This is an article series. Please read all previous articles before reading this article. The URLs for all previous articles are located in the www.special thoughts section.
A religious prayer leader of a certain non-Hindu religion – which faced a lot of problems during World War 2 – told me that in their religion, there’s nobody between them and God. In other words, they do not recognize any divinities i.e., Devatas. People of another non-Hindu religion – which has a very large presence all over the world – recognizes a trinity… which means that this non-Hindu religion too does not recognize any divinities i.e., Devatas. They’ve asked me if I mean the word Divinities as Angels. My response: I don’t know… I haven’t studied their religious texts or heard any of their discourses. And, of course, the world knows about yet another non-Hindu religion which is growing really fast, if not the largest religion in the world today already. They recognize only God and his messenger. So, this religion too does not recognize any divinities i.e., Devatas.
Ok Fine… those are non-Hindu religions. So, no surprise. But more importantly… this article series started by asking the question to Hindus: “How much do you know about Hinduism?”. So, now I ask… Do Hindus recognize the Devatas? What idea do the Hindus have about Devatas? What do you say to the most commonly asked question “How is it that there are so many Gods in Hinduism?”. The most common/standard response to this question by most Hindus is “There is one God, but he manifests in many different forms”. This would’ve been the correct response if the question was “How come Vishnu is also God… Raama is also God… Krishna is also God?”. When the question itself uses the word “God” in plural and says “Gods”, the above response doesn’t even make it sound like they recognize the existence of Devatas. If even the Hindu way of worship does not recognize the very existence of Devatas, then Hindus should not expect good things to happen to them.
Suppose you would like to do an event for a festival, such as Ganeshotsava. You work hard for the event from conceptualization to the final execution, handle all the logistics, bring the priests, the artists, the financiers… you contact the suppliers to procure materials… you monitor the execution of all tasks leading to the final event. But on the final day, you entrust the “Vote of Thanks” to a friend and that friend thanks, let’s say PM Narendra Modi for the event and does not mention your name at all… not even once!!!. How do you feel? Hurt? Why? Because, the credit was not given where it was due. In the same way, when we don’t give credit to the Devatas when they do so much for us – that too without expecting anything in return – and we do not even recognize their very existence with thoughtless statements such as the above, then there will be consequences. And to this argument too, people object… and say something very generic… such as “Oh God is merciful. He will forgive everything. If he doesn’t forgive, then he is not God”!!! Haven’t you heard of so-called Hindus making such appallingly thoughtless statements? People who say such things do not realize that they are now accusing God and Devatas to be some manda-buddhis who do not know to distinguish between those who give credit where it is due and those who don’t. They think God and Devatas give A+ to everyone regardless of whether they ace the test or flunk it.
This is why this article series started with the question “How much do you know about Hinduism?”. Remember… in the schools, it was the lessons that came first and then the test. But in the spiritual world, it is the test that comes first followed by the lessons based on how you fared in the test. Hindus should cultivate the humility to tell themselves “I do not know” and seek some answers from someone who can get down to their level and explain to them in a way which makes sense to them. Hence this effort. Hope it is appreciated.
As laid out in the previous article, Bhagavaan and Devata are different. Bhagavaan is infinite in all aspects, whereas Devatas are also Jeevaatmas seeking Moksha. Moreover, there is a hierarchy among Devatas, which was quite evident from the various stories from Puranas that we had heard in the past… but we didn’t realize it. We learnt about Devatas only through Puranas… and the same Puranas also tell us about their hierarchy. The story line usually went somewhat like below:
All Devatas are assembled in Deva loka to discuss the havoc created by some Asura. Indra – the lord of all Devatas – orders Agni to destroy the Asura. Agni obliges and makes an attempt. He’s unsuccessful. He returns to Indra and reports that he was unsuccessful. So, Indra orders Varuna… who too makes an attempt and returns unsuccessful. Then Indra orders Vaayu, who too tries… and returns unsuccessful. Then Indra goes himself. And when he too is unsuccessful, he goes up further. This clearly shows that all Devatas are not the same and there is a hierarchy among them.
Going by some of the discourses I’ve heard… Skaanda purana gives a detailed list of the hierarchy of Devatas. The hierarchy of Devatas has also been poetically captured and beautifully summarized by Shree Jagannatha Daasa in his magnum opus Harikathaamruta Saara. There are some references to this in Bhagavad-Gita too. But, for sure, internet search and AI do not give you any of this information.
As mentioned in an earlier article, each Jeevaatma is different from all others. However, just like how kids in a school are grouped together into 1st grade, 2nd grade and so on (or 1st standard, 2nd standard etc. in India) based on certain criteria, the Jeevaatmas eligible for Moksha – based on their Guna i.e., intrinsic quality – are grouped into 35 hierarchical levels. It should be noted here that a Jeevaatma can attain Moksha (release from all the 3 bodies it is wrapped in and liberation from the cycle of birth/death) only by taking birth with a human body. Though animals too have the 7 Chakras, Moksha is not possible through animal bodies because they do not have well developed mental faculties, Let’s try to get an overview of the various Jeevaatmas and Devatas eligible for Moksha in the reverse hierarchical order… starting from the lowest level.
Level 35: This is the lowest among all the Jeevaatmas considered eligible for Moksha. Jeevaatmas in this level are referred to as Manushyottamas. Let us hope that we belong at this level.
Level 34: The Jeevaatmas in this level are referred to as Chakravartis. These Jeevaatmas are about 100 times more capable, knowledgeable, blissful, compassionate and humble than us. I do not have any details about Chakravartis. But my guess is, these are the Jeevaatmas who are capable of ruling the world justly and compassionately.
Above level 34 are all the Devatas who manage/control/regulate our lives by handling the various functionalities in our body, and help us progress in the spiritual path. There are so many Devatas in each of these levels and many have not even been given names. Thus, it is not practical to remember their names (at least I’m not capable of). However, we all will have grown up hearing many stories from various Puranas wherein we’ll have heard the names of some of these Devatas. They are also common names that parents choose for their children. So, let us look at some popularly heard names of Devatas and their hierarchical levels:
Level 33: Jeevaatmas at this level are referred to as Manushya Gandharvas. They are 10,000 times superior to the Jeevaatmas in level 35.
Level 32: Jeevaatmas at this level are referred to as Deva Gandharvas and Apsaras. They are 1,000,000 i.e., 1 million times superior to those in level 35.
Level 31: Jeevaatmas at this level are referred to as Chira-Petru Devatas. They are invoked when we do Shraaddha Pooja during Pitru Paksha. They are 100,000,000 i.e., 100 million times superior to the Jeevaatmas in level 35.
Level 30: Jeevaatmas at this level are referred to as Ajaanaja Devatas. They are not named. They are 10,000,000,000 i.e., 10 billion times superior to those in level 35.
Level 29: The 16100 Patnis of Lord Shree Krishna
Level 28: Aditi, Patni of Rushi Kaashyapa (who took avatar as Devaki i.e., Shree Krishna’s mother). Also in this level is Dharaa, who is Patni of one of the 8 Vasus by name Drona (not to be confused with Drona of Mahabharata). Dharaa is the one who took avatar as Yashoda, the mother who raised Shree Krishna.
At this point, it is important to introduce you to another term called Abhimaana. The best way I can describe the word Abhimaana is “Semblance of Control”. We have Abhimaana over the body in which we live i.e., we have a semblance of control over this body. Why am I referring to it is “Semblance of Control”? Don’t we have full control over our bodies? Well, think about it. If we had full control over our bodies, then paralysis should have been unheard of. A paralyzed person will have no control over a certain part of his/her body. Correct? So, we can only describe Abhimaana as semblance of control. It somewhat resembles control i.e., it feels as if the person has full control over his/her body. Abhimaana is a privilege that has been granted. But if revoked, then the Jeevaatma seems to have no control over its own body. The Devatas too have only a semblance of control over various aspects of our body. I have Abhimaana over only my body, and you all over your respective bodies… but Devatas have Abhimaana over all our bodies. So, then… who has full control over our bodies? That is Bhagavaan. With that let’s return the hierarchy of Jeevaatmas.
Level 27: PuShkara, son of Varuna. He has Abhimaana over our Karma. He is 1 trillion times superior to the Jeevaatmas in level 35.
Level 26: Shani, one of the Navagraha Devatas. He has Abhimaana over Pruthivi (earth), one of the Pancha Bhootas (5 elements).
Level 25: Kuja a.k.a. Anagarika or Mangala, another one of the Navagraha Devatas.
Level 24: Ushas, Patni of Ashwini Devatas.
Level 23: Budha, also one of the Navagraha Devatas, and Abhimaani Devata for Jala (water), another one of the Pancha Bhooti’s.
Level 22: Swaahaa, Patni of Agni Devata.
Level 21: There are Devatas in this level who have not been given any specific names.
Level 20: Ganga, the holiest of all rivers for Hindus is in this level. Ganga is Patni of Varuna. Other Devatas in this level are Parjanya (whose name has been mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita and has Abhimaana over water – another one of the 5 elements); Ushaa Devi, Patni of Aniruddha; Rohini, Patni of Chandra; Sanjnyaa devi, Patni of Soorya; Shyamala, Patni of Yama.
Level 19: There are so many Devatas in this level that it is not practical for me to name all of them, nor is it practical for most people to remember. So, let’s mention some of them.
- Vishnu dwaara paalakas (Jaya & Vijaya, Chanda & Prachanda, Nanda & Sunanda, Kumuda & Kumudekshana, who are always invoked during almost every Pooja such as Satyanaaraayana Pooja and/or Homam/Havan)
- Indra’s son Jayanta and Shambhu who have Abhimaana over our legs
- Shukraacharyae., Guru of Daityas and his brother Chyavana
- Nandi (Shiva’s vahana), Dhruva, Prahlaada, Kashyapa Rushi
Please note: Prahlaada is actually an avataara of a Devata by name Shankhu Karna. He had been tasked with bringing flowers for Pooja. But there was a delay, perhaps inadvertent, because of which he incurred a curse to take avataara on earth. Thus, he ended up taking avataaras on earth. His first avataara was Prahlaada. His second avataara was during Mahaabhaarata time as King Baahleeka, who was Shantanu’s older brother. His third avataara was as Shree Vyaasa Teertha, guru of Shree Krishna Deva Raaya – the great King of Vijaya Nagara empire. And finally, he took avataara as Shree Raaghavendra Swaami Ji. In this avataara, he did Sashareera Vrundaavana Pravesha. In other words, he gave his final discourse (which has been documented), and instructed his Shishyas that he will go into dhyaana and Mahaa Samaadhi. And when the Shishyas see their Guru’s Japa Maalaa not moving anymore, they had been instructed to construct a tomb around his body. Then he entered Mahaa Samaadhi, and his Shishyas, as they had been instructed, erected a stone tomb around his body. This was one of only 2 documented cases of someone entered Vrundaavan while still alive. This Shilaa Vrundaavana (stone tomb) is still there in a place called Mantraalaya, in the state of Andra Pradesh. Below is a picture of the Moola Vrundaavana of Shree Raaghavendra Swami Ji at Mantraalaya.
So, the above was just a mention of some of the Devatas from level 33 up to level 19. Next week onwards, let us start learning about the Devatas in level 18 and above. From this level upwards… the Devatas are pretty much worshipped every day and therefore, mere mentions will not suffice. We’ll have to go over them in as much detail as possible. Each level may take up an entire article or may be even more.
Let’s end this article with a quiz: The country “India” is referred to as “Bhaarata” because it is named after the great king Bharata who ruled the land. How many great people by Bharata have you heard of? Among them, which Bharata is the country Bhaarata named after? Please note: This question was asked some years ago in a TV reality quiz show where celebrities would seek help from some 5th Grade/Standard school children. But the answer given to this question by the host, calling it the correct answer, was actually wrong. (Unedited and posted as received from the author)
