Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c13.109

c13.109

The growth of abstract deities.—Another trend was the growth of abstract deities. Two classes can be distinguished within these: of those gods who are simply the personifications of abstract ideas, and of those whose names denote primarily either an agent or designate some attribute.⁹² Of these the members of the first class at least are on the whole very late. The origin of Aditi is still obscure, but the hypothesis of Macdonell that it lies in the hypostatization of Aditi from such expressions as "Aditeḥ putrāḥ" appears to be plausible.⁹³ The goddess has no definite physical features; she is implored to grant freedom from guilt or sin and lent herself quite easily to mystical identifications.⁹⁴