Deva (Mythology)

Devas are divine gods or god-like beings in Indian mythology who are opposed by their counterparts, the Asuras.

Overview
In Hinduism, the term deva refers to the pantheon of Hindu gods, such as the creator Brahma, Vishnu the preserver or Shiva, who is the god of destruction. Note that there are no evil devas, as all of their domains of power are required for maintaining the universal functions.

In Buddhism, the term is broader. There three different categories of devas, with the highest devas no longer having a physical form, while the devas in the middle have physical form but are androgynous and passionless and in different levels of enlightenment, and finally the lowest devas being human-like, but longer lived, stronger, wiser and more content with their being.

Appearance and personality
In Hinduism, devas, or gods, have a plethora of various appearances, and many are able to change their form as they please. Often Hindi gods have multiple limbs or parts of an animal in place of a human-like feature, such as the elephant head of Ganesha, for example. They are usually invisible to human eye, but are able to create avatars, which are the personification of a god in material world.

In Buddhism, the appearance of a deva depends on their level of enlightenment. They can be categorised by the cosmological realm they inhabit.

Ārūpyadhātu
The devas of this realm are without physical form, and are thus devoid of any location either. They exist in perpetual meditation, and do not personally relate to the world in any way. Highly attuned divine spirits may perhaps observe them and learn, but with no assistance from Ārūpyadhātu devas themselves.

Rūpadhātu
There exists multiple types of devas in this realm, and the type correlates with their level of enlightenment. Each deva in Rūpadhātu has a physical form, but it is sexless and without passion. Some are able to change their physical form, so as to show how meaningless is the permanence of physical existence. Usually they won't bother with mortal affairs at all, but do protect Buddhism in general.

Middle-ranking devas are also disinterested with humans, and are instead more occupied with their eternal bliss, and the attempt to reach even higher form of existence.

Lowest devas of Rūpadhātu are the most accessible to mortals, as these devas have some interest in the world as a whole, because they may even think that world is the consequence of their actions. It is not uncommon for the lowest ranking devas to become disillusioned of their role in the universe, and lose status as a consequence of their pride. They may be oblivious to the existence of other, higher-ranking devas and consider themselves the highest form of existence before Ārūpyadhātu.

Kāmadhātu
This realm houses two subcategories of devas, the higher and the lower. It is also here where the line between a deva and an asura starts to thin. Higher devas live in the heavens above Mount Sumeru, and are able to directly affect the world below them. Although extremely rare, sometimes an ancient asura may have retained enough of their power to be considered equal to the power of higher Kāmadhātu devas.

Lower devas are further divided into two categories. The higher of these two live on Mount Sumeru, and are now and then the targets of attacks by asuras. The lower of these two live all around the world, and are more like demi-gods. This lower category includes Nagas and Garudas.

All of the devas of Kāmadhātu have a physical form, which is finite. Even if they are stronger and longer lived than human beings, eventually they will get old and die, unless they are killed earlier by some other means.

Divine Powers
Ironically, the most noticeable divine powers are within the lowest caste of devas who inhabit almost the same world as humans. This is because the further a deva's home realm is, the less its powers can carry over to the physical world.

Typically, anything divine in Indian mythology is invisible to human sight, unless the individual has managed to open their third eye. Same goes for hearing and understanding them. This is also true between different types of devas - a Kāmadhātu deva can not see a Rūpadhātu deva, unless it is spiritually enlightened enough.

The higher a deva's rank is, the less it has to care for physical realities, and they do this by the force of their will alone. The lower a deva's rank is, the more it has to abide laws of the physical world albeit it can circumvent many of these by powers that would seem magical to humans.

It is notable how in neither Hinduism or Buddhism the gods are immortal. In Hinduism they are more so and can be classified as such, but even they are not to live beyond one of the four cycles of eternity. In Buddhism, the lesser a deva is, the shorter is its lifespan, even if the least of deva is long-lived to human perception.