NIRRTI: GODDESS OF MISERY
 WARNING: This article contains spoilers through Season Six episode
"Metamorphosis." Proceed with caution!
The Nirrti of Hindu lore is more diverse than in the one represented in Stargate SG-1.1 While she only appeared in three episodes before her death ("Fair Game," "Rite of Passage," and "Metamorphosis"), each appearance presents a little more information about her mythic origins. Unfortunately, these clues are not always apparent to the viewer, and one looking into her role in the Vedas (and the studies thereof) will find a wealth of information.
In the Hindu Vedas, Nirrti is the daughter of Surabhi (the cow goddess), the wife of Adharma (Destroyer of All Things), and is the Goddess of Disease and Death.2 Her name means "misery" and is used in reverence when invoked in attempts to dispel disease. For example: "Some and Rudra, chase to every quarter the sickness that hath visited our dwelling. Drive Nirrti away into the distance and give us excellent and happy glories!"3 And in a hymn of the Atharva-veda, the charm reads: "From kshetriya (inherited disease), from Nirrti (the goddess of destruction), from the curse of the kinswoman, from Druh (the demon of guile), from the fetter of Varuna do I release thee. Guiltless do I render thee through my charm; may heaven and earth both be propitious to thee!"4
The goddess Nirrti appears before the destitute; typically they are beggars, lepers, and diseased. She dwells in the cracks of the earth, in deserts, and in ruins. She lurks nearby when one is hungry, thirsty, widowed, or in mourning. And she is described as "a woman of unhealthy complexion, restless, wicked, tall, with a dirty robe and disheveled hair (a far cry from SG-1's beautiful Goa'uld, played by Jacqueline Samuda). With gaps in her teeth, she looks like a widow, and holds in her hand a winnowing basket. Her eyes seem cruel, her hands tremble and her nose is long. She behaves deceitfully and is sly in her looks. Insatiably hungry and thirsty, she inspires fear and is the instigator of quarrels."5
Many images depicting Nirrti are painted on black cloth. The ceremonies dedicated to her are characterized by the use of black ornaments (grain, bricks, and sacrificial animals such as the dove, owl, and hare) and garments that the worshippers wear.6 To note, Hindu polytheism associates the color black with disintegration -- the opposite of cohesion. This darkness is the color of the ether, the formless, pervasive substance of the spatial universe.7
Nirrti is also the goddess who dishes out punishment when one has sinned. But she also protects those borne into crime as long as they remain ethical.8 These sins are sometimes known as "the fetters of Nirrti" (i.e. chains). In modern definition, these fetters are representative of the burden of guilt. To remove a sin is difficult. One example in Hindu lore describes a Brahman student under a duty of chastity; if he fails in this duty he is required to make an offering of an ass to the goddess Nirrti. His portion of the victim (the donkey) is cut from the penis: and thereafter he goes about clad in the skin of the victim and begging for alms, duly proclaiming his sin to those from whom he belongs.9
This act of repenting is made because of the ass's connection with the goddess Nirrti. Here, she personifies dissolution. When the guilty has sinned, the guilt can only be absolved in this magical rite to the goddess.10 The moral of this story is similar to that of Samuel Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." While the Mariner can absolve himself from the sin, he still has to go about his life telling his tale of woe.
 |  The ailing Cassandra can sense Nirrti, the goddess of disease and death, nearby thanks to the naquadah in her bloodstream. From "Rite of Passage." |
When the Vedic Age ended and the Brahmanic rose in India, the early gods fell and new ones took their places; Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva became the prominent figures of Hindu religions in this new era. As a result, confusion followed in describing Nirrti's identity. There are references and representations that depict Nirrti as a male, and statues feature male genitalia. The Mahanirvana Tantra describes "Nirriti of dark green color, and, holding a sword in his hand, is seated on a horse."11 Where the female form went is a mystery.
One source, the "Dictionary of Ancient Deities," clarifies the issue by revealing that Nirriti is the Vedic goddess of death, the spouse of Nirrita, the guardian deity of the Southwest, and mother of Rakshasis and Rakshasa -- male and female demons representing the forces of evil and the human aspects of greed, deceit, lust, and violence.12
Some scholars define Nirrita as the masculine aspect of Nirriti, and references tend to use the incorrect spelling when photographs or references are made about the male version of this deity. Adharma is, in fact, another name for Brahma. References of Nirriti with Brahma are few, and the Nirriti/Nirrita connection is currently more accepted.
Given this wealth of background information, the Nirriti of the Stargate universe is first known as the goddess of darkness and destruction ("Singularity," "Fair Game"). Future episodes reveal her to be a scientist without a conscience, preferring to use deceit and stealth (cloaking technology) to achieve her aims -- but there is more to her than expected.
In each of the three episodes in which the character appears, more and more is revealed about her. "Fair Game" makes one important reference to her legendary origin that is not stated by Daniel Jackson -- because of her actions, she gets thrown out of the System Lord hierarchy. This action is very much akin to the demise of the Vedic gods and rise of new figures in the transition of Hindu religion. This "fall" is moreso evident with the male incarnation, as he is delegated to obscurity.13
 Eggar (Alex Zahara) and Wodan (Dion Johnstone), victims of Nirrti's genetic manipulation, take back their world and kill the evil goddess. From "Metamorphosis." | |
With "Rite of Passage," Nirriti is lurking nearby (appearing to the ill, and sensed by the ailing Cassandra), dressed in black and, like the charms, called upon to help cure Cassandra.
With the episode "Metamorphosis," Jacqueline Samuda brings her character to full realization. She contributed to this episode's story, and seems to have used as much of the legendary Nirriti and culture as possible. She is aptly dressed in black, her role as harbinger of disease, misery (pain), and death fully realized with the use of the Ancient DNA-altering machine. The local populace are the lepers and diseased.
The episode's interior sets are decorated with Hindu art. A curious twist is Eggar and Wodan, her two main subjects: The former does not have a mythic connection, but the latter does. Wodan is the Germanic name for Odin, the one-eyed god of Norse mythology.
Could this be a hint of what SG-1's Nordic naming convention is about? So far, the characters with names belonging to this pantheon (the Asgard and now Wodan's people) are, to some degree, helpful to the SG-1 team when it comes to dealing with the Goa'uld. Perhaps the Norse are the warriors of the bygone era who have been and always will be the protectors of mankind through the ages -- protectors against such misery and death-bringing foes as Nirrti.
FOOTNOTES
1. References to the Vedas (collectively known as the Rig Veda, a body of religious texts), Hindu (the culture), and India (the country) are used synonymously. To represent the changing face of this religion, the two prominent ages of concern here will be the Vedic (1500 to 900 BCE) and Brahmanic (900 to 500 BCE) eras.
2. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles R. Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p. 349. Hopkins, E. W. Epic Mythology, p. 31.
3. Soma-Ruda, HYMN LXXIV.
4. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av.htm
5. Dhumavatl Tantra, p. 515.
6. Keith, Arthur. The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, p. 212, 324.
7. Danielou, Alain. Hindu Polytheism, p. 282.
8. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles R. Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p. 349.
9. Keith, Arthur. The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, p. 243.
10. Ibid, p. 279.
11. http://www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/maha/maha13.htm
12. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles R. Dictionary of Ancient Deities, p. 398.
13. http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/glossary1.html
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