This name signifies simply the descendants of Aditi. In one passage in the Rig-Veda [*+] the names of six are given: Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Varuna, Daksha and Amsa. In another passage they are said to be seven in

number, though their names are not given. In a third, eight is the number mentioned; but "of the eight sons of Aditi, who were born from her body, she approached the gods with seven, and cast out Marttanda (the eighth)." [**] As the names of these sons given in different parts of the Vedas do not agree with each other, it is difficult to know who were originally regarded as Adityas. Judging from the number of hymns addressed to them, some of these deities occupied a conspicuous position in the Vedic Pantheon; whilst others are named once or twice only, and then in connection with their more illustrious brethren. In the "Satapatha Brahmana," and the Puranas, the number of the Adityas is increased to twelve. In addition to the six whose names are given above, the following are also described in some hymns of the Rig-Veda as the offspring of Aditi: Surya, "as an Aditya identified with Agni, is said to have been placed by the gods in the sky;" [*+] Savitri, and Indra too, are in one passage addressed as an Aditya along with Varuna and the Moon. In the Taittiriya Texts, the following are described as Adityas:--Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Amsu, Bhaga, Indra, and Vivasvat (Surya).

Professor Roth says [*++] of these deities, "In the highest heaven dwell and reign those gods who bear in common the name of Adityas. We must, however, if we would discover their earliest character, abandon the conceptions which in a later age, and even in that of the heroic poems, were entertained regarding these deities. According to this conception they were twelve Sun-gods, there being evident reference to the twelve months. But for the most ancient period we must hold fast to the primary significance of their names. They are

inviolable, imperishable, eternal things. Aditi, Eternity, or The Eternal, is the element which sustains them, or is sustained by them. The eternal and inviolable element in which the Adityas dwell, and which forms their essence, is the celestial light. The Adityas, the gods of this light, do not therefore by any means coincide with any of the forms in which light is manifested in the universe. They are neither the sun, nor moon, nor stars, nor dawn, but the eternal sustainers of this luminous life, which exists, as it were, behind these phenomena."