DEVA, a deity ; Devi, a goddess. The term is Sanskrit, and from the root Div, to shine, or Diu, the sky, the air, and is written and pronouncei Deo, Deb, Dowa. Deva is cognate with the Latin Deus, Greek ZE4, Lithuanian Diewas, modern Persian and Hindi Deo,—Dewal (deo and alaya) being the house of God. Maha-deva, a title given to Siva by the Saiva sect, means great or supreme god, as Maha-devi, his wife,—title of Bhavani or Parvati,—means the supreme goddess. Deva, how ever, may equally, by the Vaishnava, be Vishnu. The word may also denote an idol, a man of high rank or sovereign, or a Brahman, or as a cognomen suited to Brahmans as Chandra-deb. Amongst the compounds of th'is word are Dewa1 or Deval, a Hindu temple, from Deva-alaya, a house of God ; Deva-sena, from Deva, a god, and Sena, a soldier ; Deva-jani, from Deva, a god, and Jaya, a wife ; Devarshi, from Deva, a god, and Rishi, a sage. The Devata are subordinate deities in Hindu mythology ; divine beings, celestials. They are not superior deities, nor are they deified mortals. The Devata people Swarga, the paradise of Indra, but a.re found also in Kailasa that of Vishnu. When the 1Vcstern Aryans brae off from their brethren the East Aryans and rejected the worship of their gods, the word Deva, which they specially applied to them, came to have a meaning equi valent to fiend, devil. The last terni conies from
the Greek, Latin, Italian, French.
Amongst the Hindus, there are three kinds of Devata, or deities to whom worship is given,—the Gramadevata, or village god ; the Kula Devata, the race or household or family god ; and the Ishta. Devata, the patron or personal deity of indivi duals. Adhi-devata is a primitive deity, Sthana Devata is a local deity. The Aryan Hindu does not recognise the village gods of S. India, but the non-Hindu Turanian races largely worship them ; and even many of those Turanian races who have been converted to Hinduism worship them. They are mostly shapeless pieces of wood or stone smeared with vermilion, and mostly represent evil spirits or devils. These are the Arnim, Ammun, and Amur of the eastern and southern parts of the Peninsula; and the Satwai, Bhairo, Massoba, Chanianda, Asra, Ai, and Marri-ai of the northern and. western parts of the Peninsula all of whom are recognised as causing harm tO individuals. In health they are neglected ; but when sickness occurs, either to individuals or as an epidemic, these spirits of evil are worshipped with much solemnity, and bloody sacrifices are made to them of goats and sheep and bullocks and buffaloes.