Bhaga

Bhaga
Bhaga
God of Wealth
Affiliation	Adityas
Planet	Sun
Genealogy
Parents	Kashyapa (father); Aditi (mother);
Spouse	Siddhi (according to Bhagavata Purana)
Children	Mahiman, Vibhu and Prabhu (sons); Āśis (daughter)

Bhaga (Sanskrit: भग), is the Vedic god of wealth,^[3] as well as a term for "lord, patron" and "wealth, prosperity". He is an Āditya, a group of societal deities who are the sons of Aditi. Bhaga's responsibility was to make sure that people received a share of the goods in life. He is associated with his brother, Aryaman, regarding the expectation of a successful marriage.^[4]

Etymology

The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is baga, of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron, sharer/distributor of good fortune" might also apply. The cognate in Slavic languages is the root bogъ ("god"). The semantics is similar to English lord (from hlaford "bread-warden"), the idea being that it is part of the function of a chieftain or leader to distribute riches or spoils among his followers. The name of the city of Baghdad derives from Middle Persian ⁠bag-dād⁠, "lord-given".

Role

In Sanskrit religious literature

In the Rigveda Samhita, Bhaga is invoked and praised as the "sustainer of the world", "giver of wealth", "chief leader of rites", and "possessor of opulence". He is asked to bestow upon his adherents cattle and horses, male issue, felicity, and riches.^[5]

In the Sanskrit Rigveda, bhaga is an epithet of both mortals and gods (e.g. of Savitr, Indra and Agni) who bestow wealth and prosperity, as well as the personification of a particular god, the Bhaga, who bestows the same. In the Rigveda, the personification is attested primarily in RV 7.41, which is devoted to the praise of the Bhaga and of the deities closest to him, and in which the Bhaga is invoked about 60 times, together with Agni, Indra, the dual Mitra-Varuna, the two Ashvins, Pusan, Brahmanaspati, Soma and Rudra. Bhaga is also invoked elsewhere in the company of Indra, Varuna and Mitra (e.g. RV 10.35, 42.396). The personification is occasionally intentionally ambiguous, as in RV 5.46 where men are portrayed as requesting the Bhaga to share in bhaga. In the Rigveda, the Bhaga is occasionally associated with the sun: in RV 1.123, the Dawn (Ushas) is said to be the Bhaga's sister, and in RV 1.136, the Bhaga's eye is adorned with rays.

The 5th/6th-century BCE Nirukta (Nir. 12.13) describes Bhaga as the god of the morning. In the Rigveda, the Bhaga is named as one of the Adityas, the seven (or eight) celestial sons of Aditi, the Rigvedic mother of the gods. In the medieval Bhagavata Purana, the Bhaga reappears with the Puranic Adityas, which are by then twelve solar gods.

Legacy

Elsewhere, the Bhaga continues as a god of wealth and marriage, in a role that is also attested for the Sogdian (Buddhist) equivalent of the Bhaga.

The common noun bhaga survives in the 2nd century CE inscription of Rudradaman I, where it is a fiscal term; in bhagavan for "one who possesses (-van) the properties of a bhaga-", hence itself "lord, god"; and in bhagya, and "that which derives from bhaga", hence "destiny" as an abstract noun, and also Bhagya personified as the proper name of a son of Surya.

Bhaga is also the presiding deity of the Purva Phalgunī Nakshatra.

References

^ ^a ^b Bhagavata Purana, Book 6 - Sixth Skandha, Chapter 18
^ Gaṅgā Rām Garg (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-81-7022-374-0.
^ Kulasrestha, Mahendra (2006). The Golden Book of Rigveda. Lotus Press. ISBN 978-81-8382-010-3.
^ Stephanie Jamison; Brereton, Joel (2015). The Rigveda –– Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0190633394.
^ Rig-Veda Sanhitá a Collection of Ancient Hindú Hymns, Constituting the Fifth Ashtaka, Or Book of the Reg-Veda ... Translated from the Original Sanskrit by the Late H. H. Wilson. N. Trübner. 1866.

[BhP-1] Bhagavata Purana, Book 6 - Sixth Skandha, Chapter 18

[Garg1992-2] Gaṅgā Rām Garg (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-81-7022-374-0.

[3] Kulasrestha, Mahendra (2006). The Golden Book of Rigveda. Lotus Press. ISBN 978-81-8382-010-3.

[:0-4] Stephanie Jamison; Brereton, Joel (2015). The Rigveda –– Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0190633394.

[5] Rig-Veda Sanhitá a Collection of Ancient Hindú Hymns, Constituting the Fifth Ashtaka, Or Book of the Reg-Veda ... Translated from the Original Sanskrit by the Late H. H. Wilson. N. Trübner. 1866.

[2]

[1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Rigveda
Mandalas	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Deities	Devas Agni Indra Soma Ushas Visvedevas Maruts Ashvins Tvashtr Ribhus Pushan Rudra Mitra Varuna Aryaman
Asuras	Vritra Susna Dasas Danu Danavas
Rivers	Sapta Sindhu Nadistuti Sarasvati Sindhu Sarayu Rasā Yavyavati Drishadvati
Rishis	Saptarishi Gritsamada Vishvamitra Vamadeva Atri Angiras Bharadvaja Vasishtha Dirghatamas

v t e Hindu deities and texts
Gods	Trimurti Brahma Vishnu Shiva Agni Ashvins Chandra Dattatreya Ganesha Hanuman Indra Kama Kartikeya Krishna Kubera Rama Shasta Surya Varuna Vayu Vishvakarma Yama more
Goddesses	Tridevi Saraswati Lakshmi Parvati Aditi Bhumi Chhaya Durga Ganga Shachi Kali Mahadevi Mahavidya Matangi Matrikas Radha Rati Rohini Rukmini Sanjna Sati Shakti Shashthi Sita more
Other deities	Apsaras Asuras Daitya Danava Devata Dikpāla Gandharvas Gana Kuladevatas Gramadevatas Rakshasas Vahanas Yakshas / Yakshini
Texts (list)	Vedas Rig Sama Yajur Atharva Upanishads Puranas Ramayana Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita Yoga Sutras of Patanjali more
Hinduism Hindu mythology