The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (58 page)

(lit. ‘staff-men’, denoting here ‘heroic men’), a vast store of Indian and specifically Jain story material has been arranged.
Jinasena's intention was to provide, in an increasingly ‘Hindu-conscious’ southern Indian environment, a Jain answer to the Hindu
pur
as
.

 
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(Skt., ‘boundlessness’). Unlimited space and consciousness, hence infinity, eternity. Manifested as a goddess (frequently mentioned in the
g Veda
), she is the inexhaustible source, the mother of the
dityas
under whose constraint the universe is alone possible.

 
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dityas
.

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 A
s
(the share of the gods), Aryaman (generous nobility), Bhaga (due inheritance), Dak
a (ritual skill),
Mitra
(constancy in friendship), P
an (prosperity),
akra (courage), Savit
(power of words), Tva
(skill in craft and technique),
Varu
a
(fate),
Vi
u
(cosmic law), Vivasvat (social law). In later times, the name