Indra's Campaign on Mount Malaya — Indra’s Campaign on Mount Malaya and the Birth of the Maruts (Origin of the Epithet Gotrabhid)
पुलस्त्य उवाच इत्येवमुक्त्वा तान् बालान् परिसान्त्व्य दितिः स्वयम् देवाराज्ञा सहैतांस्तु प्रेषयामास भामिनि
pulastya uvāca ityevamuktvā tān bālān parisāntvya ditiḥ svayam devārājñā sahaitāṃstu preṣayāmāsa bhāmini
Pulastya berkata: “Setelah berkata demikian, Diti sendiri menenangkan anak-anak itu; lalu bersama raja para dewa, sang wanita bercahaya itu mengutus mereka pergi.”
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They are the newly generated ‘children’—the Maruts—arising from the divided embryo in the Diti–Indra episode. The term bāla emphasizes their fresh emergence and Diti’s maternal relation.
It signals a resolution: the beings born from a conflict become integrated into Indra’s retinue. Purāṇically, this explains why the Maruts are Indra’s companions despite their Daitya maternal lineage.
In the Vāmana Purāṇa’s narrative framing, sages like Pulastya often transmit mythic histories to Nārada. This verse marks a narrator’s transition from Diti’s direct speech back to the sage’s report.