अदितिaditi

अदिति (aditi) is a Sanskrit word meaning destitution, a devourer or death, free or not tied, boundless, unbroken, or entire, happy, freedom, security. Its 37 recorded definitions are grouped into 11 contexts, among them The Goddess Aditi (Primordial Deity, Mother of Gods, Personified Infinity, Mythology), Destitution or Poverty, Abstract Qualities (Freedom, Boundlessness, Infinity, Wholeness).

Roots: अद् (ad), 4. दा (4. dā), 3. दा (3. dā)
Etymology: E. अ neg. दा to give, and दिति affix, not giving pain; or अ, and दो to cut or break, क्तिच् aff
Definitions: 37

View Declension Tables , 72 forms

Meanings by context

The Goddess Aditi (Primordial Deity, Mother of Gods, Personified Infinity, Mythology)

18 definitions

boundlessness, perfection, and the name of an ancient Indian goddess who represents infinite expanse

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

1. The earth. 2. The goddess Aditi. 3. Freedom, security, and boundless space. 4. Inexhaustible abundance and perfection. 5. The lunar mansion called Punarvasu. 6. Speech. 7. A cow. 8. Milk.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Heaven and earth

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Infinite. 2. Infinity. 3. The mother of the gods.

— Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The mother of the gods. 2. The earth. 3. Being entire.

— Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The mother of the gods. 2. The earth.

— Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The mother of the gods. 2. A cow. 3. The earth. 4. Speech.

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The mythological mother of the gods. 2. The earth. 3. Wholeness.

— Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A female deity. 2. The mother of the gods.

— Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Boundless and infinite. 2. Infinity.

— Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The earth. 2. A cow. 3. Speech. 4. The mother of the gods. 5. Heaven and earth. 6. Death.

— Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Without limit or infinite. 2. Infinity, the endless heaven, or the goddess Aditi.

— Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary

1. Free, boundless, entire, happy, or pious. 2. Freedom, security, immensity, abundance, perfection, or creative power. 3. Aditi, the mother of the gods. 4. A cow, wife, milk, the earth, or speech.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

Aditi was daughter of Daksha and wife of Kashyapa.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

one of the thirteen daughters of Daksha married to Kashyapa and mother of the twelve Adityas

अदिति (aditi) [Printed book page 013-1]
Aditi¹, one of the thirteen daughters of Dakṣa, who were

married to Kaśyapa; by him she is mother of the twelve

Ādityas. § 87 (Aṃśāv.): I, 65, 2520.—§ 88 (do.): 65,

2522.—§ 120 (do.): 66, 2600.—§ 190 (Pāṇḍavotp.): 123,

4795.—§ 253 (Haraṇāhar.): 221, 8040.—§ 270 (Lokapālas.):

II, 11, 456 (in the palace of Brahmán).—§ 317 (Arjunā-

bhigamanap.): III, 12, 484.—§ 413 (Tīrthayātrāp.): III,

135, 10694 (at the Maināka mountain she in order to have

a son “cooked that food,” according to Nīl. “brahmaudanam

for the Sādhyas,” quoting Taitt. S. 6. 5. 6. 1, cf. XII, 13218—9,

infra).—§ 515 (Ghoṣayātrāp.): 254, 15264.—§ 524

Page013-b+ 63

(Viṣṇu): 272, 15839 (she bore Viṣṇu after having been

pregnant 1000 years).—§ 548 (Āraṇeyap.): 315, 17461.—

§ 561 (Yānasandhip.): V, 48, 1887 (Naraka Bhauma in

Prāgjyotiṣa having robbed her ear-drops set with jewels, they

are reconquered by Kṛṣṇa).—§ 564 (Mātalīyop.): 98, 3534;

104, 3689.—§ 565 (Gālavac.): 117, 3971.—§ 608 (Karṇap.):

VIII, 68, 3393.—§ 615u (Skanda): IX, 45, 2515 (devamātā:

present at the anointing of Skanda).—§ 637 (Rājadh.): XII,

43, 1504 (Adityāḥ saptadhā tvan tu purāṇe garbhatāṃ gataḥ,

i.e. Kṛṣṇa; explained by Nīl. to mean, (a) two births,

viz., the Āditya Viṣṇu and the Dwarf, from Aditi herself,

and (b) Pṛśnigarbha, the three Rāmas, and Kṛṣṇa, from

Pṛśni and other manifestations of Aditi; it, however, seems

more probable that here is an allusion to the older conception

of seven Ādityas); 47θ, 1626 (hiraṇyavarṇaṃ yaṃ garbham

Aditir Daityanāśanaṃ ekaṃ dvādaśadhā jajñe, tasmai Sūryāt-

mane namaḥ, i.e. Kṛṣṇa).—§ 664 (Mokṣadh.): 207, 7543;

340, 12945, 12955.—§ 717 (Nārāyaṇīya): 343, 13218—19:

“Aditi cooked food for the gods, hoping that, having eaten it,

they would kill the Asuras; there Budha…said to her,

‘Give me alms’; she, saying that it was only to be eaten by

the gods, gave him nothing, wherefore he cursed her, saying

that she would have a pain—vyathā—in her womb; in the

second birth—as an egg—of Vivasvat, the egg of his mother

Aditi was killed” (so B.); therefore Vivasvat Śrāddhadeva

became Mārttaṇḍa. Cf. also § 746 (Ānuśāsanik.): XIII, 83,

3904, v. infra.—§ 719 (Ānuśās.): 1, 55 (Vasavo 'ditiḥ, v.

Āditya⁴).—§ 746 (do.): XIII, 83, 3904 (she is said to have,

in the devayuga, when pregnant with Viṣṇu, exercised self-

tortures, standing on one foot in order to have a son).—§ 768

(do.): 146, 6752 (Kaśyapasya).—Cf. Devamātṛ, Śiva.

[ID=173]

— Index to the Names in the Mahabharata

a manifestation of Shiva

— Index to the Names in the Mahabharata

1. A daughter of Daksha and wife of Kashyapa. 2. Mother of Vamana-Hari and the twelve Adityas. 3. A mother goddess and part of Mother Earth.

अदिति (aditi) [Printed book page 1-044]
Aditi (I) — a daughter of Dakṣa and a wife of Kaśyapa.¹

Mother of Vāmana-Hari and other gods.² Was much con-

cerned at the evacuation of Amarāvati by gods, and informed

her husband of her grief. Kaśyapa consoled her saying that

it was all Hari's māyā and everything would be rectified by

His aid. Asked to the means of approaching Hari, Kaśyapa

taught her the Payovrata. Observed the vrata for twelve

days as directed. Hari heard her prayers, promised to be

born in her womb to protect her sons, and desired that she

should keep it a secret. She soon waited on Kaśyapa and

became pregnant with Hari. Then Hari was praised by

Brahmā.³ Birth of the Lord described.⁴ Changed before

her into a boy-brahmacārin.⁵ Worshipped for food and

other things, while her sons the Ādityas are prayed to for

attainment of heaven.⁶ Her desire was fulfilled by Vāmana.

Pleased with his anointing, gods sent their praises to Aditi

on the exploits of Vāmana.⁷ Kṛṣna took back the Kuṇḍalas

which had been taken away by Naraka, and Satyabhāmā

in her Lord's company bowed to Aditi and handed over the

Kuṇḍalas. At this Aditi embraced her daughter-in-law.⁸

Prajāpati caused the tejas of the aṇḍam in her garbha,

and removing it at the request of gods, made it into two

pieces, and finding it weak, placed it on the lap of the Sun-

god (Mārtāṇḍa): given to dharma.⁹ A part of Mother Earth.¹⁰

A mother goddess.¹¹ Worshipped in housebuilding.¹²

Mother of the 12 Ādityas the former Jayadevas.¹³ Known

for strength.¹⁴
Page1-045+ 30

[Footnote: 1) Bhā. IX. 1. 10; VI. 6. 25; Br. II. 33. 17; III. 3. 56, 117;

71. 200; Vi. I. 15. 124; III. 1. 42.]

[Footnote: 2) Bhā. VIII. 13. 6; VI. 6.

38-39; VI. 18. 9; X. 3. 42; M. 172. 5; 178. 20; Vā., 96. 196;

97, 23.]

[Footnote: 3) Bhā. VIII. ch. 16 & 17.]

[Footnote: 4) Bhā. VIII. 18. 1-11;

Br. III. 72. 22; 73. 75.]

[Footnote: 5) Bhā. VIII. 18. 12.]

[Footnote: 6) Ib. VIII. 18. 13-19;

II. 3. 4; M. 171. 55-8.]

[Footnote: 7) Ib. VIII. 23. 4, 21, 27; M. 244. 9-48; 245. 63;

246. 58.]

[Footnote: 8) Bhā. X. 59. 38; Ib. [65 (v) 6-10]; Vi. V. 29. 11, 35;

30 (whole).]

[Footnote: 9) Br. III. 7. 277-94, 465.]

[Footnote: 10) Br. III. 71. 238; M. 6.

1. 5; 11. 2; 47. 9; 146. 18; 154. 351; 171. 29.]

[Footnote: 11) M. 179. 15.]

[Footnote: 12) M. 253. 27.]

[Footnote: 13) Br. III. 4. 34; Vā. 66. 55; 60. 65.]

[Footnote: 14) Vā. 69. 92.

Br. II. 13. 79.]
[ID=325]

— The Purana Index

born of Daksha and parent of Vivasvan

— The Purana Index

Destitution or Poverty

5 definitions

destitution

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Inability to give or poverty

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

want, penury

— Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

want, indigence

— Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

destitution

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

Abstract Qualities (Freedom, Boundlessness, Infinity, Wholeness)

4 definitions

1. Free or not tied. 2. Boundless, unbroken, or entire. 3. Happy.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

freedom, security

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Free, boundless, entire, happy, or pious

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Entireness or being unbroken. 2. Exemption from defect or misery. 3. The full creative power of the Prajapati. 4. Unbroken or unhurt. 5. Free from misery or happy. 6. Pious or holy.

— Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Devourer or Death

3 definitions

a devourer or death

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Devourer or death

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A devourer. 2. Death.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

A Cow or Milk

1 definition

A cow or milk.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Cross-reference / Navigational Entry

1 definition

See below.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Epithet of a Deity/God

1 definition

An epithet of God

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Heaven and Earth (Dual Aditī)

1 definition

heaven and earth

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Sickness Demon / Malevolent Aspect

1 definition

identified with a sickness demon

— Index to the Names in the Mahabharata

Speech (Vāc)

1 definition

speech

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

The Earth

1 definition

the earth

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

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Definitions on this page come from 14 works: Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Index to the Names in the Mahabharata, Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary, Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872), Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary, The Purana Index, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.