More often than not, an unanswered question is how many Gods and Goddesses are there, that one can pray to in Hindu religion. And a common answer, though incorrect, is 33 crore.
This propaganda caught on probably during the British rule and then now Hindus themselves are singing that we have the maximum number of Gods to pray to.
One hears the sentence "There are 33 koti Dev / Devatas in Hindu religion" and the immediate understanding that people have is "There are 33 crore Gods and Goddesses in Hindu religion" And this interpretation or understanding is far from being correct. In order to demean Hindu religion, it has been propagated that there are 33 crore Goddesses and Gods and now Hindus themselves are singing that we have 33 crore Goddesses and Gods.
The word Koti in Sanskrit, (also called the Language of the Gods) has two meanings :-
"Koti" means "Type" and another meaning is also "Crore".
So then, how does interpret the "33 koti"?
If you consider the Koti = Type interpretation it means that there are a total of 33 types of Gods and Goddesses are there in Hindu religion.
12 Adityas
Firstly, there are 12 types of Adityas - The twelve Adityas are deities of twelve Lunar months. They are the twelve different forms of Sun god.... Dhaya, Mitra, Aryaman, Indra, Varuna, Amsa, Bhaga, Vivaswan, Pusan, Savitra, Tvastra, and Vishnu
8 Vasus
8 types of Vasu: Dyaus "Sky", Prithvi "Earth", Vayu "Wind", Agni "Fire", Nakshatra "Stars", Antariksha "Atmosphere" or "Space", Surya "Sun" and Chandra "Moon"
11 Rudras
11 types are Rudras consisting of
- Five abstractions
- Ananda "bliss", Vijñana "knowledge", Manas "thought", Prana "breath" or "life", Vac "speech",
- Five names of Siva
- Isana "revealing grace", Tatpuruva "concealing grace", Aghora "dissolution/rejuvenation Bhairava", Vamadeva "preserving aspect", Sadyojata "born at once" and
- Atma "self"
and
2 Aswins : Ashwini and Kumar
Total: - 12 + 8 + 11 + 2 = 33 Koti !!!
It is NOT 33 CRORE it is 33 TYPES !
