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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Deities of Hinduism}}<br />
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[[File:Part_of_Vyomamandala_Showing_Rudras_-_Circa_5th_Century_CE_-_Katra_Keshav_Dev_-_ACCN_13-362_-_Government_Museum_-_Mathura_2013-02-23_5476.JPG|thumb|Part of Vyomamandala Showing Rudras - Circa 5th Century CE, Katra Keshav Dev; currently at [[Mathura Museum]].]]<br />
The '''Thirty-three gods''' or '''Tridasha''' ([[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|त्रिदश}} {{IAST|tridaśa}} "three tens") is a [[pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] of [[Hindu deities]], of [[Vedic mythology|Vedic]] origin and a few of later development.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lynn Foulston, Stuart Abbott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XgwVgPx5G5UC&q=%22330+million%22+infinity&pg=PA2 |title=Hindu goddesses: beliefs and practices |year=2009 |isbn=9781902210438 |pages=1–2}}</ref><ref name="Mani">Mani{{full citation needed|date=January 2023}} pp. 654–5</ref> The [[Samhita|Samhitas]], which are the oldest layer of text in [[Vedas]], enumerate 33 devas, either 11 each for the three worlds, or as 12 [[Aditya|Adityas]], 11 [[Rudras|Rudras]], 8 [[Vasu|Vasus]], and 2 [[Ashvins]] in the [[Brahmanas]] layer of Vedic texts.<ref name="George Williams 2008 pages 90, 112">George Williams (2008), A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195332612}}, pp. 90, 112</ref><ref name="monier">Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary" Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 492</ref><br />
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== List ==<br />
The 33 are:<br />
* '''Eight [[Vasu]]s''' (deities of material elements) – [[Dyaus Pita|{{IAST|Dyauṣ}}]] "Sky", [[Prithvi|{{IAST|Pṛthivī}}]] "Earth", [[Vayu|Vāyu]] "Wind", [[Agni]] "Fire", [[Nakshatra|{{IAST|Nakṣatra}}]] "Stars", [[Varuna| {{IAST|Varuṇa}}]] "Water", [[Surya|Sūrya]] "Sun", [[Chandra]] "Moon"<br />
* '''Twelve [[Ādityas|Adityas]]''' (personified deities) – [[Vishnu]], [[Aryaman]], [[Indra]] ({{IAST|Śakra}}), [[Tvashtri|{{IAST|Tvāṣṭṛ}}]], [[Varuna|{{IAST|Varuṇa}}]], [[Bhaga]], [[Savitr|{{IAST|Savitṛ}}]], [[Vivasvan|Vivasvat]], [[Ansa (Hinduism)|{{IAST|Aṃśa}}]], [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]], [[Pushan|{{IAST|Pūṣan}}]], [[Daksha|{{IAST|Dakṣa}}]] (This list sometimes varies in particulars)<br />
* '''Eleven [[Rudras]]''', consisting of Aja, Ekapada, Ahirbudhanya, Tvasta, [[Rudra]], [[Shiva|Hara]], Sambhu, Trayambaka, Aparjita, Isana and Tribhuvan.<br />
*'''Two [[Ashvins]]''' (or Nāsatyas), twin solar deities.<br />
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===Variations===<br />
The list of Vedic Devas somewhat varies across the manuscripts found in different parts of South Asia, particularly in terms of guides (Aswins) and personified Devas. One list based on Book 2 of Aitereya Brahmana is:<ref>Hermann Oldenberg (1988), The Religion of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120803923}}, pp. 23-50</ref><ref>AA MacDonell, {{Google books|KCQ_AQAAMAAJ|Vedic mythology|page=PA19}}, Oxford University Press, pp. 19-21</ref><br><br />
* Devas personified: [[Indra]] ({{IAST|Śakra}}), [[Varuna|{{IAST|Varuṇa}}]], [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]], [[Aryaman]], [[Bhaga]], [[Ansa (Hinduism)|{{IAST|Aṃśa}}]], Vidhata,<ref>Francis X Clooney (2010), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199738731}}, p. 242</ref> [[Tvashtri|{{IAST|Tvāṣṭṛ}}]], [[Pushan|{{IAST|Pūṣan}}]], [[Vivasvan|Vivasvat]] (Surya), [[Savitr|{{IAST|Savitṛ}}]] (Dhatr), Vishnu.<br />
* Devas as abstractions or inner principles: Ānanda (bliss, inner contentment), Vijñāna (knowledge), Manas (mind, thought), Prāṇa (life-force), Vāc (speech), [[Atman (Hinduism)|Ātmā]] (Self within each person), and five manifestations of ''Rudra/Shiva'' – [[Ishana|Īśāna]], Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva, Sadyojāta<br />
* Devas as forces or principles of nature – [[Prithvi|{{IAST|Pṛthivī}}]] (earth), [[Agni]] (fire), Antarikṣa (atmosphere, space), Jal (water), [[Vayu|Vāyu]] (wind), [[Dyaus Pita|{{IAST|Dyauṣ}}]] (sky), [[Surya|Sūrya]] (sun), {{IAST|Nakṣatra}} (stars), Soma (moon)<br />
* Devas as guide or creative energy – Vasatkara, [[Prajapati|Prajāpati]]<br />
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The identity of the 2 [[Ashvins]] sometimes varies:<br />
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{{blockquote|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. {{refn|group=note|''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.''}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe26/sbe2666.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part II (SBE26), Julius Eggeling tr. [1885]|publisher=Sacred Texts}}</ref>|Satapatha Brahmana 4:5:7:2}}<br />
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== Literature ==<br />
The [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] describes the existence of these deities with a different lineup:<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2015-02-23 |title=Yajnavalkya and Vidagdha [Section IX] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-brihadaranyaka-upanishad/d/doc118360.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><br />
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{{Blockquote|text=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.'|title=[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]|source=Section 9, Verse 3.9.2}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Trāyastriṃśa]], the Buddhist equivalent<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|group=note}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{HinduMythology}}<br />
{{Indian Philosophy}}<br />
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[[Category:Hindu gods]]</div>ImportMaster