Vedic deities

 THE VEDIC DEITIES.

ADITI, AND THE ADITYAS.

Aditi has the honour of being almost the only goddess

mentioned by name in the Rig-veda, as the mother of

any of the gods; but it is by no means an easy task to

delineate her character, as the most contradictory state­ments 

are made concerning her.

She was invoked as

the bestower of blessings on children and cattle; and

she is declaimed to be the mother of Varuna, and other

deities, sometimes eight, sometimes twelve in number.

She is supposed to be the impersonation of “ infinity,

especially the boundlessness of heaven, in opposition

to the finiteness of earth.”

Another supposition is that

Aditi is the personification of “ universal, all-embracing

Nature or Being.” This latter idea seems to be the more

correct from the following verses * where a man about

to be immolated says, “ Of which god, now, of which of

the immortals, shall we invoke the amiable name, who

shall give us back to the great Aditi, that I may behold

my father and my mother ? ”

Whatever may have been

intended by the poets to be expressed by this name, or

whatever may have been the precise power personified

by Aditi, she is connected with the forgiveness of sin.

Thus, “ May Aditi make us sinless.” “ Aditi be gracious,

it we have committed any sin against you.” “ Whatever

 we have; oh Agni, through our folly committed

against you, oh most youthful god, make us tree from

sins against Aditi.”

“ Whatever sin we have committed,

may Aditi sever us from it.” *

Probably the term Aditi

“ the boundless,” was originally employed as an epithet

of Dyauspita, the Heaven-father.

When the heavens

came to be divided into a number of parts, over each of

which a ruler was nominated, a mother was wanted for

thorn, and the name Aditi was given to her.

In the account of the Creation given in the Rig-Veda,

Aditi is said to have sprung from Daksha, and in the

same verse Daksha is called her son.

There is also a reference to her other sons. In the “ Vishnu Puruna ”

 we have no less than three somewhat differing accounts of

the origin of Daksha the father of Aditi.

In the first

account, his name appears amongst the mind-born sons

of Brahma; and in this connection he is said to have

had twenty-four daughters; but Aditi is not mentioned

as one of them.

In the second account of Daksha, Aditi

is said to have been one of his sixty daughters, and was

given in marriage to Kasypa, by whom she had twelve

sons__the Adilyas.

Elsewhere we read that Vishnu,

when incarnate as the Dwarf, was a result of this

marriage.

In the third account of Daksha, Aditi is

again mentioned as his daughter, and the mother of

Vivasat (the Sun),

The sons of Aditi are termed The A dityas.

This name signifies simply the descendants of Aditi,

In one passage in the Rig-Veda t the names of six are

given: Mitra,. Aryaman, Bhaga, Varuna, Daksha and

Auisa.

In another passage they are said to be seven in

 number, though their names are not given.

In a third,

eight is the number mentioned; but “ of the eight sons

of Adifci, who were born from her body, she approached

the gods with seven, and cast out Marttanda (the

eighth).” *

As the names of these sons given in

different parts of the Vedas do not agree with each

other, it is difficult to know who were originally re­

garded as Adityas.

Judging from the number of hymns

addressed to them, some of these deities occupied a

conspicuous position in the Vedic Pantheon;

whilst others are named once or twice only, and then in con­

nection with their more illustrious brethren.

In the“ Satapatha Br ah in ana,” and the Buninas, the number

of the Adityas is increased to twelve. 

In addition to the six whose names are given above, the following are

also described in some hymns of the Rig-Veda as the

offspring of Aditi : Surya, “ as an Aditya identified with

Agni, is said to have been placed by the gods in the

sky ; Savitri, and Indra too, are in one passage

addressed as an Aditya along with Varuna and the

Moon.

In the Taittiriya Texts, the following are de­

scribed as Adityas:—Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Amsu,

Bhaga, India, and Vivas vat (Surya).

Professor Roth says $ of these deities, “ In the highest

heaven dwell and reign those gods who bear in common

the name of Adityas.

We must, however, if we would

discover their earliest character, abandon the conceptions

which in a later age, and even in that of the heroic

poems, were entertained regarding these deities.

Ac­cording to this conception they were twelve Sun-gods,

there being evident reference to the twelve months.

But for the most ancient period we must hold fast to

the primary significance of their names.

They are inviolable, imperishable, eternal things.

Aditi, Eternity,

The Eternal, is the element which sustains them, or

is sustained by them. The eternal and inviolable element

in which the Adityas dwell, and which forms their

essence, is the celestial light.

The Adityas, the gods of

this light, do not therefore by any means coincide with

any of the forms in which light is manifested in the

universe.

They are neither the sun, nor moon, nor stars,

nor dawn, but the eternal sustainers of this luminous

life, which exists, as it were, behind these phenomena.”

As noticed above, the text of the Rig-Veda says,

“ Of the eight sons who were born from the body of Aditi,

she approached the gods with seven, but cast away the

eighth.”

In the commentary, the following explanation

of this circumstance is given.

“ The eighth son was

deformed.

His brothers, seeing his deformity, improved

his appearance.

He was afterwards known as Vivasvat

(the Sun).

From the superfluous flesh cut off his body

an elephant was formed, hence the proverb, ‘ Let no

man catch an elephant, for the elephant partakes of the

nature of man.’ ”

According to a passage quoted in Chapter H.f from the

“ Satapatha Brahmana,” Agni, Indra, and Surya, obtained

superiority over the other gods by means of sacrifice.

By whatever means this position was obtained, it is

certain that they were the most popular deities of the

Vedic Age.

Agni stands in a class by himself; but with

Indra and Surya there are other deities closely associated,

and possessing very similar attributes.

Nearly the whole

of the more conspicuous Vedic deities may be classified

as follows:— (1) Agni, the god of Fire; (2) Sun Gods, or

gods of Light; and (3) Storm Gods, or those associated

with Indra,