Deva Hinduism: Encyclopedia II - Deva Hinduism - Classical Hinduism

Deva Hinduism - Classical Hinduism

Nature devas are responsible for things as fire, air, rain and trees - most of them assumed a minor role in the later religion. Certain other deities rose into prominence. These higher devas control much more intricate tasks governing the functioning of the cosmos and the evolution of creation. Mahadevas, such as Lord Ganesa, have such tremenduous tasks under their diligence that they are sometimes called themselves gods under the Supreme One God. The Hindu trinity is composed of Brahmā, Vishnu and Shiva.

The devas are functionally equivalent of angels who serve God in Judaeo-Christian tradition. There are also many other lesser celestial beings in Hinduism such as Gandharvas or celestial musicians.

Vayu or the Lord of the wind is an example of an important deva. Also, Death is personified as the deva Yama.

Devas and Asuras are also cited in traditional Buddhist cosmology. For information on this subject, see six lower realms.

Devas, in Hinduism, are celestial beings that control forces of nature such as fire, air, wind, etc. They are not to be confused with the One and the Supreme God or His personal form, Saguna Brahman which can be visualized as Vishnu or Shiva. God (see Ishvara) or Brahman (the Supreme Spirit) is the ultimate controller. A famous verse from the Katha Upanishad states: “From fear (here, power) of Him the wind blows; from fear of Him the sun rises; from fear of Him Agni and Indra and Death, the fifth, run." In actuality, Brahman is the only Ultimate Reality, and all devas are simply mundane manifestations of Him. Hinduism allows God to be worshipped in any anthromorphic form for the sake of devotion. See Bhakti.

According to Vaishnavites, another verse that confers the Devas' subordinate status comes from the Vishnu sahasranama, whose concluding verses state: "The Rishis (great sages), ancestors, the Devas, the great elements, in fact, all things moving and unmoving constituting this universe, have originated from Narayana." (i.e.,Vishnu), expressing that in Vaishnavism, the Devas are subordinate to Vishnu or God. the Vaishnavites especially translate deva as demi-god.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Classical Hinduism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki