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{{Short description|Group of deities in Hinduism}}
{{other uses}}[[File:Udaigiri cave 5 Vasus.jpg|thumb|Agni, Vayu and other other Vasus, [[Udayagiri Caves]], c. 401 CE]]
The '''Vasus''' ({{Langx|sa|वसु|translit=Vasu}}) are a group of deities in [[Hinduism]] associated with fire and light.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=eight+vasus&pg=PT1333 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2014-04-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-277-9 |pages=1333 |language=en}}</ref> They are described as the attendant deities of [[Indra]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Coulter |first1=Charles Russell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEJUEAAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+attendants+vishnu&pg=PA493 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities |last2=Turner |first2=Patricia |date=2021-12-06 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9179-7 |pages=493 |language=en}}</ref> and later [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Achuthananda |first=Swami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9FqDwAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+attendants+vishnu&pg=PA65 |title=The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of Brahma |date=2018-08-27 |publisher=Relianz Communications Pty Ltd |isbn=978-0-9757883-3-2 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref> Generally numbering eight and classified as the '''Ashtavasu''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Balfour |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCE_AQAAMAAJ&dq=eight+ashtavasu&pg=PA182 |title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures |date=1885 |publisher=B. Quartitch |pages=182 |language=en}}</ref> they are described in the [[Ramayana]] as the children of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]], and in the [[Mahabharata]] as the sons of [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] or [[Yama (Hinduism)|Dharma]] and a daughter of [[Daksha]] named Vasu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hopkins |first=Edward Washburn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-H0eiuvcG5IC&dq=vasus+manu&pg=PA170 |title=Epic Mythology |date=June 1968 |publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |isbn=978-0-8196-0228-2 |pages=170 |language=en}}</ref> They are eight among the [[thirty-three gods]] featured in the [[Vedas]].

== Etymology ==
The [[Sanskrit]] term ''Vasu''(s) is translated as the "bright ones".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardwick |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JufyDwAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+bright&pg=PA279 |title=Traditions, Ssuperstitions, and Folk-Lore |date=2020-07-24 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-7523-3244-5 |pages=279 |language=en}}</ref>

==List==
There are varying lists of the eight Vasus in different texts, sometimes only because particular deities have varying names. The following are names and meanings according to the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]], Manava Purana, and according to the [[Mahabharata]], as normally equated:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Komilla |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTMkDwAAQBAJ&dq=ashta+vasus&pg=PT212 |title=Nakshatras: The Stars Beyond the Zodiac |date=2014-05-01 |publisher=The Wessex Astrologer |isbn=978-1-902405-97-1 |pages=212 |language=en}}</ref>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
!colspan = "2" style="background:#efefef;" | Brihadaranyaka 
!Manava Purana!! colspan="2" style="background:#efefef;" |Mahabharata
|-
!style="background:#efefef;" | Name !! style="background:#efefef;" |Meaning 
!Name!! style="background:#efefef;" | Name !! style="background:#efefef;" |Meaning
|-
| [[Prithvi]]    || Earth       
|[[Bhumi (goddess)|Bhumi]]|| [[Dhara (deity)|Dharā]]         || Earth
|-
| [[Varuna]]   || Water 
|[[Samudra]]||  [[Ap (water)|Āpa]]              || Water
|-
| [[Agni]]       || Fire       
|[[Agni]]|| [[Anala]]/Agni/Pavaka || Fire
|-
| [[Vayu|Vāyu]] || Wind   
|[[Vayu]]|| [[Anila]]      || Wind
|-
| Āditya    || Sun
|[[Amshuman|Amsuman]]|| Pratyūsha || Sun
|-
| [[Dyaus]]/[[Akasha]]    || Sky     
|[[Akasha]]|| Prabhāsa   || Sky/Ether
|-
| [[Chandra]]mas || Moon       
|[[Varchas]]|| [[Soma (drink)|Soma]]                     || Moon
|-
| Naksatrani      || Stars      
|Prabhāsa|| [[Dhruva]]                   || Motionless/[[Polaris]]
|}

Though the ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'' uses the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|Brhad-Aranyaka]]'' names, most later texts follow the ''Mahabharata'' names with the exception that [[Ap (water)|Āpa]] 'water' usually appears in place of Aha. The [[Vishnu Purana]] equates Prabhāsa with the lights of the  27 Nakshatras (Constellations/Lunar Mansions) and Dhruva with Akasha, that is "space", Dhruva seemingly taking over Aha's role when Aha is replaced by Āpa.

==Legend==
[[File:The wife of one of the vasus is tempted to steal the wish-bearing cow.jpg|thumb|The wife of one of the Vasus is tempted to steal the wish-bearing cow|260x260px]]
In the ''[[Ramayana]]'' the Vasus are children of [[Aditi]] and [[Kashyapa]].

The [[Mahabharata]] relates how the Vasus, led by "Prithu" (presumably here a male form of [[Prithvi]]), were enjoying themselves in the forest, when the wife of Prabhasa (also referred to as Dyaus) spotted [[Kamadhenu|a divine cow]] and persuaded her husband Prabhasa to steal it,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Buitenen |first1=Johannes Adrianus Bernardus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8oe5fY5_3UC&dq=vasus+wife+cow&pg=PA221 |title=The Mahabharata, Volume 1: Book 1: The Book of the Beginning |last2=Buitenen |first2=J. A. B. van |last3=Fitzgerald |first3=James L. |date=1973 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-84663-7 |pages=221 |language=en}}</ref> which Prabhasa did with the agreement and aid of Prithu and his other brothers. Unfortunately for the Vasus, the cow was owned by the sage [[Vasishta]] who learned through his ascetic powers that the Vasus had stolen it.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doniger |first1=Wendy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C&dq=vasus+wife+cow&pg=PA332 |title=The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology |last2=O'Flaherty |first2=Wendy Doniger |date=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0386-2 |pages=332 |language=en}}</ref> He immediately cursed them to be born on earth as mortals. Vashishta responded to pleading by the Vasus by promising that seven of them would be free of earthly life within a year of being born and that only Prabhasa would pay the full penalty. The Vasus then requested the river-goddess [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]] to be their mother. Ganga incarnated and became the wife of King [[Shantanu]] on condition that he never gainsaid her in any way. As seven children were born, one after the other, Ganga drowned them in her own waters, freeing them from their punishment and the king made no opposition. Only when the eighth was born did the king finally oppose his wife, who therefore left him. So the eighth son, Prabhasa incarnated, remained alive, imprisoned in mortal form, and later became known in his mortal incarnation as [[Bhishma]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raman |first=Gowri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDvqDwAAQBAJ&dq=ashta+vasus&pg=PA3 |title=Mahabharatha |date=2020-06-09 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Himanshu Prabha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5eSEAAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+ganga&pg=PT182 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Hindu Temples: Materiality, Social History and Practice |last2=Kulshreshtha |first2=Salila |last3=Suvrathan |first3=Uthara |date=2022-10-13 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-78581-4 |pages=182 |language=en}}</ref>

==Other uses==
''Vasu'' is also the name of the eighth ''chakra'' (group) of ''[[Melakarta]]'' [[raga]]s in [[Carnatic music]]. The names of ''chakras'' are based on the numbers associated with each name. In this case, there are 8 ''Vasus'' and hence the eighth ''chakra'' is ''Vasu''.<ref name="sim">''South Indian Music'' Book III, by Prof. P Sambamoorthy, Published 1973, The Indian Music Publishing House</ref><ref name="ragas">''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hindu deities]]
*[[List of Hindu deities]]
*[[Thirty-three gods]]
*[[Adityas]]
*[[Rudras]]
*[[Ashvins]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Hindu deities and texts}}

[[Category:Hindu deities]]
[[Category:Rigvedic deities]]