Danu (Asura)

Dānu, a Hindu primordial goddess, is mentioned in the Rigveda, mother of the Danavas. The word Danu described the primeval waters which this deity perhaps embodied. In the Rigveda (I.32.9), she is identified as the mother of Vrtra, the demonic serpent slain by IndraKinsley, David (1987, reprint 2005). Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0394-9, p.16. In later Hinduism, she becomes the daughter of Daksha and the consort of Kasyapa.

As a word for "rain" or "liquid", dānu is compared to Avestan dānu "river", and further to river names like Don, Danube, Dneiper, Dniestr, etc. There is also a Danu river in Nepal. The "liquid" word is mostly neuter, but appears as feminine in RV 1.54.

As a Hindu goddess, Dānu has 2 temples in Bali, Indonesia: Pura Ulun Danu Temple on Lake Bratan, Bali and Ulun Danu Batur, near Penelokan.

See also

• Rigvedic rivers
• Old European hydronymy
• Kamadhenu

References

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