Editing Svaha

{{Short description|Hindu goddess of sacrifices and a Vedic invocation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Agni and consort.jpg
| alt = Svaha



| caption = [[Agni]] with Svaha
| god_of = Goddess of Sacrifices<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-OYL6Khg0UC&dq=svaha+goddess&pg=PA232 | title=Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context | isbn=9780791413319 | last1=Hertel | first1=Bradley R. | last2=Humes | first2=Cynthia Ann | date=January 1993 | publisher=SUNY Press }}</ref>
| consort = [[Agni]]<ref>{{cite book |author= Antonio Rigopoulos |title= Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara: A Study of the Transformative and Inclusive Character of a Multi-faceted Hindu Deity |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZM-BlvaqAf0C&pg=PA72 |year=1998 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-3696-7 |page=72 }}</ref>
| abode = Agniloka
| mantra = Om Svaha
| parents = [[Daksha]] (father) and [[Prasuti]] (mother){{efn|In some texts, Svaha is mentioned as the daughter of [[Brihaspati]] and [[Tara (Hindu goddess)|Tara]].<ref name = "Dalal" />}}
| children = Pavaka, Pavamana, Shuchi, [[Agneya]], [[Kartikeya|Skanda]]<ref name = "Dalal">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=svaha+goddess&pg=PT1197 | title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide | isbn=9788184752779 | last1=Dalal | first1=Roshen | date=18 April 2014 | publisher=Penguin UK }}</ref>
| siblings = 
| affiliation = [[Devi]]
}}

'''Svaha''' ([[Sanskrit]]: स्वाहा, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: Svāhā) is a Sanskrit term in [[Indian religions]] which refers to a goddess and also to a kind of incantation used in mantras and rituals.

In Hinduism, Svaha, also referred to as '''Manyanti''', is the [[Hindus|Hindu]] goddess of sacrifices featured in the [[Vedas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hertel |first1=Bradley R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-OYL6Khg0UC&dq=svaha+goddess&pg=PA232 |title=Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context |last2=Humes |first2=Cynthia Ann |date=1993-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1331-9 |pages=232 |language=en}}</ref> She is the [[Royal consort|consort]] of [[Agni]], and the daughter of either [[Daksha]] or [[Brihaspati]], depending on the literary tradition. According to the [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana|Brahmavaivarta Purana]], she is an aspect of [[Prakṛti|Prakriti]] (nature), an element without which Agni cannot sustain.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=svaha+goddess&pg=PT1197 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2014-04-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-277-9 |language=en}}</ref> 

[[Hinduism]] and [[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]] (including [[Vajrayana]]) both make use of ''Svāhā'' as a mantric invokation recited during rituals or as part of [[Mantra|mantras]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1=Pal |first1=Ankit |title=why do we say swaha at the end of Mantra during Havan |url=https://www.newstrend.news/391099/why-do-we-say-swaha-after-every-mantra-in-havan/ |website=newstrend.news |date=September 2020 |publisher=Newstrend |access-date=4 March 2021}}</ref> As a feminine noun, ''svāhā'' in the [[Rigveda]] may also mean oblation (to Agni or Indra). Svaha is also considered to mean an auspicious ending.

== Etymology ==
Etymologically, the Sanskrit term derives from the root words सू sū- "good" and आहा -āhā "to call".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Franco |first=Rendich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KphVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA604 |title=Comparative etymological Dictionary of classical Indo-European languages: Indo-European - Sanskrit - Greek - Latin |date=2013-12-14 |publisher=Rendich Franco |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=The mantric word svaha|url=http://www.visiblemantra.org/svaha.html|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.visiblemantra.org}}</ref> 

== Invocation ==
[[Hinduism]] and [[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]] both make use of the [[Sanskrit]] word ''svāhā'' (romanized Sanskrit transcription; [[Devanagari]]: स्वाहा; Khmer: ស្វាហា; Thai: สวาหะ; Chinese: 薩婆訶, ''sà pó hē'', Japanese: ''sowaka''; Tibetan: སྭཱ་ཧཱ་ ''sw'a h'a''; Korean: 사바하, ''sabaha''; Vietnamese: ta bà ha) as a ritual or mantric invokation. The term was first used in [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic ritual]], where it was uttered during offerings to the sacred fire. With each ladle of the offering, the priest would say svāhā. The [[Yajurveda|''Yajur Veda'']] contains numerous invocations structured with a deity’s name in the dative case (indicating "to" or "for" the deity), followed by svāhā, such as agnaye svāhā ("to Agni, svāhā") and somāya svāhā ("to Soma, svāhā") (see [[Taittiriya Samhita|Taittirīya Saṃhitā]] 7.1.14.1).<ref name=":1" /> These formulae may have influenced the development of Buddhist mantras. ''Svāhā'' is also chanted to offer [[oblation]] to the gods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cappeller |first=Carl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z60SAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA655 |title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Based Upon the St. Petersburg Lexicons |date=1891 |publisher=K. Paul |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> ''Svāhā'' is often included at the end of a specific [[mantra]], which may invoked during [[yajna]] fire sacrifices, yogic practices (like [[japa]]) and worship.<ref name=":1" />  

Svāhā is not technically a mantra in itself. According to [[Monier Monier-Williams|Monier-Williams]], its likely etymology is ''su'' (meaning good, well, whole, etc.) combined with ''ah'' (meaning to call, to say, to speak, etc.), which would render a literal meaning such as "well spoken."<ref name=":2" />  [[Edward Conze|Conze]] translates it as "all hail," a choice followed by many other translators. He describes ''svāhā'' as a term of [[Adhiṣṭhāna|blessing]]—"an ecstatic shout of joy, expressive of a feeling of complete release"<ref>Conze, Edward. ''Buddhist Wisdom Books'', p. 128. 1958.</ref> 

In [[Buddhist texts]], ''svāhā'' first appears in the ''[[Dharani|dhāraṇīs]]'' inserted into Mahāyāna sūtras, such as the ''Lotus Sūtra'' and the ''Golden Light Sūtra''. It subsequently became a common ending for Buddhist mantras. While Conze speculates that it might indicate a feminine deity, there is no clear basis for this claim."<ref name=":2" />  

== Deity ==

=== Legends ===
Svaha is personified as a [[goddess]] and as the consort of [[Agni]]. According to the [[Brahmavidya Upanishad]], Svaha represents the [[shakti]] or power that cannot be burned by Agni.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT1197|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|date=2014-04-18|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-81-8475-277-9|language=en}}</ref>  In the [[Upanishads]], Svaha confesses to be enamoured by Agni and wishes to dwell with him. Hence, the deities state that oblations would be offered to Agni while invoking her name during hymns, allowing Svaha to dwell with Agni in perpetuity.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JI-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA296|title=Original Sanskrit texts on the origin and progress of the religion and institutions of India|date=1863|publisher=Williams and Norgate|language=en}}</ref>

In some versions, she is one of the many divine mothers of [[Kartikeya]] (Skanda). She is also the mother of [[Agneya]] (Aagneya) — the daughter of Agni. She is considered to be a daughter of [[Daksha]] and his consort [[Prasuti]]. She is thought to preside over burnt offerings. Her body is said to consist of the four Vedas and her six limbs are considered to be the six Angas of the Vedas.

==== Story ====
In the ''[[Mahabharata]] Vana Parva'', [[Markandeya]] narrates her story to the [[Pandavas]]. Svaha was the daughter of [[Daksha]]. She fell in love with the God of Fire, Agni, and was pursuing him. Agni did not notice her. He presided over the sacrificial rituals of the [[Saptarshi|Saptarishi]]s. The deity became highly besotted with the wives of the Saptarishis who were so ravishing that he kept staring at them.

Finally, Agni could not bear the guilt of longing for wives belonging to someone else and he went to the forests to perform penances. Svaha followed him and understood his desire. She took the forms of the wives of the Saptarishis (though she was unable to take the form of [[Arundhati (Hinduism)|Arundhati]], wife of Vashishtha) and approached Agni six times, seducing him and throwing the seed of each union into a golden pot, from which Skanda was born.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hertel |first1=Bradley R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-OYL6Khg0UC&dq=svaha+goddess&pg=PA232 |title=Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context |last2=Humes |first2=Cynthia Ann |date=1993-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1331-9 |pages=232 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Literature ===

==== Brahmanda Purana ====
The Brahmanda Purana mentions the names of the children of Svaha: Pavamāna, Pāvaka, and  Śuci.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-06-12 |title=The race of Agni [Chapter 12] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-brahmanda-purana/d/doc362725.html#note-e-125577 |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

==== Devi Bhagavata Purana ====
In the [[Devi-Bhagavata Purana|Devi Bhagavata Purana]], [[Narayana]] offers [[Narada]] the procedure to meditate upon Svaha:<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2013-05-15 |title=On the history of Svāhā [Chapter 43] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/devi-bhagavata-purana/d/doc57356.html |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=The following is the Dhyānam (meditation) of Svāhā Devī :-- O Devī Svāhā! Thou art embodied of the Mantras; Thou art the success of the Mantras; Thou art Thyself a Siddhā; Thou givest success and the fruits of actions to men; Thou dost good to all. Thus meditating, one should offer Pādya (water for washing the feet), etc., uttering the basic Mantra; success then comes to him. Now hear about the Radical Seed Mantra.

The said mantra (Mūla mantra) is this :-- “Om Hrīm Śrīm Vahnijāyāyai Devyai Svāhā.” If the Devī be worshipped with this Mantra, all the desires come to a successful issue.|title=[[Devi Bhagavata Purana]]|source=Book 9, Chapter 43}}

=== Beyond the Indian subcontinent and Hinduism ===
In [[Hinduism in Thailand]] call her '''Mae Phra pheling''' (แม่พระเพลิง) Which means goddess of Fire in Thai Language,. She is generally respected along with goddess [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]] and Mae Phra phay (wife of Vayu) from Hinduism with [[Phra Mae Thorani]] and [[Phosop]] from [[tai folk religion]], They five are usually worshipped or mentioned together., Her famous and much talked about sculptures in Thailand include Kuan Yin Inter-Religious Park  Phu Sawan sub district, Kaeng Krachan district, Phetchaburi province.<ref>https://kuanyinpark.org/index.php/sthan-thi-sakhay-laea-kar-yeiym-chm/daen-ha-mae-phu-ying-hiy</ref><ref>http://pioneer.netserv.chula.ac.th/~cvipada/land_06.html</ref> and Baan Sukhawadee, Sukhumvit Road, Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province.<ref>https://harida.co.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1835:baan-sukhawadee-pattaya&catid=12&Itemid=375</ref>

==Notes==
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Hindu Culture and Epics}}

[[Category:Hindu goddesses]]
[[Category:Rigvedic deities]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
[[Category:Daughters of Daksha]]
[[Category:Hindu mantras]]
[[Category:Buddhist mantras]]
[[Category:Jain mantras]]