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ADITI 213 Aditi has the honour of being almost the only goddess mentioned by name in the Rgveda, 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 is invoked as the bestower of blessings on children and cattle, and she is declared to be the mother of Varuna and other deities, sometimes 18. sometimes 12 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): U Aditi is a highly remarkable goddess in the Rgveda variously interpreted as 'sinlessness' (Benfey, Orient and Occident, Rigveda I.133), 'Infinity' (Max Miller, Vedic Hymns, note on Rigveda I.166.12); 'emancipation' (Bergaigne, 'La Religion Vedique d'apres les hymnes du Rgveda', and Neisser, Zum Worterbuch des Rgveda,' Leipzig, 1924), 'a fixed point in the Zodiac (V.M. Apte); 'universal nature' (J. Muir) and the earth (Sayana), etc. Aditi is the mother or consort or daughter or sister of most 2 of the gods of the Vedic pantheon. 1 W.J. Wilkins, op. cit., p. 170. 2 K. Krishnamoorthy, "Female Deities in the Rgveda, Journal of Dharma, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1980, p. 133.

214 nya 6 The opinion that Aditi is a personification of the idea of 'freedom from bondage' is favoured by Wallis and oldenberg. Max Miller 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 first interpreted Aditi to mean 'inviolability, imperishableness*, denoting as a personification the goddess of eternity. Later he explained her as 'eternity', the principle Shich sustains the Adityas or imperishable celestial lights. Lights. He st regards her as an incipient personification. In the Petersburg. of Dictionary, however, he explains Aditi as a personification the boundlessness of heaven. Pischel believes Aditi represents the earth. This is also Hardly's opinion. Colinet considers Aditi the female counterpart of Dyaus. The Naighantuka gives Aditi as a synonym of Prthivi, Vac, go and in the dual of dyavaprthivi. Yaska defines Aditi as 'the mighty mother of the gods' and following the Naighantuka (5,5) locates her in the atmospheric region, while the Adityas are assigned to the celestial and Varuna to 73 both. She protects her worshippers, and destroys their enemies. She guards her devotees against severe affliction, and rescues them from trouble and dishonour! She liberates her worshippers from 3 A.A. Macdonell, "Vedic Mythology", Indological Book House, 4 5 Varanasi, 1963, p. 123. Rigveda VI : 75:17, VIII : 1816, VIII : 25110, VIII : 67:11, VIII : 18:7, VIII : 18:4, IV : 55:7, Maitrayani-samhita IV: 14:9, IV : 10:33, & 34, Vajasaney-samhita XVII : 48, XXIX: 49, XXI 15 & 6, Taittiriya-samhita I: 5:11, II: 3:10, IV : 616, Atharva-veda VI & 3:1, VI : 4:2, XVIII; 1:27, Rigveda VIII: 18:7, Atharva-veda VI : 4:2, XI: 1:11. 6 Taittiriya-samhita I 15:11. 7 VE XXIII: 42.

: 215 their noose, and with her grace their sons are not harmed by the trap which exists in the water. She protects the animals of 10 her devotees, and is generally regarded as the protector of the whole world!l she dispels evil 12 and delivers her worshippers from 13 the sins committed by them. She is protected by Agni with the 14 most auspicious covering." She is regarded as the guardian of Rta or the cosmic order 15 16 She gives happiness to the devotee, and is also friendly and 17 gracious towards them. She showers good fortune on her worshippers 18 and grants them all their desires. She bestows Rudra's grace on 19 20 the cattle, men and cows of her devotees, and gives them all the 21 non-destructive splendour 22 She gives life to the lord of sacrifice. 23 24 and peace to her worshipper: She also grants them refuge." 8 Rigveda VIII # 67:14 & 18, Taittiriya-samhita III : 114. 10 11 222223 14 9 Rigveda VIII : 61 1 & 11. Rigveda VIII : 1816, Taittiriya-samhita TV: 2:10. Rigveda I: 7319, Vajasaney-samhita XIII ; 18. 12 13 Rigveda I : 94:16. Taittiriya-samhita IV 1 619, IV.: 7:9. S Taittiriya-samhita TV & 219, IV: 4:12, V : 1:7, V : 5 1, II : 3+1. 15 Rigveda VI: 51:3. 16. Rigveda IV: 251S, VI: 51:5, VI; 75:12, VI ; 75:17, VIII : 1817, VIII : 4719, VIII : 67 : 10, Taittiriya-brahmana II 1 21615, Vajasaney-samhita XXIX : 4. Rigveda VI : 75 : 12, 17 18 Rigveda V: 51:4, III 16120, V 8 XXIX: 4. Atharva-veda XI: 1:11. ; 19 Rigveda VIII : 1814, Vajasaney-samhita III, 27, Atharva-veda XVIII: 1:19, XVIII, 4:45. 699022 Taittiriya-samhita III: 4111. 23 Rigveda VII # 35 # 9. 21 Rigveda X : 36 : 3. 24 Satapatha-brahmana V, 12:419. Rigveda VI : 5115, Maitrayani-samhita III: 16:20, Atharva-veda II:28:5, VII: 62 & 3, Satapatha-brahmana III 5.6137, > II: 4:54.

216 She is the earth' 25 26 She supports the whole earth, and 27 makes it steady. She is possessed of great authority, and she rules the whole world 28 28 She is offered oblations by the devotee. She should be offered an oblation by one who is about to engage in a conflict? 30. She accepts the oblation of some from the sacrificer, and derives joy from it 31 By offering her the oblation, the devotee attains 32 heaven. She attains the favourite oblation of the gods, and with itmakes the bodies of the stars grow. 33 34 She is invoked to the sacrifice by the worshipper, and she arrives at the place of sacrifice along with the 'berhis' (grass) 35 and waters. She sits on the west of the sacrifice of the gods, 36 with her face turned towards the east. She is pleased with the sacred grass which the sacrificers have scattered upon the earth.7 25 Rigveda VIII : 67:12, Vajasaney-samhita XIII : 13, Atharva-veda VII: 6:3, KB (Rigveda) VII : 6, Taittiriya-brahmana I 1. 1:4:1, 1:17:7, PVB XV : 717, Satapatha-brahmana II : 3:2:6, II : 312:19, II # 3:314, II # 31311, II # 411:6, II : 4:5:2, II : 415:4, V = 111#3, V : 12:419, V : 1219:11,V : 1211:4, TV | 812:10, IV : 81419, I # 2:2:19, III 15;1:4, ZIZ # 5:314, IIX # 514:37, III : 61518, III # 615:10, III, 6:5:2, III # 7:617. 26 Vajasaney-samhita XIII : 18, 19 IV : 219, IV : 4:12, V: 107, V 1 5:1, V : 314, II: 3:1, Taittiriya-brahmana II: 3:1:4, II : 31812, KB (Rigveda) IS, Satapatha-brahmana IV, 81417, IV 7:417, V 11:13, XII: 419, XII 19:11, XII # 114, Rigveda X 163:10, MB IV: 10:33 & 34, Vajasaney-samhita XXI 5 & 6, Atharva-veda VII: 6:213. 27 Rigveda X 92: 14, X 185 #3, VIII # 12:14, I 1 7319, VIII : 1816, $ II : 27 # 7, V : 46 : 6, V # 70:3, VIII a 25.3, VIII : 67:10, Taittiriya-samhita IV : 115, XV: 219, IV : 4:12, V 卤 1:7, V : 5:1, II | 311, IS Contd. ...

.. 27 (contd.) I: 5:11. Vajasaney-samhita XI: 56, XXI # 5 & 6, Maitrayani-samhita IV : 10:34,` 1 Atharva-veda VII 6:2 & 3, Satapatha-brahmana V 1 12:114. 28 Taittiriya-samhita IV: 1.4:2, ,Vajasaney-samhita XIV 1 5. 29 T TV # 5:1. 30 E II # 216. 31 IS III: 215. 32 Taittiriya-brahmana III : 318:5. 33 Taittiriya-brahmana II # 3;1:4. 34 Taittiriya-samhita I : 613, Atharva-veda III: 8:2, Rigveda X & 65:9. 35 Atharva-veda V : 2616. 36 I 13:17. 37 Vajasaney-samhita XXIX : 11 217

She is supplicated to shape the great fire-pan with her power, 38 218 her arms and her intellect she prospers through the sacrificial 39 rites performed by her devotees. With her grace the worshippers are able to discern the sacrifice. 40 In the simantonnayana ceremony for the pregnant woman, Aditi 41 42 is invoked. In the Caula ceremony," she is entreated to give the child happiness like a mother. The child is blessed so as to live in her lap, and is blessed with a span of a hundred years These bear out her mythical association with motherhood and her primary characteristic as the Prima Dea Mater. In Atharva-veda V.12.4, a rito performed in her name is mentioned for warding off the misfortune that had been caused by a barren cow. In this we notice her association with fertility, an invariable concomitant of the Mother-goddess. In Atharva-veda V.2.6, she is invoked while occupying a new house with a view to securing prosperity. securing prosperity. It may be pointed ou 43 here that she is a household deity, especially as a mother who dwells in the house, and le urged to come to one's house. 38 Vajasaney-samhita XI 1 57, & 59, Taittiriya-samhita IV, 115, EB III : 6:5:11, 39 III = 615:21. Rigveda VII : 82:10, Taittiriya-samhita IV : 719. 40 Aitareya-brahmana (Rigveda) I : 217. 41 6828 42 43 Chandogya-brahmana I.5.2. Atharva-veda 11.28.4 & S. Rigveda IV.55.3. 89

釆� 219 44 She is very extensive. She personified both the heaven and the atmosphere. She is what is born and what is to be born, 45 46. --- Another connection with fertility which establishes her as a mother-goddess. 47 She is the mother of the gods." she is the mother of kinds 49 as Mitra, Varuna, etc. and also of heroes. She has intellectual 48 50 51 sons, and she is also the mother of righteousness she is the mother, father, son, etc. all in one, and is also looked upon as the mother-goddess Prthivi? She is regarded as the great mother? $ 3 54 She is the wife and beloved of all the gods. She is held to be $5 the wife of righteousness, too. A few instances may be cited in connection with Aditi's identification with the cow. The identification rests on the bountiful nature of both. Soma-juice is compared with the fresh milk of Aditi, the cow. In Rigveda 1.153.3, Aditi is said to be the 66 Rigveda VIII ; 67:12, I ; 89:10, V : 46:6, 3 鈫� 45 46 995 Atharva-veda VII : 62 & 3, V 8 XXI : 5 & 6, XXXV; 23, US IV : 10:33 & 34, Taittiriya-samhita I S II : 31812, Satapatha-brahmana X : 12:14. Atharva-veda VII : 6:1, VII # 6:4. Taittiriya-brahmana I : 81617, Atharva-veda VII 1611, V 8 XXV : 23, Aitareya-brahmana (Rigveda) III : 3:31. 47 Rigveda I : 94:16, X # 36:3, X # 63:17, X # 64:13, X # 6519, X: 92114,X 185:3, V : 4616, III : 54:18, IV 1120, V : 70:3, III : 54: 20, IV: 18:5, IV : 1818, : IV : 18:10, & 11, IV : 25 : 5, IV : 553 & 7, VI : 51 : 3 & 4 VII 38 4, VII # 40 ; 4, VII : 512, VIII: 253, VIII : 18:6, VIII # 479, VIII; 67:10, VIII 12:14, VII 82:10, VII: 66:6, VIII : 25:10, Vajasaney-samhita XXV, 23. Contd.

48 Rigveda II : 2717. 49 Atharva-veda III # 812, XI ; 111l. SO 1 Rigveda VIII # 18 % 4. : SA Atharva-veda VII 612 & 6, Taittiriya-samhita I : 5:11. 52 53 23 $4 55. Atharva-veda VII : 601, Jaiminiya-brahmana I : 131216, Rigveda I : 89:10. Atharva-veda VII, 6:2 & 4, Satapatha-brahmana III : 5:1:4. 3B III : 5,314, I: 1:3815, 12:317, Taittiriya-samhita IV # 4:12, IV: 116, Rigveda I : 89:10, VIII # 18:4, III: 16:20, Vajasaney-samhita XI # 60, 路 Satapatha-brahmana III : 6:5:3, Atharva-veda VII 1路611. A VII 612 & 4, Taittiriya-samhita I ; 5:11. 1 220

221 milch cow, who streams forth for the oblation bringing sacrificer. This probably points to Aditi's connection with the firmament. Aditi, the cow, is regarded as a source of rewards to the pious. The cow is regarded as a sister of the Adityas. Therefore she is 56 a daughter of Aditi. The cow is addressed as Aditi? TA VI.12.5 employs this Rk while giving a cow as daksina in the deatherite. For further connection between Miti and cow, the following Vedic mantras may be noted. 6E 57 Isis, the Egyptian Mother-Coddess, was at times represented as a cow, and on monuments, she is mostly represented as supporting between her com-horns the orb of the moon, Oz 958 as having horns in the shape of a crescent. 59 She is praised by the worshipper. She possesses the capacity of praising continuously. She praises Savity and carries out his 61 60 command. This is interesting especially as Savier is etymologically related to procreation a classic trait of Aditi herself. 63 64 She is young, radiant, and has a skin as bright as the sun. She is omniform, and is endowed with black, white and various other 65 shapes. 56 Rigveda VIII : 101.15. $7 8B 2:3.4.34; 3.3.1.2, 5.5.2.8, 1.2.4.1.9. 14.2.1.7, Vajasaney-samhita 8.21, 3.82, Taittiriya-samhita 1.2.5.1. Aitareya-brahmana 5.27, 8.3, Taittiriya-brahmana 1.7.3.3. etc. 50 Dr. Oskar Seyffort, op. cit., p. 324. 59 Satapatha-brahmana III : 5:14, III: 5:34, IIZ : 514:37, III = 5;5:8, III: 615:10, III : 6:5:2, III, 678, III a 72427, Rigveda VIII # 18:7, VIII # 67:10. 60 Rigveda VIII: 1214. 61 Rigveda VII: 3814. 62 Rigveda IV # 1818. 63 Rigveda V:70:3, VII 64 65 3814, VII : 414,VIII : 25:10, VIII # 25:10, VIII : 1814, Taittiriya-samhita IV: 2:10. Maitrayani-samhita IV: 12:25.Taittiriya-brahmana I:2:4:7. TBI # 14:1, No I : 8:12. 13

66 67 68 69 She is indivisible, irresistible, truthful, unageing." 70 71 gentle and wise, 72 222 She has an inviolable head in the form of speech," and on her 73 the gods established speech. She is endowed with sharpness of sight 74 .75 and is said to be devoid of deception. She is looked upon as the unleaking and well-oared ship of the gods 76 In this connection it should be noted that as Aditi is primarily the mother of the solar gods -- Adityas, and as the sun is imagined to cross the expanse of the sky in an invisible boat every day, Aditi is naturally conceived as the boat in which the sun-gods journey in the sky. Aditi is sometimes compared to the Great Goddess of other mythologies, and is also sometimes regarded as one. A few references may be noted in this connection : - "The cult of the Great Goddess was common to the Hellenic, Iranian and Semitic populations, and that this divinity enjoyed a wide celebrity under the names of Ardri, Anahita, Nanai, Artemis. In the Vedic Mythology, the gods have a limited power and they have a limited power and they have ascendancy over the goddesses. Aditi's sovereignty Aditi's sovereignty is unlimited and she is 68 Taittiriya-brahmana I: 2:417, Rigveda VII # 62:4, VIII 鈫� 1816, VIII : 4719, I # 89:10, II : 27.7 V 1 4626, V 1 70136 67 Maitrayani-samhita IV: 14:9, Rigveda VII : 40145 58 68 Rigveda VIII : 2513, VIII ; 67 $ 10, Taittiriya-samhita TV : 115, Satapatha-brahmana III : 615:10. 69 Taittiriya-samhita I : 5:11. 70 TE III : 215. 74 PVB I # 5:19, 71 Rigveda VIII | 18:7,VIII : 67:10. 75 Rigveda VIII # 1816, 72 Taittiriya-samhita III # 2:5, Vajasaney-samhita IV: 19. ! 73 Satapatha-brahmana II # 4:514, 76 Atharva-veda VII: 613

223 superior to the gods. She is, therefor She is, therefore , like the Great Goddess of Asia Minor, for in the couple Cybele-Attis 'the first place belonged to the woman, a reminder of an age of the matriarchate' (Cumont, Religious Orientales, p. 60). The Greeks and the Latins had a Goddess Mother Hera, Juno, but she was not superior to Zeus or to Jupiter. % One observes in India and in Iran the remains of very ancient religion which seems to have been in its inception connected with a matriarchal or gynecocratic organisation. In speculating on the divine nature of the Great Mother, one was of necessity forced to attribute to her an unlimited capacity, a power without measure, a universal competency. The fundamental idea is the notion of a mother, that of This idea, on the divine goddess who fosters reproduction. plane is expressed by the myth of a goddess, the mother of all the gods. When the Romans adopted the cult of the Great Goddess of Phyrgia, she took in the occident the name of the Great Mother of the gods, Magna Mater Deorum. But the first peoples who adored her, could not confine to the gods, the sphere of her activity. She who has engendered all the gods is most certainly the originator of men and other beings. It is by the efficacy of her power that they continue to grow and to multiply. The Great Goddess is then at the same time the mother of gods and of men, through her cattle increase and plants grow. All that has life manifest her power. A figure so majestic, soon became the centre of a cult in which all the peoples participated, pastoral and agricultural, nomadic and stationary, barbarian and civilised. Sages devoted to abstraction and the simplest minds could meet in a common sentiment of veneration who is the incarnation of our profoundest instincts

77 78 79 and symbolises perfectly the unity and the immensity of 77 the cosmos 224 Przyluski found for Aditi a prototype in the Great Goddess of the early religions of Western Asia. Other variants of this Great Goddess were according to Przyluski, Anahita in Iran, Anat in Palestine, Nana and Tanaisin Syria 78 and Asia Minor. Mr. V.S. Agrawala has pointed out the connection between Nana-Aditi and 'a great Sumerian mother goddess whose name is variously given as Nana, Innanna, Nina, Anurit, Nanal, etc. and who became the patron-deity of *79 Nineveh. In a passage in the Atharva-veda (IX.1), Aditi was frequently referred to as madhukasa (Keith points out that in this passage, Aditi cannot be said to have been directly described as Madhukasa. Madhukasa is described as the mother of Adityas among other things); and, in the primitive: ideology, both madhu (honey) and kasa (whip) were the principal constituents of the ritual of flagellation. According . to Przluski, some traces of the idea of flagellation could be discovered in the mythology of Aditi in the Veda. He further pointed out that Asvins, too, were closely connected with madhu. This conceptual affinity between Aditi and Asvins was but a reflection of the West Asian Mythology relating to the Great Goddess attended by two cavaliers (originally by two animals, by two horses) - In this connection he refers to the Thasos relief where they Mother Goddess is shown as supported by two horsemen. In the Veda J. Przyluski, "The Great Goddess in India and Iran", Indian Historical Quarterly, 10, September 1934, pp. 407-417. "Aditi - the Great Mother," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 1, 1936. "Aditi and the Great Goddess", Indian Culture, Vol. IV, No. 1938, p. 409.

225 the Asvins were sometimes represented as the attendarks of Aditi. He held that the concepts of Aditi and Aevins provided yet another evidence of the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic Mythology. Przyluski puts forth two other suggestions in connec鉂� tion with the Vedic Great Goddess i First, that, in the Vedic period, the Great Goddess and, her attendants were sometimes represented under the form of a divine three surmounted by two birds (cf. Rigveda X.114.3, 1.164.20), and secondly, that in the Vedic religion as in Syria, the Great Goddess came to be transformed into the sun (surya). He believed that the three stages of human evolution were respectively the economic, the social and the spiritual, and that, in the first stage, the Great Goddess was the Mistress of Animals, in the second, she became the wife two men (an idea indirectly represented in the mythology of Aditi and Asvins), and in the third, she became the wife of one husband as suggested by the myth of surya, the wife of the two Advins, becoming the wife of one soma - (La grande desse, Paris, 1950). Keith controverts Przyluski's suggestion about the mythology of the Great Goddess (Aditi) and the two cavaliers (Asvins) having been adopted by the Vedic Indians from the Western Asian religious complex. Indeed, there are very few points of contact between Aditi and Agvina as represented 980 in the Veda. In connection with the conception of the Great Goddess, a few lines from the Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius may be noted : 80 R.N. Dandekar, "Vedic Religion and Mythology A survey of the work of some Western scholars, Journal of the University of Poona, Humanities section, No. 21, 1965, pp. 43-45, PP.

226 I am she that is the naturall mother of all things, mistresse and' governesse of all the Elements, the initiall progeny of worlds, chiefe of powers divine, Queene of heaven, the principall of the Gods celestiall, the light of the goddesses : at my will the planets of the ayre, the wholesome winds of the Seas, and the silences of hell be disposed, my name, my divinity is adored throughout all the world in divers manners, in variable customes and in many names, for the Phrygians call me the mother of the Gods # the Athenians, Minerva i the Cyprians, Venus : the Candians, Diana : the Sicilians Proserpina # the Eleusions, Ceres: some Juno, other Ballone, other Hecate s and principally the Ethippians which dwell in the Orient, and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustome to worship 201 mee, doe call mee Queene Isis. Stella Kramrisch also believes Aditi to be a form of the Great Goddess. She says: 46 She is comprehensive because, as her name reveals, she is boundless. More even than that she is anything, she altogether is. In that boundless fulness, she is the Mother. 'In the highest heaven, non-being and being are in the lap of Miti' (Rigveda X.5.7). Non-being and being, the abyss and life, lie side by side in her transcendental womb. Being unbounded, having no limits, who can discern them 7 When born, only Aditi knows their identity as she knows her own, for 'Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the air, Aditi is the mother, the father, the son, all the gods, all the fire kinds of beings, Aditi is what is born and what will be born' (1.89.10). 81 Lucius Apuleius, "The Golden Asse, . tr. by William Addington, Anno 1566, pp. 219-220.

227 Now in the first age of the gods (Rigveda X.72.3, 9) she does not look back, only the pregnant present counts. Being all mother, the boundless one exceeds sex and gender, she is spoken of as he when she is being addressed as father and as son. Having no limits she extends boundlessly beyond what is born and what will be born. Everything that de born. Everything that is born is born from her, in this wetter of birth giving there are no bounds, she herself is drawn into it for 'Daksa is born of Aditi, Aditi of Daksa' ( Rigveda X.72.4). On whicheven level Daksa's identity is interpreted, it does not affect this reciprocal relation. She carries him, but only when he is born is she born of him as his mother. She comes into existence as mother by his birth only. Aditi is the transcendental pregnant androgyne, all mother by virtue of her pregnancy and not of her feminity. Being the boundless one, she is mother, father, and son. Everything is born from her 982 According to S.K. Lal, there are three outstanding features in Aditi's character viz. (1) Connection with light, (11) Association with Rta and (111) Motherhood par excellence. He says # 06 Aditi's close connection with the Gods of light indicates that she belongs to the deities of the solar class. Hillebrandt goes to the extent of suggesting that Aditi is a personification of daylight resulting from a sequence of days following one upon the other. However, if one accepts this suggestion, then the adjectives such as Sumrtika (Rigveda VIII.67.10) and the motherhood would appear irrelevant, because the time between nightly darkness and 82 "The Indian Great Goddess, History of Religions, Vol. 14, No. 4, May 1978, May 1975, p. 249.

2 228 鈽� the break of dawn would seem to be more appropriate to be a mother. It has been pointed out elsewhere that this particular time i.e. between the darkness of the night and the brightness of the day before the advent of Usas (actually described as Aditi's face - aditer anikam(Rigveda I.113.19) was named as Aditi. It is the everyday experience that life appears to spring from this grey-coloured sky. Aditi's close nexus with the conception of Rta may also be taken to point to the eastern region. For, even Rta is said to have its source in the east (Rigveda X.68.4). It is true that Aditi was never worshipped as a Power of Nature (R.N. Dandekar, "Asura Varuna). But the phenomenon in east muust have served as germinal substratum for this concept in the eyes of the Rei-pcepts of the the Rgveda. Aditi was soon elevated to the position of the omnicient and all-permeating Supreme Nother. The concept of Aditi, thus filled a great vacuum in the Rgveda. She came to be regarded almost as the Mother Goddess in the Vedic Pantheon. Aditi was mainly looked upon by the Vedic Aryans as a mother-goddess who gave birth to all men and also to all the gods -- (Here the opinion of Stella Kramisch may again be noted. She does not consider her as a mother goddess. She regards her is maternity in the godhead). She is depicted as the universal mother, the originator of not only the human race but of everything. She was not a personification of nature, but rather an abstract and power. She symbolised everything from sky earth to mother, father, son, the five races, etc. She was regarded as the guardian 83 S.K. Lal, op. cit., p. 20.

t 229 of Rta or the cosmic order. She was also considered as the wife of righteousness, and the upholder of law or good ordinances. She combined in herself everyone and everything. A parallel of Aditi may be found in the Greek goddess Gaea. She had some attributes common to Aditi. She was considered by 鈽� the Greeks as omnipotent and as the originator of the whole world too. She bore not only the first race of the gods, but also gave 'birth to the human race. She was at one time held to be supreme goddess whose majesty was acknowledged not only by men but by the gods themselves. A parallel of Aditi may be seen in the Roman goddess Fortuna Primigenia. In the Reveda and the later Samhitas, Aditi is regarded as protector of her devotees. She rescues them from trouble and dishonour, and also delivers them from their sins. She is regarded as the protector of the whole world, and the guardian of Rta or the cosmic order, too. She is said to grant happiness, refuge, peace, good fortune, etc. to her devotees. She also fulfils all their desires. She is regarded as the mother of gods, heroes, kings, and is regarded as the mother of righteousness too. In the Simantonnayana ceremony in the Chandogya Brahmana for the pregnant woman, Aditi is invoked. There she is also regarded as a goddess of Her association with fertility and motherhood thus, fertility. establishes her as a mother goddess. She is regarded as the mother, father, son, etc.. all in one and is also considered as what is born and what will be born. She is identified

? 230 with the heaven, atmosphere and the earth. She is sometimes also looked upon as the goddess Prthivi, and sometimes as speech and is also identified with the cow. Rgveda Even though most of her traits mentioned in the Raveda and the later Samhitas are retained in the Brahmanas, she grows dimmer 1.e. she loses her importance in the sense that her mention becomes less frequent. A charge or rathe A charge or rather a development in some of the traits can also be seen. In the period of the Rgveda and later Samhitas she plays some part in the performance of sacrifice of the people. It is clearly noticeable that in the Brahmanical texts like the Satapatha, Aitareya, Chandogya, and Taittiriya Brahmanas, her role in sacrifice becomes bigger and more prominent. This development may be related to the important role of sacrifice in society during the period of the Brahmanas. At that time, secrifice had come to play a very hig role in the lives of the various classes of Vedic Aryans. The priests devised various sacrifices for meeting the various needs and demaris of the different rungs of the social ladder. People also thought that they could have all their aspirations fulfilled through the also performance of the sacrifice. It is perceptible that the people aspired for something above their everyday needs too i.e, proximity to the High and mighty God or creator, Prajapati or Brahman. They believed that sacrifice was the vehicle which could bring them into close contact with him. They also thought that the sacrifice could take them to heaven, which is the place of the gods This may be noted in (Taittiriya-brahmana III : 3:8:5), wherein it is said that by offering the

231 oblation to Aditi, the devotee attains heaven. It may be noticed that by the time of the Brahmanas people had become aware of the conception of heaven and hell. It is also seen that in the Brahmanas, her identification with the earth and the cow becomes more frequent. This may be due to the fact that Aditi as an independent entity was going down in importance. Her identification with speech also becomes more frequent in the Brahmanas. This may This may be due to the fact that speech had then become veryimportant or even essential for the interpretation and deciphering of the intricate sacrificial formulae. In the Reveda she is regarded as the mother of the gods. But in the Brahmanas especially in the Satapatha Brahmana she is considered more as the wife and the beloved of the gods rather than their mother, though in Satapatha-brahmana III : 5:114. She is regarded as the great mother. This may again be related to the social condition of women at that time. It is noticeable that from the period of the Brahmanas, the social subjugation of women had become apparent in the texts. They were not allowed to attend the assemblies, and. were assigned to look after mainly their household. They were regarded as dependent on men. The men participated in the flourishing trade and agriculture of that period. Therefore the people prayed for male progeny for lending a hand in trade and agriculture. This social demotion of women and their relegation to the background is reflected in the conception of Aditi as the wife and believed of the gods. She is no more the independent entity that is, the mother o L

232 of the gods as she was in the Rgveda. The Rgveda fixes her character as a universal mother-goddess and a goddess of fertility which does not undergo any significant change with time because her personality does not grow much. Later mythology does not require such a mother_goddess. It may be noted that Aditi had certain anthropomorphic features for example, she is said to have a skin as bright as the sun, and is endowed with various forms and shapes. The basic concept beneath Aditi seems to be a vague notion of divine motherhood, answering the inevitable query of the Vedic man . whence did the solar gods come ? So the mythoposic mind created a mother-god of the Adityas who shares their traits of brightness, beauty, bounty and fertility in men, cattle and the field. The Brahmanas retained her by assigning her a place in the sacrificial ritual. But such a vague figure did not have much scope for growth or a prolonged mythological career, especially, as in the Brahmanas other goddesses kept appearing who functioned as Adici's alter ego. Aditi is approached by the devotees for happiness or protection, and for release from the noose This bears out her. 84 85 image of the emancipator which follows directly from the etymology bandhane) which yields the sense of "one who does not (cf. V bind." 84 RBS II # 13:10:32. 85 Satyashadha-srauta-sutra 1 : 414:12. as

233 86 She was invoked to give her consent to the student's pursuit, and to tuck up the garment of the devotee so that he may study the Vedas for the attainment of insight and balles, and also so that he may not forget what he has learnt for the sake of the attainment of 87 holiness and holy lustre: 88. She is supplicated to shave the beard, and to purify the face she 89 is invoked to cut the hair of the child and is prayed to 90 She is beseeched to shave the hair of the out the boy's hair ) worshipper?1 She supports all, and is looked upon as the protector of gods, celestial minstrels, men, departed ancestors, demora and others. 92 93 94 She is the mother of the gods, and also of all." She is the 95 mother of noble sons, and she personifies all that exists, father, 96 mother, child, ete. 86 Gobhila-grihya-sutra I : 311, JC 6 I 1 3. Khadira-grihya-sutra I ; 2 : 17, 87 Hiranyakeshi-grihya-sutra I : 1:8. Hiranyakeshi-grihya-sutra I 1:6. # 88 Manava-grihya-sutra I, 21:14. 82 8 89 Paraskara-grihya-sutra II : 116. 90 AGS I i 1717. 91 Jaiminiya-grihya-sutra I : 11. 92 Mana 2 Up XXVIII :1, ASS II : 1:1. 93 Mahanarayana-upanishad 2811. 94 232 Ass I & 3:3, BSS II # 13 110:32. ASS Sankhayana-grihya-sutra I ; 1216, Satyashadha-srauta-sutra I # 127:24. 96 Aitareya-aranyaka III - 1:6. 1

234 She is possessed of hardness or cohesiveness, and is excellent, honoured and belongs to the Divine spirits she is praiseworthy, rich in crops, bread, universal and possesses a wealth of objects, she is comprised of the primary elements, is exceedingly blissful, and is transformed into the bodies of immortal?? She perso creatures, is also illustrious, enduring and immortal 98 nifies everything that is the whole universe," and is looked upon as indestructible, far-reaching and possessed of good guidance, 99 Aditi plays some part in the sacrificial ritual performed by the people. In the Darsapurnamasa sacrifice, while performing the patnisamyaja rite ASS 1.10 employs Rigveda III.4.11 ( = Rigveda VII.2.11), wherein Aditi is invoked to come to the sacrifice and take her seat on the barhis. Aas 3.2 employs the Apri-sukta Rigveda 10,110 shd (Rigveda 10.110.4 = Atharva-veda 5.12.4, where Aditi occurs) in the Prajapatisuyaga in the Agnicayana and invokes Aditi to some and alt on the barhis. Ass 5.18 employs Rigveda 1.89 in the Valevadevadastra where Aditi is extolled as an all-pervading goddess. Aditi is this earth and she is fixed and firmly established. Therefore when the oblation is 100 offered, it becomes firm and fixed, GG 3 1.2.17, 1.31, Hiranyakeshi-grihya-sutra 1.1.28, and ApG say that the householder, before offering the 'bali' offering to the gods, should pray to Aditi. Bhar 39 2.5.8, 13 and AP SS 2.5.9 employ Taittiriya-brahmana 3.7.5.10 (where Aditi occurs) in the Patnisamnohana rite. 97 Mahanarayana-upanishad XXVIII #1, ASS II : 111. 98 Sankhayana-aranyaka VII : 15. 99 ASS II : 1:1. 100 S$ 10.16.7. 鈽�

235 The Aryans in the Later Vedio age no longer thought her to be so very important as before. But they still considered her as the mother of the gods and also of all. Quite perceptibly she underwent certain changes in the period ranging from the Aranyakas to the Sutras. In the period of the Samhitas and Brahmanas, she was never entreated to give her consent to the student, or to shave the hair and beard of the worshipper or out the hair of the child or the boy. But in this period she is called upon to do all these. She is also thought of as a somewhat abstract goddess during the period of the Aranyakas and Upanisads. In this period she is looked upon as belonging to the Divine spirit, and also as being comprised of the primary elements, etc. She no more played a very important part in the sacrificial ritual of the people in this period. She cannot therefore be regarded as a great goddess as she was in the past. Even in the earlier period she was little more than an abstract concept. Through association with certain parts of the sacrifice she retained an identity which grew dim during the period the Aranyakas and Upanisads. Then she is revived on a minor key in the sutras, we find that she is connected more with the domestic rites than with the collective major sacrifices. The latter could no longer make room for this tenuous concept of the earlier period, here she was assimilated to the minor domestic ritual of the Little Tradition which needed a few of the older divinities to lend credibi lity and respectability to them. Aditi as a mother goddess of the olden times suited this purpose quite adequately, And that is how she survived in the Sutra period.