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RELIGION
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worship. Accordingly the devatā or deity was defined by the aphorism: ye yesam dakkhiñeyyā te tesam devatā. They are the deities to them to whom they are worthy of homage.'
In the Culla Niddesa and other Pali canonical texts, the devas are broadly divided into three classes: sammutidevā, i.e., gods by common acceptance, upapattidevā, i.e., gods by origination and visuddhidevā, i.e., gods by purity. In the first class are placed the kings, princes and the queens and princesses; in the second class, the various deities worshipped by the people; and in the third, the founders of religions, their great disciples and other saintly personages. The books also testify to the prevalence of a general tendency towards finding out the highest personality among the devas (atideva), among the sages (muni-muni) and among the leaders (gana-gani). In the Devadhamma-Jätaka, the gods of popular worship are typified by the sun and the moon. There is a longer list given in the Culla Niddesa which includes aggi or firegod, nāga or serpent, suvaņņa (suparna), i.e., garuda, yakkha, asura, gandhabba, mahārāja, canda, suriya, Inda, Brahmā, minor gods and quartergods (disā). The 1st also includes such deified
1 The role is implied in Oulla Niddesa, p. 174. This is the same as Pāņini's rule sāsya devata.
2 Oulla Niddesa, p. 174, 8 No. 6.
