Deva | Hinduism, Vedic, Polytheism | Britannica (original) (raw)

deva, in the Vedic religion of India and in later Hinduism, one of many gods, often roughly divided into sky, air, and earth divinities on the basis of their identification with the forces of nature. In the pantheistic systems that emerged by the Late Vedic period, the _deva_s became subordinate to the one supreme being. During the Vedic period the divine powers were divided into two classes, the _deva_s and the asuras (in Avestan, _daeva_s and _ahura_s). In India the _deva_s came to be more powerful than the _asura_s, and the latter word eventually took on the meaning of demon. In Iran the reverse took place, and the _daeva_s were denounced as demons by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism. They still survive as such in the _div_s of Persian folklore, especially through the epic Shāh-nāmeh (completed 1010; “Book of Kings”) by the Persian poet Ferdowsī, and in the Devil of Christian Europe.

Buddhist cosmology posits the existence of three realms, and the _devata_s (gods and goddesses) reside in the highest of the six _gati_s, or destinies, of the lowest realm, the kama-dhatu (“realm of desire”). Within this destiny there are many heavens, each inhabited by many deities. The most important of these heavens are the Tusita Heaven, where the future buddha, Maitreya, awaits the time for his coming to earth; the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, which is presided over by Inda (Sanskrit: Indra; sometimes called Sakka [Sanskrit: Shakra]); and the Heaven of the Four Guardian Kings, who are important protective deities in many Buddhist contexts.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.