Anushasana Parva - Sandhyavandana Devi-Devatas, Rishis and Rivers

Mādhava-S05, 5126 K.E.

In the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata (BORI CE 13.151), there is an episode where Emperor Yudhisthira inquires from Grandsire Bhishma:

What is best for a man? What should he do to obtain happiness? How can he be cleansed of his sins? How can he destroy his sins?

Answering this, Bhishma mentions that, if one reads (paṭhita) the lineage of devatas and rishis, during the two sandhyā prayers (not three! [morning and evening only]), he becomes free from all sin.

• Brahmā and his wife Sāvitrī¹
• Lord Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa (consort not mentioned!)
• Virūpākṣa Umāpati, the husband of Umā
• Sēnāpati Skanda
• The devourer of oblations, Hutabhug Agni (whose is associated with Viṡākhā [fem.] nakṣatra)
• Vāyu (consort not mentioned!)
• Candra and Āditya
• Ṡakra the husband of Ṡacī
• Yama and wife Dhūmōrṇā
• Varuṇa and wife Gaurī (also called Siddhi in BORI CE 12.289.59 “siddhiṃ ca dēvīṃ varuṇasya patnīṃ”)
• Kubera the lord of wealth and wife Ṛddhi
• Surabhi the amiable cow
• Viṡvēdēvāḥ

and the list goes on.

pāntu vaḥ satataṃ dēvāḥ kīrtitā’kīrtitā tathā

Let the gods named and those not named, always save us.

The last verse of the chapter reads (Southern recension, incl. Malayalam mss):

namas tēbhyō namas tēbhyō mā ca mē paripanthinaḥ
parāt paratarā caiva gatiḥ syād iti tat paṭhēt

ōṃ namō bhagavatē vāsudēvāya . ōṃ namō bhagavatē puruṣōttamāya
ōṃ namō sarva-lōka-guravē . ōṃ namō sarva-lōka-pitrē
ōṃ namō sarva-lōka-pitāmahāya

and a few more.

The list of rivers include Godavari, Narmada, Kaveri, Krishna, Bhimarathi, etc.

Rishis of all the four directions (e.g. Agastya in the south).

Similarly, another list of divine couples is given in Anushasana Parva 13.134.3-5 (BORI CE), this chapter being the one preceding the famous Vishnu Sahasranama chapter (BORE CE 13.135):

13134003a sāvitrī brahmaṇaḥ sādhvī kauṡikasya ṡacī satī
13134003c mārtaṇḍajasya dhūmōrṇā ṛddhir vaiṡravaṇasya ca
13134004a varuṇasya tatō gaurī sūryasya ca suvarcalā
13134004c rōhiṇī ṡaṡinaḥ sādhvī svāhā caiva vibhāvasōḥ
13134005a aditiḥ kaṡyapasyātha sarvās tāḥ patidēvatāḥ

In fact, the chapters 126-134 (Umā-Mahēṡvara-saṃvāda) of BORI CE are completely missing from southern recension! They are constructed on the basis of northern recension alone (see pg. LXXII-LXXIII in the General Introduction to Anushasana Parva of BORI). However, there is a slightly different version in the Southern recension (App. I, No 15, lines 4408-4413), also an Umā-Mahēṡvara-saṃvāda:

13-015-4408 sāvitrī brahmaṇaḥ patnī kauṡikasya ṡacī ṡubhā
13-015-4409 lakṣmīr viṣṇōḥ priyatamā dhṛtir bhāryā yamasya tu
13-015-4410 mārkaṇḍēyasya dhūmōrṇā ṛddhir vaiṡravaṇasya tu
13-015-4411 varuṇasya tathā gaurī savituṡ ca suvarcalā
13-015-4412 rōhiṇī ṡaṡinō bhāryā svāhā vahnēr aninditā
13-015-4413 kaṡyapasyāditiṡ caiva vasiṣṭhasyāpy arundhatī

Based on these both, we can see:

1. Maheshvara’s wife is Uma
2. Brahma’s wife is Savitri
3. Indra’s (Kausika) wife is Sachi
4. Kubera’s (Vaishravana) wife is Riddhi
5. Vishnu’s wife is Lakshmi
6. Varuna’s wife is Gauri (spelled Gouri by Bibek Debroy)
7. Surya’s aka Savitr’s wife is Suvarchala
8. Sashi’s (Candra) wife is Rohini
9. Vibhavasu’s (Agni, Vahni) wife is Svaha
10. Kashyapa’s wife is Aditi
11. Vasishtha’s wife is Arundhati
12. Dhumorna is the wife of Yama (=son of Martanda) in N. recension or Markandeya in S. recension

However, even in the southern recension, it is clear that Yama’s wife is Dhumorna, for example, see 13.151.6 and 5.115.9:

13151006a ṡakraḥ ṡacīpatir dēvō yamō dhūmōrṇayā saha
05115009a yathā candraṡ ca rōhiṇyāṃ yathā dhūmōrṇayā yamaḥ

Expanding the list with more of rishi couples occurs in the Virata Parva (matches Malayalam recension too):

05115008a rēmē sa tasyāṃ rājarṣiḥ prabhāvatyāṃ yathā raviḥ
05115008c svāhāyāṃ ca yathā vahnir yathā ṡacyāṃ sa vāsavaḥ
05115009a yathā candraṡ ca rōhiṇyāṃ yathā dhūmōrṇayā yamaḥ
05115009c varuṇaṡ ca yathā gauryāṃ yathā carddhyāṃ dhanēṡvaraḥ
05115010a yathā nārāyaṇō lakṣmyāṃ jāhnavyāṃ ca yathōdadhiḥ
05115010c yathā rudraṡ ca rudrāṇyāṃ yathā vēdyāṃ pitāmahaḥ
05115011a adṛṡyantyāṃ ca vāsiṣṭhō vasiṣṭhaṡ cākṣamālayā
05115011c cyavanaṡ ca sukanyāyāṃ pulastyaḥ saṃdhyayā yathā
05115012a agastyaṡ cāpi vaidarbhyāṃ sāvitryāṃ satyavān yathā
05115012c yathā bhṛguḥ pulōmāyām adityāṃ kaṡyapō yathā
05115013a rēṇukāyāṃ yathārcīkō haimavatyāṃ ca kauṡikaḥ
05115013c bṛhaspatiṡ ca tārāyāṃ ṡukraṡ ca ṡataparvayā
05115014a yathā bhūmyāṃ bhūmipatir urvaṡyāṃ ca purūravāḥ
05115014c ṛcīkaḥ satyavatyāṃ ca sarasvatyāṃ yathā manuḥ

1. Ravi’s (Sun) wife is Prabhavati
2. Vahni’s (Agni) wife is Svaha
3. Vasava’s (Indra) wife is Sachi
4. Candra’s wife is Rohini
5. Yama’s wife is Dhumorna (=Dhumrorna) [Dn1 D2-4,8,9 “ūrmilā”, K4 “ṡāmalā” ]
6. Varuna’s wife is Gauri
7. Dhaneshvara’s (Kubera’s) wife is Riddhi
8. Narayana’s wife is Lakshmi
9. Udadhi’s (Ocean) wife is Jahnavi (river Ganga)
10. Rudra’s wife is Rudrani
11. Pitamaha’s (Brahms) wife is Vedya (T2 G2 “yathā vāṇyāṃ” i.e., Vāṇī, T1 G1,4 “sarasvatyāṃ”)

The list continues with those of Rishis: Vasishtha’s son with Adrishyanti, Vasishtha with Akshamala, Chyavana with Sukanya, Pulastya with Sandhya, Agastya with Vaidharbhi, Satyavan with Savitri, Bhrigu with Puloma, Kashyapa with Aditi, Richika’s son (Jamadagni) with Renuka, Koushika with Haimavati, Brihaspati with Tara, Shukra with Shataparva, Bhumipati with Bhumi, Pururava with Urvashi, Richika with Satyavati and Manu with Sarasvati.

lakshmīnārāyaṇābhyāṃ namaḥ
sāvitrībrahmābhyāṃ namaḥ
umāmahēṡvarābhyāṃ namaḥ
ṡacīṡakrābhyāṃ namaḥ
suvarcalāsūryābhyāṃ namaḥ
rohiṇīcandrābhyāṃ namaḥ
dhūmōrṇayamābhyāṃ namaḥ
gaurīvaruṇābhyāṃ namaḥ
svāhāvahnibhyāṃ namaḥ
ṛddhikubērābhyāṃ namaḥ

The above roughly follows the Mādhva Tāratamya

A shloka for the Vedic deities:

vandē’gnim indraṃ varuṇaṃ mitraṃ sōmaṃ bṛhaspatim
dyāvābhūmyāv uṡāṃ vāyuṃ viṣṇuṃ brahma sarasvatīm