mythology epic puranic

britannica.-list-of-Hindu-deities

sacred-texts

wilkins index

This is a comprehensive study of Hindu mythology. Due to the huge number of gods and goddesses, and their changing role through centuries of Indian spiritual life, this is a complex subject. This book covers Hindu mythology during the Vedic and Puranic periods. Wilkins starts with the very earliest pantheon of the Vedas, such as Surya, the storm-god Maruts, Agni, Soma, Yama, and the dawn Goddess Ushas. From there he moves into the later, and very intricate, Puranic mythology. This includes detailed treatment of the central triad of Brahmâ, Vishnu and Shiva, along with dozens of other Gods and Goddesses, nature spirits, half-divine heros of the epics, and so on. Wilkins covers the dozen of so principal avatars of Vishu, including Krishna and (suprisingly) Buddha, and prophecies of the mysterious Kalki avatar, yet to come. The dozens of line drawings are good reference art for each of the major deities. If you are attempting a read through of the Rig-Veda, the Mahabharata or Ramayana, this the book will clear up much confusion.--J.B. Hare, May 17th, 2009.

epic-puranic deities

   wiki/List_of_Hindu_deities

medieval-era deities

In the Puranas and the Itihasas with the embedded Bhagavad Gita, the Devas represent the good, and the Asuras the bad.According to the Bhagavad Gita (16.6–16.7), all beings in the universe have both the divine qualities (daivi sampad) and the demonic qualities (asuri sampad) within them.

The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita states that pure god-like saints are rare, as are pure demon-like evil individuals among human beings. Instead, the majority of humanity is multi-charactered with a few or many faults.

According to Jeaneane Fowler, the Gita states that desires, aversions, greed, needs, emotions in various forms "are facets of ordinary lives". It is only when they turn to lust, hate, cravings, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, hypocrisy, violence, cruelty and such negativity- and destruction-inclined tendencies that natural human inclinations metamorphose into something demonic (Asura)

The Epics and medieval era texts, particularly the Puranas, developed extensive and richly varying mythologies associated with Hindu deities, including their genealogies.Several of the Purana texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.

Other texts and commentators such as Adi Shankara explain that Hindu deities live or rule over the cosmic body as well as in the temple of the human body.

 They remark that the Sun deity is the eyes, the Vāyu the nose, the Prajapati the sexual organs, the Lokapalas the ears, Chandra the mind, Mitra the inward breath, Varuna the outward breath, Indra the arms, Bṛhaspati the speech, Vishnu, whose stride is great, is the feet, and Māyā is the smile

Rigvedic

 

wiki/Rigvedic_deities

Characteristics of Vedic-era deities

In Vedic literature, Devas and Devis represent the forces of nature and some represent moral values (such as the Adityas, Varuna, and Mitra), each symbolizing the epitome of specialized knowledge, creative energy, exalted and magical powers (Siddhis).[55][56]

Vedic era deities evolved. Rudra (left) is represented in Vedic literature, is shown as Shiva-Rudra 2nd-century sculpture (middle), and as Shiva (meaning kind) in 13th-century artwork (right). The iconography evolved, retaining some symbolic elements such as trident, axe, or antelope.[57][58]

The most referred to Devas in the Rigveda are Indra, Agni (fire) and Soma, with "fire deity" called the friend of all humanity. Indra and Soma are two celebrated in a yajna fire ritual that marks major Hindu ceremonies. Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra (later given the exclusive epithet of Shiva), and Prajapati (later Brahma) are gods and hence Devas.[35]

The Vedas describes a number of significant Devis such as Ushas (dawn), Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Saraswati (river, knowledge), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction), Ratri (night), Aranyani (forest), and bounty goddesses such as Dinsana, Raka, Puramdhi, Parendi, Bharati, Mahi,among others, mentioned in the Rigveda. 

Sri, also called Lakshmi, appears in late Vedic texts dated to be pre-Buddhist, but verses dedicated to her do not suggest that her characteristics were fully developed in the Vedic era.

All gods and goddesses are distinguished in the Vedic times, but in the post-Vedic texts (c. 500 BCE to 200 CE), and particularly in the early medieval era literature, they are ultimately seen as aspects or manifestations of one Brahman, the Supreme power.

Ananda Coomaraswamy states that Devas and Asuras in the Vedic lore are similar to Angels-Theoi-Gods and Titans of Greek mythology, both are powerful but have different orientations and inclinations, the Devas representing the powers of Light and the Asuras representing the powers of Darkness in Hindu mythology.

According to Coomaraswamy's interpretation of Devas and Asuras, both these natures exist in each human being, the tyrant and the angel is within each being, the best and the worst within each person struggles before choices and one's nature, and the Hindu formulation of Devas and Asuras is an eternal dance between these within each person.

The Devas and Asuras, Angels and Titans, powers of Light and powers of Darkness in Rigveda, although distinct and opposite in operation, are in essence consubstantial, their distinction being a matter not of essence but of orientation, revolution, or transformation. In this case, the Titan is potentially an Angel, the Angel still by nature a Titan; the Darkness in actu is Light, the Light in potentia Darkness; whence the designations Asura and Deva may be applied to one and the same Person according to the mode of operation, as in Rigveda 1.163.3, "Trita art thou (Agni) by interior operation".

— Ananda Coomaraswamy, Journal of the American Oriental Society