Ida finds mention in the Rig Veda as a ritual offering of milk or other refreshment thus primarily connected with food. In later texts she is called the goddess of speech. Gods and goddesses frequently changed their role as religion evolved and associations expanded. As the goddess of speech, she is said to have instructed Manu. Several passages can be found where she is referred to as the founder of the rules of sacrifice and chanting. From being the goddess who ruled over food that was sourced from the earth, she became the goddess of earth itself.
It is said that Manu preformed a sacrifice to beget children and from that fire, sprang Ida. Certain texts call her Manu’s wife, in other books she is the wife of Mitra-Varuna. The union of Ida and Manu produced the illustrious clan of Manu.
Reference can be found in Puranas to Ida being the daughter of Manu Vaivaswata and the Wife of Mercury or Budha. Manu Vaivaswata had conducted a sacrifice to propitiate Mitra and Varuna but a mix-up occurred and instead of a boy, Ida was born. The gods intervened and Ida became a man Sadyumna. But Shiva turned into a woman again and in that form, she married Budha. She gave birth to Pururavas. With the blessing of Vishnu she changes into a man again. Sadyumna, the man had three sons.
Yet another legend uses the name Ila for the same person. He is the eldest son of Manu. For the crime of trespassing into the holy grove of Parvati, she was cursed to be a woman. After intervention by friends, she reverts to being a man but only for six months of the year. For the rest, Ila will be a woman.
