Aja Ekapada

the one-footed goat, deity of the storm pillar

TraditionVedic

A single pillar of fire between earth and heaven, unborn and standing alone.

Aja Ekapada, the one-footed goat or the unborn one-footed, is an obscure and awesome figure of the Vedic hymns, named among the celestial powers and associated with storm, lightning, and the supporting pillar of the sky. He is closely linked with Ahirbudhnya, the serpent of the deep, as a paired power. Little narrative is attested for him, and the tradition lets his strangeness stand.

Presides over Purva Bhadrapada .

Sparsely attested; the hymns name him without much narrative, and interpretations of the one-footed form vary. Sometimes counted among the Rudras.