Hindu Gods and Goddesses Looking at any house, we are compelled to admit that some workman must have
built it;
a fortiori, when we look at the heavens which are the abode of many living beings, it
becomes evident that someone has made all those things although we do not see them.
To say, that this world is self-existent, and that its grandeur and beauty prove that
there is no power capable of making it, is a great error. On the contrary, that
grandeur and beauty prove that they have been created by someone and not by
themselves.
- Robert de Nobili Before we understand the concept of God in Hinduism, it is important to start with a
belief that God does exist and that God is indeed responsible for making the earth,
the heavens, the humans and all the variety of flora and fauna that we see around us.
There are some who do not believe in this. In their belief (if the word belief can
indeed be used for such skeptics), there is no God and there was no one who made us
or our Earth or the Heavens. They believe, or are made to believe, that all that we
see around us came into being on its own- through some process of trial and error.
For these people, we have no answer. However, as a statistician (name forgotten) once
pointed out, the probability that all the world around us, with all its variety,
could come into being on its own without any intended effort by some creator is the
same as the probability that a complete printed and bounded book could come out of a
printing press if it had been left switched on accidentally at night with all the
paper and ink locked in a warehouse separately! The concept of God in Hinduism is markedly different from that in the western
religions including Christianity. Most westerners tend to think that the primary
difference in the Hindu concept of God and the Christian concept of God is that in
Hinduism there is a multiplicity of Gods. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The core belief of Hinduism is that there is only one supreme Absolute- or the
Paramatma. The Absolute or the Paramatma, is the inner soul of the Universe; all
beings reside in the Paramatma and the Paramatma resides in all beings. The Paramatma
is in all things all things are a part of Paramatma. This is also called Pantheism
(pan 'all' and theism 'of God'). As the Paramatma is Absolute, He [or She] can not be
considered male or female. If Paramatma could be male or female then it is no longer
Absolute and becomes describable. Paramatma, can not be described by humans in any
way, and is totally beyond anything that humans can ever conceive of. As such, He [or
She] is nirankara (or 'without form'). The Upanishads described Paramtama as
This difference in the understanding of God between the Hindus and Christians (and
all other western religions) is perhaps the root cause of the incompatibility of the
two religions. Prof. Bahm observes that "Hindus have no quarrel with Christians
because Hindus conceive the Supreme as all-inclusive and unlimited in its
manifestations. But Christians quarrel with Hindus when they insist that Christ is
the only son of God and that all other Devas are to be avoided and condemned. Having
extended a hand of religious fellowship to Christians, Hindus have difficulty
comprehending why Christians seem so ungracious rejecting it" (The World's Living
religions, Dell Publishing Co., New York, 1964). Believing the Supreme Absolute to be without form (or nirankara) it does not require
much effort to understand how no one representation of the Paramatma can be correct.
Hindus believe that different human beings will represent Paramatma in different
forms. The form in which one views Paramatma will vary from individual to individual-
some will think of Him as a young male, some as young female, some as learned old
man, some as learned old woman, some as the slayer of the devils, and others in other
forms. Paramatma is all of these and yet more than this. No one form is wrong and no
one form is the complete truth. All are partially right. Thus, unlike the objectivity
of Christian God as an old white man, Hindus believe in subjective interpretations of
the Supreme where each interpretation is correct but only partially. This
subjectivity which has long been at the core of Hinduism has been neglected and
criticized by western scholars for much of History. Only recently have many western
scholars, including nobel-laureate Fredrick Hayek, accepted that humans are indeed
subjective and that no two humans can have the same set of knowledge and neither can
any one human have all the knowledge. This subjective interpretation can be seen in
the many different representations of the Paramatma in Hinduism which some
erroneously term 'polytheism' (or many Gods). Though an exact count is almost
impossible there are more than 300,000 different subjective representations of the
Absolute- some minor representations limited to particular areas or tribes, some
major which are more common throughout most of the Hindus. The triad- Brahma, Vishnu
and Mahesh is perhaps the highest level of common representation of the Paramatma
which an ordinary Hindu is expected to understand. In this highest level, Paramatma
is understood in three forms- the creator (Brahma), the preserver (Vishnu) and the
dissolver (Shiva).
An Offering by Vishal Gupta - University of Missouri
Without body and sense organs, there is none equal to or greater than Paramatma; His
[or Her] supreme power is varied and manifold; His [or Her] knowledge, strength and
activity are innate.
Paramatma is the cause and master of those who own instruments; [S]he is neither a
creator destroyer.
Hindu Gods
The Supreme Triad - The Supreme Triad consists of three great gods: Braham, Vishnu, and
Shiva. This Triad represents all aspects of the Supreme Being. Much like the Christian
trinity of God as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In this regard they are sometimes called
Sat-Tat-Aum.- Creation
- Preservation
- Destruction
Brahma - the creator, is
described as 'the first cause in the Universe'.
Brahma is the son of the Supreme Being. Brahma's only task was creator, never
destroying what he creates. This singular task makes him a lesser god than the two
others of the supreme triad. According to the myths, Brahma originally
possessed only one head. He acquired the other heads when woman was created (much
list Eve created out of Adam's rib). His love for her (woman) caused him to follow
her wherever she moved. Causing the heads to grow, facing each direction, to
follow her. When she (woman) rose into the sky in despair of his ever watching eyes,
a fifth head grew. Finally when God Brahma joined her, the human race was created.
Brahma's mount is a goose.
Vishnu - god of
duration, preservation of the cycle.
Vishnu contains every possible contradiction and in consequence is therefore the great
and complete god. The sacred writ states that Vishnu is 'the infinite ocean of the Universe',
from which the entire world springs forth. Vishnu is often seen richly dressed and having
four arms. Also on his forehead you may find incscribed a symbol in the shape of a U.
This god always carries his symbols in his hands for easy recognition. Vishnu's mount is an
enormous eagle, Garuda.
Shiva - god of
constant change, god of destruction, end of a particular
creation and condition for appearance of a new one.
Shiva, also known as the 'good One' or Mahadeva the 'Greatest' or 'Great God'.
This god is more complex, 'many sided' than Vishnu.
Shiva can be seen sitting upon a skin of a tiger or a panther, or with three white horizontal
stripes upon his forehead. The Mahabharata tells a story of Shiva's vertical third eye......
Once during meditation upon the Himalayas, his consort Uma came softly near him and
playfully covered his eyes with her two hands. What happened was terrifying. The whole
world was plunged into darkness. Suddenly, a great flame sprand from the forehead of the
god, at the base of which appeared an eye, as brilliant as the sun, which gave light again
to the world. Shiva's mount is a bull, Nandi.
Ganesh - son of Shiva and Parvati.
Hanuman - son of the wind-god
Krishna -
Hindu Goddesses
The female triad shares the same level of worship as the Supreme triad. This female deity consists of Sarasvati, Lakshmi, and Durga.
Sarasvati - Brahma's consort is identified as the goddess of the river, of speech, of wisdom and culture (arts and music).
Lakshmi - Vishnu's consort is identified as the goddess of beauty, good luck and wealth.
Durga - Shiva's consort is identified as the goddess of energy, she is the all powerful warrior who fights demons.
Other Goddesses:
Parvati
Lakshmi
Gayatri
Symbols of the Gods and Goddesses
Hinduism is a religion of symbolism, each God and Goddess possesses many symbols.
Vahana - the mount of each God or Goddess, is nothing but the diety itself in its animal form. It is used to let worsippers know which deity is being represented in a picture or statue.
The lotus flower - this symbol represents both purity and original creation, therefore you will see either Brahma or Vishnu sitting or standing on the lotus flower.
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and Dr. Murari Lal Nager