The Devatās — the many and the one
देवता
Also written: hindu gods · devata · 33 crore gods · trimurti · how many hindu gods · देवता
Deva comes from div, to shine — a shining one, a power. The tradition holds that there is one reality and that it presents itself through countless forms and functions, exactly as one electricity appears as light, heat, sound and motion depending on the instrument.
The famous number, corrected
The phrase usually rendered 'thirty-three crore gods' is a mistranslation. The Vedic texts say trayastriṃśat koṭi — and koṭi means 'kind' or 'category' as well as 'ten million'. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad actually settles the question in dialogue: asked how many gods there are, Yājñavalkya answers three thousand three hundred and six, then thirty-three, then six, three, two, one and a half, and finally one.
कतमे ते त्रयस्त्रिंशदिति... एक इति।
katame te trayastriṁśad iti … eka iti
'Which are the thirty-three?' … and at last: 'One.'
The Vedic devas
| Deva | Domain |
|---|---|
| Agni | Fire; the mouth of the gods; the priest of the sacrifice. First word of the Ṛgveda |
| Indra | Rain, thunder, the slaying of Vṛtra; the most invoked deity of the Ṛgveda |
| Varuṇa | The waters, the moral order; guardian of ṛta |
| Vāyu | Wind, breath, prāṇa |
| Sūrya / Savitṛ | The sun; the impeller — addressee of the Gāyatrī |
| Soma | The draught, the moon, the ninth maṇḍala entire |
| Uṣas | The dawn; some of the most beautiful hymns of the Ṛgveda |
| Rudra | The fierce one; later Śiva |
| Sarasvatī | The river, and speech; later the goddess of learning |
| Yama | Death, and the first to die; the teacher of the Kaṭha Upaniṣad |
The Purāṇic order
| Form | Function |
|---|---|
| Brahmā | Creation. Few temples, because what has been created needs no further creating |
| Viṣṇu | Preservation; descends as avatāra when dharma declines |
| Śiva | Dissolution and transformation; also the supreme reality in the Śaiva traditions |
| Devī | Śakti — the power without which none of the three can act; supreme in the Śākta traditions |
| Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī, Pārvatī | Prosperity, knowledge, and power — the consorts, understood as the functioning aspect of each |
| Gaṇeśa | Beginnings and obstacles; invoked first in every tradition |
| Hanumān | Strength in service; devotion as its own perfection |
| Skanda | Command, and the piercing of ignorance |
In this section
Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.