Deva (Buddhism)

A deva (देव Sanskrit and Pāli) in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the godlike characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, much happier than humans, although the same level of veneration is not paid to them as to buddhas.

Synonyms in other languages include Khmer tep (ទេព), tepda (ទេព្ដា), tevada (ទេវតា), or preah (ព្រះ), Burmese nat (နတ္), Tibetan lha, Mongolian tenger (тэнгэр), Chinese tiān rén (天人), Korean cheon, Japanese ten, Vietnamese thiên nhân, Thai thep (เทพ), thewa (เทวะ), thewada (เทวดา), etc. The concept of devas was adopted in Japan partly because of the similarity to the Shinto's concept of kami.

Other words used in Buddhist texts to refer to similar supernatural beings are dēvatā (देवता; "deity") and dēvaputra (देवपुत्र; Pāli: devaputta; "son of god"). It is unclear what the distinction between these terms is.

Devas are invisible to the human eye. The presence of a deva can be detected by those humans who have opened the "Divine eye" (divyacakṣus), (Pāli: dibbacakkhu), (Chinese: 天眼) an extrasensory power by which one can see beings from other planes. Their voices can also be heard by those who have cultivated divyaśrotra, a similar power of the ear.

Most devas are also capable of constructing illusory forms by which they can manifest themselves to the beings of lower worlds; higher and lower devas even have to do this between each other.

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