Concept of Divinity in Jainism

Author(s): P Ajay Kothari
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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THE CONCEPT OF DIVINITY IN HINDUISM
The word 'Hinduism' is a geographical term based upon the Sanskrit name for the great river that runs across the northern boundaries of India, known as the Sindhu. For those living on the other side of this river, the entire region to the south-east of the Sindhu, which the Greeks called the Indus, and people living on the land of the Indus are called as Hindu.' The vast spectrum of faiths that flourished here acquired the generic name Hinduism. In fact, Hinduism calls itself the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal faith in Vedas, Upanishads, and based, not upon the teachings of a single preceptor, but on the collective wisdom and inspiration of great seers and sages from the very dawn of Indian civilisation. Divinity
The concept of divinity in Hinduism rests on gods known as Devas. The word Deva means luminous. Devas shine forth, and they are also playful. Thus, the name is quite apt for them.? Maxmuller explains Deva, which means originally bright and nothing else, might become and did become the Devas, the heavenly, the kind, the powerful, the invisible, the immortal and in the end something like theoi or dii of Greeks and Romans. The word Devata means the deity who accepts oblation.
THE CONCEPT OF DIVINITY IN ANISM