SmartSurat  #  Hinduism

Vedic deities

The Aryan term for God is deva, which means `shining'. The gods were the `shining ones' and they covered three main spheres or lokas - the sky, where the sun gods Surya and Savitr were supreme, the heavens where the popular deity Indra was supreme and the earth, dominated by Agni, the god of fire. Deities were not strictly speaking supernatural beings because they were linked so much with what was natural - rain, thunder, storm, fire, wind, sound etc. The gods, therefore, were symbols of the fundamental powers which control and influence existence. Many, therefore, are hardly anthropomorphized, though it would be true to say that the kind of anthropomorphism which is found in most religions is found in the Vedar too. This is particularly so with a god like Indra, and also with Agni:      Be easy for us to reach, like a father to his son; abide with us, Agni, for our happiness.      But despite some anthropomorphism, Vedic deities, with some exceptions, are not well depicted in terms of their personalities; it is what they personify which is important - the elemental and fundamental powers of existence, such as consciousness, speech, wind, fire and water. Of the many Vedic deities some of the most important need to be highlighted.