God

CRITICAL: this glossary follows the historical precedent set by the 17th-century Jesuit missionary Roberto de Nobili, who worked in Sanskrit-influenced Tamil theological vocabulary and deliberately chose ‘Sarvēśvara’ (Lord OF ALL) over ‘Dēva’ specifically because Dēva is heard as one deity among the many devāḥ of Vedic and Puranic religion. देवः is rejected for exactly de Nobili’s reason. भगवान् is rejected because it is the common devotional honorific applied to any personally worshipped chosen deity (iṣṭa-devatā) — Kṛṣṇa, Śiva, Devī are each addressed as Bhagavān/Bhagavatī. ब्रह्मन् is rejected as the impersonal Absolute (see Holy Spirit entry). Bare ईश्वरः is rejected (see ‘lord’ entry) for its Advaitic subordination-to-māyā risk. सर्वेश्वरः (‘Lord of all’) most forcefully closes off the ‘one god among many’ reading by asserting sovereignty over every other being that could be called deva or īśvara, rather than merely claiming superlative status among a category.