DEVA

(Sanskritdivine) Iranian Daeva in Vedic India, one of many divine powers, roughly divided on the basis of their identification with the forces of nature into sky, air, and earth divinities (e.g., Varuna, Indra, Soma). In the later monotheistic systems the devas became subordinate to the one supreme being. During the Vedic period the gods were divided into two classes, the devas and the asuras (in Iranian, daevas and ahuras). In India the devas came to be more powerful than the asuras, and the latter word eventually took on the meaning of demon. In Iran the reverse took place, and the daevas were denounced as demons by Zoroaster. They still survive as such in the divs of Persian folklore, especially through Ferdowsi's epic, Shah-nameh (1010; Book of Kings). See also asura.