Are there angels in Hinduism?

Question

Gods and Goddesses have been mentioned in many areas in India as well as many articles written by scholar of hinduism.

But does Hinduism have a concept similar to angels - not the Gods but lesser heavenly beings that are messengers of the Gods?

This is not about explicitly Judeo-Christian angels like Gabriel, but rather the concept behind angels.

Please clarify what your conception of an "angel" is. Do you mean a Judeo-Christian angel like Gabriel? If so, the answer is obviously no. If you mean "heavenly beings that are messengers of god", the answer might be yes. As your question currently is, it is not a very good question. — senshin, Jun 18 '14 at 20:02
I mean the messengers of God. Not the only one angel that is related to the religion of Christians. — Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan, Jun 18 '14 at 20:04
If it is messengers of God, then no. Since Hinduism is not a revealed religion. — Bharat, Jun 18 '14 at 20:04
@rbk please substantiate your claim that Hinduism is not revealed. — cheenbabes, Jun 18 '14 at 23:21
There are clearly no "chosen messengers" in Hinduism. Vedas were 'heard' or 'seen' (in the minds) by the ancient Rishis. God did not pick a rishi & tell him the Vedas. That is why Vedas are called as Shuritis meaning sounds. Vedas were a result of deep insight into human consciousness by ancient rishis. — Bharat, Jun 19 '14 at 04:24
I don't think this question deserves the downvotes. It's a pretty interesting question! — Shisa, Jun 19 '14 at 14:42
@AfzaalAhmadZeeshan no offence but you are accepting answer very soon. Even which are very wrong quality too. — Ankit Sharma, Jun 19 '14 at 14:47
@AfzaalAhmadZeeshan Yes, I agree with Ankit Sharma. You should wait until multiple answers have been given, and then accept the answer that is the best out of those. Selecting an accepted answer often discourages other people from answering, which is undesirable. — senshin, Jun 19 '14 at 16:09
This is a great naive question. It reveals that the christian term of an "angel", which it borrows, is ill-defined, but there is no such problem in hinduism. — user3603546, Jun 19 '14 at 19:15
@AnkitSharma, I am sorry for that. I thought no more people would answer it. Since this very moment. :) — Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan, Jun 19 '14 at 19:18
@AfzaalAhmadZeeshan no worries, just though to notify you. Anyways your contribution to this site is undeniable. — Ankit Sharma, Jun 19 '14 at 19:20
The question also contains a false premise. Anything can be a messenger ( ἄγγελος, ángelos or מַלְאָךְ‎ malʾāḵ) of God. If you see a cliff wall which triggers an epiphany, that was God's messenger for you at that specific time. They were later anthropomorphized as beings with feathers and such — Rubellite Yakṣī, Nov 22 '19 at 21:40

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 18 '14 at 19:54

There are also Gandharvas, Kinnaras, and other subtle beings mentioned in the Vedic literatures, which can likened to the Christian idea of angels. It really depends on what your perspective of "angels". If you're thinking of subtle beings flying in the sky with heavenly voices, those are Gandharvas. If you're implying beings with higher power who influence the universe and who have God-like powers, those are the demigods.

score 9 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 22 '18 at 20:28

9

Hinduism is filled with references to middle beings, i.e. beings which are neither Gods nor Humans. Some of these creatures are --

and many other celestial beings. All of these mentioned are sometimes benevolent sometimes malicious. Notable are Yakshinis, which are generally regarded as malicious in Keralite traditions.

These are not Angels, per se as per Christian Traditions, but can be considered to be super-humans in terms of their abilities.

I have serious issues about the concept of demi-gods, it's a concept introduced by ISKCON and I haven't seen or heard about it apart from ISKCON books and Avengers (the comic series). The Hindu name for those is Deva and the word, 'Demigod' doesn't do justice to the word.

After OP clarified the question to imply that Angels mean 'messenger of God'

No, there aren't any messenger of God in Hinduism.

edited Jun 22 '18 at 20:28

answered Jun 19 '14 at 07:08

Vineet Menon

7,656
2
35
54

1

Please explain how the concept of demigods was introduced by ISKCON. – cheenbabes Jun 19 '14 at 15:10
1

read these, http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/forum/topics/demigod-worship, http://www.iskconirm.com/docs/webpages/gbc_defends_demigod_worship.htm, https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120413104709AAOEmW0 – Vineet Menon Jun 19 '14 at 15:28
So Bhavagad gita, which mentions demigod worship in Chapters 7, 9, 14, is an invention of ISKCON? – cheenbabes Jun 19 '14 at 15:29
I used the word 'interpretation'. Scriptures are subject to massive amount of interpretation. IF not how can the same set of 4 books be interpreted as 8 schools of Hindu Philosophy and which can be as different as Monism and Dualism? – Vineet Menon Jun 19 '14 at 15:32
No, rather you quoted some anti-ISKCON sites to support your view that "I have serious issues about the concept of demi-gods, it's a concept introduced by ISCKON and I haven't seen or heard about it apart from ISCKON book" That's more like your interpretation and feeling rather than real evidence. – cheenbabes Jun 19 '14 at 16:05
4

what i said was the term demigod is only found in isckon literature. I cannot show you negative evidence. – Vineet Menon Jun 19 '14 at 16:31
@cheenbabes "So Bhavagad gita, which mentions demigod worship in Chapters 7, 9, 14, is an invention of ISKCON?" No one's disputing that worship of devas is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita and throughout Hindu scripture. But Srila Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada translates the word "deva" as "demigod" in his translation of the Bhagavad Gita, whereas most people outside of ISKCON translate "deva" as "god". – Keshav Srinivasan Jun 20 '14 at 21:11
@KeshavSrinivasan I think "god" with a lower-case "g" and demigod to be equal. Personally I find it helps, so you're not questioning, did they mean "god" or "God". – cheenbabes Jun 20 '14 at 22:46
1

@cheenbabes I don't make any distinction between "god" and "God", so I think that devas are Gods. Christians started capitalizing the word God only because they only have one deity in their pantheon, so they treat the word as a proper noun rather than a common noun. But I think changes in capitalization are meaningless in the case of Hinduism. – Keshav Srinivasan Jun 20 '14 at 22:56
1

@cheenbabes When Christians speaking Indian languages refer to the being they call God in English, they often use the term "devan". So again, the issue is simply that most people outside of ISKCON don't make any distinction between "deva" and "god" whether capitalized or uncapitalized. – Keshav Srinivasan Jun 20 '14 at 23:03
@KeshavSrinivasan The difference may seem to be just orthographic, but it holds profound philosophical implications. In monotheistic traditions, the convention is to use the word "God" with a capital G to denote the Supreme Being. From the Vaisnava perspective, God refers to Krsna, Visnu, and His other incarnations, all in the category of visnu-tattva and is more accurately described by the Sanskrit word bhagavan rather than deva. "gods" with a lower-case "g" refers rather to those beings who possess superhuman powers but are still jivatmas. – cheenbabes Jun 21 '14 at 03:52
@cheenbabes I don't think Christians started capitalizing the g to elevate their deity, just to make the word a proper name. Second of all, I certainly agree that Vishnu is supreme, and thus he can be rightly given the appellation "Bhagavan". But I still think he is a deva as well; he is referred to as a deva numerous times throughout Hindu scriptures, and he is even on the list of the 33 devas who are to be allotted a portion of the Soma Yagna. – Keshav Srinivasan Jun 21 '14 at 05:12
@cheenbabes I don't see any contradiction in saying that he belongs to the class of divine beings known as the gods/devas, yet he is superior to the rest of them and possesses certain qualities they don't. Also, I don't think it's true that the devas are jivatmas. I think their souls are paramatma while our souls are jivatma. That is why Brahma, for instance, doesn't need to pursue Moksha - because his soul is already united with Sriman Narayana, while our soul is yet to be reunited with him, so we need to go on the path of karma to attain Moksha. – Keshav Srinivasan Jun 21 '14 at 05:19
@KeshavSrinivasan I'd just like to say that although the devas are certainly empowered by Lord Visnu, I have never seen any reference to them not being jivatmas and being part of Paramatma. Reference for this? – cheenbabes Jun 26 '14 at 02:52

Shisa · Answer 3 · 2014-06-19T15:07:14.093

5

A lot of non-Hindu resources tend to equate Devas to Angels, but I feel that's inaccurate because even though they became more subservient to whoever the One God was in different traditions, they are still deities.

Indian mythological figures corresponding to the angelic idea of 'beautiful sky-dwelling / possibly winged heavenly messengers' would probably be Apsaras and Gandharvas. Gandharvas are the (male) court musicians of the Heavenly Court of Indra and Apsaras are the (female) court dancers, with Gandharvas and Apsaras being spouses.

Unlike angels they are not really entities to be looked to for intervention / protection etc. They're pretty much just minor heavenly beings who serve Indra. Apsaras are associated with arts, quite similar to the Muses of Greek tradition but also often portrayed as sexual beings sent by Indra to seduce and distract ascetics. Gandharvas in addition to their musical duties, also serve the 'warlike Hosts of Heaven' function of the Judeo-Christian angels.

edited Jun 19 '14 at 15:07

answered Jun 19 '14 at 15:01

Shisa

854
9
15

You might want to ammend your answer since OP has clarified his question about the concept of Angel, he meant Mohammed as Angel not Gabriel. – Vineet Menon Jun 26 '14 at 04:52
@VineetMenon Sorry, I'm not seeing that amendment anywhere? Mohammed is not considered an angel in Islam, in any case. – Shisa Jun 30 '14 at 12:24
okay, he meant angel as in messenger of God. refer, https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/17/are-there-angels-in-hinduism/146?noredirect=1#comment26_17 – Vineet Menon Jun 30 '14 at 12:42
:) It's a very subtle different to be sure, but An angel (from the Greek ἄγγελος ángelos, "messenger") ... in Abrahamic religions are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth. Meanwhile Muhammed is a prophet, who *is an individual** who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine*. So an angel is the link between the god and mankind (which includes the prophet!) and the prophet is the link between the divine (which includes the angels!) and the rest of earthly folks. – Shisa Jun 30 '14 at 12:55
I'm just being a messenger of OP. Don't blame me for the words he used. – Vineet Menon Jun 30 '14 at 14:56
@VineetMenon: I'm not blaming you. Just clarifying the misconception here, that OP is referring to Mohammed when they say "messenger of God". Mohammed as "messenger of God" would be called a prophet, not an angel, because Mohammed was a man, not a supernatural/celestial being. So if OP was looking for Mohammed-like messengers of God in Hinduism, the question would ask for prophets of Hinduism (in which case, the answer would probably be something like the authors of the Shrutis) – Shisa Jun 30 '14 at 15:05
To the same extent as Indra has Apsaras and Gandharvas, Śiva has rudras & maruts, Kubera has Yakshas, and Ravana has Rakshasas. These could all be seen as kinds of attendants, mirroring the attendants of any human king. Angels were originally anything in this world that made someone aware of YHVH Elohim or his will. Only later were they anthropomorphized as messengers who became attendants of YHVH Elohim – Rubellite Yakṣī Nov 22 '19 at 21:54

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 28 '17 at 20:51

Both Christian Bible and Hindu Vedas refer to the celestial heavens. Christianity is heavily influenced by Hinduism. They are sister religions. Although Hinduism influenced many religions we have today especially Buddhism.

In Hinduism there was a asura (demon) that went to village doors posing as a Goddess (immortal female being) that made itself to appear very beautiful like a goddess would be. However celestial beings manifested themselves much like the angels or celestial beings the bible appeared to many of its own protagonists. And these celestial beings warned the village that beauty is not the only characteristic of a god or goddess, but must look beyond only beauty as being the sole quality of immortality. The celestial heavens and celestial beings are not the same as the immaterial beings of the immeasurable realm (The realm of No beginning no middle and no end) where immortal beings dwell.

The kalki purana states that people would worship demigods as the Gods. That people would worship demigods as Gods because they displayed minor mystical power to men. That Kalki avatar would come to put a end to this confusion. And by doing so would also reduce natural disasters as well.

The Hindu veda refers to the demigods as saints. Angels manifest as saints in the physical sometimes. The saints and the angels/celestial beings/light beings were meant to sustain the universe through sacrifice. That at a certain point that the saints would be no match for the overwhelming power of the Kali Yuga (age of untruth/dark ages), that the Gods would have to manifest themselves from the realm immeasurable.

Vishnu Purana states that a man must find purity through great suffering and austerity. While a woman who is naturally pure only needs to obey their husband. And that by doing so a woman would be able to reach the celestial heavens and become an deva/angel/celestial being which is one of the lesser heavens. There in these heavens they can continue to refine themselves and potentially attain the immeasurable heavens and become a god or immortal.

So there is a difference between celestial being/deva/angel in relation to a God and Goddess just as Christians believe there is a difference between Jesus and the angels. Although evidence would suggest that Jesus was a saint of the celestial realm hailing from the Pleiades or Andromeda System.

Are there angels in Hinduism?

4 Answers4