Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/146
both as to number and the individuals which it is supposed to harbor. As regards number, the god Indra sometimes swells the three to four. Then there is seven, a favourite and vague number; to this the legendary Mārtānda[1] (Indra) is at times added as eighth. In later times the number rises to twelve. Not more than six are ever mentioned by name outright in the Veda: Bhaga, Daksha, and Ança in addition to the three mentioned above. Bhaga, Fortune," is not only Indo-Iranian, but even Indo-European, as we have seen.[2] Ança, "Portion," "Apportioner," is a very faint abstraction. And so is Daksha, "Dexterity," "Cleverness."
Now the Veda conceives of the Ādityas as the descendants of a feminine Aditi who cuts a considerable figure as a very abstract female, suggesting the ideas of "freedom from fetters," "freedom from guilt," "boundlessness," and "universe." She is finally identified in the Hindu mind with "earth." A father who might be responsible for the offspring of this interesting lady is never mentioned. We are struck first of all with the fact that Aditi, the mother, a purely Hindu product, is obviously younger than her own sons, the best of whom are at least as old as the Indo-Iranian period. I have, for my part little