deva

Japanese: deva
deva

…A transliteration of the Sanskrit word asura. In the time when the Aryans lived in both India and Iran, both asura and deva meant gods, but after they separated and settled, in India asura came to mean evil gods and deva to mean good gods, and in Iran asura became Ahura Mazda, the chief god of Zoroastrianism. In India, the a was considered a negative, and the etymology was interpreted as meaning "not heaven" or "not drinking."

From Indian Mythology

...Indra's name is also mentioned in the Mitanni-Hittite treaty of the mid-14th century BCE, which shows that he was a god known as far as Asia Minor. Indra is a representative deva. A deva is a god, and its counterpart is an asura.

From the Eight Guardians

…They are also called Tenryu Hachibushu. (1) Heaven (deva): Gods (deva is related to the Latin word deus), such as the 33 heavenly beings including Taishakuten. (2) Dragon (nāga): Dragons that live near water and are in charge of things like rainfall. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "deva" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…サンスクリットのアスラasuraの写音。アーリヤ人のインド・イラン共通の時代にはアスラとデーバdevaはともに神を意味したが,彼らが分かれて定住してからは,インドではアスラが悪神を,デーバが善神を意味するようになり,イランではアスラはゾロアスター教の主神アフラ・マズダとなった。インドではaを否定辞とみなし,〈非天〉〈非酒〉などの語源解釈をおこなった。…

【インド神話】より

…また,インドラの名は,前14世紀中葉のミタンニ・ヒッタイト条約文に挙げられていることから,小アジアにまで知られた神であることがわかる。インドラは代表的なデーバdevaである。デーバは神であり,それに対するものがアスラasura(阿修羅)である。…

【八部衆】より

…天竜八部衆ともいう。(1)天(デーバdeva) 神のことで(devaはラテン語deusと同系),帝釈天をはじめとする三十三天など。(2)竜(ナーガnāga) 水辺にいて降雨などをつかさどる。…

※「deva」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典|株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第2版について | 情報

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