Sambodhi 2004 Vol 27

Author(s): J B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 14

VIŚVEDEVĀŅ
S. S. GUPTA
While reading Rig Veda, I found that a large number of rșis have offered many number of suktas and mantras to Viśvedevāḥ. Naturally, therefore, I thought it desirable to find out who Viśvedevāh is ? What are his characteristics ? What are his doings ? and what is his place in the galaxy of Devatās?
I collected all the suktas and mantras that have been offered to Visvedevāh. They have been given in Appendix-1.
Appendix-1 shows that 53 rșis of Rigveda, i.e. 13.7%, have offered their full suktas or mantras to Viśvedevāḥ. This is a good number in comparison with suktas and mantras offered to other deities.
I started the study with the presumption that Viśvedevāh will also be a god · like other deities - Aditi, Diti, Sürya, Mitra, Usas, Savitā, Bhaga, Asvins, Ākāśa,
Prthivī, Vāyu, Varuna, Indra etc., to name a few and so it will not be difficult to know his virtues and field of activity. But this presumption proved to be wrong. It appears, Viśvedevāh is no single god but he represents all gods. This conclusion has been made on several counts. First, most of the rsis do not even mention once the name of Visvedevāh in the sukta which they have offered to him. Instead, several deities have been invited. Second, several rsis use word devagana or devatās, which certainly are plural, denoting more than one deity or a collection of gods. Third, rsi Vasistha calls all the thirty three deities (8. 28. 1) in place of Viśvedevāh. Fourth, the Sanskrit word VIŠVE has two meanings -- one pertaining to world and second more than one. Here, it is used in the second sense. Thus, it can be concluded that Viśvedevāh represents all the deities of Rig Veda.
A question can be asked : why wise rsis of Rig Veda decided to offer their suktas and mantras collectively to all the devatas of Rig Veda ? What is the rationale behind it ?
It is clear that wise rșis wanted to convey several important ideas by creating Viśvedevāḥ as a representative of all the devatās. Some of them are :