The Visvedevas () ( ' "all-gods") are the various

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...

taken together as a whole. In the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only on ...

a number of hymns are addressed to them, including (according to Griffith) 1.3,1.89, 3.54-56, 4.55, 5.41-51, 6.49-52, 7.34-37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 8.27-30, 58, 83 10.31, 35, 36, 56, 57, 61-66, 92, 93, 100, 101, 109, 114, 126, 128, 137, 141, 157, 165, 181. RV 3.54.17 addresses them as headed by

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

, :''This is, ye Wise, your great and glorious title, that all ye Deities abide in Indra.'' (trans. Griffith) The dichotomy between

Devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

is not evident in these hymns, and Devas are invoked together such as

Mitra ''Mitra'' ( Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity from which the names and some characteristics of Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra derive. The names (and occasionally also some characteristics) of these ...

god and

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, su ...

god. Though many devas are named in the Rig Veda only 33 devas are counted, eleven each of earth, space and heaven. In later

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, they form one of the nine ganadevatas (along with the

Adityas In Hinduism, Adityas ( sa, आदित्य, Āditya, of Aditi, ), refers to the offspring of Aditi, the goddess representing the infinity. The name ''Aditya'', in the singular, is taken to refer to the sun god Surya. Generally, Adityas ar ...

, Vasus, Tushitas, Abhasvaras, Anilas, Maharajikas, Sadhyas, and Rudras). According to the

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manusc ...

and

Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' ( sa, पद्मपुराण or पाद्मपुराण, or ) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Brah ...

, they were the sons of Vishvā, a daughter of

Daksha In Hinduism, Daksha (Sanskrit: दक्ष, IAST: , lit. "able, dexterous, or honest one") is one of the '' Prajapati'', the agents of creation, as well as a divine king-rishi. His iconography depicts him as a man with a stocky body and a ha ...

, enumerated as follows: 1. Vasu 2.

Satya ''Satya'' (Sanskrit: सत्य; IAST: ''satya)'' is a Sanskrit word loosely translated as truth, essence. A. A. Macdonell, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Asian Educational Services, , pp. 330–331 It also refers to a virtue in Indian relig ...

3. Kratu 4.

, 5. Kala 6. Kama 7.

Dhrti Dhṛti or Dhriti or Dhruti ( sa, धृति), one of the Yamas, means to 'act with determination' (Bhagavad Gita Sl. XVIII.26), 'patience' (Srimad Bhagavatam Sl. V.v.10-13), 'firmness' (''Caitanyacaritamrita Madhya'' Sl. XXIV.11), and refers ...

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

Pururavas Pururavas ( Sanskrit: पुरूरवस्, ''Purūravas'') is a character in Hindu literature, a king who served as the first of the Lunar dynasty. According to the Vedas, he is a legendary entity associated with Surya (the sun) and U ...

10. Madravas, with two others added by some, 11. Rocaka or Locana, 12.

Dhvani In Indian aesthetics, a rasa ( sa, रस) literally means "nectar, essence or taste".Monier Monier-Williams (1899)Rasa Sanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology, Motilal Banarsidass (Originally Published: Oxford) It connotes a concept in Indian ...

Dhuri Dhuri is a city in Sangrur District in the state of Punjab, India. The neighbouring towns of Dhuri are Sangrur, Malerkotla, Nabha, and Barnala. Demographics As of 2011 Indian Census The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was co ...

Sometimes it is unclear whether a reference to ''vishve-devas'' refers to all Devas collectively, as in the Rigveda, or to the specific group as enumerated in the Puranas. According to Manu (iii, 90, 121), offerings should be made daily to the Visvedevas. These privileges were bestowed on them by

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ...

and the

Pitri The pitrs () are the spirits of departed ancestors in Hinduism. Following an individual's death, the performance of the antyesti (funeral rites) is regarded to allow the deceased to enter Pitrloka, the abode of one's ancestors. The non-performanc ...

as a reward for severe austerities they had performed on the Himalaya. The Viswadevas incarnated on Earth due to the curse of sage

Vishwamitra Vishvamitra ( sa, विश्वामित्र, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Ma ...

, as the 5 sons of

Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothe ...

with the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

- the Upapandavas. They returned to their original form after being killed by

Ashwatthama In the Hindu epic the ''Mahabharata'', Ashwatthama ( sa, अश्वत्थामा, Aśvatthāmā) or Drauni was the son of guru Drona and Kripi (sister of Kripacharya). He was the grandson of the sage Bharadwaja. Ashwatthama ruled th ...

at night. The Visvedevas are the most comprehensive gathering of gods. They answer to the concern that no divinity should be omitted from praise.Renou, Louis. ''L'Inde Classique'', vol. 1, p. 328, Librairie d'Ameriqe et d'Orient. Paris 1947, reprinted 1985. .

References

Rigvedic deities {{Hindu-myth-stub

See also

References