Jaya Devatās’ Seven Births

The Jaya devatās are a class of very high devas. The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa tells, in the Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 3 and 4, that Brahmā gave them a śāpa (a curse): they must be born seven times in seven manvantaras. They pass through seven classes of devas. After the seventh birth, as Ādityas, they are freed from the śāpa and go back to their first high place.

Who the Jaya devatās are

The Jaya devatās are a class of first-born celestial beings of very high rank. They are linked with jaya (victory). They live at a level of awareness and purity far above that of the ordinary devas. At the start of each cycle of creation, these beings hold high places in the order of the devas.

Brahmā’s śāpa

In the events told in the Madhyama Bhāga, the Jaya devatās displeased Brahmā by a transgression. The text keeps this as a lesson in the humility that even the highest celestial beings must have.

Brahmā gave them this śāpa: they would have to take birth seven times through the whole span of the manvantaras. They would go down from one divine plane to the next and live the conditions of each, and only then return to liberation.

The śāpa was not given out of ill will. It was a setting right in the order of the world. The law of karma and dharma holds even for the greatest of devas, and Brahmā, as the master of created beings, is its means.

The seven births

The Jaya devatās were ordered to be born in this order across seven manvantaras.

  1. Yāmā. In the first manvantara of their śāpa, they are born among the Yāmā devas, the divine beings linked with Yama’s realm and with the justice of the world. Even in this birth they keep a link with their divine origin through their own purity.
  2. Tushita. In the second birth they appear among the Tushita devas, the joyful beings who live in a realm of contentment. They are linked with the mothers and the nourishing divine powers.
  3. Satya. The third birth is among the Satya devas, beings of truth and first knowledge, who live on a plane of pure sattva and uphold the truth of creation.
  4. Hara. In the fourth manvantara they are born among the Hara devas, who are linked with the power of Rudra-Hara, the remover of sorrow. This birth gives them knowledge of the tāmasic and changing sides of the divine.
  5. Vaikuṇṭha. The fifth birth is among the Vaikuṇṭha devas, beings of the realm of Bhagavān Vishṇu. They are of the highest sattva and turned towards liberation, and they live close to Bhagavān Vishṇu.
  6. Sādhya. The sixth birth is among the Sādhya devas, the first divine beings linked with the completing of the world’s purposes. The Vedic tradition counts them among the oldest of the deva-gaṇas (groups of devas).
  7. Āditya. In the seventh and last birth they are born as Ādityas, the twelve sun-devas who keep up the cycle of time, light and the order of the world. When this birth is done, the Jaya devatās are fully freed from the cycle of cursed births and return to their first high station.

Sources

  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 3–4