Aryaman

Aryaman ( Sanskrit अर्यमन् Aryaman , companion, the stranger, the hospitable, guest contract ) is one of the Adityas in Hindu mythology , a descendant of the goddess Aditi . He is interpreted as a deified personification of hospitality towards gods and people. As such, he especially protects those who live outside the Aryan community and is thus a foreign deity. He embodies the cohesion and the specificity of the relationships within the clans. In addition, he is also considered the patron god of unhindered traffic and trade. His father is Kashyapa and his mother is the goddess Aditi, which is why he is also considered an important Aditya. In Brahmanic times, Aryaman is considered the sun god, god of longing and all striving for spiritual ascent.

In the Vedas he is usually invoked together with the Adityas Varuna and Mitra . With both he forms an early Vedic triad of gods. He is so closely connected with Mitra, the personification of the contract in Vedic times, that his name appears in the Rig Veda as an apposition to Mitra. He has independent significance as a housekeeper and especially as a god and founder of marriage.

His attributes are a club, two lotuses and a prayer wheel.

In post-Vedic literature he appears as the chief of the Pitris , the ancestors of the Rishis , who guards the path of those who observe the religious rite. In the Bhagavatapurana he takes the position of the god of death Yama for a period of 100 years . The month of Mādhava is dedicated to him.

literature

• Volker Moeller: Aryaman . In: Hans Wilhelm Haussig , Heinz Bechert (Ed.): Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X , p. 42.
• Paul Thieme : The stranger in Ṛgveda . A study of the meanings of the words ari, arya, aryaman and ārya . Leipzig 1938 ( Treatises on the Customer of the Orient , Volume 23.2).
• Gerhard J. Bellinger : Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie . Knaur, Munich 1999. sv Aryaman, ISBN 3426664151
• Jan Gonda : The Religions of India; 1. Veda and older Hinduism (= The Religions of Mankind, Volume 11). W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1960, sv Varuna and the other Adityas .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aryaman . In: Gerhard Bellinger: Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie. Knaur, Munich 1999.
2. ↑ Jan Gonda: Veda and older Hinduism , section Varuna and the other Adityas. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1960.
3. ^ Paul Thieme: The stranger in Ṛgveda .
4. ↑ Aryaman . In: Gerhard Bellinger: Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie. Knaur, Munich 1999.
5. ↑ Rigveda 5,67,1 de sa ; 8,26,11 de sa  
6. ↑ Taittiriya Brahmana 2,3,5,2.
7. ↑ Rigveda 10,85,23 de sa ; Atharvaveda 6.60.1-2; 14.1.17. 
8. ↑ Mahabharata 6:34:19.
9. ↑ Mahabharata 12:26.
10. ↑ Bhagavatapurana 1:13:15.
11. ↑ For example, Vishnu-Purana 2.10.