Thirty-three gods
The Thirty-three gods, or Tridasha (Sanskrit: त्रिदश, romanized: Tridaśa, lit. 'three tens'), is a pantheon of Hindu deities of the current manvantara .[1] [2] The Samhitas , which are the oldest layer of text in the Vedas, enumerate 33 deities classified as Devas , either 11 each for the three worlds, or as 12 Adityas, 11 Rudras, eight Vasus and two Ashvins in the Brahmanas.[3] [4]
List
[edit ]The thirty-three deities are:
- Eight Vasus (deities of material elements) – Dyaus (sky), Prithvi (earth), Vayu (wind), Agni (fire), Nakshatra (stars), Varuna (water), Surya (sun), Chandra (moon)
- Twelve Adityas (personified deities) – Indra (Shakra), Aryaman, Tvashtr, Varuna, Bhaga, Savitr, Vivasvat, Amsha, Mitra, Pushan, Daksha, Vishnu (this list sometimes varies in particulars)
- Eleven Rudras, consisting of Aja, Ekapada, Ahirbudhanya, Tvasta, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, Trayambaka, Aparajita, Ishana, and Tribhuvana
- Two Ashvins (or Nasatyas), twin solar deities
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 the Aitereya Brahmana is:[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 ]The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes 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 ]- Trāyastriṃśa, the Buddhist equivalent
Notes
[edit ]- ^ 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 ]- ^ Lynn Foulston, Stuart Abbott (2009). Hindu goddesses: beliefs and practices. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9781902210438.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Mani[full citation needed ] pp. 654–5
- ^ George Williams (2008), A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195332612, pp. 90, 112
- ^ Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary" Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 492
- ^ Hermann Oldenberg (1988), The Religion of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120803923, pp. 23-50
- ^ AA MacDonell, Vedic mythology , p. PA19, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pp. 19-21
- ^ Francis X Clooney (2010), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199738731, p. 242
- ^ "Satapatha Brahmana Part II (SBE26), Julius Eggeling tr. [1885]". Sacred Texts.
- ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2015年02月23日). "Yajnavalkya and Vidagdha [Section IX]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2022年07月31日.