thirty-three gods

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

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:Hermann Oldenberg (1988), The Religion of the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120803923}}, pp. 23-50AA MacDonell, {{Google books|KCQ_AQAAMAAJ|Vedic mythology|page=PA19}}, Oxford University Press, pp. 19-21

• Devas personified: Indra (Shakra), Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Amsha, Vidhata,Francis X Clooney (2010), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199738731}}, p. 242 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:

{{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.}}{{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}}|Satapatha Brahmana 4:5:7:2}}

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes the existence of these deities with a different lineup:{{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}}

{{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}}

• Trāyastriṃśa, the Buddhist equivalent

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Category:Hindu gods