Aditi

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In Hinduism, Aditi (Sanskrit - limitless) is a goddess of the sky, consciousness, the past, the future and fertility. She is an ancient goddess, mother of Agni and the Adityas with Kashyapa. She is associated with cows, a very holy animal in Hindu beliefs. Aditi is the daughter of Daksha and Veerni. She gave birth to the Devas who were beautiful, intelligent and pious to the Almighty.

although the goddess aditi is mentioned nearly eighty times in the rg-veda, it is difficult to get a clear picture of her nature. she is usually mentioned alongwith other gods and goddesses, there is no one hymn addressed exclusively to her, and unlike many other vedic deities, she is not obviously related to some natural phenomenon. compared to usas and prithvi, her character seems ill defined. she is virtually featureless physically. perhaps the most outstanding attribute of aditi is her motherhood. she is preeminently the mother of the adityas, a group of 7 or 8 gods which include mitra, aryaman, bhaga, varuna, daksha and amsa. (2.27.1) aditi is also said to be the mother of the great god indra, the mother of kings (2.27), and the mother of gods (1.113.19). unlike prithvi, however, whose motherhood is also central to her nature, aditi does not have a male consort in the rg-veda. as a mothering presence, aditi is often asked to guard the one who petitions her (1.106.7 ; 8.18.6) or to provide him or her with wealth, safety, and abundance (10.100; 1.94.15). Appropriate to her role as a mother, aditi is sometimes associated with or identified as a cow. as a cow, she provides nourishment, and as the cosmic cow, her milk is idenified with the redemptive, invigorating drink soma (1.153.3) the name aditi is derived from the root "da"(to bind or fetter) and suggests another aspect of her character. as a-diti, she is un-bound, free one, and it is evident in the hymns to her that she is often called to free the petitioner from different hinderances, especially sin and sickness. (2.27.14). in one hymn, she is asked to free a petitioner who has been tied up like a thief (8.67.14). in this role as the one who binds and loosens, aditi's role is similar to varuna, who is one of her sons. aditi thus plays the role of the guardian of rta, the cosmic moral order. as such she is called the supporter of creatures (1.136). she supports creatures by providing or enforcing rta, these ordinances or rythms that delineate order from chaos. aditi is also called widely expanded (5.46.6) and extensive, the mistress of wide stalls (8.67.12), and in this respect, one is reminded of prithvi. infact, pritvi and aditi become virtually identified in the brahamanas.