Shashthi

Uncommon card · No. 178138

Shashthi, Shashti, Soshthi or Chhathi (Sanskrit: षष्ठी, Ṣaṣṭhī, literally "sixth") is a Hindu goddess, venerated in India and Nepal as the benefactor and protector of children. She is also the deity of vegetation and reproduction and is believed to bestow children and assist during childbirth. She is especially venerated in eastern India. Most scholars believe that Shashthi's roots can be traced to Hindu folk traditions. References to this goddess appear in Hindu scriptures as early as 8th and 9th century BCE, in which she is associated with children as well as the Hindu war-god Skanda. Early references consider her a foster-mother of Skanda, but in later texts she is identified with Skanda's consort, Devasena. In some early texts where Shashthi appears as an attendant of Skanda, she is said to cause diseases in the mother and child, and thus needed to be propitiated on the sixth day after childbirth. However, over time, the goddess came to be seen as the benevolent saviour and bestower...

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