May Indra bless us, the god with the Vasus! May Varuna, the glorious, bless us with the Âdityas! May the relieving Rudra with the Rudras bless us! May Tvashtar with the mothers kindly hear us here!

Even in passages where the poet seems to profess an exclusive worship of Aditi, as in

V, 69, 3. prâtáh devî´m áditim gohavîmi madhyándine út-itâ sû´ryasya,

I invoke the divine Aditi early in the morning, at noon, and at the setting of the sun,

Mitra and Varuna, her principal sons, are mentioned immediately after, and implored, like her, to bestow blessings on their worshipper.

Her exclusive worship appears once, in VIII, 19, 14.

A very frequent expression is that of âdityâ´h áditih without any copula, to signify the Âdityas and Aditi:

IV, 25, 3. káh devâ´nâm ávah adyá vrinîte káh âdityâ´n áditim gyótih îtte.

Who does choose now the protection of the gods? Who asks the Âdityas, Aditi, for their light?

VI, 51, 5. vísve âdityâh adite sa-góshâh asmábhyam sárma bahulám ví yanta.

All ye Âdityas, Aditi together, grant to us your manifold protection!

X, 39, 11. ná tám râgânau adite kútah kaná ná ámhah asnoti duh-itám nákih bhayám.

O ye two kings (the Asvins), Aditi, no evil reaches him from anywhere, no misfortune, no fear (whom you protect). Cf. VII, 66, 6.

X, 63, 5. tâ´n â´ vivâsa námasâ suvriktí-bhih maháh âdityâ´n áditim svastáye.

I cherish them with worship and with hymns, the great Âdityas, Aditi, for happiness' sake.

X, 63, 17. evá platéh sûnúh avîvridhat vah vísve âdityâh adite manîshî´.

The wise son of Plati magnified you, all ye Âdityas, Aditi!

X, 65, 9. pargányâvâ´tâ vrishabhâ´ purîshínâ indravâyû´ (íti) várunah mitráh aryamâ´, devâ´n âdityâ´n áditim havâmahe yé pâ´rthivâsah divyâ´sah ap-sú yé.

There are Parganya and Vâta, the powerful, the givers of rain, Indra and Vâyu, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, we call the divine Âdityas, Aditi, those who dwell on the earth, in heaven, in the waters.

We may not be justified in saying that there ever was a period in the history of the religious thought of India, a period preceding the worship of the Âdityas, when Aditi, the Infinite, was worshipped, though to the sage who first coined this name, it expressed, no doubt, for a time the principal, if not the only object of his faith and worship.

Aditi and Daksha.

Soon, however, the same mental process which led on later speculators from the earth to the elephant, and from the elephant to the tortoise, led the Vedic poets beyond Aditi, the Infinite. There was something beyond that Infinite which for a time they had grasped by the name of Aditi, and this, whether intentionally or by a mere accident of language, they called dáksha, literally power or the powerful. All this, no doubt, sounds strikingly modern, yet, though the passages in which this dáksha is mentioned are few in number, I should not venture to