In the previous episodes we discussed how the ancient Vedic rituals of India were in fact some kind of communion with aliens from outer world. These aliens were called Devas. This is how ancient Indians viewed the entire process.
But today, the influence of many religious ideologies, and many belief systems, have blurred this simplistic view. We tend to map different incongruent viewpoints on some belief system and mess it up.
On one hand, we have the dominant belief system which is based on the so-called mono theism. This system believes in a creator who has created this world and asserts that this creator is unique. This creator is called God. It is a question of whether you believe in the existence of one God or multiple Gods. The proponents of this belief system seem to divide the entire humanity into two groups – monotheists and polytheists based on this narrow definition.
On the other hand, we brand some people as animists – the ones who worship natural forces. These animists are looked down as primitive people who are awed by the natural forces and they surrender to them.
Then we have pantheists who believe everything as God. They bow down to everything animate or inanimate since they see God in each one of them. There are henotheists, and so on. We have several other flavors.
So, one often tends to characterize the Vedic Indians by trying to fit them into one of these molds. Some call them polytheists, some call them animists, and some others call them pantheists. But I think that instead of trying to fit them in such restricted categorization, we should see them the way they see themselves.
The Devas worshipped by the Vedic Indians are often translated as Gods or natural forces. That is where the entire confusion starts. These Devas are not the creators of the universe. But they are ‘created’ beings just like each one of us. They may have different physical properties and capabilities but they are not the Gods, if God means a creator deity.
So, calling Vedic people as polytheists does not make sense. Again, the way these Devas are described in the Vedas, suggests that these beings are not natural forces but beings who can control the natural forces. They seem to have control over physical entities. Likewise, we can rule out every other characterization. The best option is to see the things through the eyes of these ancient people rather than view them with our tinted glasses.
What does the word Deva really mean? It means someone who has a luminous body. He does not have a body made of flesh and bones like ours nor is it made of any of our earthly elements. Their bodies radiate light. Are they creators? No. Nowhere in the Vedas these beings are described as creators of worlds. They are beings created just like us but in a different form. They have mastery over the physical elements. They can control them. Combine them and create any form if they wish. That way, they can take on any earthly form and appear before us, even though they don’t have a specific material body.
Where do these Devas reside? Vedas talk about various worlds where these Devas normally reside. But that does not necessarily mean that they reside in some remote planets. Someone who does not even have physical body what use does he have of a physical world? So, these worlds may not be physical but something we don’t know of fully, or something which is beyond our comprehension.
How do they come to us? Normally, the descriptions say that they reside in worlds high above. They descend on earth mounting their special vehicles. These vehicles as well as the horses that probably draw these vehicles are all made of light, just like their riders. They can travel great distances merely by wishing. They come attracted by the fire signals setup by the Sages and their Vedic chants.
But then there is blurring of some ideas. On one hand it is said that these Devas have no physical bodies. But they seem to enjoy intoxicating drinks just like their earthly counterparts! They also relish various dishes offered to them, though they have no physical body! Do they take on a physical body when they take part in these feasts? They may be quite capable of doing that. But we don’t know. They also seem to have feelings and emotions just like we human beings. So, they are definitely not aliens the way we normally talk about extraterrestrial.
Buddhists also talk about these very same Devas. These Devas apparently keep coming to earth and even meet Buddha. Buddha sometimes goes to their worlds and so on. Buddhism makes a distinction though – it calls our world as world of forms, and it calls the other worlds as mind only realms. In the world of forms, that is our world, each one of us has a distinct body and an associated mind. But the beings in the mind only realms have no specific body though they can create a body for themselves temporarily. They are mostly mind only beings.
Vedas talk about mainly 33 such Devas who often visit our world, on invitation, and bestow what the humans seek. Each of these Devas have a special power and a portfolio and they are selected based on the needs of the individual who organizes a specific Vedic ritual. So, they are not the Gods in the conventional sense. Most of them don’t even figure in the long list of Gods that a typical modern-day Hindu worships. They are aliens in the Vedic sense!
A series discussing the most ancient of the Indian scriptures, nay the world scriptures namely the Vedas. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2021
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