Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Gods and Gods and more Gods Part 1

330 million, or 33 crores . Thats the official figure of the number of " Gods ".

" Gods " in the above context referring to the sum total of " Devas " or radiant ones ,lead by Indra , as well as various other categories of divine beings and spirits , like Gandharvas , Yakshas , etc . 33 Gods are described in the Rig Veda ( as in the iranian traditions )which are mainly personifications of the powers of nature , like the Sun , (Surya )the Wind (Vayu), Water ( Varuna ), Fire (Agni ) etc , but another passage says that they are all manifestations of the one Supreme Being .
Multiple levels of divine beings exist with varying powers . Humans can aspire to become one of the Devas through sufficent merit , which is a position held for a time till the merit is exhausted . Such aspiration is merely worldly and the real goal is to realise Brahman .

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