Aryamā

Aryamā · aryaman, “the companion, the friend”

Aryamā, also called Aryaman, is one of the twelve Ādityas, the radiant sons of Kaśyapa Prajāpati and Aditi. The Agni Purāṇa, told by Agni Deva to Vasishṭha Maharshi, names him among the Ādityas of the Vaivasvata manvantara and among the twelve suns who stand with Bhagavān Sūrya. He is also one of the great divine pitṛs, the pitṛ-devatās who receive tarpaṇa (offerings of water) and are called to the śrāddha at Gayā. In the building of a house he is a guardian of the vāstu-maṇḍala, the sacred diagram of the site, and he is the devatā of the twelfth nakshatra counted from Aśvinī.

One of the twelve Ādityas

Those who were the Tushita devas in the Cākshusha manvantara were born again in the Vaivasvata manvantara to Kaśyapa through Aditi as the twelve Ādityas. The Agni Purāṇa names them Dhātā, Aryamā, Pūshā, Vivasvān, Savitā, Mitra, Varuṇa, Bhaga and Aṃśu (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 19).

For the mūrtis of the Ādityas, a lotus of twelve petals is drawn, and Sūrya, Aryamā and the other suns, twelve in all, are installed on its twelve petals. This host of Ādityas has four arms each, holding the mudgara (club), the śūla (trident), the cakra (discus) and the lotus (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 51).

In the mantras for the abhisheka (consecration bath) of a king, which Pushkara taught Paraśurāma, the king is blessed: “May the twelve Sūryas protect you: Dhātṛ, Mitra, Aryaman, Pūshan, Śukra, Varuṇa, Bhaga, Tvashṭṛ, Vivasvat, Savitṛ, Bhāskara and Vishṇu” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 51, 219

Among the divine pitṛs

In the daily tarpaṇa, after the devas, the ṛshis and the hosts of beings are satisfied, one wears the sacred thread over the right shoulder (prācīnāvītī) and, from the root and tip of kuśa grass folded in two, offers water with sesame (tila) three times each to the divine pitṛ-devatās, with svadhā: to Kavyavāhana, Anala, Soma, Yama, Aryaman, the Agnishvāttas, the Barhishads and the Ājyapas. Then tarpaṇa is given to one’s own father, grandfather and great-grandfather (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 72).

At Gayā, the pilgrim who has bathed in the Uttaramānasa tīrtha goes in silence to the Dakshiṇamānasa tīrtha and bathes there for the satisfaction of the pitṛs. Having done śrāddha and piṇḍadāna (the offering of rice balls), he bows to Bhagavān Sūrya and prays: “Namaskāra to Sūrya who nourishes all beings. You give bhukti and mukti to all my forefathers. May the great pitṛ-devatās, Kavyavāṭ, Anala, Soma, Yama, Aryaman, Agnishvātta, Barhishad and Ājyapa, come here. I have come here with the intent of giving piṇḍa to my father, mother, grandfather and the rest, who are protected by you” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 115).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 72, 115

In the vāstu

In the vāstu-pūjā. Parameśvara taught Skanda the worship of the vāstu. Outside the vāstu, the four Mātṛkās beginning with Carakī are worshipped in the four intermediate directions, and then four guardians in the four directions: Skanda in the east, Aryamā in the south, Jambhaka in the west and Pilipiccha in the north. To Aryamā in the south is offered khicaḍi, rice and pulse cooked together, with a flower (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 93).

In the vāstu-maṇḍala of a house. When a house is to be built, the brāhmaṇas are honoured first, and on land free of bones and foreign matter a vāstu-maṇḍala of sixty padas (squares) is drawn, with Brahmā installed on the four padas in its middle. East of those four padas is Aryamā, the gṛhasvāmi, the lord of the house-padas; Vivasvān is marked to the south, Mitra to the west and Mahīdhara to the north (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 247).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 93, 247

Devatā of a nakshatra

In the teaching on mantra that Agni Deva gave to Vasishṭha Maharshi, the devatās of the twenty-seven nakshatras are given in order from Aśvinī. The tenth is the Pitṛ-devatās, the eleventh Bhaga, the twelfth Aryamā and the thirteenth Sūrya (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 293).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 293

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 51, 72, 93, 115, 219, 247, 293