Aryaman () is one of the early Vedic Hindu deities. His name signifies "Life-Partner", "close friend", "Partner", "play-fellow" or "companion".Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary He is the third son of Kashyapa and

Aditi Aditi ( Sanskrit: अदिति, lit. 'boundless' or 'limitless' or 'innocence') is an important Vedic goddess in Hinduism. She is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos. She is the goddess of motherhood, consci ...

, the father and mother of the

adityas In Hinduism, Adityas ( sa, आदित्य, Āditya, of Aditi, ), refers to the offspring of Aditi, the goddess representing the infinity. The name ''Aditya'', in the singular, is taken to refer to the sun god Surya. Generally, Adityas ar ...

, and is depicted as the mid-morning sun disc. He is the deity of customs, and rules over the customs that rule the various Vedic tribes and peoples. In the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only on ...

, Aryaman is described as the protector of mares and stallions, and the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

(aryamṇáḥ pánthāḥ) is said to be his path. Aryaman is commonly invoked together with

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, su ...

Mitra ''Mitra'' ( Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity from which the names and some characteristics of Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra derive. The names (and occasionally also some characteristics) of these ...

Bhaga ''Bhaga'' is the Vedic god of wealth, as well as a term for "lord, patron" and "wealth, prosperity". He is an Āditya, a group of societal deities who are the sons of Aditi. Bhaga's responsibility was to make sure that people received a share ...

Bṛhaspati Brihaspati ( sa, बृहस्पति, ), also known as Guru, is a Hindu deity. In the ancient Vedic scriptures of Hinduism, Brihaspati is a deity associated with fire, and the word also refers to a rishi (sage) who counsels the devas (god ...

, and other adityas and

asuras Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...

. According to Griffith, the Rigveda also suggests that Aryaman is a supreme deity alongside Mitra and Varuna.(The Hymns of the Rig Veda)
/ref> According to the Rigveda, Indra, who is traditionally considered the most important deity in the Rigveda, is asked to obtain boons and gifts from Aryaman.
/ref> Hindu marriage oaths are administered with an invocation to Aryaman being the witness to the event.वैदिक विवाह और विवाहित जीवन (Vedic weddings and married life)
रामशरण वशिष्ठ, ''... १४-२-१३--मेरी इस शुभ नारी को धाता प्रजा दे । इसे अर्यमन, मग, अश्विन, प्रजापति, सब प्रजा वाली करें। इसकी संतान बढ़े। ...''हिन्दी कथा-कोष: प्राचीन हिन्दी साहित्य में व्यवहारता नामों तथा पौराणिक अंतरकथाओं का संदर्भ ग्रन्थ (Hindi Myth Treasury)
धीरेन्द्र वर्मा, हिन्दुस्तानी एकेडमी, 1974, ''... अर्यमन - १. एक वैदिक देवता जो विश्वदेवों में से एक हैं। २. कश्यप तथा अदिति के पुत्र पितृगण में प्रमुख हैं। ३. द्वादह आदित्यों में से एक जो वैशाख मास में उदय होते हैं और जिनकी किरणों की संख्या ३०० मानी जाती है।'' Aryaman also is the deity of the customs of hospitality.

References

Adityas Hindu gods Rigvedic deities Solar gods {{Hindu-myth-stub

See also

References