According to the ISKCON Vaishnava interpretation, they are demigods appointed for different tasks. It is as if the CEO is Lord Krishna, then he had delegated tasks to the other Gods.
Now I have seen many critiques of the ISKCON world view here. So let’s gravitate towards a worldview of traditional Hinduism we have grown up with. The Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, their avatars and the Shakta philosophy that keeps goddesses or forms of the mother at the centre. Apart from that, there are the Itihasas and the Puranas with different deities as the focus of each one- the Shiva Purana, the Bhagavata Purana etc.
What can we say for sure? Hinduism is a complex religion that has one of the most inclusive traditions of the world. At the same time, it is full of contradictions. Over the course of millennia, we have had many distortions that crept in to the original Vedic worldview. Richness of thought and complexity is available in India from ancient times as this was a culture obsessed with things beyond the material, mundane world- salvation, liberation et al.
If we were to believe the Indologists view or Arya Samaj and other experts view on the Vedas, Indra, Agni, Varuna were the major deities mentioned in the Vedic pantheon and Vishnu plays a very tertiary role. No text is binding in this case, as we have a huge array of views to choose from.
If on the other hand, you accept verbatim Lord Krishna’s words in the Bhagavadgita and accept surrendering to him in the Vaishnavite and ISKCON version of things, then the explanation given in the first line suffices.
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