There are a lot of people who refer to the Rigvedic goddess Aditi as a Cow. This understanding often leads to the imagination that during the Rigvedic era, cows were worshipped.
Aditi in Sanskrit means boundless or infinite. Aditi is the personification of the infinite and is considered the mother of all celestial deities in Rigveda. The sons are the RV deities called Adityas, like Varuna, Mitra, Bhaga, Aryaman, etc.
Aditi appears more than a hundred times in Rigveda. The first book explains Aditi in the 89th Chapter, in its 10th hymn
अदि॑ति॒र्द्यौरदि॑तिर॒न्तरि॑क्ष॒मदि॑तिर्मा॒ता स पि॒ता स पु॒त्रः । विश्वे॑ दे॒वा अदि॑ति॒: पञ्च॒ जना॒ अदि॑तिर्जा॒तमदि॑ति॒र्जनि॑त्वम् ॥ (RV 1.89.10)
“𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛; 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡; 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑛; 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠; 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒; 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ.”
This describes what Aditi is. It is infinite and all-encompassing. Having said so, Aditi’s personification is like a mother throughout RV.
दे॒वैर्नो॑ दे॒व्यदि॑ति॒र्नि पा॑तु दे॒वस्त्रा॒ता त्रा॑यता॒मप्र॑युच्छन् । तन्नो॑ मि॒त्रो वरु॑णो मामहन्ता॒मदि॑ति॒: सिन्धु॑: पृथि॒वी उ॒त द्यौः ॥ (RV 1.106.7)
“𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝐴𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑢𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, (𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛), 𝑏𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛; 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑖𝑛, 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑒.”
The authors of RV seek protection from Aditi in most places, praising the benevolent aspect of Aditi. In most cases, Aditi has been invoked with others like Varuna, Mitra, Sindhu, and Aryaman. Aditi is seen as a guard who keeps people safe and saves them from grief. She is also the goddess who bestows love and kindness.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
मा॒ता रु॒द्राणां॑ दुहि॒ता वसू॑नां॒ स्वसा॑दि॒त्याना॑म॒मृत॑स्य॒ नाभि॑: । प्र नु वो॑चं चिकि॒तुषे॒ जना॑य॒ मा गामना॑गा॒मदि॑तिं वधिष्ट ॥ (RV 8.101.15)
“(𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠) 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴̄𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦𝑎𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑎 — 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 — 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑤.”
This hymn appears in some versions of Rigveda. In chapter 101 of book 8, prayers for Asvins often end with the fourth hymn in some books.
We’ll keep aside the dispute; let us understand it is there. The previous hymns hold the key. It sets the context of the description of Aditi.
इ॒यं या नीच्य॒र्किणी॑ रू॒पा रोहि॑ण्या कृ॒ता । चि॒त्रेव॒ प्रत्य॑दर्श्याय॒त्य१॒॑न्तर्द॒शसु॑ बा॒हुषु॑ ॥ (RV 8.101.13)
“𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒, ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 (𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑), 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 (𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡) 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠.”
If we read the 8.101.15 out of context, it may give a different impression. The Hymn 8.101.13 is a personification of Aditi as a Cow, not making it a Cow.
Hence, the metaphor is being used here as Aditi the Cow, as Aditi is a loving mother, and RV uses the love between Cow and Calf in several places to explain the love in nature. This explains why Aditi “is like a bridled cow” and hence should not disregarded or don’t kill her.
My explanations can raise controversies and become debatable. So be it, as we have an opportunity to learn more through debate. I am confident of what I have written, which is the result of the investigation on Aditi both in RigVeda and AthavaVeda, but the context here is RV.
Note: The scope of this understanding is restricted to Rigveda, as it is the oldest text. Later texts may have described it as anything beyond this discussion's scope.
