Prasūti
Prasūti · pra-sūti, “bringing forth”
Abhaya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Abhaya.
Prasūti is the third of the three daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu and Śatarūpā Devī, and the wife of Daksha Prajāpati, the son of Brahmā. Of her were born sixteen daughters, among them Svāhā, the wife of Agni, Svadhā, the wife of the Pitṛs, and Satī Devī, the wife of Bhagavān Śiva; through them, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa says, her wide line spread through the three worlds.
Maitreya Maharshi, telling Vidura of the lines of Manu’s daughters, shows her as a mother whose heart is moist with love. When Satī came alone to Daksha’s yajña and no one else dared to welcome her, Prasūti and her daughters embraced her with tears; when Rudra’s host came, she named Daksha’s insult to Satī as the pāpa whose fruit had come; and when the yajña was restored and Śrī Hari appeared, she welcomed him as Śrīnivāsa and Yajñeśvara.
Her birth and marriage
To Svāyambhuva Manu, by Śatarūpā, were born five children: two sons, Priyavrata and Uttānapāda, and three daughters, Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti. Manu gave Ākūti in marriage to Ruci Prajāpati, Devahūti to Kardama, and Prasūti to Daksha, and by their offspring the whole world was filled.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 12; Skandha 4, Chapter 1
Her sixteen daughters
Daksha married Prasūti, and sixteen daughters were born of her. He gave thirteen of them to Dharma, one to Agni, one to all the Pitṛ-devatās together, and one to Bhagavān Śiva, who destroys the saṃsāra of his bhaktas. The thirteen wives of Dharma, with the sons each bore, are:
- Śraddhā, eagerness for the words of the Veda: she bore Śubha.
- Maitrī, friendliness: she bore Prasāda.
- Dayā, compassion for beings: she bore Abhaya.
- Śānti, serenity of mind: she bore Sukha.
- Tushṭi, contentment: she bore Muda.
- Pushṭi, the fullness that comes from contentment: she bore Smaya.
- Kriyā, Vedic action: she bore Yoga.
- Unnati, spiritual growth: she bore Darpa.
- Buddhi, the power to decide rightly: she bore Artha.
- Medhā, the power to hold the śāstras in the mind: she bore Smṛti.
- Titikshā, bearing joy and sorrow with a serene mind: she bore Kshema.
- Hrī, modesty: she bore Praśraya.
- Mūrti, of pure-sattva nature: she bore the maharshis Nara and Nārāyaṇa.
Svāhā Devī became the wife of Agni and bore Pāvaka, Pavamāna and Śuci. Svadhā Devī became the wife of the Pitṛs and bore Dhāriṇī and Vayunā. Satī served Bhagavān Śiva with great love.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 1
At Daksha’s yajña
When Satī Devī longed to go to her father’s yajña, it was to see her sisters, her mother’s sisters, and her mother, “whose heart is moist with love”. She came, and out of fear of Daksha no one welcomed her except her mother and her sisters. They rejoiced greatly at her coming; their eyes filled with tears of love, their throats choked, and they embraced her. Her mother and her mother’s sisters took her inside with respect, served her and offered her an excellent seat; but because her father had insulted her, Satī accepted neither the service nor the seat.
After Satī had given up her body, the people at the yajña saw a great dust rising in the north as Rudra‘s host came. Then Prasūti and the other women, their minds troubled, said: “Daksha Prajāpati insulted his own daughter Satī Devī, who knew no pāpa, while his other daughters looked on. This is the fruit of that pāpa.”
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapters 3–5
Her stuti to Śrī Hari
When the yajña was restored and Bhagavān Śrī Hari appeared on Garuḍa, each group present praised him in turn, and Prasūti, the wife of Daksha, said: “O Śrīnivāsa! You are Parameśvara, you are Jagannātha. Welcome to you. Be gracious to us. Namaskāra to you. Together with your beloved Lakshmī Devī, protect us. You alone are Yajñeśvara. As a trunk without a head has no beauty, though it has legs, arms and the other limbs, so a yajña without you has no beauty, though it has the prayājas and the other limbs of the yajña.”
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 12; Skandha 4, Chapters 1, 3–5, 7