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Janapada. The process of amalgamation must have taken place gradually with the inclusion of all the deities in a common pantheon. In doing 80 a classification of them was necessary and the result was a hierarchy in different forms.
The hierarchy as developed in early Buddhism placed the four grades of arūpabrahmas as the highest in the scale, below them the sixteen grades of rūpabrahmas, below their ranks the six classes of kamāvacaradevas, the lowest of them being represented by the four mahārājas or lokapālas exercising their suzerainty over the rest of the gods, and the demigods, whether ākāsaţthas, antarikkhacaras or bhummas. Below the kāmāvacara gods are placed ordinary men, below them the animal world, below it the spirit world and below it the different purgatories. Even above the arūpabrahmas are placed the saintly Buddhist personalities called Ariyas (elect) forming eight grades of spirituality and above all stands the incomparable Buddha.
The hierarchy as conceived in early Jainigm seems to place the Vemānikadevas as the highest in the scale, then the Jyotişis, the Vāņamantaras and Bhavanavāsis. The Vemānika gods and angels are represerlted by Sohamma Isāna, Sanankumāra, Māhinda Bambbhā (Brahmā), Lantaga, Mahāsukka, Sahassārā, Acchutapadī
1 Pānını, IV, 3.95–100.
