Retrofitting a Vedic Origin for a Classical Hindu Goddess

Many Hindu deities as known from classical sources (i.e, from the epics, Puranas, and later religious literature and iconography) have a very slender profile in the Vedic texts, appearing in only a few passages and often represented in ways that seem peripheral to their full, classical personae. Ritualists and devotees steeped in that older literature took pains to connect those deities to Vedic mantras and rites, in order to validate them with the prestige of venerable orthodoxy as well as to provide a basis for Brahmin priestly roles in their worship. The case of the goddess Durga is particularly striking in this respect, since her Vedic "footprint" is so small. This study carefully examines the Durga Sukta and related materials to show how Taittiriya and Rgveda Brahmins went about supplying a Vedic liturgy for Durga worship. This account complements the one recently proposed to show how Atharvan priests in the service of rulers drew on Atharvavedic traditions to present Durga as a patron goddess of arms and military strength.