[Prev][Next][Index]
Re: NEED INFO ABOUT HINDU GODS
-
To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
-
Subject: Re: NEED INFO ABOUT HINDU GODS
-
From: drai@ix.netcom.com (DHARMBIR RAI)
-
Date: 30 Apr 1995 16:53:41 GMT
-
From netnews@ix.netcom.com Sun Apr 30 12: 43:18 1995
-
Newsgroups: alt.hindu
-
Organization: Netcom
-
References: <3nrj4i$6fk@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
In <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
>
>
>
>
Hindu religion is based on Vedant philosophy whose starting premise
is that there is just one God (Brahman) who is eternal and without
form or attributes. The immediate and instinctive question will be -
why then we have all these gods and godesses. Below I will try to
answer that question briefly.
A religion is for the masses, common folks. Whereas the learned and
ascetics can understand and assimilate the finer points of the
philosophy, for the common man (or woman) it is extremely difficult to
conceive of or concentrate on something abstract. So in order to bring
the concept of God to the masses He had to be given a form. The
abstract God was the creator, the maintainer, and the destroyer all in
one. These three aspects of God are perceived differently by the
common man and therefore they were represented in the form of Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh (or Shiv). Thus emerged the three principal gods.
God was regarded as omnipotent, the Supreme power. Some people were
attracted to this all pervasive power of God and wanted to worship Him
as the power figure. The word for power in Sanskrit is ‘shakti’ which
is feminine. The form for this aspect of God, therefore, had to be
feminine. Now all kinds of power in the world can be divided into
three basic categories - intellectual, material, and physical. In
keeping with this division people conceived of three godesses -
Sarasvati, Lakshmi, and Parvati, who were conveniently paired with the
three principal gods as their respective consorts. We thus got six
gods and godesses each representing an aspect of the same one God.
In our day to day life we do not seem to have any problem in
reconciling different aspects of a single personality. For example, a
man is son to his parents, husband to his wife, father to his child all
at the same time. Different aspects of God are viewed in the same way
on a much larger and extended scale according to different perceptions.
In an attempt to convey the teachings of Vedant to the masses through
lucid stories Hindu mythology created more gods and godesses.
Different names and attributes were given to some of the original six;
new ones like Ganesh were created. Vishnu’s incarnations Ram and
Krishn came to be worshipped separately.
A distinguishing feature of Hinduism is that it is highly
individualistic. One is free to worship God in whatever form and where
ever one chooses. This led to the creation of a plethora of gods and
godesses depending upon the individuals’ or groups’ inclinations and
preferences. Scores of deities and their temples sprang all across the
land. Yet in this multiplicity the central theme always persisted:
every god or godess represents an aspect of the same one God.
There is no denying the fact that despite the central theme of one God
the multifarious growth of deities had the deleterious effect of
divisive sectarianism. Some of well-intentioned practices degenerated
into social evils affecting the entire soceity. Coupled with the
political fragmentation and upheavals these led to a steady
deterioration of the social and political structure that continued for
centuries before it could be stemmed. However, the basic framework of
Hinduism has endured through the ages and Vedant remains as its firm
basis.
Rai-Sharma