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Re: NEED INFO ABOUT HINDU GODS
In article <3nrj4i$6fk@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
rubinomi@cleo.bc.edu "mike rubino" writes:
> Dear sir or ma'am of Hindu religion or knowledge,
> Is the Hindu religion based only multi deities? If so, i would like
> information on how many there are and if there are too mant to describe,
> then i would settle for info on the main ones. Feel free to post the info
> or to email me. thanks a lot.
> mike.
> rubinomi@cleo.bc.edu
Hinduism is not 'a religion of the book' as are the Judeo-Christio-Islamic
religions. Rather it is the sum total of the religious beliefs of Indians,
albeit with reference to central texts such as the Vedas, the 'Gita and the
Upanishads.
There are many forms of Hinduism, some centre on the teachings of historic
(and current) individuals, some on the pursuit of philosophical thought,
others on the refinement of the human experience.
In modern India, and in communities of Indians worldwide, certain key ideas
continue to occur. I think most Hindus would say they worship one of three
central deities, namely Siva, Visnu (or one of his incarnations such as
Krisna), or a form of the Godess Sakti. However, despite their widespread
following now, these deities only date back a couple of thousand years, and
we have much older examples of Hindu gods.
Many Hindus would say that it doesn't matter which God one worships, many
people worship more than one God. In this way, Hinduism is indeed
polytheistic. However, many Hindus also believe that what a human calls 'a
god' is just his own way of trying to understand something much more complex
than human consciousness can ordinarily experience. All the gods are thus
aspects of an ineffable Divinity, and in this respect, Hinduism is essentially
monotheistic.
Notwithstanding this, there have been examples of Hindu sects which have
been essentially ATHEISTIC! If this all sounds confusing and contradictory,
well it is! Correspondingly, certain Hindus reject the world of thought and
attempt to find God through direct experience (something they share with
Buddhists).
Certainly the list of Gods in the Hindu pantheon is extremely large and I don't
think they have all been recorded systematically. In fact, many gods will only
be known to the inhabitants of a particular village in India.
Hope this is of some help.
--
Shaun Bhattacherjee
