Aditi
Aditi is a Hindu goddess of fertility, motherhood, consciousness, unconsciousness, the past and the future too. She symbolises vastness and infinity. And we manavas associate her with the sky, space and mystic speech, Vak.
Aditi holds a Trishul and a sword in her hands. And flies across the boundless sky on her mount, the phoenix. The phoenix symbolises strength, honour and the cyclical nature of birth, death and rebirth.
Some say that the universe exists inside Aditi’s womb before creation. And believe that Aditi and her son Varuna preserve cosmic order and righteousness.
According to the Vedas, Aditi is the mother of Indra, the devas and also the 330 million gods. But Vedantists believe that Aditi is the feminine form of Brahma and symbolises Mula Prakriti. We find different stories about Aditi in the different Puranas and they are very interesting indeed.
Aditi and Indra
Rishi Kashyap lives with his 13 wives in his ashram. Aditi, one of rishi Kashyap’s many wives has 33 sons – 12 Adityas, 11 Rudras and 8 Vasus. * Lord Vaman is the youngest of the twelve Adityas.
Rishi Kashyap is extremely pleased with Aditi’s services and blesses her with a boon. Aditi asks him for one ideal son. And feels very happy when she gives birth to Indra.
Diti and Indra
Diti, another wife of rishi Kashyap asks him for an equally powerful son. Rishi Kashyap fulfils Diti’s wish too. And asks her to observe the Payovrat fast for one year when she becomes pregnant. Diti does so diligently.
One day Aditi asks Indra to take care of Diti for some time. But the insecure Indra feels that his unborn brothers may turn out to be better than him. So, he uses his powers to shred the foetus in Diti’s womb into seven parts.
To Indra’s horror, the seven parts shine with the brilliance of the sun and start crying loudly from Diti’s womb. Hearing them cry, Indra says, “Ma Rud” which means “Don’t cry” in Sanskrit. He then divides each part into seven more parts hoping that he will be able to kill them all. But they start shining even more radiantly. That is why Diti gives birth to the 49 Maruts.
Diti curses Indra and Aditi
But when Diti realizes what Indra had done to her foetus, she loses her temper and says, “O Indra, just as you have deceitfully tried to kill the foetus in my womb, your kingdom too will be completely destroyed.”
She then turns towards Aditi and says, “You too are a part of this sin O Aditi. So, I curse you today. You will be born in the mortal realm. And your sons too will be killed as soon as they are born. Just like me, you will be entirely helpless to protect your sons when they die a painful death – for you will be in prison when they are born. And like me, you too will grieve over your sons’ death as long as you live in the mortal realm.”
Vasudev, Devaki and Rohini
Diti’s curse bears fruit in the Dwaparyuga. Rishi Kashyap is reborn as Vasudev. Aditi is reborn as his wife Devaki. Diti is reborn as Rohini. And Devaki’s 7 sons are killed by Kamsa.
Aditi and Aditya
Diti’s curse bears fruit in Indra’s Swarga too. The asuras defeat Indra and the devas in a fierce battle. Indra and the devas are reduced to a pitiable plight and flee to the forests.
Aditi feels sad seeing her son, Indra’s predicament. And worships Surya. Surya manifests before her and grants her a boon. Aditi says, “O Surya, I wish to have a son who will protect all my other sons.”
Surya agrees to be born as her son, Aditya. The next time the asuras engage in a battle with the devas, they are forced to flee on seeing Aditya’s brilliance. And Indra feels happy when he regains his rightful place in Swarga again.
Aditi and Vishnu
But the asuras don’t give up so easily. They engage in a battle with Indra again. This time Aditi fasts for 12 days surviving only on water and prays to lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu manifests before her. He assures her that He will be born from her womb as Vaman and protect her son, Indra.
Vaman Avatar
On the Dwadashi of the Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapad, Aditi gives birth to a dwarf sage called Vaman. And lord Vaman immediately sets out on His mission.
Shukracharya, the guru of the asuras was busy assisting Bali with the 100th Ashwamedha Yagna so that he could become one of the Indras. Vaman goes to Bali’s Yagnashala and says, “O Bali, people sing your praises as the most generous king. Will you fulfil my wishes too? And give me three paces of land as charity?”
Shukracharya warns Bali saying that Vaman was an incarnation of Vishnu. But Bali stands by his promise. He remains unfazed when Vaman assumes a gigantic form and covers the earth and heavens in two steps. Bali seeks forgiveness from the lord and humbly asks lord Vaman to place His foot on his head to keep his promise. Vaman does so but forgives Bali too and crowns him the king of Patala.
And in this manner, lord Vishnu fulfils Aditi’s wish. Indra regains his rightful place in Swarga. And lord Vishnu as Vaman restores order in the cosmos.
Lord Vaman’s names
We call lord Vaman by various names like Balibandhana (binder of Bali), Dadhi Vamana (Vishnu loves curd and curd rice), Trivikrama (Vishu’s three cosmic strides) and Upendra (the younger brother of Indra).
People who believe in Tantra say “The lustrous lord Dadhi Vamana sits on a red lotus under a parasol of golden rays and holds a golden bowl full of curd rice in His right hand.” Yet others say that if a Saligrama murti has white spots on it, it symbolises lord Dadhi Vaman.
Perhaps that is why, we Pushti Margiya Vaishnavs bathe Shaligramji and offer him the Pancha Amrits – milk, ghee, curd, sugar and honey on Vaman Dwadashi during the Raj bhog darshan.
Vaman Dwadashi insights
Like Aditi, we mothers will always pray that our children are safe. But even deities like Surya and lord Vaman can fulfil our wishes to a certain extent only.
Yes, like all mothers Aditi too must have cultivated good values in her son, Indra. Yet Indra is always insecure. Similarly, our children too are born with certain traits. And like Indra, our children too will have to bear the consequences of their actions.
Like Aditi, we mothers remain helpless witnesses. We know- exactly- where, why, what, how and when our children are doing something wrong in their lives. We may plead with them and do our best to make them see sense.
But like Indra, our children too will follow their intuition. And do exactly- what they want to and have to. And live their lives their way. All. The. Time.
At such times, let us not succumb to exasperation and give up on them. Let us remember that they too are living out their karma. And the lord that dwells within them is guiding them. All. The. Time.
And as mothers, let us continue to pray to the lord that dwells in a realm which is beyond our imagination. And hope He forgives our children. Every time they make a mistake. For like Aditi, we mothers will want to protect all our children from all harm. Always.
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