The Mother Goddess of the Tribes
In the Vedic and post-Vedic literature we come across references made to mother goddess being worshipped by tribes like the Sabara and the Pulinda. In the Mahabharata the tribal mother goddess has been referred to as Vindhyavasini (resident of Vindhya Mountain) and one fond of liquor and flesh (Bhattacharyya 1999:68).
In the Mahabharata the Nishadas are described as tribals living in the Vindhya region. In the Buddhist Jatakas and Padma Purana different tribal sub-groups such as the Kirata, the Bhill, the Nahalaka, the Bhramara, the Pulinda, and others are described as the descendants of the Nisadas (Dash 1997:850). Among these above stated hunting tribes, distributed in different parts of India, the culture of mother goddess was very popular. In this context the Rudradhyaya of the Yajur Veda mentions that out of the eight tribes associated with the Nisadas, four were directly hunters, while others taksan (carpenter), rathakara (chariot makers), kulala (potter), and kamara (black smiths) who were unable to maintain themselves by hunting had to settle in the Vedic society on the basis of occupation. The working of such a social process can be seen in India even today (Bhattacharyya 1999:68).8.2
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