33 crore deities

[rashmi]

how do you consider .in Hinduism people worship different Gods ?and they say they have 33 crore deities?

[Shivani Devi]

Namaste.

This was one of the very first Upanishads that I read:

1. Then Vidagdha Sâkalya asked him 'How many gods are there, O Yâgñavalkya?' He replied with this very Nivid 'As many as are mentioned in the Nivid of the hymn of praise addressed to the Visvedevas, viz. three and three hundred, three and three thousand.'

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Thirty-three,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Six,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Three,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Two,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'One and a half (adhyardha),' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'One,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked: 'Who are these three and three hundred, three and three thousand?'

2. Yâgñavalkya replied: 'They are only the various powers of them, in reality there are only thirty-three gods.'

He asked: 'Who are those thirty-three?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Âdityas. They make thirty-one, and Indra and Pragâpati make the thirty-three.'

3. He asked: 'Who are the Vasus.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Agni (fire), Prithivî (earth), Vâyu (air), Antariksha (sky), Âditya (sun), Dyu (heaven), Kandramas (moon), the Nakshatras (stars), these are the Vasus, for in them all that dwells (this world) rests; and therefore they are called Vasus.'

4. He asked: 'Who are the Rudras?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'These ten vital breaths (prânas, the senses, i.e. the five gñânendriyas, and the five karmendriyas), and Âtman as the eleventh. When they depart from this mortal body, they make us cry (rodayanti), and because they make us cry, they are called Rudras.'

5. He asked: 'Who are the Âdityas?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The twelve months of the year, and they are Âdityas, because they move along (yanti), taking up everything (âdadânâh). Because they move along, taking up everything, therefore they are called Âdityas.'

6. He asked: 'And who is Indra, and who is Pragâpati?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Indra is thunder, Pragâpati is the sacrifice.'

He asked: 'And what is the thunder?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The thunderbolt.'

He asked: 'And what is the sacrifice?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The (sacrificial) animals.'

7. He asked: 'Who are the six?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Agni (fire), Prithivî (earth), Vâyu (air), Antariksha (sky), Âditya (sun), Dyu (heaven), they are the six, for they are all this, the six.'

8. He asked: 'Who are the three gods?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'These three worlds, for in them all these gods exist.'

He asked: 'Who are the two gods?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Food and breath.'

He asked: 'Who is the one god and a half?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'He that blows.'

9. Here they say: 'How is it that he who blows like one only, should be called one and a half (adhyardha)?' And the answer is: 'Because, when the wind was blowing, everything grew (adhyardhnot).'

He asked: 'Who is the one god?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Breath (prâna), and he is Brahman (the Sûtrâtman), and they call him That (tyad).'

- The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Om Namah Shivaya