HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Deva"

Word

Deva

Sanskrit

देव

IAST

deva

In General

In Sanskrit and other Indian languages God is represented by the word deva, which come from root ‘div’ means luminance. So, god is a supernatural power with glow. Hindus have an infinite number of Devas. Every animates and inanimate thing in the world is a reflection of god. Vedic idea is: “ Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti “, meaning: Existence is One, Sages call it by different Names (Rig Veda 1.164.146

Also, one personified as perfect is God. A person who had shown such qualities of par-excellence and can guide the rest of society to follow the right conduct in living is known as the Incarnation of God, or an avatara, God who descends into this material realm. Sri Krishna is such a person and god.

Another word for God is Bhagavan. ‘Bhag’ implies six attributes: Absolute Fame, Absolute Dharma, Absolute Wealth, Absolute Knowledge, Absolute Beauty and Absolute Detachment. One possessing these attributes is Bhagavan, the Supreme Person or God.

Hundutva is not exclusive but accommodative. It do not say gods from other other faith are wrong, but a possible another way. Hindu concept is to worship God in any form, or sans a form; it is love for the divine. Deva in Hinduism is a symbolic representation of the divine. It has passion in its lower nature just to fit men morally right and develop his spirituality; but when god is considered as a single entity, it is a principle, a tattva , an infinite reality with no qualities and we call it Brahman

Veda

Vedic concept of deva are supernatural powers or forces which doesn’t have any shape. Agni , Surya , Varuna are god not as physical Fire, Sun, or Wind but identified as these objects for the poetic representation. All the gods are in perfect harmony and work for the benefit of humans

Purana

Puranic concept of God is personalized with some human passion and have different role to play. Brahma Vishnu and Siva are Gods with the duties of creation sustenance and evolution

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Gods

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