Abhassara

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£bhassara

Pali	MO	Hare	Horner	Punnaji	Bodhi	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	Thanissaro	Walshe	Woodward
£bhassara	Radiant Beings	Hare	the Radiant ones	Punnaji	the gods of Streaming Radiance	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	the luminous gods	Walshe	Woodward

Pali Text Society, Pali English Dictionary:
£bhassara: [etym. uncertain; one suggested in Cpd. is ¤+bha+sar, i.e. from whose bodies are emitted rays like lightning, more probably a combination of ¤bh¤+*svar (to shine, be bright), i.e. shining in splendour] shining, brilliant, radiant, Name of a class of gods in the Brahma heavens "the radiant gods", usually referred to as the representatives of supreme love (p¨ti & mett¨)

Abhassara and Subhakinna Gods. The Ambassadors of the Heart, and the Pure of Heart. Subsisting on Piti and Metti, they traverse the sky, emitting cries of joy: "Oh the Joy! Oh the Joy!" Hierarchies in Hindu and Buddhist Cosmology usually progress towards less and less, (or, more precisely for the Hindu system, towards greater and greater modesty) so the differentiation between the two sets of gods should be in the perceptability of their form. "Splendour" is sometimes mentioned in relation to the gods, and in this case those of more power (of goodness in the kamma that caused this rebirth) are said to be more splendid, of brighter light and clearer color. Most translators translate the two as Radiant ones and Luminescent ones respectively, but the breakdown of the word for Subhakinna would indicate the reverse. I can't tell you, and follow the others in this. One set Radiates Light, you do not see the form, you see light radiate from the periphery of the form, the other set, by contrast do not emit light, but their shape is visable, so they are said to be luminous.
The Abhassara realm is said to be the place where most beings are reborn during the resting stage after the destruction of the world and prior to it's re-evolution. This is not always the case, as we hear that sometimes, during the destruction of a world system, the flames of Hell reach as high as the Subhakinna realm.