Ansa is a celestial deity in Hindu mythology and a member of the Adityas, sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. The number of Adityas varies in different stories, but they are associated with the cycling of the year and seasons. Ansa and his siblings do not correspond to celestial bodies and simply watch from the sky. Hinduism is a diverse faith with conflicting texts, allowing for various approaches to practice and deity worship.
In Hindu mythology, Ansa is a member of the Adityas, a group of celestial deities who live in the heavens together with their parents. Variations on the name “Ansa” are sometimes used for boys in the Hindu community as a sign of respect for the sun gods. Variations on her brothers’ names are also used as masculine names in India and in communities with large Hindu populations.
According to legend, the Adityas are the sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. The earliest legends specify seven or eight such gods, and the number was later raised to 12. Historians have suggested that the number 12 was probably chosen so that each god was associated with a particular month, creating a link between the ‘Aditya and the cycling of the year and the seasons.
The head of the Adityas is Varuna, the eldest, followed by Mitra. Ansa’s other brothers include Aryaman, Bhaga, Dhatr and Indra in the older Vedas on these celestial gods. These stories also describe the existence of an eighth brother, Martanda, who was rejected by his father and later resurrected by his mother and renamed Vivasvana. Martanda is sometimes specifically associated with the sun.
In the more recent stories, the number of Adityas is raised to 12 by including the original seven brothers and adding Daksha, Savitri, Ravi, Surya and Yama. The change in the number of gods reflects the changing nature of Hinduism, a situation which has been complicated by the generation of numerous texts concerning Hindu faith, deities and rituals. Many of these texts either conflict with each other or combine to create an imperfect image for people who like simple and precise information, and as a result, Hinduism is a very diverse faith. People can take numerous approaches to the practice of Hinduism and the gods they wish to honor, using the texts they or their sects most identify with.
Not much is known about what the individual Aditya does; Ansa he is not associated with any specific action or idea, but he is simply one of seven, eight or twelve brothers, depending on which story one reads. The Adityas are of an eternal and unchanging nature according to most of the legends and, in most of the stories, they do not correspond to particular celestial bodies such as stars and planets. Ansa and his siblings simply watch from the sky, along with numerous other gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon.
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