Ekanamsha
{{short description|Ancient Hindu goddess associated with Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa}}
File:Mauryan punch-marked coin with three deities 4th-2nd century BCE.jpg, Vāsudeva and Ekanamsha, on a punch-marked coin, 4th-2nd century BCE.{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Pran Gopal |last2=Paul |first2=Debjani |title=Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations |journal=East and West |date=1989 |volume=39 |issue=1/4 |pages=116–117 |issn=0012-8376|jstor=29756891 }}]]
File:Vrishni triad shown in a rock painting at Tikla, M.P. 3rd-2nd century BCE.jpg, Vāsudeva and the goddess Ekanamsha shown in a rock painting at Tikla, 3rd-2nd century BCE.{{cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Vinay K. |title=Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art |journal=Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta |pages=70–72 |url=https://www.academia.edu/40656540 |language=en}}]]
Ekanamsha ({{langx|sa|एकानंशा}}; {{IAST|Ekānaṁśā}}) is a Hindu goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of Vishnu as Yogamaya.
The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the Vrishnis.Bhattacharji, Sukumari (2000).The Indian Theogony: Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, New Delhi: Penguin, {{ISBN|0-14-029570-4}}, p.173 Many "kinship triads", depicting Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, and their sister Ekanamsha have been found in the Mathura region, which are stylistically dated to the early centuries of the Common era.{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |location=Delhi |pages=436–7}} She is believed to have also reincarnated as the goddess Subhadra, the daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini.{{Cite book |last=Knapp |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2KPChj7lTwC&dq=Ekanamsha+Subhadra&pg=PA126 |title=The Heart of Hinduism: The Eastern Path to Freedom, Empowerment, and Illumination |date=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-35075-9 |pages=126 |language=en}}
Etymology
In Sanskrit, Ekanamsha means "the single, portionless one", and is a name of the new moon.Hawley, John Stratton and Donna Marie Wolf (1986) (ed.) The Divine Consort: Rādhā and the Goddesses of India, Boston: Beacon Press, {{ISBN|0-8070-1303-X}}, p.372 Another interpretation of her name is that the goddess Yogamaya came to be known as Ekanaṃsha because she was born of one part (aṃśa) of Vishnu himself.
Literature
{{Hinduism}}
= Harivamsa =
According to S. C. Mukherji, a modern scholar, in the Harivamsa, Ekanamsha is identified as a shakti of Vishnu as the goddess of Ekadasi, having descended as the daughter of Nanda to protect the baby Krishna from Kamsa.Hudson, Dennis (1986) Piņņai, Krishna's Cowherd Wife in John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wolf ed. The Divine Consort: Rādhā and the Goddesses of India, Boston: Beacon Press, {{ISBN|0-8070-1303-X}}, p.256 In the Harivamsa, she is represented as sister of Vishnu, due to which she is offered the epithets Vimala Devi and Yogamaya.
= Vishnudharmottara Purana =
The Vishnudharmottara Purana describes the deity as Gandhari (the power of illusion pertaining to Vishnu), and this Gandhari represents the deities Dhrti, Kirti, Pusti, Sraddha, Sarasvati, Gayatri, and Kalaratri.
= Brahmavaivarta Purana =
According to the Brahmavaivarta Purana, Ekanamsha was the daughter of Nanda and Yashoda, who was taken away by Vasudeva. When Kamsa tried to kill her, she transformed into the goddess Yogamaya, also known by the epithet Durga. Though in other versions the baby girl is carried to the Vindhya mountains, in this text, she stays with Vasudeva and Devaki. Later, when Krishna marries his chief consort, Rukmini, she is sent with Durvasa to protect and help him.Brahmavaivarta Purana Sri-Krishna-Janma Khanda (Fourth Canto) 7th Chapter English translation by Shantilal Nagar Parimal Publications Link: https://archive.org/details/brahma-vaivarta-purana-all-four-kandas-english-translation