3. Aditi
Aditi (word meaning: the limitless one), one of the most important characters mentioned in the Rig Veda, is the wife of sage Kashyapa. Kashyapa is considered as the father of humans, daityas (clan of demons) and the entire animal and bird kingdom. He had married 13 daughters of Daksha and Panchajani, of whom Aditi and Diti were the eldest.
In all, 33 sons were born to Aditi viz.
· 12 Adityas [Amsha, Aryama, Bhaga, Dhata, Mitra, Pusha, Savita, Sharka, Tvastha, Varuna, Vishnu and Vivasvana];
· 11 Rudras [Bhava, Dhrtavrata, Kama, Manyu, Manu, Mahmasa, Mahan, Rtudhvaja, Shiva, Ugraretas and Vamadeva];
· 8 Vasus [elemental gods representing aspects of nature. Their names as per Vedas and Puranas are Prithvi / Bhoomi or Dhara (earth), Agni / Agni or Anala (fire), Vayu / Vayu (wind), Varuna / Samudra deva (water), Dyuas or Akasha / Akasha (space), Aditya / Amshuman or Prathyusha (Sun), Chandra / Varchas or Soma (Moon) and Nakshatra / Prabhasa or Dhruva (27 stars)]; and
· 2 Ashwini Kumaras [twins named Dasra and Nasatya].
The son’s of Diti, who were spoilt by their mother by being pampered and letting them commit blunders, went to become daityas or commonly known as asuras.
Rebirth as Devaki
During the sagara manthana, wherein devas and asuras agreed to churn the ocean as a joint endeavor, Dhanvantari emerged with a pot of amrita (ambrosia, divine nectar, nectar of immortality). Both began to quarrel over it and in the ensuing battle for the possession of amrita, all of Diti’s sons was killed.
Frustrated by this, Diti prayed to her husband for a son as powerful as Indra, which was granted by Kashyapa. Now Aditi was worried that the to-be-born child would become equally or more powerful than her own son Indra. She shared her fears with Indra. Alarmed at this possibility, Indra promised his mother to do something about it. As per another version, Diti prayed for a son who would be capable of killing Indra, which perturbed Indra.
Be that as it may, Indra approached Diti with fake love and affection and told her that he has come to serve and take care of her, during her pregnancy. Pleased with this attitude and not suspecting anything, Diti let Indra come inside the house. Over the next few days Indra took good care of Diti and won her over with his affectionate behavior. However, one night when Diti was asleep, Indra using his divine powers to cut her womb into seven pieces (49 as per some versions) using his deadly weapon, Vajra (thunderbolt).
When the children inside the womb started crying, a disturbed Diti immediately woke up…. As the children in the womb began to cry loudly, Indra said “ma ruda” (do not cry); thus they became known as Maruts. Sage Kashyapa calmed Diti and comforted her by saying that all her children are safe and would be powerful and become allies of Indra. All the 49 Maruts grew up to became the helpers of Indra.
Diti cursed Indra for the damage caused by him — since he hurt the child in her fetus to remain as the king of the heaven, he would have to give up his kingship. This turned out true since Indra had to abandon his position for some time when king Nahusha took his place. (As per another version, the curse was that he would never be able to rule heaven peacefully. True to the curse, Indra was always apprehensive about his position being usurped by anyone performing rigorous penance, to become the ruler of the heaven). When Indra protested that he was impelled into taking this drastic step due to his mother, Diti cursed Aditi — she would spend time in prison and grieve over her children who would be killed in her presence and she would watch it helplessly.
True to this curse, Aditi was born as Devaki, who had to witness the death of seven of her just born children by her brother king Kamsa. The story of how she was born as Devaki goes as follows… once Sage Kashyapa was performing a yagna or yajna (ritual sacrifice using fire). However unable to find a suitable cow for this yagna, he stole Kamadhenu. However, Kashyapa refused to return the cow even after the conclusion of the yagna. Brahma then cursed Kashyapa that as retribution, he along with his wives be born in Gokula and tends cows. Accordingly Kashyapa and his wives, Aditi and Surasa, were born respectively as Vasudeva, Devakī and Rohini.
Once when Indra approached Aditi to vanquish Mahabali, the asura king who was becoming more and more powerful, she prayed to Lord Vishnu; he promised to take birth as her. Thus was born Vamana (dwarf), an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who eventually killed Mahabali.
Interesting trivia: Though there is a popular notion among the devout Hindus that there are 33,000 (or 33 crore) gods in the Hindu pantheon, it is actually a misnomer. In actual fact, the 33 sons of Aditi were worshipped as gods [12 Adityas, 8 Vasus, 11 Rudras and 2 Ashwini Kumaras], during Vedic times.