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Thirty-three gods

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Part of the Vyomamandala showing the rudras - circa 5th century CE, Katra Keshav Dev; currently atMathura Museum.

TheThirty-three gods,orTridasha(Sanskrit:त्रिदश,romanized:Tridaśa,lit. 'three tens'), is apantheonofHindu deitiesof the currentmanvantara.[1][2]TheSamhitas,which are the oldest layer of text in theVedas,enumerate 33 deities classified asDevas,either 11 each for thethree worlds,or as 12Adityas,11Rudras,eightVasusand twoAshvinsin theBrahmanas.[3][4]

List[edit]

The thirty-three deities are:

Variations[edit]

The list of deities varies across the manuscripts found in different parts of South Asia, particularly in terms of the Ashvins and the personified devas. One list based on Book 2 of theAitereya Brahmanais:[5][6]

  • Devas personified: Indra (Shakra), Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Amsha, Vidhata,[7]Tvashtr, Pushan, Vivasvat (Surya), Savitr (Dhatr), Vishnu
  • Devas as abstractions or inner principles: Ananda (bliss, inner contentment), Vijnana (knowledge), Manas (mind, thought), Prana (life-force),Vac(speech),Atma(Self), and five manifestations of Rudra –Ishana,Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva, Sadyojata
  • Devas as forces or principles of nature – Prithvi (earth), Agni (fire), Antariksha (atmosphere, space), Jala (water), Vayu (wind), Dyaus (sky), Surya (sun), Nakshatra (stars), Soma (moon)
  • Devas as guides or creative energy – Vasatkara,Prajapati

The reported identity of the two Ashvins sometimes varies:

There are eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Âdityas; and these two, Heaven and Earth, are the (thirty-second and) thirty-third. And there are thirty-three gods, and Pragâpati is the thirty-fourth;--thus he makes him (the sacrificer, or Yagña) to be Pragâpati 2: now that 3 is, for that is immortal, and what is immortal that is. But what is mortal that also is Pragâpati; for Pragâpati is everything: thus he makes him to be Pragâpati, and hence there are these thirty-four utterances, called expiations.[note 1][8]

— Satapatha Brahmana 4:5:7:2

Literature[edit]

TheBrihadaranyaka Upanishaddescribes the existence of these deities with a different lineup:[9]

Yājñavalkya said, 'These are but the manifestations of them, but there are only thirty-three gods.' 'Which are those thirty-three?' 'The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras and the twelve Ādityas—these are thirty-one, and Indra and Prajāpati make up the thirty-three.'

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,Section 9, Verse 3.9.2

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^aṣṭau vasavaḥ: ekādaśa rudrā dvādaśādityā ime eva dyāvāpṛthivī trayastriṃśyau trayastriṃśadvai devāḥ prajāpatiścatustriṃśastadenam prajāpatiṃ karotyetadvā astyetaddhyamṛtaṃ yaddhyamṛtaṃ taddhyastyetadu tadyanmartyaṃ sa eṣa prajāpatiḥ sarvaṃ vai prajāpatistadenam prajāpatiṃ karoti tasmādetāścatustriṃśadvyāhṛtayo bhavanti prāyaścittayo nāma.

References[edit]

  1. ^Lynn Foulston, Stuart Abbott (2009).Hindu goddesses: beliefs and practices.pp. 1–2.ISBN9781902210438.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^Mani[full citation needed]pp. 654–5
  3. ^George Williams (2008), A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0195332612,pp. 90, 112
  4. ^Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary "Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 492
  5. ^Hermann Oldenberg (1988), The Religion of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-8120803923,pp. 23-50
  6. ^AA MacDonell,Vedic mythology,p. PA19, atGoogle Books,Oxford University Press, pp. 19-21
  7. ^Francis X Clooney (2010), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0199738731,p. 242
  8. ^"Satapatha Brahmana Part II (SBE26), Julius Eggeling tr. [1885]".Sacred Texts.
  9. ^www.wisdomlib.org (2015-02-23)."Yajnavalkya and Vidagdha [Section IX]".www.wisdomlib.org.Retrieved2022-07-31.
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