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The most obvious candidate "deva" is now an English word and needs no translation:

Merriam Webster:

Definition of deva plural -s : a divine being or god in Hinduism and Buddhism

From wiki,

This is a list of notable offspring of a deity with a mortal, in mythology and modern fiction. Such entities are sometimes referred to as demigods, although the term "demigod" can also refer to a minor deity, or great mortal hero with god-like valour and skills, who sometimes attains divine status after death.[citation needed]

Since "demigod" is practically never used in Hinduism for mortal heroes - it seems have devolved into a term of denigration (minor deity) used primarily by Hare Krishnas whose works have "demigod" strewn everywhere.

Is this term of any value to translate Hindu scriptures for Hindus?

S K
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    Devata or Deva is simply God.. Para Devata is Supreme God.. Demi God mite Upa Devata :P – Rickross Apr 08 '18 at 05:48
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    It's the ISKCON who started this demi god, Supreme personality of Godhead, plenary portion of portion of portion of plenary portion et cetera –  Apr 08 '18 at 08:28

2 Answers2

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Only Upa-devatA can translate to demi-god but not sure if this term is anywhere to be found in the scriptures at all.

Translating Deva or DevatA to simply "god" or "a divine being" or "deity" will be the correct thing to do. There is nothing in the words that translate to demi.

Those people, who started using demi-god for Deva in translations, consider Lord Vishnu as the supreme deity. But Vishnu himself is being mentioned as a "Deva" in Vedas many a times.

See the following Mantras from the Rig Veda (RV). Both these Mantras have Vishnu as their deity:

paro mAtrayA tanvA vrdhAna,
na te mahitvam anvashnuvanti,
ubhe te vidma rajasi prithivyA,
vishno deva tvam paramasya vitse ||

Men do not comprehend your greatness, who is increasing with a body beyond measure. We know these two heavens beginning with the earth. But Vishnu Deva, you are the knower of the highest.

RV 7.99.1

trir devah prithivim esha etAm vi chakrame,
shatarchasam mahitvA,
pra vishnur astu tavasah taviyAn,
tvesham hi asya sthavirasya nAma ||

With three steps, this god traversed the three earths, by his greatness which has many lustres. May Vishnu, the most mighty, rule over us, for luminous is the name of the firm one.

RV 7.100.3

So, will they also translate these "deva"-s to demi-god?

Rickross
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demi-God translates to devta,dev,devi,bhagvan

God translates to ishvara,svyamabhu bhagvan, supreme being

For example:

you say "indra dev","indra bhagvan". But you never say "indra as ishvara"

but you conceptualise "vishnu" as ishvara in smartism and vaishnavism, but not in shaivism

you conceptualise "shiva" as ishvara in smartism and shaivism, but not in vaishnavism

Hence, indra is demi-god in smartism , vaishnavism, shaivism,shaktism etc(in all branches)

zaxebo1
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  • also related https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/368/what-is-the-difference-between-god-and-devi-devta-or-are-they-same – zaxebo1 Apr 08 '18 at 01:48
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    @S.K.: again 'it seems what you beleive as "whole of hinduism" ' is just "smartism part of hinduism' . You have to make acquaintence yourself with shaktism, where devi creates vishnu,shiva in each cycle of creation. You need to make acquiatances to pure shaivism, where vishnu is subservient of shiva, or he may not even exist separately. You may read madhvacharya's dvaitavada, where only krishna and radha exist as supreme god and vishnu is krishna's form. – zaxebo1 Apr 08 '18 at 01:59
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    Unfortunately, he targets Vaishnavas only. @zaxebo1 –  Apr 08 '18 at 09:16
  • i am not a sectarian, i study whole hinduism. But if you will still like to qualify me, then I am sankhya follower(ie, no god) for my daily practices for now. Hence, your logic of 'Hare krishna supporters here' does not apply. The only thing is that you are refusing to see the truth. – zaxebo1 Apr 08 '18 at 15:13
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    Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuddhadvaita and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuddhadvaita#Everything_is_Krishna's_Leela about more such Krishna worshipping sect of vallabhacharya (1479-1531), in which Krishna is supreme. Although i am non-sectarian, but for daily practices if i personally follow (godless) sankhya, then it does not mean that I should become blind to fact that Hinduism has Pustimarga sect( which is a major sect ) too since 15th century, and innumerable such sects - which worship one particular deity as supreme & do not consider any other God as equal or semi-equal . – zaxebo1 Apr 08 '18 at 15:14
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    additionally i have even myself comprehensively criticized "Hare krishna movement's mis-interpretation of Gita verse" in my answer here https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/26343/13287 . (but still i do not proclaim them non-hindu or bad hindu or good hindu; they are just a sect with their own worldview, just like every sect has its own) – zaxebo1 Apr 08 '18 at 22:22