Nirṛti

This article is about the Hindu deity. For the Stargate SG-1 character, see Nirrti (Stargate).

Nirriti

In Hinduism, Nirṛti is the goddess of death and corruption, one of the dikpāla (Guardians of the directions), representing the southwest (or—according Monier-Williams’s Sanskrit-English Dictionary—the south). The name nir−ṛt- has the meaning of "absence of ṛta, lawless". The masculine form of the name, Nirṛta, is a name of Rudra.

Nirṛti is mentioned in a few hymns of the Rigveda, mostly to seek protection from her or imploring for her departure. In one hymn (X.59), she is mentioned several times. This hymn, after summing up her nature, also asks for her departure from the sacrificial site. In the Atharva Veda (V.7.9), she is described as having golden locks. In the Taittiriya Brahmana (I.6.1.4), Nirṛti is described as dark, dressed in dark clothes and her sacrificial shares are dark husks. In the Shatapatha Brahmana (X.1.2.9), she is associated with pain and as the southwest quarter is her region, pain is associated with the southwest. But elsewhere in the same text (V.2.3.3.) she is mentioned as living in the south, the direction of the kingdom of the dead.^[1][2]

In popular culture

Nirrti is a character in the television series Stargate SG-1. She is one of the Goa'uld System Lords, portrayed by actress Jacqueline Samuda.

In the video game Ninja Gaiden 2, the dual-wielded swords have a technique called Blade of Nirrti.

In Roger Zelazny's novel Lord of Light, set on a world where humans with vastly advanced technology have set themselves up as the gods of Hinduism, Nirriti the Black is one of their enemies.

Notes

1. ^ Kinsley, David (1987, reprint 2005). Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Faminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0394-9, p.13
2. ^ Bhattacharji, Sukumari (2000). The Indian Theogony: Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, New Delhi: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-029570-4, pp.80-1

References

• Dallapiccola, Anna L. (December 2002). Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-51088-1.