- published: 03 Feb 2015
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Ushas (उषस्; uṣas), Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deity as well.
Sanskrit uṣas is an s-stem, i.e. the genitive case is uṣásas. It is from PIE *h₂ausos-, cognate to Greek Eos and Latin Aurora.
Ushas is an exalted goddess in the Rig Veda but less prominent in post-Rgvedic texts. She is often spoken of in the plural, "the Dawns." She is portrayed as warding off evil spirits of the night, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a golden chariot on her path across the sky. Due to her color she is often identified with the reddish cows, and both are released by Indra from the Vala cave at the beginning of time.
Twenty of the 1028 hymns of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the Dawn: Book 7 has seven hymns, books 4–6 have two hymns each, and the younger books 1 and 10 have six and one respectively. In RV 6.64.1-2 (trans. Griffith) Ushas is invoked as follows:
In the "family books" of the Rig Veda (e.g. RV 6.64.5), Ushas is the divine daughter—a divó duhitâ —of Dyaus Pita "Sky Father." This is taken literally in the traditional genealogies of Hindu mythology.
One sign of seven for the day of malice
The time has come for us to pay our depths
Seek now try to find salvation for your soul
The final sign is soon to be seen
The son of mourning came
And stillness sang it's song
The birds have fallen down
And the desert froze to ice
The rivers will be filled with blood
And the sun will turn black
These are the signs you son
Son of mourning spawned
A stillborn child will soon arrive
The final sign is here
Your flesh, your blood
Is burnt, you're dead
The son of mourning came
And stillness sang it's song
The birds have fallen down
And the desert froze to ice
The rivers will be filled with blood
And the sun will turn black
These are the signs you son
Son of mourning spawned
In the eye of the beholder
I stirred in blindness
I look for evil
Searching for what's not there
What will it be