Ādityas

Ādityas. In Hinduism, the ruling principles which constrain the universe into its outcomes. In personified form, they are the sons of Aditi. They are associated closely with the sun as the source of life, and became eventually twelve in number to correspond to the twelve solar months. The original eight are identified with the Vasus, the eight spheres of existence. When the number was extended to twelve, and they were identified with the twelve ruling principles, they were usually (but with occasional variants) listed as Aṃsā (the share of the gods), Aryaman (generous nobility), Bhaga (due inheritance), Dakṣa (ritual skill), Mitra (constancy in friendship), Pūṣan (prosperity), Śakra (courage), Savitṛ (power of words), Tvaṣṭṛ (skill in craft and technique), Varuṇa (fate), Viṣṇu (cosmic law), Vivasvat (social law). In later times, the name Āditya came to be applied to any god (so fundamental are the twelve principles to the sustenance of the cosmos). In Buddhism, Āditya is a name given to the Buddha.