
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Date: 2022-01-11

Nirṛti, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=100525 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Hindu_goddesses
#Death_goddesses
#Rakshasa
#Hindu_gods
#Lokapala
#Rigvedic_deities
Nirṛti （निर्ऋति, sometimes spelled Nirruti or Nirriti） is a Hindu goddess, personifying death, decay and sorrows.
In some Hindu scriptures, Nirṛti is associated with Adharma.
In later Hinduism, Nirṛti and Nirṛta is also a male god, who is regarded as a dikapala （"guardian of the directions"） of the southwest.
The Sanskrit word Nirṛti means 'decay' and is derived from nirṛ （lit. 'to separate'）.
It can be interpreted as meaning "devoid of ṛta/i", a state of disorder or chaos.
The name nirṛti has the meaning of "absence of ṛta", meaning 'disorder', or 'lawlessness', specifically the guardian to the absence of divine or cosmic disorder.
This term was used in Vedic texts to indicate a realm of non-existence and absolute darkness, which threatened to consume those who failed in their duties to sacrifice and procreate.
In nirṛti, there was no light, no food, and no children: none of the necessary elements of Vedic life and ritual Nirṛti is mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda, mostly to seek protection from her or imploring for her during a possible departure.
In one hymn （X.59）, she is mentioned several times.
This hymn, after summing up her nature, also asks for her in departure from the sacrificial site.
In the Atharvaveda （V.7.9）, she is described as having golden locks.
In the Taittiriya Brahmana （I.6.1.4）, Nirṛtī is described as dark, dressed in dark clothes and her sacrificial shares are dark husks.
In the sacred Shatapatha Brahmana （X.1.2.9）, she is associated with the southwest quarter as her region.
But elsewhere in the same text （V.2.3.3.） she is mentioned as living in the kingdom of the dead.
In later Hindu texts, Nirṛti was re-conceptualized as a deity.
According to some texts, she is the wife of Adharma （not-dharma） that signifies an important component of Prakriti （nature） for the Purusha（human -...