Are there really 330 million Gods in Hinduism? A million dollar question about 330 million Gods of Hindus. The general terminology is “33 koti deva” or ‘Trayastrimsati koti‘ as we call them. In hindi, Marathi and many Indian regional language, koti means crore or 10 million. But, as we say English is a funny language, then well, Sanskrit is a tricky language.
Koti in Sanskrit has many meanings like ‘highest point’ , ‘Excellence’ , ‘Edge’ , ‘Point’ , ‘Pitch’ , ‘Alternative’ etc. It is not necessarily crore. The most important of the meanings is ‘pinnacle’, signifying, core devtas. Second, devta also does not necessarily mean gods, it’s alternative meanings are ‘King’ , ‘God on earth among men’ , ‘divine’ , ‘heavenly’ , ‘cloud’ etc. Its most important meaning is the divine souls.
Lets simplify, Koti here means Types. So there are 33 types of Gods in Hinduism as we can say. These doesn’t include the Hindu Trinity i.e. Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh.
These 33 Koti Devas are :
08 Vasus
11 Rudras
12 Adityas
02 Prajapati
- 8 Vasu
1Drav Vasu
2. Adhva Vasu
3. Som Vasu
4. Jal Vasu
5. Vaayu Vasu
6. Agni Vasu
7. Pratyuvash Vasu
8. Prayaas Vasu
- 11 Rudra
9. Veerbhadra Rudra
10. Shumbh Rudra
11. Gireesh Rudra
12. Ajaik paat Rudra
13. Aharbudhyat Rudra
14. Pinaaki Rudra
15. Bhavaanishwapar Rudra
16. Kapaali Rudra
17. Dikpati Rudra
18. Sthanu Rudra
19. Bharg Rudra
- 12 Aditya
20. Dhata Aditya
21. Aryamaa Aditya
22. Mitr Maditya
23. Vatun Aditya
24. Anshu Aditya
25. Bhag Aditya
26. Vivasvan
27. Dandadi Aditya
28. Poosha Aditya
29. Par-jaya Aditya
30. Twa’nashtaan Aditya
31. Vishnu Aditya
- 2 Prajapati
32. Prajapati
33. Amit Shatkar
Some other Info from Hinduism Literature:
“Na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no image of Him.” [Yajurveda 32:3]
“Ekam evadvitiyam”
“He is One only without a second.” [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2]
“Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah.”
“Of Him there are neither parents nor lord.” [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]
“Na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no likeness of Him.” [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]
“shudhama poapvidham”
“He is bodiless and pure.” [Yajurveda 40:8]
“Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam.”
“His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye.” [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]
Sanskrit : “Ekam evadvitiyam”
Translation: “He is One only without a second.”
God is one, but he has many names and forms. Since God is omnipresent, omnipresent and omniscient, should not He be present everywhere and in all the existence?
Just like electricity flowing in our homes – it becomes cool air flowing through the AC, becomes light glowing in the bulbs, becomes heat in the kitchen, becomes music through the speakers, dances as pixels on our computer screen – one energy is blissfully dancing through this creation ; ‘The Universal Law’ or ‘The Cosmic Celebration’ whatever one can call.
God is the substratum of this existence. Everything is inside God, because there is no outside at all!
God is one, yet He is many – this is the highest secret, they say, which needs to be experienced and lived as it cannot be understood!
