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200 INDIA AS DESCRIŚDI IN EARLY TEXTS
and the rest. Māhinda's heaven is the heaven of the thirty-three gods together with the lokapālas. In the Jyotişī class are placed the sun, the moon, the planets, comets and stars including Rāhu. The Vāņamantradevas comprise the bhūtas, pisācas, yakkhas, räkshasas, kinnaras, kimpurisas, gandbabbas, etc. The asuras, nāgas, supaņņas, vijju (lightning), fire, continent (díva), ocean (udahi), disākumāras (quarter-gods), pavaņa (wind-gods) and thundergods (thaniya) represent the Bhavanavāsis. Below them are the earth-lives, water-lives, fire-lives, and wind-lives. Above all of them stands the incomparable Jina with his advanced disciples. A similar hierarchy was developed by the Ajīvikas in their cosmography,
As thoroughly discussed by Rhys Davids, 3 the two most important Pali suttas that contain the list of popular gods and deities are the Mahāsamaya and the Mahā-ātānātiya. The real interest of these two suttas lies in the fact that they offer us the names of hosts of popular gods and goddesses affiliated to the realm of the four lokapālas: Dhatarattha of the eastern quarter, Virūlhaka of the southern quarter, Virupakkha of the western quarter, and Vessarvaņa Kuvera of the northern quarter. Evidently they were the guardians or presiding 1 Aupapătaka Satra, secs. 32–37.
• Buddhist Indra, Chap. 12.
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Digha, i, p. 54.
