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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1May we, guiltless before Aditi, and in the keeping of the god Savitar, obtain all goods! Professor Roth here translates Aditi by freedom or security. . I, 162, 22. anag4/-tvam nak aditiz krinotu. May Aditi give us sinlessness! Cf. VII, 51, 1. IV, 12, 4. ydt Ait hf te purusha-tré yavishzha dkitti-bhiZ kakrima kat Ait &gahk, kridhi si asman dditeA dn4gan vi énamsi sisrathad vishvak agne. Whatever, O youthful god, we have committed against thee, men as we are, whatever sin through thoughtlessness, make us guiltless of Aditi, loosen the sins on all sides, O Agni! VII, 93,7. sa# agne ena ndmasaé sdm-iddhak 4kkha mitram vdruzam {ndram voked, yat-sim gah kakrimd tat si mrila _ tat aryaméé dditiZ sisrathantu. O Agni, thou who hast been kindled with this adoration, greet Mitra, Varuza, and Indra. Whatever sin we have committed, do thou pardon it! May Aryaman, Aditi loose it! Here the plural sisrathantu should be observed, instead of the dual. VIII, 18, 6-7. aditi# nak diva pasim aditi# ndktam ddvayah, Aditiz patu dmhasak sada-vridha. utd sy& nak diva matiz aditiz dtyd & gamat, s4 sdm-tati maya karat dpa sridhah. May Aditi by day protect our cattle, may she, who never deceives, protect by night; may she, with steady increase, protect us from evil! And may she, the thoughtful Aditi, come with help ta - NOTES. I, 166, 12. 259 us by day; may she kindly bring happiness to us, and carry away all enemies! Cf. X, 36, 3, page 251. X, 87,18. & vriskyantém dditaye duh-évak. May the evil-doers be cut off from Aditi! or literally, may they be rooted out before Aditi! II, 27,14. ddite mitra varuma utd mri/a ydt vak vaydm kakrima kat Ait &gaz, uri asyam dbhayam gyétié indra m& nak dirgh&% abh{ nasan tamisrah. Aditi, Mitra, and also Varuza forgive, if we have committed any sin against you. May I obtain the wide and fearless light, O Indra! May not the long darkness reach us! VII, 87,7. yas mrildyati dakrishe Ait gak vaydm syAma varume Anagd4%, dnu vratdni dditex ridhdntak yuydm pata svasti-bhi# sdd4 nak, May we be sinless before Varuna, who is gracious even to him who has committed sin, and may we follow the laws of Aditi! Protect us always with your blessings! Lastly, Aditi, like all other gods, is represented as a giver of worldly goods, and implored to bestow them on her worshippers, or to protect them by her power: I, 43, 2. yatha nak aditiz karat pdsve nrt-bhyak yatha gave, yath4 tokdya rudriyam. That Aditi may bring Rudra’s favour to our cattle, our men, our cow, our offspring. I, 153, 3. pipaya dhenuk aditiz ritaya gandya mitravarund havih-dé. Aditi, the cow, gives food to the righteous man, O Mitra and Varuza, who makes offerings to the gods, Cf. VIII, 101, 15. I, 185, 3. anehd’ datram dAdite# anarvam huvé. I call for the unrivalled, uninjured gift of Aditi. Here Professor Roth again assigns to Aditi the meaning of freedom or security. VII, 40, 2. dideshtu devi dditiz réknah. May the divine Aditi assign wealth !
2VIII, 101, 15. I, 185, 3. anehd’ datram dAdite# anarvam huvé. I call for the unrivalled, uninjured gift of Aditi. Here Professor Roth again assigns to Aditi the meaning of freedom or security. VII, 40, 2. dideshtu devi dditiz réknah. May the divine Aditi assign wealth ! X, 100, 1. & sarvd-tatim dditim vrzzimahe. We implore Aditi for health and wealth. I, 94,15. ydsmai tvdm su-dravinah dadasah anagah-tvim S 2 260 VEDIC HYMNS. adite sarva-tata, ym bhadréwa sdvasa AoddyAsi praga-vata rédhas4 té sy4ma. To whom thou, possessor of good treasures, grantest guiltlessness, O Aditi, in health and wealth*, whom thou quickenest with precious strength and with riches in progeny, may we be they! Cf. II, 40,6; IV, 25,5; X,11, 2. The principal epithets of Aditi have been mentioned in the passages quoted above, and they throw no further light on the nature of the goddess. She was called devi, goddess, again and again ; another frequent epithet is anarvan, uninjured, unscathed. Being invoked to grant light (VII, 82, 10), she is herself called luminous, gyétishmati, I, 136, 3; and svarvati, heavenly. Being the goddess of the infinite expanse, she, even with greater right than the dawn, is called ur(Ai, VIII, 67,12; uruvydéas, V, 46, 6; uruvraga, VIII, 67,12; and possibly prithvi in I, 72, 9. As supporting everything, she is called dh4raydtkshiti, supporting the earth, I, 136, 3; and visvaganya, VII, 10, 4. To her sons she owes the names of r&gaputra, II, 27, 7; suputré, III, 4, 11; and ugrdputra, VIII, 67, 11: to her wealth that of sudravizas, I, 94, 15, though others refer this epithet to Agni. There remains one name pasty4, IV, 55, 3; VIII, 27,5, meaning housewife, which again indicates her character as mother of the gods. I have thus given all the evidence that can be collected from the Rig-veda as throwing light on the character of the goddess Aditi, and I have carefully excluded everything that rests only on the authority of the Yagur- or Atharvavedas, or of the Brahmamas and Aramyakas, because in all they give beyond the repetitions from the Rig-veda, they seem to me to represent a later phase of thought that ought not to be mixed up with the more primitive conceptions of the Rig-veda. Not that the Rig-veda is free from what seems decidedly modern, or at all events secondary and late. But it is well to keep the great collections, as such, ® On sarvatati, salus, see Benfey’s excellent remarks in Orient und Occident, vol. ii, p. 519. Professor Roth takes aditi here as an epithet of Agni. NOTES. 1, 166, 12. 261 separate, whatever our opinions may be as to the age of their component parts. In the Atharva-veda Aditi appears more unintelligible, more completely mythological, than in the Rig-veda. We read, for instance, Atharva-veda VII, 6,1: ‘ Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the welkin, Aditi is mother, is father, is son; all the gods are Aditi, and the five clans of men; Aditi is what was, Aditi is what will be.
3We read, for instance, Atharva-veda VII, 6,1: ‘ Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the welkin, Aditi is mother, is father, is son; all the gods are Aditi, and the five clans of men; Aditi is what was, Aditi is what will be. ‘We invoke for our protection the great mother of the well-ruling gods, the wife of Rita, the powerful, never-aging, far-spreading, the sheltering, well-guiding Aditi.’ In the Taittiriya-drazyaka and similar works the mythological confusion becomes greater still. Much valuable material for an analytical study of Aditi may be found in B. and R.’s Dictionary, and in several of Dr. Muir’s excellent contributions to a knowledge of Vedic theogony and mythology. Aditi as an Adjective. But although the foregoing remarks give as complete a description of Aditi as can be gathered from the hymns of the Rig-veda, a few words have to be added on certain passages where the word dditi occurs, and where it clearly cannot mean the goddess Aditi, as a feminine, but must be taken either as the name of a corresponding masculine deity, or as an adjective in the sense of unrestrained, independent, ffee. V, 59, 8. mimatu dyaus aditiz vitdye naz. May the boundless Dyt (sky) help us to our repast ! Here Aditi must either be taken in the sense of Aditya, or better in its original sense of unbounded, as an adjective belonging to Dy, the masculine deity of the sky. Dyi or the sky is called dditi or unbounded in another passage, X, 63, 3: yébhyak mat& mddhu-mat p{nvate pdyak piysham dyauh aditiA adri-barhaz. The gods to whom their mother yields the sweet milk, and the unbounded sky, as firm as a rock, their food. IV, 3, 8. kath@ sdrdhdya marit&m rvitéya kath& sfré brihaté prikkhyamana, prati bravak dditaye turdya. 262 VEDIC HYMNS. How wilt thou tell it to the host of the Maruts, how to the bright heaven, when thou art asked? How to the quick Aditi? Here Aditi cannot be the goddess, partly on account of the masculine gender of turdya, partly because she is never called quick. Aditi must here be the name of one of the Adityas, or it may refer back to sfré brthaté. It can hardly be joined, as Professor Roth proposes, with sardhaya marutam, owing to the intervening sdré brzhaté. In several passages dditi, as an epithet, refers to Agni: IV, 1, 20 (final). visvesham aditi# yagfify4nam visvesham atithiZ m&nushaz4m. He, Agni, the Aditi, or the freest, among all the gods ; he the guest among all men. The same play on the words Aditi and atithi occurs again: VII, 9, 3. Amdrak kavih Aditiz vivdsvan su-samsat mitrak atithiz sivas nak, kitra-bhanud ushasdm bhati d4gre. The wise poet, Aditi, Vivasvat, Mitra with his good company, our welcome guest, he (Agni) with brilliant light came at the head of the dawns.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1May we, guiltless before Aditi, and in the keeping of the god Savitar, obtain all goods! Professor Roth here translates Aditi by freedom or security. . I, 162, 22. anag4/-tvam nak aditiz krinotu. May Aditi give us sinlessness! Cf. VII, 51, 1. IV, 12, 4. ydt Ait hf te purusha-tré yavishzha dkitti-bhiZ kakrima kat Ait &gahk, kridhi si asman dditeA dn4gan vi énamsi sisrathad vishvak agne. Whatever, O youthful god, we have committed against thee, men as we are, whatever sin through thoughtlessness, make us guiltless of Aditi, loosen the sins on all sides, O Agni! VII, 93,7. sa# agne ena ndmasaé sdm-iddhak 4kkha mitram vdruzam {ndram voked, yat-sim gah kakrimd tat si mrila _ tat aryaméé dditiZ sisrathantu. O Agni, thou who hast been kindled with this adoration, greet Mitra, Varuza, and Indra. Whatever sin we have committed, do thou pardon it! May Aryaman, Aditi loose it! Here the plural sisrathantu should be observed, instead of the dual. VIII, 18, 6-7. aditi# nak diva pasim aditi# ndktam ddvayah, Aditiz patu dmhasak sada-vridha. utd sy& nak diva matiz aditiz dtyd & gamat, s4 sdm-tati maya karat dpa sridhah. May Aditi by day protect our cattle, may she, who never deceives, protect by night; may she, with steady increase, protect us from evil! And may she, the thoughtful Aditi, come with help ta - NOTES. I, 166, 12. 259 us by day; may she kindly bring happiness to us, and carry away all enemies! Cf. X, 36, 3, page 251. X, 87,18. & vriskyantém dditaye duh-évak. May the evil-doers be cut off from Aditi! or literally, may they be rooted out before Aditi! II, 27,14. ddite mitra varuma utd mri/a ydt vak vaydm kakrima kat Ait &gaz, uri asyam dbhayam gyétié indra m& nak dirgh&% abh{ nasan tamisrah. Aditi, Mitra, and also Varuza forgive, if we have committed any sin against you. May I obtain the wide and fearless light, O Indra! May not the long darkness reach us! VII, 87,7. yas mrildyati dakrishe Ait gak vaydm syAma varume Anagd4%, dnu vratdni dditex ridhdntak yuydm pata svasti-bhi# sdd4 nak, May we be sinless before Varuna, who is gracious even to him who has committed sin, and may we follow the laws of Aditi! Protect us always with your blessings! Lastly, Aditi, like all other gods, is represented as a giver of worldly goods, and implored to bestow them on her worshippers, or to protect them by her power: I, 43, 2. yatha nak aditiz karat pdsve nrt-bhyak yatha gave, yath4 tokdya rudriyam. That Aditi may bring Rudra’s favour to our cattle, our men, our cow, our offspring. I, 153, 3. pipaya dhenuk aditiz ritaya gandya mitravarund havih-dé. Aditi, the cow, gives food to the righteous man, O Mitra and Varuza, who makes offerings to the gods, Cf. VIII, 101, 15. I, 185, 3. anehd’ datram dAdite# anarvam huvé. I call for the unrivalled, uninjured gift of Aditi. Here Professor Roth again assigns to Aditi the meaning of freedom or security. VII, 40, 2. dideshtu devi dditiz réknah. May the divine Aditi assign wealth !
2VIII, 101, 15. I, 185, 3. anehd’ datram dAdite# anarvam huvé. I call for the unrivalled, uninjured gift of Aditi. Here Professor Roth again assigns to Aditi the meaning of freedom or security. VII, 40, 2. dideshtu devi dditiz réknah. May the divine Aditi assign wealth ! X, 100, 1. & sarvd-tatim dditim vrzzimahe. We implore Aditi for health and wealth. I, 94,15. ydsmai tvdm su-dravinah dadasah anagah-tvim S 2 260 VEDIC HYMNS. adite sarva-tata, ym bhadréwa sdvasa AoddyAsi praga-vata rédhas4 té sy4ma. To whom thou, possessor of good treasures, grantest guiltlessness, O Aditi, in health and wealth*, whom thou quickenest with precious strength and with riches in progeny, may we be they! Cf. II, 40,6; IV, 25,5; X,11, 2. The principal epithets of Aditi have been mentioned in the passages quoted above, and they throw no further light on the nature of the goddess. She was called devi, goddess, again and again ; another frequent epithet is anarvan, uninjured, unscathed. Being invoked to grant light (VII, 82, 10), she is herself called luminous, gyétishmati, I, 136, 3; and svarvati, heavenly. Being the goddess of the infinite expanse, she, even with greater right than the dawn, is called ur(Ai, VIII, 67,12; uruvydéas, V, 46, 6; uruvraga, VIII, 67,12; and possibly prithvi in I, 72, 9. As supporting everything, she is called dh4raydtkshiti, supporting the earth, I, 136, 3; and visvaganya, VII, 10, 4. To her sons she owes the names of r&gaputra, II, 27, 7; suputré, III, 4, 11; and ugrdputra, VIII, 67, 11: to her wealth that of sudravizas, I, 94, 15, though others refer this epithet to Agni. There remains one name pasty4, IV, 55, 3; VIII, 27,5, meaning housewife, which again indicates her character as mother of the gods. I have thus given all the evidence that can be collected from the Rig-veda as throwing light on the character of the goddess Aditi, and I have carefully excluded everything that rests only on the authority of the Yagur- or Atharvavedas, or of the Brahmamas and Aramyakas, because in all they give beyond the repetitions from the Rig-veda, they seem to me to represent a later phase of thought that ought not to be mixed up with the more primitive conceptions of the Rig-veda. Not that the Rig-veda is free from what seems decidedly modern, or at all events secondary and late. But it is well to keep the great collections, as such, ® On sarvatati, salus, see Benfey’s excellent remarks in Orient und Occident, vol. ii, p. 519. Professor Roth takes aditi here as an epithet of Agni. NOTES. 1, 166, 12. 261 separate, whatever our opinions may be as to the age of their component parts. In the Atharva-veda Aditi appears more unintelligible, more completely mythological, than in the Rig-veda. We read, for instance, Atharva-veda VII, 6,1: ‘ Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the welkin, Aditi is mother, is father, is son; all the gods are Aditi, and the five clans of men; Aditi is what was, Aditi is what will be.
3We read, for instance, Atharva-veda VII, 6,1: ‘ Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the welkin, Aditi is mother, is father, is son; all the gods are Aditi, and the five clans of men; Aditi is what was, Aditi is what will be. ‘We invoke for our protection the great mother of the well-ruling gods, the wife of Rita, the powerful, never-aging, far-spreading, the sheltering, well-guiding Aditi.’ In the Taittiriya-drazyaka and similar works the mythological confusion becomes greater still. Much valuable material for an analytical study of Aditi may be found in B. and R.’s Dictionary, and in several of Dr. Muir’s excellent contributions to a knowledge of Vedic theogony and mythology. Aditi as an Adjective. But although the foregoing remarks give as complete a description of Aditi as can be gathered from the hymns of the Rig-veda, a few words have to be added on certain passages where the word dditi occurs, and where it clearly cannot mean the goddess Aditi, as a feminine, but must be taken either as the name of a corresponding masculine deity, or as an adjective in the sense of unrestrained, independent, ffee. V, 59, 8. mimatu dyaus aditiz vitdye naz. May the boundless Dyt (sky) help us to our repast ! Here Aditi must either be taken in the sense of Aditya, or better in its original sense of unbounded, as an adjective belonging to Dy, the masculine deity of the sky. Dyi or the sky is called dditi or unbounded in another passage, X, 63, 3: yébhyak mat& mddhu-mat p{nvate pdyak piysham dyauh aditiA adri-barhaz. The gods to whom their mother yields the sweet milk, and the unbounded sky, as firm as a rock, their food. IV, 3, 8. kath@ sdrdhdya marit&m rvitéya kath& sfré brihaté prikkhyamana, prati bravak dditaye turdya. 262 VEDIC HYMNS. How wilt thou tell it to the host of the Maruts, how to the bright heaven, when thou art asked? How to the quick Aditi? Here Aditi cannot be the goddess, partly on account of the masculine gender of turdya, partly because she is never called quick. Aditi must here be the name of one of the Adityas, or it may refer back to sfré brthaté. It can hardly be joined, as Professor Roth proposes, with sardhaya marutam, owing to the intervening sdré brzhaté. In several passages dditi, as an epithet, refers to Agni: IV, 1, 20 (final). visvesham aditi# yagfify4nam visvesham atithiZ m&nushaz4m. He, Agni, the Aditi, or the freest, among all the gods ; he the guest among all men. The same play on the words Aditi and atithi occurs again: VII, 9, 3. Amdrak kavih Aditiz vivdsvan su-samsat mitrak atithiz sivas nak, kitra-bhanud ushasdm bhati d4gre. The wise poet, Aditi, Vivasvat, Mitra with his good company, our welcome guest, he (Agni) with brilliant light came at the head of the dawns.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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