Aditi’s twelve sisters and through them
begat all living creatures. Aditi is first
mentioned in the Rg Veda, where she is
one of the few female figures, although a
minor one. The epic Mahabharata
describes her as giving birthto twelve
divine sons, the Adityas: Dhata,
Aryama, Mitra, Shakra (Indra), Varuna,
Amsha, Bhaga, Vivasvan (Surya),
Pushan, Savitr (Surya), Tvashtr, and
Vishnu. Both Hindu epics, the
Mahabharataand the Ramayana, also
describe how Aditi gave birth to the
Vamana avatar, that is, the “divine
descent” of the god Vishnu, in his form
as a dwarf.
Aditya
In the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, a
group of twelve divine sonsborn to the
sage Kashyapaand his wife Aditi, from
whom these sons get their collective
name. The twelve are named Dhata,
Aryama, Mitra, Shakra (Indra), Varuna,
Amsha, Bhaga, Vivasvan (Surya),
Pushan, Savitr, Tvashtr, and Vishnu.
Several of these deitiesare important
figures in the religious scriptures known
as the Vedas, and Vishnu later gained
prominence as one of the primary
Hindu gods. On one hand, the Adityas
illustrate the Hindu concept that the
divine beings (devas) have many simi-
larities to humans, although they are
more powerful and live in a different
world, the heavens. On the other hand,
they also demonstrate how the Hindu
tradition changes over time. Among the
Adityas, Vishnu is one of a number of
divine beings who are all subject to
birth, death, and the operation of
karma, whereas in his later aspect as the
Supreme Being, he is considered not
only to be beyond all these forces, but to
wield control over them.
The twelve Adityas are the sun in
the twelve months of the year. In at
least one of the Puranas these twelve
Adityas are each connected with a
particular sign of the zodiac.Adivasi
(“first inhabitant”) General term for
different groups of tribal peoples.
They are usually associated with
forests and other less developedAditya
Adivasi man going to the market. The Adivasis consist of different tribal groups that are
settled throughout the forest and hill regions of India.