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Vedic Mythology c5.s4: D. Abstract Gods

Vedic Mythology c5.s4

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D. Abstract Gods

c5.s4.1

§ 38. Two Classes. — There are in the RV. two classes of deities whose nature is founded on abstraction. The one class consisting of the direct personifications of abstract notions such as 'desire' is rare, occurring only in the very latest hymns of the RV. and due to that growth of speculation which is so plainly traceable in the course of the Vedic age. The other and more numerous class comprises deities whose names primarily either denote an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a root with the suffix *-tṛ*, such as Dhātṛ, 'Creator', or designate some attribute, such as Prajāpati, 'Lord of Creatures'. This class, judged by the evolution of the mythological creations of the Veda, does not represent direct abstractions, but appears in each case to be derived from an epithet applied to one or more deities and illustrating a particular aspect of activity or character. Such epithets gradually becoming detached finally attained to an independent position. Thus Rohita, 'the Red One' (whose female form is Rohiṇī), originally an epithet of the sun, figures in the AV. as a separate deity in the capacity of a Creator¹.

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A. Various Agent Gods. — The most important of the gods whose names denote an agent in *-tṛ*, is Savitṛ, who has already been treated among the solar deities (§ 15). Most of the others are of rare occurrence in the RV. Dhātṛ, found in a few passages as an appellative designating priests as 'establishers' of the sacrifice, occurs as the name of a deity about a dozen times and, with the exception of one indefinite mention in company with a number of other gods (7, 35³), only in the tenth book. In one of these passages the name is an epithet of Indra (10, 167³) and in another of Viśvakarman (10, 82²). The frequent ascription of the action of establishing (√*dhā*) the phenomena of the world to different gods, gradually led to the conception of a separate deity exercising this particular activity. Thus Dhātṛ generally has the independent character of a god who creates sun, moon, heaven, earth, and air (10, 190³), and is lord of the world (10, 128⁷). In a hymn to the Sun, Dhātṛ is invoked to grant a clear eye (10, 158³). He is besought with Viṣṇu, Tvaṣṭṛ, Prajāpati, to grant offspring (10, 184¹) and, by himself, to bestow length of days (10, 185). He is also prayed to indefinitely with Viṣṇu and Savitṛ (10, 181¹⁻³) or with Mātariśvan and Deṣṭrī (10, 85⁴⁷). In the Naighaṇṭuka (5, 5) Dhātṛ is enumerated among the gods of the middle region and by Yāska (Nir. 11, 10) explained as the 'ordainer of everything'. In the post-Vedic period, Dhātṛ is the Creator and Preserver of the world, being the equivalent of Prajāpati or Brahmā. The rare name Vidhātṛ, the 'Disposer' is in two passages an epithet, beside Dhātṛ, once of Indra (10, 167³) and once of Viśvakarman (10, 82²); but appears twice in enumerations of deities to have an independent character (6, 50¹²; 9, 81⁵). Dhartṛ, 'Supporter', frequently used (almost exclusively with the genitive of that which is supported) as an epithet of Indra and other gods, occurs once as an independent name along with Dhātṛ and other deities (7, 35³). Similarly, Trātṛ, the 'Protector', mostly employed as an epithet of Agni or Indra and, in the plural, of the Ādityas, occurs independently as 'the Protector God' in five passages along with other deities (1, 106⁷; 4, 55⁵· ⁷; 8, 18²⁰; 10, 128⁷). In ROTH's opinion, Savitṛ especially and also Bhaga are intended by this god². A 'Leader God' (*deva netṛ*) is invoked two or three times in one hymn (5, 50) as a guide to prosperity in life.

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B. Tvaṣṭṛ. — The only deity bearing a name of this type, who besides Savitṛ is mentioned with any frequency, is Tvaṣṭṛ. His name occurs about 65 times in the RV., pretty uniformly in the family books (though rarely in the seventh as well as the eighth), but relatively oftenest in the first and tenth. No hymn is, however, devoted to his praise.

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No part of Tvaṣṭṛ's physical form is mentioned except his arm or hand, it being characteristic of him to hold an iron axe in his hand (8, 29³). He is once described as yoking his two steeds to his chariot and shining greatly (6, 47¹⁹). Tvaṣṭṛ is beautiful-armed (*sugabhasti*: 6, 49⁹), or beautiful-handed (*supāṇi*: predominantly applied to him and Savitṛ).

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He is a skilful workman (1, 85⁹; 3, 54¹²), producing various objects showing the skill of an artificer. He is in fact the most skilful of workmen, versed in crafty contrivances (10, 53⁹). He is several times said (5, 31⁴ &c.) to have fashioned (√*takṣ*) the bolt of Indra. He also sharpens the iron axe of Brahmaṇaspati (10, 53⁹). He formed a new cup (1, 20⁶) which contained the food of the *asura* (1, 110³) or the beverage of the gods (1, 161⁵; 3, 35⁵). He thus possesses vessels out of which the gods drink (10, 53⁹). The AV. (9, 4³· ⁶) describes him as an old man bearing a bowl of wealth, a cup full of Soma. From Tvaṣṭṛ the swift horse was produced (VS. 29, 9), and he gives speed to the horse (AV. 6, 92¹).

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The RV. further states that Tvaṣṭṛ adorned all beings with form (10, 110⁹). He developes the germ in the womb and is the shaper of all forms, human and animal (1, 188⁹; 8, 91⁸; 10, 184¹). Similar statements are frequently made in later Vedic texts (AV. 2, 26¹, &c.), where he is characteristically a creator of forms (ŚB. 11, 4, 3³; TB. 1, 4, 7¹)³. He himself is called omniform (*viśvarūpa*) oftener than any other deity in the RV. As fashioner of living forms, he is frequently described as presiding over generation and bestowing offspring (3, 4⁹ &c.). Thus he is said to have fashioned husband and wife for each other from the womb (10, 10⁵; AV. 6, 78³). He has produced and nourishes a great variety of creatures (3, 55¹⁹). Beasts belong to Tvaṣṭṛ (ŚB. 3, 7, 3¹¹. 8, 3¹¹). He is indeed a universal father, for he produced the whole world (VS. 29, 9).

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He is also the ancestor of the human race in so far as his daughter Saraṇyū, wife of Vivasvat, becomes the mother of the primeval twins Yama and Yamī (10, 17¹· ², cp. 5, 42¹³). Vāyu is once said to be his son-in-law (8, 26²¹). Tvaṣṭṛ begot Bṛhaspati (2, 23¹⁷). Agni produced by the ten fingers, is the offspring of Tvaṣṭṛ (1, 95²), who, along with Heaven and Earth, the Waters, and the Bhṛgus, generated him (10, 2⁷. 46⁹). It is to be inferred that Tvaṣṭṛ was also the father of Indra (p. 57). Tvaṣṭṛ is especially a guardian of Soma, which is called 'the mead of Tvaṣṭṛ' (1, 117²²). It is in his house that Indra drinks Soma and presumately steals it, even slaying his father in order to obtain it (p. 57). The 'omniform' Tvaṣṭṛ has a son named Viśvarūpa (the Omniform), who is a guardian of cows. The hostility of Indra is directed against the son in order to win these cows, just as against the father in order to gain possession of the Soma. Even Tvaṣṭṛ himself is said to tremble with fear at the wrath of Indra (1, 80¹⁴) and is represented as inferior to Indra, inasmuch as not even he was able to perform a feat done by Indra (10, 49¹⁰). The TS. (2, 4, 12¹) tells a story of how Tvaṣṭṛ, whose son had been slain by Indra, refused to allow the latter to assist at his Soma sacrifice, but Indra came and drank off the Soma by force. The Brāhmaṇas often relate a similar tale (ŚB. 1, 6, 3⁶, &c.).

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Probably because of his creative agency in the womb⁴, Tvaṣṭṛ is closely allied with celestial females (*gnāḥ*, *janayaḥ*) or the wives of the gods, who are his most frequent attendants (1, 22⁹ &c.)⁵. Tvaṣṭṛ is chiefly mentioned with gods of cognate activity, Pūṣan, Savitṛ, Dhātṛ, Prajāpati. ‘Savitṛ’ is indeed an attribute of Tvaṣṭṛ in two passages (3, 55¹⁹; 10, 10⁵) in which occurs the identical collocation *devas tvaṣṭā savitā viśvarūpaḥ*⁶, ‘god Tvaṣṭṛ, the omniform vivifier’, and in both of which the generative or creative faculty of the deity is referred to. In the Kauśika Sūtra, Tvaṣṭṛ is identified with Savitṛ and Prajāpati⁷, and in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, with Viśvakarman and Prajāpati. In the later mythology Tvaṣṭṛ is one of the twelve Ādityas and in the Mahābhārata and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is once or twice a form of the sun.

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The RV. adds a few rather indefinite traits, which throw no light on Tvaṣṭṛ's character. He is said to be the first (1, 13¹⁰) or the first-born (*agrajā*) and one who goes before (9, 5⁹). As a companion of the Aṅgirases he knows the region of the gods (10, 70⁹), goes to the place of the gods (2, 1⁹) between heaven and earth (MS. 4, 14⁹). He is a bestower of blessings and is possessed of excellent wealth (10, 70⁹. 92¹¹). He is supplicated to grant riches to his worshippers and to delight in their hymns (7, 34²¹). Tvaṣṭṛ also confers long life (10, 18⁶; AV. 6, 78³).

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The word is derived from a rare root *tvakṣ*, of which only one verbal form, besides some nominal derivatives, occurs in the RV., and the cognate of which, *thwakṣ*, is found in the Avesta. It appears to be identical in meaning with the common root *takṣ*, which is used with the name of Tvaṣṭṛ in referring to the fashioning of Indra’s bolt. The meaning therefore appears to be the ‘Fashioner’ or ‘Artificer’.

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Tvaṣṭṛ is one of the obscurest members of the Vedic pantheon⁸. The obscurity of the conception is explained by Kaegi⁹ as due to Tvaṣṭṛ, like Trita and others, having belonged to an earlier race of gods who were ousted by later ones; while Hillebrandt thinks Tvaṣṭṛ was derived from a mythical cycle outside the range of the Vedic tribes. Different explanations have been offered of Tvaṣṭṛ's original nature. Owing to Tvaṣṭṛ being called Savitṛ, A. Kuhn¹⁰ thought that he meant the sun, but seems later¹¹ to have withdrawn this view. Ludwig¹² regards him as a god of the year, while Oldenberg believes him to be a pure abstraction expressing a definite characteristic activity¹³. Hillebrandt holds Kuhn’s earlier view that Tvaṣṭṛ represents the sun, to be probable¹⁴. Hardy also considers him a solar deity¹⁵. It does not indeed seem unlikely that this god, in a period anterior to the RV., represented the creative aspect of the sun’s nature. If such was the case the Rigvedic poets themselves were only very dimly conscious of it. The name itself would have encouraged the growth of mythical accretions illustrative of creative skill, the desire to supply the pantheon with a regular divine artificer being natural enough. Much in the same way it was supplied with a divine priest in the person of Bṛhaspati.

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The cup of Tvaṣṭṛ has been explained as the ‘bowl of the year’ or the nocturnal sky. But neither of these could well have been conceived as full of Soma and drunk by the gods. Hillebrandt's interpretation of it as the moon is more plausible (cp. p. 133).

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§ 39. Viśvakarman, Prajāpati. — A few other abstract deities originating in compound epithets and all representing the supreme god who was being evolved at the end of the Rigvedic period, are found in the RV. As the name of a god Viśvakarman occurs only five times in the RV. and always in the tenth book. Two whole hymns (10, 81. 82) are dedicated to his praise. The word also occurs as an attribute once (8, 87²) of Indra and once (10, 170⁴) of the Sun as the 'all-creating'. It is not uncommon as an adjective in the later Vedas, where it also appears as an attribute of Prajāpati (VS. 12, 61). The two hymns of the RV. describe Viśvakarman thus. He is all-seeing, having eyes, as well as a face, arms, and feet, on every side. (In this the Brahmā of later mythology, who is four-faced and four-armed, resembles him.) He is also provided with wings. He is a seer, a priest, our father. He is a lord of speech (*vācas pati*), swift as thought, beneficent, the source of all prosperity. He knows all places and beings, and he alone gives their names to the gods. He is wise and energetic, the highest apparition (*paramā saṃdṛk*). He is an establisher (*dhātṛ*) and a disposer (*vidhātṛ*), having produced the earth and disclosed the sky. It seems likely that the word was at first attached as an epithet chiefly to the sun-god, but in the later Rigvedic period became one of the almost synonymous names given to the one god (10, 81³) the conception of whom was then being tentatively evolved, and who as Viśvakarman was, owing to the name, mainly thought of in his architechtonic aspect¹. Viśvakarman in the Brāhmaṇas is expressly identified with the creator Prajāpati (ŚB. 8, 2, 1¹⁰. 3¹³, cp. AB. 4, 22). In post-Vedic times he was conceived as the artificer of the gods.

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Prajāpati occurs in one passage of the RV. (4, 53²) as an epithet of Savitṛ, who is spoken of as a supporter of heaven and *prajāpati* of the world², and in another, as an epithet of Soma compared with Tvaṣṭṛ and Indra (9, 5⁹). Otherwise the word is found four times as the name of a distinct deity, always in the tenth book. The god Prajāpati is invoked (10, 85⁴³) to bestow abundant offspring (*prajām*), is besought, along with Viṣṇu, Tvaṣṭṛ, and Dhātṛ, to grant offspring (10, 184¹), and is spoken of as making cows prolific (10, 169⁴). As a protector of generation and living beings Prajāpati is also often invoked in the AV.³ In the one hymn devoted to his praise in the RV. (10, 121), he is invoked by this name only in the last verse. In this hymn he is celebrated as the creator of heaven and earth, of the waters and of all that lives; who was born (*jāta*) as the one lord (*pati*) of all that is, the one king of all that breathes and moves, the one god above the gods; whose ordinances all beings and the gods follow; who established heaven and earth; who traverses space in the atmosphere; who embraces with his arms the whole world and all creatures. Here Prajāpati is clearly the name of the supreme god. Though only mentioned once in the RV. in this sense, he is commonly in the AV. and VS., and regularly in the Brāhmaṇas, recognized as the chief god. He is the father of the gods, (ŚB. 11, 1, 6¹⁴; TB. 8, 1, 3⁴ &c.), having existed alone in the beginning (ŚB. 2 2, 4¹). He created the Asuras as well (TB. 2, 2, 2³)⁴. He is also described as the first sacrificer (ŚB. 2, 4, 4¹; 6, 2, 3¹). In the Sūtras Prajāpati is identified with Brahmā (AGS. 3, 4, &c.). In the place of this chief god of the later Vedic theology, the philosophy of the Upaniṣads put the impersonal Brahma, the universal soul or the Absolute.

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⁴ ¹ OST. 4, 5—11; 5, 354—5; WC. 80—5; SPH. 33—40. — ² Cp. Bloomfield, AJP. 14, 493. — ³ See PW. s. v. *prajāpati*. — ⁴ Cp. OST. 5, 80—1. — ⁵ ASL. 529; OST. 4, 45; SBE. 12, 284, n. 1; Delbrück, FaB. 24; WVB. 1894, p. 34; Geldner, FaW. 21. — ⁶ Cp. BRV. 2, 109 f.; Oldenberg, SBE. 46, 78 f. — ⁷ SPH. 27, n. 2; ASL. 433; IS. 2, 94; SBE. 12, 8. — ⁸ ASL. 569 f.; OGR. 295; OST. 4, 15—18; 5, 352. 355; WC. 50—1; HVM. 1, 380, n. 1; HRI. 141—2; Geldner, l. c.

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A myth is told in the MS. (4, 2¹²) of Prajāpati being enamoured of his daughter Uṣas. She transformed herself into a gazelle; whereupon he transformed himself into the corresponding male. Rudra incensed at this aimed his arrow at him, when Prajāpati promised to make him lord of beasts if he did not shoot (cp. RV. 10, 61⁷). The story is several times referred to in the Brāhmaṇas (AB. 3, 33; ŚB. 1, 7, 4¹; PB. 8, 2¹⁰)⁵. The basis of this myth seem to be two passages of the RV. (1, 71⁵; 10, 61 ⁵⁻⁷) in which the incest of a father (who seems to be Dyaus) with his daughter (here apparently the Earth) is referred to and an archer is mentioned⁶.

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In the refrain of the first nine verses of RV. 10, 121 the supreme god is referred to as unknown by the interrogative pronoun *Ka*, Who? The answer given in the tenth verse, is that Prajāpati alone embraces all beings. This later led to the employment of *Ka* not only as an epithet of Prajāpati (AB. 3, 22⁷), but as a name, used by itself, of the supreme god (MS. 3, 12⁵). In the TS. (1, 7, 6⁶) Ka is expressly identified with Prajāpati⁷.

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In the first verse of RV. 10, 121 the supreme god is referred to as Hiraṇyagarbha, the ‘Germ of Gold’, the one lord of what exists. This is the only occurrence of the name in the RV., but it is mentioned several times in the AV. and the literature of the Brāhmaṇa period (cp. p. 13). Hiraṇyagarbha is also alluded to in a passage of the AV. (4, 2⁸) where it is stated that the waters produced an embryo, which as it was being born, was enveloped in a golden covering. In the TS. (5, 5, 1²) Hiraṇyagarbha is expressly identified with Prajāpati. In the later literature he is chiefly a designation of the personal Brahmā⁸.

§ 40. Manyu, Śraddhā &c.

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We have yet to deal with the deifications of abstract nouns. Manyu, Wrath, a personification suggested chiefly by the fierce anger of Indra, is invoked in two hymns of the RV. (10, 83. 84). He is of irresistible might and self-existent. He glows like fire, is a god, who is Indra, Varuṇa, Jātavedas. He slays Vṛtra, is accompanied by the Maruts, grants victory like Indra, and bestows wealth. United with Tapas, Ardour, he protects his adorers and slays their foes. One short hymn of the RV. (10, 151) is devoted to the praise of Śraddhā, Faith¹. She is said to be invoked morning, noon, and night. Through Faith fire is kindled and ghee offered. Through Faith wealth is obtained. In the Brāhmaṇas Śraddhā is the daughter of the Sun (ŚB. 12, 7, 3¹¹) or of Prajāpati (TB. 2, 3, 10¹). Her relationships are still further worked out in the Epics and Purāṇas. Anumati, Favour (of the gods), occurs twice as a personification in the RV. She is besought to be gracious and let her worshippers long see the sun (10, 59⁶) and her protection is referred to (10, 167³). In the AV. and VS. she becomes a goddess of love and presides over propagation. The later ritual connected her with the moon, regarding her as representing the day before full-moon². Aramati, Devotion, Piety, is occasionally personified in the RV. The name has a counterpart in the Avestic Ārmaiti, a genius of earth as well as wisdom¹, but the personification can hardly go back to the Indo-Iranian period. Sūnṛtā, Bounty², appears to be personified as a goddess two or three times in the RV. (1, 40³; 10, 141²). Asunīti, Spirit-life, is personified in one passage of the RV. (10, 59⁵·⁶), being besought to prolong life and grant strength and nourishment³. Nirṛti, Decease, Dissolution, appears about twelve times in the RV. as a personification presiding over death.

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³ ZDMG. 7, 519; 8, 770; 9, 690—2; SP.AP. 151. 200—3; HVBP. 91; HRI. 136. —

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Other personifications appear for the first time in the later Vedas. Kāma, Desire, is deified in the AV. (9, 2; 19, 52). Here he is not, as in post-Vedic literature, a god of love, but a deity who fulfils all desires. His arrows, with which he pierces hearts, are already referred to (AV. 3, 25¹). He is described as the first who was born (AV. 9, 2¹⁹). The origin of the conception is most probably to be traced to the *kāma* 'desire', which in a cosmogonic hymn (p. 13) of the RV. (10, 129⁴), is called 'the first seed of mind'⁴. Kāla, Time, is personified as a cosmogonic force in the AV. (19, 53. 54)⁵, and Skambha, Support, an abstraction postulated by the speculation of the AV. to uphold the universe created by Prajāpati, comes to be praised as the All-god (AV. 10, 8²)⁶. Prāṇa, Breath, is also deified and identified with Prajāpati (AV. 11, 4¹² &c.)⁷. Other personified abstractions of a like nature are to be found in the AV.⁸ Śrī as a personification of Beauty or Fortune first appears in the ŚB. (11, 4, 3¹)⁹.

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¹ Cp. OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 450 f. —

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² ZDMG. 7, 608; IS. 5, 229. —

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⁴ OLDENBERG, ZDMG. 50, 440. —

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⁵ But cp. MM., JRAS. 2, 460, n. 2. —

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⁶ WEBER, IS. 5, 224; 17, 290; ZDMG. 14, 269; OST. 5, 402; SPH. 76—7. —

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⁷ SPH. 78—82; HVBP. 88. —

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⁸ SPH. 50—9; HRI. 209. —

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⁹ SPH. 35. —

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⁸ SPH. 14. —

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⁹ GGH. 4.

§ 41. Aditi

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There is one deity who, if rightly interpreted as the personification of a pure abstraction, like those treated in the preceding paragraph, occupies an anomalous position in the RV. For the name is not limited to the latest portion, but occurs throughout the collection. This would be accounted for by the peculiar manner in which the personification came about, supposing the explanation offered below to be correct. Otherwise this deity would have to be classed with abstractions of the epithet type (§ 39).

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The goddess Aditi is not the subject of any separate hymn, but is often incidentally celebrated in the RV., her name occurring nearly eighty times. Very rarely mentioned alone (8, 19¹⁴), she is constantly invoked with her sons, the Ādityas.

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She has no definite physical features. She is often called a goddess (*devī*), who is sometimes styled *anarvā*, 'intact' (2, 40⁶; 7, 40⁴). She is widely expanded (5, 46⁶), extensive, a mistress of wide stalls (8, 67¹²). She is bright and luminous, a supporter of creatures (1, 136³: otherwise said of Mitra-Varuṇa only), and belongs to all men (7, 10⁴: also said of Heaven and Earth). She is invoked at morning, noon, and sunset (5, 69³)¹.

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Aditi is the mother of Mitra and Varuṇa (8, 25³; 10, 36³. 132⁶) as well as of Aryaman (8, 47⁹). Hence she is called the mother of kings (2, 27⁷, cp. v. ¹), of excellent sons (3, 4¹¹), of powerful sons (8, 56¹¹), of heroic sons (AV. 3, 8³; 11, 1¹¹), or of eight sons (10, 72⁸; AV. 8, 9²¹). She is once said to be the mother of the Rudras, being the daughter of the Vasus and (strange to say) sister of the Ādityas (8, 90¹⁵), and the AV. (6, 4¹) mentions her brothers as well as her sons. In another passage of the AV. (7, 6² = VS. 21, 5) she is invoked as the great mother of the devout, the mistress of *ṛta*, strong in might, undecaying, widely extended, protecting, skilfully guiding. Such passages and the constant invocation of Aditi along with the Ādityas, her sons, show that her motherhood is an essential and characteristic trait. Her epithet *pastyā*, housewife (4, 55³; 8, 27⁵) may possibly also allude to her motherhood. In the Epic and Purāṇic mythology Aditi is the daughter of Dakṣa and mother of the gods in general, and expressly of Vivasvat, the Sun, and of Viṣṇu in his dwarf incarnation. She is said to be the wife of Viṣṇu in VS. (29, 60 = TS. 7, 5¹⁴).

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Aditi is several times spoken of as protecting from distress (*aṃhas*), and she is said to grant complete welfare or safety (10, 100; 1, 94¹⁵), but she is more frequently invoked to release from guilt or sin. Thus Varuṇa (1, 24¹⁵), Agni (4, 12⁴), and Savitṛ (5, 82⁶), are besought to free from guilt against Aditi. Aditi, Mitra, and Varuṇa are implored to forgive sin (2, 27¹⁴), Aditi and Aryaman, to loosen (the bonds of) sin (7, 93⁷). Worshippers beseech Aditi to make them sinless (1, 162²²); praying that by fulfilling her ordinances they may be without sin towards Varuṇa (7, 87⁷) and that evildoers may be cut off from Aditi (10, 87¹⁸). Hence though other gods, Agni (3, 54¹⁰), Savitṛ (4, 54³), Sun, Dawn, Heaven and Earth (10, 35²˙ ³) are petitioned to pardon sin, the notion of releasing from it is much more closely connected with Aditi and her son Varuṇa, whose fetters that bind sinners are characteristic, and who unties sin like a rope and removes it (p. 26).

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This notion is nearly allied to the etymology of the name. The word *aditi* is primarily a noun meaning 'unbinding', 'bondlessness', from *di-ti* 'binding' (= Gk. δέ-σι-ς), derived from the root *dā*, 'to bind'. The past passive participle of this verb is employed to describe Śunaḥśepa 'bound' (*di-tá*) to the stake (5, 2⁷). Hence as a goddess Aditi is naturally invoked to release her worshippers like a tied (*baddha*) thief (8, 67¹⁴). The original unpersonified meaning of 'freedom' seems to survive in a few passages of the RV. Thus a worshipper exclaims, 'who gives us back to great *aditi*, that I may see father and mother'? (1, 24¹). The Ādityas are besought (7, 51¹) to 'place the offering in guiltlessness (*anāgāstve*) and freedom (*adititve*)'. The poet perhaps means the same thing when he prays to Heaven and Earth for 'the secure and unlimited gift of *aditi*' (1, 185³). The word *aditi* also occurs several times in the adjectival sense of 'boundless'. It is thus used as an attribute twice of Dyaus (5, 59⁸; 10, 63³) and more frequently of Agni (1, 94¹⁵; 4, 1²⁰; 7, 9³; 8, 19¹⁴).

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The indefiniteness of the name would easily have lent itself to mystical identifications, and the conception was naturally affected by the theogonic and cosmogonic speculations found in the more recent portions of the RV. Thus the gods are said to have been born from Aditi, the Waters, and Earth (10, 63²; cp. p. 14). In the verse immediately following, the 'boundless' Sky (*dyaur aditi*), their mother, is said to supply the gods with honied milk. Here therefore she appears to be identified with the sky². Elsewhere (1, 72⁹; AV. 13, 1³⁸) Aditi seems to be identified with the Earth, and this identification is frequent in the TS. and ŚB. In the Naighaṇṭuka the name is given as a synonym of earth, and, in the dual, of Heaven and Earth³. In many passages of the RV., however, she is distinguished from Heaven and Earth by being mentioned separately along with them (10, 63¹⁰ &c.)⁴. In another passage (1, 89¹⁰) Aditi represents a personification of Universal Nature: 'Aditi is the sky; Aditi is the air; Aditi is the mother, and father, and son; Aditi is all the gods and the five tribes; Aditi is whatever has been born; Aditi is whatever shall be born' (p. 16; cp. Kaṭha Up. 4, 7).

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Though according to the older mythology of the RV. Aditi is the mother of Dakṣa as an Āditya (2, 27¹), she is in a cosmogonic hymn (10, 72⁴˙ ⁵) said to be his daughter as well as his mother by the reciprocal generation which is a notion not unfamiliar to the RV. (p. 12; cp. 10, 90⁵). In two other hymns of the tenth book (5⁷. 64⁵) these deities are connected in such a way that Aditi can scarcely be the mother of Dakṣa, but seems rather to be subordinate to him. Though Aditi is the mother of some of the leading deities, she plays an inferior part in a few other passages also. Thus she celebrates, along with her sons Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman, the praises of Savitṛ (7, 38⁴) and is said to have produced a hymn for Indra (8, 12¹⁴, cp. 5, 31⁵).

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Probably as the mother of the luminous Ādityas, Aditi is sometimes connected with light. She is asked for light (4, 25³, cp. 10, 36³), her imperishable light is celebrated (7, 82¹⁰), and Dawn is called the face of Aditi (1, 113¹⁹). Occasionally Aditi is referred to in general terms which might apply to other deities. Thus she is implored to protect or bless her worshippers, their children, and their cattle (8, 18⁶. 7; 1, 43²). She is prayed to for wealth (7, 40²), her pure, intact, celestial, imperishable gifts are supplicated (1, 185³), and the large blessings bestowed by the Maruts are compared with the beneficent deeds of Aditi (1, 166¹²).

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In some passages of the RV. (1, 153³; 8, 90¹⁵; 10, 11¹ &c.) as well as in later Vedic texts (VS. 13, 43. 49), Aditi is spoken of as a cow, and, in the ritual, a ceremonial cow is commonly addressed as Aditi⁵. Terrestrial Soma is compared to the milk of Aditi (9, 96¹⁵); and milk only can be meant⁶ by the daughter of Aditi who yields to Soma as he flows to the vat (9, 69³). There may be a similar allusion when priests with their ten fingers are said to purify Soma on the lap of Aditi (9, 26¹. 71⁵).

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A review of the evidence indicates that Aditi has two and only two prominent characteristics. The first is her motherhood. She is the mother of a group of gods whose name represents a metronymic formation from hers. Her second main characteristic, in conformity with the etymological meaning of the name, is her power of releasing from the bonds of physical suffering and moral guilt. Mystical speculation on the name would lead to her being styled a cow, as representing boundless plenty, or to her being identified with the boundless earth, heaven, or universe. But how are we to account for so early a personification of such an abstract idea, and in particular for Aditi becoming the mother of the Ādityas? Bergaigne⁷ thinks the transition to Aditi's motherhood is to be found in such an expression as *dyaur aditiḥ*, the 'boundless sky', the mother who supplies the gods with milk (10, 63³). According to this view, the rare and secondary adjectival meaning 'boundless' would have developed from being an epithet of the sky, otherwise characteristically regarded as a father, into an independent female deity. Nor does this explanation seem to account satisfactorily for the conception of Aditi releasing from bondage. Another explanation is possible. The expression *aditeḥ putrāḥ*, sons of Aditi, several times applied to the Ādityas in the RV., may in the pre-Vedic period have simply meant 'sons of freedom' (like *sahasaḥ putraḥ*, 'son of strength': p. 12) as describing a prominent quality of Varuṇa and cognate gods. Such an expression would easily lead to the personification of Aditi as a mother. Similarly Śavasī was evolved as a name of Indra's mother in the RV. itself from his epithet 'Son of Might' (*śavasaḥ*: p. 12) and Indra's epithet *śacīpati*, 'lord of might', later led to *śacī* being personified as the wife of that god, the compound being interpreted as 'husband of Śacī'. The formation of a metronymic Āditya, son of Aditi, would tend to the limitation of the group comprising her sons. The deified personification would naturally retain a connexion with the original meaning of existence free from all fetters, but would assume a few additional fluctuating attributes, such as brightness, from the Ādityas. As mother of some of the leading gods or of the gods in general, she might occasionally be identified with Heaven and Earth, the universal parents, and the meaning of the word would encourage cosmogonic speculations. Thus Aditi, an entirely Indian goddess, is historically younger than some at least of her sons.

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³ According to BRV. 3, 90, Aditi in 4, 55^1^b = 7, 62^4 a is synonymous with dyāvāpṛthivī. —

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⁷ BRV. 3, 90. —

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The opinion that Aditi is a personification of the idea of ‘freedom from bondage’ is favoured by Wallis⁸ and Oldenberg⁹. Max Müller¹⁰ thinks that Aditi, an ancient god or goddess, is the earliest name invented to express the infinite as visible to the naked eye, the endless expanse beyond the earth, the clouds, and the sky. Roth at first¹¹ interpreted Aditi to mean ‘inviolability, imperishableness’, denoting as a personification the goddess of eternity. Later he explained her as ‘eternity’, the principle which sustains the Ādityas, or imperishable celestial light¹². He regards her not as a definite but only an incipient personification. In the St. Petersburg Dictionary, however, he explains Aditi as a personification of the boundlessness of heaven as opposed to the finite earth. Pischel, on the other hand believes Aditi represents the earth¹³. This is also Hardy’s opinion¹⁴. Colinet considers Aditi the female counterpart of Dyaus¹⁵. The Naighaṇṭuka gives *aditi* as a synonym of *pṛthivī* (earth), *vāc* (speech), *go* (cow), and, in the dual, of *dyāvāpṛthivī* (heaven and earth). Yāska defines Aditi as ‘the mighty mother of the gods’, and following the Naighaṇṭuka (5, 5) locates her in the atmospheric region, while the Ādityas are assigned to the celestial, and Varuṇa to both¹⁶.

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¹ OST. 5, 36, note 68. —

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² Op. cit. 5, 39, note 73. —

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⁴ References in OST. 5, 40 f. —

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⁵ ORV. 206 cp. 72. —

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⁶ Otherwise BRV. 3, 94. —

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⁸ WC. 45 f. —

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⁹ ORV. 204—7 cp. SBE. 46, 329. —

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¹⁰ Vedic Hymns, SBE. 32, 241; cp. LSL. 2, 619; Hopkins, JAOS. 17, 91. —

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¹¹ Nirukta, Erl. 150—1. —

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¹² ZDMG. 6, 68 f.; so also KRV. 59, Hillebrandt, Aditi p. 20. —

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¹³ PVS. 2, 86. —

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¹⁴ HVBP. 94. —

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¹⁵ Trans. of the 9th Or. Congress 1, 396—410. —

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¹⁶ Roth on Nir. 10, 4. Benfey, Hymnen des Sāmaveda 218 (= Unteilbarkeit); OST. 1, 26; 5, 35—53. 55; BRV. 3, 88—98; Hillebrandt, Ueber die Göttin Aditi, Breslau 1876; BRI. 19; Darmesteter, Ormazd p. 82; Colinet, Etude sur le mot Aditi, Museon 12, 81—90; Roth, IS. 14, 392—3; Bloomfield, ZDMG. 48, 552, note 1; HRI. 72—3.

§ 42. Diti

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The name of Diti occurs only three times in the RV., twice along with that of Aditi. Mitra and Varuṇa are said to behold from their car Aditi and Diti (5, 62^8). Sāyaṇa here explains the two as the indivisible earth and the separate creatures on it, Roth¹, as ‘the eternal and the perishable’, and Muir² as ‘the entire aggregate of visible nature’. In a second passage (4, 2^11), Agni is besought to grant *diti* and preserve from *aditi*. Here Sāyaṇa interprets the two words as ‘liberal giver’ and ‘illiberal giver’, Roth as ‘wealth’ and ‘penury’. Bergaigne³ takes the words to designate the goddesses of the previous passage; but it is more likely that they are here quite different words, derived from *dā*, ‘to give’, and thus meaning ‘giving’ and ‘non-giving’. This view seems to be favoured by both the context and the order in which the words occur. In the third passage (7, 15^12) Diti is mentioned without Aditi, but along with Agni, Savitṛ, and Bhaga, being said to give (*dā*) what is desirable (*vāryam*). Diti is named along with Aditi as a goddess in the later Saṃhitās also (VS. 18, 22; AV. 15, 18^4; 16, 6^7). Her sons are mentioned in AV. 7, 7^1. These are the Daityas, who in post-Vedic mythology are the enemies of the gods. The name of Diti as a goddess seems to be merely an antithesis to that of Aditi⁴, formed from the latter to express a positive sense, as *sura*, ‘god’, was later (by false etymology) evolved from *asura*, ‘demon’.

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¹ ZDMG. 6, 71. —

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² OST. 5, 42. —

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³ BRV. 3, 97. —

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⁴ MM., SBE. 32, 256; cp. WC. 46.

Linked texts (13)