Thirty-three gods
The Thirty-three deities is a pantheon of Vedic deities, some of Vedic origin and some developed later. All the Vedic deities are called tri-piṣṭapa, and there are three kinds of them — the Ādityas, the Vasus and the Rudras — beneath whom are the other demigods, like the Maruts and Sādhyas. Tridasha generally includes a set of 31 deities consisting of 12 Ādityas, 11 Rudras, and 8 Vasus, while the identity of the other two deities that fill out the 33 varies.
The 33 are:
- Eight Vasus – Dyaus Pita| "Sky", Prithvi| "Earth", Vāyu "Wind", Agni "Fire", Nakshatra| "Stars", "Water", Sūrya "Sun", Chandra "Moon"
- Twelve Ādityas – Vishnu, Aryaman, Indra, Tvashtri|, Varuna|, Bhaga, Savitr|, Vivasvat, Ansa |, Mitra, Pushan|, Daksha|. This list sometimes varies in particulars.
- Eleven Rudras, consisting of:
- * Five abstractions – Ānanda "bliss", Vijñāna "knowledge", Manas "thought", "breath" or "life", Vāc "speech",
- * Five names of Śiva – Īśāna "revealing grace", "concealing grace", Aghora "dissolution/rejuvenationBhairava", Vāmadeva "preserving aspect", Sadyojāta "born at once"
- * Ātmā "self"
Other sources include the two Aśvins, twin solar deities.
