Diti - Birth of Diti's Children

Birth of Diti's Children

Seeing Aditi's cowives being blessed with children; Diti too was eager to have a son. So, she had asked Kashyapa for company. Though Kashyapa had acceded to her request, He had asked her to wait for an hour as it was then the time when Shiva and his retinue of ghosts and spirits moved about; which was considered inauspicious and unsuited. However; Diti; shaken by the passion of love and lust, couldn't wait and she seized kashyapa by his garments, which was a sign of immodesty. Since Diti's mind was impure; tainted by lust, she would give birth to two unworthy sons who would violate all the ethics (Dharma) and follow the path of Adharma. When Diti felt sorry, Kashyapa consoled her by saying that they would be slain by Lord Vishnu himself and thus be blessed by the Lord's contact in the end. Also; one of her four grandsons by her first son, would be a great devotee of Vishnu and also the noblest man (He is Prahlada). In this way, Jaya and Vijaya were born on this earth to Diti as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. In Section 67, Adi Parava of Mahabharata, it is stated that king Shishupala, the powerful ruler of Chedis, was also an incarnation of Hiranyakasipu, the son of Diti.

Besides great Asura Hiranyakashipu, some other more famous sons of Diti are also mentioned in Adiparava, Mahabharata, as follows:

  1. Sivi: A great Asura, known among the sons of Diti, became on earth the famous monarch Druma;
  2. Aswa: That great Asura, son of Diti, known as Aswa (Asva), became on earth the monarch Ashoka of exceeding energy and invincible in battle.
  3. Aswapati: Younger brother of Aswa and another son of Diti, was born as Hardikya, the king of the Mallas;
  4. Sarabha: A great Asura and son of Diti, was born on this earth as royal sage Paurava;
  5. Chandra: The foremost among the sons of Diti and handsome as the lord of the stars himself, became on earth noted as Chandra Varmana Kamvoja, the king of the Kamvojas (i.e. Kambojas). Also see link: .

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