The Nature of God in Hinduism

Photo by Rajesh Mishra on Unsplash

Most people, especially Westerners, struggle to comprehend the nature of gods in Hinduism. Are Hindus polytheistic or pantheistic? How many gods do we have? Even Hindus themselves are somewhat confused.

First and foremost, let us clarify this perplexing point. Hindus are neither monotheistic nor polytheistic. We do not believe in only One God, nor do we believe in many Gods. We believe in ONLY - GOD. There is no world, no cosmos, nothing that aligns with what our senses perceive to be true. There is only ONE Existence, One Force, One Energy. NOTHING ELSE! Everything that our senses perceive to exist does so because THAT Being exists. Without that Being, nothing would exist! If our senses inform us that we are Conscious Beings and that we are surrounded by other conscious beings, it is because Supreme Consciousness exists. All consciousness, all existence, has only ONE source, and that is THAT Supreme Consciousness, which Hindus refer to as "The Brahman," described as "sat-chid and ananda" - existence-consciousness-bliss.

Today, modern physics has corroborated this theory. Matter, as we understand it, does not exist - only energy exists. Matter is merely energy in motion. E=mc². The energy discussed in quantum physics was already recognized and given a name by us - The Brahman!

That Supreme Being permeates every nook and cranny of space. Nothing can exist apart from That! Therefore, the dispute over "my god and your god" and the notions of "only one god" or "many gods" simply do not hold. These endless arguments about different gods arise due to profound ignorance of the nature of that Supreme, which is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

Omnipresent means existing in every atom and molecule throughout the cosmos. "Isavasyamidam sarvam," as declared by the Upanishad. This means that Isa or God exists in everything.

"Aham evam! Aham avyayam!" "I alone exist! Eternal! Immutable!"

In other words, God is something with a circumference nowhere and a center everywhere!!

Omnipresent also means that there is "Only One," not Two. Two omnipresent beings cannot exist simultaneously! Therefore, the question of there being many gods or different gods for different sects of people is absurd and stems from ignorance of the nature of the Supreme Being!

The Bhagavad Gita states, "Na sato vidyate bhavo, na bhavo vidyatesataha." "Pure existence cannot be destroyed, nor can non-existence ever come into existence."

This means that energy cannot be destroyed, nor can it be created. It is endless, eternal, perpetual existence. Everything that we can conceive of exists due to the existence of that Supreme Being, which, being formless, can manifest itself in all forms, and being immutable, can appear in all variations!

The different types of gods are presented to fulfill the psychological needs of human beings. We have desires, and our minds are constantly restless. The person pursuing wealth is advised to worship Lakshmi, the one yearning for knowledge is given Saraswati, and those seeking to overcome obstacles are shown Ganesha, and so on. Every God serves a purpose, and every Hindu understands that they are only reflections of the formless Supreme. Thus, one can worship any form without feeling any guilt.

To prevent the mind from believing that God can only exist in human form, we are encouraged to worship a river, a tree, a mountain, a monkey, an elephant, etc. This demonstrates the depth of understanding the rishis had regarding the nature of the Supreme, which fills the entire cosmos from the mountain to the grain of sand, from the ocean to the water droplet!

In Sanatana Dharma, everything is divinized, and there is a ritual connected to every aspect of life from birth to death! This was the master plan of the rishis to constantly remind the fluctuating mind of the purpose of its existence, which is to attain union with That, of which we are mere representations! We are reminded of this goal every moment of our lives. We should never relinquish that divine purpose! Every seeker is given an opportunity to redeem themselves. No one is excluded from this union, which is the right of every human being! Every wave has the right to become the ocean!

In the Puranas, the profound esoteric truths of the Vedas and Upanishads were ingeniously conveyed to the masses in the form of symbols. A symbol is a recognizable "idol" representing an unknown "ideal"! Symbolism plays a role in all religions, but Hindus have perfected this art. Unfortunately, due to two centuries of scorn from the Westerners, even Hindus have begun to believe that it is all superstitious nonsense. There is an urgent need today to revive this art and educate the new generation about the symbolic nature of our gods, which reveals the deep inner meaning of the various forms of Hindu worship.

The Adiveda weeklies aim to educate everyone about the greatness of Sanatana Dharma, which can bring peace to the whole world, not just to Bharat.

Hari Aum Tat Sat!