Explaning Multiple Gods in Hindus

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Hey Guys,

People (those who believe in Single Creator or God) say, they do not understand how Hindus pray 2 billion (yeah that's Right ...2 billion!) gods

All these 2 billion gods can be found textually listed in the oldest hindu encyclopedia called as Vedas

Here is an interesting explanation

The Indus (Pakistan-India-Tibet-Bangladesh-Brahmadesh region) civilization was cultured by Aryans (who came from central Europe to South Asia), they crossed Himalayas and found the rich soil on the coast of the Ganges River and got civilized in the agriculture friendly environment.

Indians (most of them Aryans) knew counting (The idea of Zero or Void was first put forth by them) started associating events & objects beyond human skills and reach ... like River, Sea, Mountains, Eagles, Elephants, Sun, Moon & all such things with supernatural powers. They started praying them for protection. These rituals mutated in Gods and every superhuman activity was counted as one distinct GOD. All such billions of events made 2 billion Hindu Gods

The story is interesting because it shows much similarity between Greek and Indus civilization, who knew Counting from the very beginning, that they had MULTIPLE GODS in their culture.

But there is another philosophical angle to it.

Einstein used to say "The Infinity can be treated as One entity"

2 billion as a count is like infinite for an old civilized human, so for them GOD is infinite

For others GOD is One

Finally Its ONE and the INFINITE thing........ Smile

According to the culture experts Hindu is a culture than a Religion and hence its complex to understand. Its more flexible as its rules are loosely defined. Sometimes it forms inhuman traditions (like sati or untouchables ) & sometimes it symbolizes humanity (like giving equality to Transsexuals & spirituality of Yoga)

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EWould it be fair to say that those two billion gods are really just two billion different aspects of one god? Or not?

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while i disagree with quite a lot of the Original Post, and certainly the tone of the post, i agree with merry andrew.

yes. 1 god, 330 million (not the number he quoted) manifestations.

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Disagree
No i disgree with brahmin,

Menifestations and gods are two different things in Hindu Culture

Rama, Krishna, Wamana are different manifestations, incarnations or avatars of GOD Vishnu

Whereas Shiva and Vishnu are not different manifestationsof one god but 2 different gods altogether.....

Had anybody read vedas ... They clearly say "3 GODS at the beginning of the universe ... Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva... and DO NOT talk about 1 God for all"

Also they have literally listed the 2 billion GODS and associated each with a distinct power later.

So that way they form 330 billion manifestations of 2 billion distinct GODS.

But one thing for sure....

The above post wans't for proving HINDUS do not believe in ONE GOD.
but to prove that the counting system has resulted into these so called multiple GODS as similar to the GREEK culture.

The global belief of ONE god is NOW accepted by Hindus too. But the fundamental Hindu belief indicates GOD is INFINITE.

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Re: Disagree

vinsan wrote:

No i disgree with brahmin,

Menifestations and gods are two different things in Hindu Culture

Rama, Krishna, Wamana are different manifestations of GOD Vishnu

Whereas Shiva and Vishnu are not different manifestations of one god but 2 different gods altogether.....

Had anybody seen vedas ... i have found them literally listed the 2 billion GODS each associated with a distinct power.

So that way they form 330 billion manifestations of 2 billion distinct GODS.

its million not billion.

and an avatar is not a manifestation.

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Ok...
Oh

my mistake ...

Ok for "330 million gods for 2 billion properties of the Supreme Being " but Hindu culture surely travels from polytheism to monotheistic polytheism

The idea was put forth much later in vedas .....

I still think ..... The NUMBER SYSTEM causes polytheism.

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nope.

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Quick note to Vinsan.... Though the Vedas claim 'X' amount of Gods, if you turn to the Upanishads, the student is told that in truth there is one god.... Then we get into atman and all that fun stuff!
Vedic Hinduism presents and interesting 'problem' because of what Max Muller (it was him right?) called henotheism. Seccessive elevation of different gods to the level of supreme as dictated by the needs of the supplicant. The common theme in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, etc. is that 'god is one, devotees are many and varied'....

I'll end with a snippet of Vedic wisdom for ya

Ekam Sad vipra Bahuda Vadanti (RV 1.164.46c)

Sub

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I am curious.
I have always contended that Hindus believe in one G-d.
However, I am not positive that this is mainstream Hindu theology.
If it is, could someone explain it and give the theological sources or background for this?
(I am always arguing with my co-religionists that Hindus are not "idol worshippers," but my argument is weak because I do not have the "facts.")

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Well, the previous post of mine has a quote form the Rig Veda (the oldest religious text in the Indian tradition)

Ekam Sad vipra Bahuda Vadanti (RV 1.164.46c) I
t basically means
"The sages call the One by many names."
There are a bunch of ways to translate it but that's the gist of it.

So that's starting from the BEGINNING of Hinduism, and there is a trend in Indian religion (pretty much all religion too!) that the older something is, the more weight it has (concerning authority and such).

The Upanishads (Vedanta) take this one step further and say that everyone has an 'Atman' (self) which is 'like a soul'. This is a part of the Supreme- Brahman (Think of the Atman like 'Sparks' of the Divine in Kabalah)

And Brahmin said it a few posts back- the multitude of gods westerners see are manifestations of THE divine.

We can think of these manifestations like an automated phone processing center: you can go through a bunch of submenus and eventually get to your 'goal' but it's the same goal... Just different numbers pressed to get there...

The culmination (I think many would agree) of 'monotheistic' Hinduism comes to us from the Bhagavad Gita- Krishna says that everything that is, is within and issues from HIM.

Advaita Vedanta- very popular during the independance movement and currently... Advaita means 'nondualistic' as it no difference between the supplicant and the divine.

To jump back to the Upanishads quickly, here are two great quotes:

tat tvam asi "Thou art that"
(from the Chandogya Upanishad)
a teacher telling the student that 'he' is, in fact, part of the divine (nirguna brahman- quality-less divinity)

and
Aham Brahmo'smi
"I am part of Brahman" the personal is a slice of the divine!
I forget the source at the moment.

Hope this helps Moishe

Sub

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Moishe3rd wrote:

I have always contended that Hindus believe in one G-d.

(I am always arguing with my co-religionists that Hindus are not "idol worshippers," but my argument is weak because I do not have the "facts.")

they are god worshippers through idols, not idol worshippers.
pls read my "embassy" analogy on
this thread.
and unless the koran has defined god to be a black coloured cuboid, muslims are the biggest idol worshippers i can think of.

hinduism is neither monotheistic, nor polythiestic.

it does not believe in one god.
and it does not believe in many gods.

it believes in many manifestations of one god. period.

- which ofcourse can be (mis)interpreted to mean either mono or poly theistic, though its neither.

avatar is "god, manifested in humans" (differnt concept from prophet). there are 3 such defied humans (hindus consider them to have examplified some or the orher quality to such a great extent, that they believe that god has manifested Himself in those people.) the 3 are Raam, Krishn and Buddha... again see the thread i just linked.

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subculture_of_one wrote:

So that's starting from the BEGINNING of Hinduism,

wrong !!

hindu people and their way of life and their belief systems existed well before it was first codified in the Rig veda.

its not a religion - its a way of life (literrally).

in that, the Rg Ved did not give rise to the way of life of the hindus,
but THE OTHER WAY ROUND.

religion is where a book defines the way of life of followers
way of life is when the beliefs of a people define/"are codified in", a book.

romans, celts, inca, maya, greeks, asatru, hindus, chinese (b4 buddha), japanese... almost all people of the world had "way of life" religions.

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Umm... Well, do you at least agree that the Rg Veda was part of the Aryan system that predated their arrival into India?

And all religions are 'ways of life...literally' that's why they're religions.

The Vedas were the initial text in the religious system (which would later be called 'hinduism') and culture was very much shaped by it. The Brahmins had the info, they were the ones who controlled the ritual structure. While I agree that culture influences religion and vice versa, I really don't think (given the evidence or 'pre-Indic inhabitation' mentioned in the Vedas) you can say that 'hindu' way of life existed well before the Vedas were codified... Granted, the Vedas were part of the oral tradition looong before they were written. But the TRADITION in the Vedas predates India.

VH

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Explaning Multiple Gods in Hindus

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