Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Baltis 45Balarama (strength of Rama)Incarnation of the god VIŠNU. Hindu (Epic andPuranic). May have originated in Vedic times as anagricultural fertility deity. He is the son ofVASUDEVA and DEVAKI, though born from thewomb of ROHINI. Jointly with KRSNA (his brother),he is identified as the eighth avatara (incarnation)of Višnu, or, with RAMA, as the seventh. Legenddescribes how Višnu impregnated the belly of thegoddess Devaki with two hairs, one black, onewhite. To ensure their safety against a demon king,they were transferred before birth to Rohini. Krsnagrew to be dark-skinned, and Balarama light. Thelatter enjoys similar characteristics to Krsna butfails to attract the same popularity. He is usuallydepicted on the right side of Krsna, rarely standingalone. The consort of Balarama is REVATI and hissons are Nisatha and Ulmuka. Epithets includedAnanda (joy). In Jainism he is known as Baladeva.Attributes: arrow, club, drinking cup, fan palm,honey pot, lotus, pestle, pitcher, plough, prayerwheel, shield and sword.Bala-SaktiGoddess. Dravidian (Tamil) [southern India].Youthful deity who presides over six CAKRAS orprayer wheels. Often accompanied by a geometricmagical diagram or yantra. Attributes: book,hook, noose and rosary.Balder is the spotless “good” god, the “shiningone,” OTHIN’s favored second son. He lives in ahall named Breidablik. He is the father of the godFORSETI. According to Snorri’s account, Balderwas made invulnerable to injury or death by hismother FRIGG who had extracted a promise from“all things” not to harm him. She had omitted themistletoe as being too small and insignificant andso, using the blind god HODER as his instrument,LOKI caused Balder’s death by guiding Hoder’shand and turning a sprig of mistletoe into alethal dart.Saxo, in contrast, defines Balder as a warriorslain by a magic sword in a battle of jealous rivalrybetween him and Hoder for the hand of the goddessNANNA. There are separate suggestions thatBalder traveled the road to the underworld ruledby HEL in company with many other slain warriors,implying that he met his death in a widercombat.There is no evidence of a Germanic precedentfor Balder and he is probably of purely Norseextraction. Attempts have been made to cast himas a copy of Christ but these seem whollyunfounded. It is also impossible to relate Balder tothe dying and rising gods found in other religions(DUMUZI, TELEPINU, OSIRIS, etc.), since there isno suggestion of his return from Hel’s kingdom ofthe dead, though there is an implication that hewill be released by Hel at Ragnarok.BALDER (lord)ORIGIN Icelandic (Nordic). The dying god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP AD 700 (possibly earlier)through to Christianization (circa AD 1100).SYNONYMS Baldr; Baldaeg (Anglo-Saxon).CENTER(S) OF CULT unknown.ART REFERENCES stone carvings.LITERARY SOURCES Icelandic codices; ProseEdda (Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo), runicinscriptions.BaliDemonic god. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). Theson of Virocana, his power was removed by VIŠNUin his avatara of VAMANA.BaltisLocal goddess. Pre-Islamic Arabian. Known fromCarrhae in western Mesopotamia and identifiedas the apotheosis of the planet Venus.