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==                                                                             ILA MATA == In the Shatapatha Brahmana, Manu performed a fire-sacrifice in order to have children. Idā emerged from the sacrifice. She was claimed by Mitra-Varuna, but she lived with Manu and together they initiated the race of Manu. In this text, Idā is the goddess of the sacrificial meal. She is described as the Manavi (daughter of Manu) and Ghrtapadi (with the ghee-dripping foot) and she is represented by a cow, also known as Idā during a sacrifice. Pururavas is mentioned as the son of ILA in the text.

Please note that the Bhagavata Purana, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the Kurma Purana, the Harivamsa, the Markandeya Purana and the Padma Purana narrated a variant about ILA. According to the Linga Purana and the Mahabharata, ILA was born as the eldest daughter of Vaivasvata Manu, the progenitor of mankind, and his wife Shraddha. However, the parents desired a son and so prayed and performed austerities to propitiate the deities Mitra and Varuna, who changed ILA's gender. The boy was named Sudyumna. ILA's parents could not have any children for a long time and approached the sage Agastya for a solution. The sage performed a yajna (fire sacrifice) dedicated to Mitra and Varuna to attain a son for the couple. Due to either an error in the ritual or a failure to offer the appropriate sacrifice, Mitra and Varuna instead sent a daughter to the couple. In one version, the couple supplicated the deities, who transformed ILA's gender. In another version, this transformation happens after the erroneous hymns are rectified and the son is called ILA.   ...Read now the King Yayati for more....Sivkishen, Author