Difference between revisions of "Ilā"

Revision as of 04:22, 3 November 2014

By M. A. Alwar

Sometimes transliterated as: Ila, IlA, Ilaa

Ilā - In Ṛgveda

1. Ilā is mentioned along with Sarasvatī and Mahī as a goddess of light and brilliance.^[1]
2. She is accounted as the goddess of the earth. She resides in the center of the earth.
3. She is declared as the daughter of Manu and the teacher of men.^[2]
4. The place sanctified by her feet on the sacrificial altar is used to keep the fire of the sacrifice.

Ilā - In Purāṇas and Mahābhārata

1. She is pictured as the daughter of Manu.
2. She has changed her sex to enter a forbidden place or due to the efforts of the sages like Vasiṣṭha.
3. She either becomes prince Sudyumna or the wife of Budha and mother of Pururavas.
4. She used to undergo change of sex once a month.

Ilā - In Shabdakalpadruma

Ilā – f. ilati viṣṇuvarāt puṁstvaṁ prāpnoti (attains manhood by the boon of Viṣṇu. ila+ka+ṭāp. 1. Name of a daughter of Vaivasvata Manu. According to śrībhāgavatam, Ilā, the daughter of Vaivasvata Manu, obtained manhood by the boon of Viṣṇu and became famous as Sudyumna. Then, entering the Kumāravana which was cursed by śaṅkara, became a woman again. Budha took her as his wife and begot Purūravas. Then, her priest Vaśiṣṭha worshipped śaṅkara and got her a boon of being female for a month and being male for another month, alternately. According to the Rāmāyaṇa, ila, the son of Prajāpati Kardama, entered the birthplace of Kārttikeya and became a woman known as ilā. Then, worshipping Pārvatī, she obtained the boon of being female for a month and being male for another month, alternately. 2. Earth 3. Cow 4. Sentence - Medinī

References

• Shabdakalpadrumah by Raja Radhakantdev, Varadaprasada Vasu, Haricarana Vasu