The millions of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, to be exact 330 million, represent the various aspects of the Supreme Being – Brahman. In Hinduism, Brahman is the supreme soul of the universe, self-existent, absolute and eternal, from which all living and non-living emanate, and to which all return.
When a Hindu climbs up the ladder of knowledge, the concept of gods and goddesses begins to vanish and he/she will finally merge with the Brahman. So, in reality, there are no gods and goddesses in Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism. This is because the gods, goddesses and devotee all merge into the Brahman. Yes, this is hard to digest for an ordinary human being.
For an average human being, god is someone who helps to climb that extra yard. Who helps when in pain. Who helps to pass examinations. Who helps to get promotions. And who helps in all the desires that arise in the mind of a human being. So he/she cannot easily understand the concept of Brahman.
He/She needs something to concentrate upon and something to express the desires and the
numerous gods and goddesses in the form of idols and images serve the purpose of concentration.
In the words of Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer “Hinduism has recognized different stages of evolutionary progress in the case of several races and classes of mankind and has not only authorized but actually encouraged the adoration of pictures and images as a means of concentration.”
Thousands of years ago Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism flourished in an
Take a look at the three main deities in Hinduism – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma creates, Vishnu sustains and Shiva destroys. They are nothing but three different faces of Mother Nature. Nature creates, nature sustains and nature destroys.
Each god and goddess in Hinduism is a path to reach the ultimate reality. If you are not happy with the 330 million, create a new god and pray to it. This new god will be a new path to merge with the Brahman.
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21 comments:
Amazing !
Great knowledge i earned first time that these 330 millions gods unite with one brahma. So who are these 330 millions god and goddesses. Are all devi and devatas comes under this 330 million gods + all human beings who become saint they are also under this category.
Thanks and waiting for your reply.
Great post i will show it to my friends also so that's why i am bookmarking this page here http://www.reddit.com/user/choicefreedom2000/
All animate and inanimate and that is beyond your imagination is Brahman. All is Brahman. So what does is it matter if it is 330 million or more or less. About the 330 million number you can read here - www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/330-million-gods-in-hindu-religion.html
hello, u r doing gud job. i came across ur blog today.......interesting..can u send me the 330 million God photo (larger size image)
Hello,
I've just found your hindu-blog site today and found many of the articles interesting. You are helping to dismiss many Hindu myths and I enjoy the comments you receive, because they show a range of attitudes of the Hindu (Sanatan Dharma) faith followers.
But in my opinion, the article named 'Hindu Gods and Goddesses' is not accordance with the Vedic scriptures, especially the Bhagavad-Gita. I took offence towards the end of the article, particularly this part:
"Each god and goddess in Hinduism is a path to reach the ultimate reality. If you are not happy with the 330 million, create a new god and pray to it. This new god will be a new path to merge with the Brahman."
Firstly, it is a common myth that "each god/godess is a path to the ultimate reality" - in the Gita Lord Krishna instructs Arjuna many times about the difference between worshipping the Devi/Devtas (Lord Ganesh, Durga Mata, Lord Shiva, etc) and worshipping the Supreme Lord (Krishna/Narayana):
"Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way."- Gita Chap 9 text 23.
Here Lord Krishna is telling Arujana that people that worship the demi-gods they are infact worshipping Lord Krishna, so you may think that "yes I can worship any Devi/Devta and this is just the same path as worshipping the Supreme Lord Krishna" but in fact Lord Krishna also says that "Because the devotees are indirectly worshiping Me they are worshipping me in a wrong way".
Also Lord Krishna goes on to say: "Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me." - Gita Chap 9 text 25
So the results obtained by worshipping the demi-gods and worshipping Lord Krishna alone are different. The planets of the demi-gods are temporary - so if one goes there after death he will still have to return to this material world (Earth) once ones pious activities are finished. But Lord Krishna's abode (Vaikuntha/Goloka Vrindadvan) are eternal and once one attains there they do not return:
"Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet." - Gita Chap 7 text 23
Also your comments: "If you are not happy with the 330 million, create a new god and pray to it. This new god will be a new path to merge with the Brahman" this is absolutely ridicules. How can you just create a 'new' god? Is our Santana Dharma so cheap? The deities in the temple (Radha-Krishna, Sita-Ram) are carved according to the descriptions of how God looks (described in the Vedic scriptures) - they are not just 'made up'. Once they are installed into the temple and worshipped they are 'non-different' to the Supreme Lord. So you cannot just 'invent' your own image of god.
Below Lord Krishna speaks of the importance of meditating on the form of Lord Krishna - he does NOT say "meditate on any form or make your own form up".
"Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt." Bgita chap 8 text 7.
I hope these explaniations - based on the Gita - help to dismiss any misconceptions.
All the best,
Pritesh
All animate and inanimate is Brahman …. Krishna does not exist outside….creation and destruction is Brahman….All debates take place when Krishna is outside...Krishna lies within us...
Brahman is indestructible and eternally existing, and its constitution is not changed at any time. But beyond Brahman there is Parabrahman. Brahman refers to the living entity, and Parabrahman refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Lord Krishna). In Vedic literature the living entity is called jīvātmā and Brahman, but he is never called Parabrahman. That is the differnce between us and God. But Krishna is also within our hearts as Paramatma but this does not mean that we are God or even on the same level.
Also - the painting shown with this article is showing Lord Krishna displaying his universal form to Arjuna during his Bhagavad Gita conversation. Lord Krishna is showing that everything is within Him and that nothing is greater than Him. Lord Krishna then goes on to say that his original form of Krishna is superior to that of the Universal form.
wonderful, it was worth visting your website(blog), you have provided a lot of information. I really appreciate you effort and service. will be in touch with you, after reading all the articles. btw is it possible to provide the larger ver of the photo :-)
pranam
I WANT TO ASK WHO IS PERBRAHM IS THAT LORD KRISHNA
Got one doubt regarding Balaram, brother of Krishna (is he the avathar of Vishnu ? )
If thats the case, dint Kamsa kill him ?
Or is it like, he was the first son of Vasudev ?
Total confusion
Sri Balram is not avthar of Vishnu. He is brother of Vishnu. He is the 7th son of Devki and Vasudev in jail. The fact of the matter is, when Balram was in Devki's womb, he was transferred from Devki's womb to Rohini's womb (of course through Maya). Since Devki's womb was transferred, Kamsa could not even come to know about the fact that Balaram was born and thats why he could not kill him. Hope your confusion clears.
Whatever you call all are part of one divine power 'the ultimate'.If everyone understands that then there would not be religious clashes.
all the 330 divine beings are demigods and there is only one god and that is krishna
Absolutely true..But there is one thing which I have heard of...don't know if its true or false but this is what I have heard and also believed so would like to share it with you. I am into Media for 4 years now. I was working with a TV Production House 'Creative Eye' which was producing a Mythological show titled 'Jai Ma Vaishnav Devi' for 9X Channel. I was the Associate Creative Head on the show. We had shown that 'Shtishti Rachna' or 'Creation of Universe' was by a power called SHAKTI. This was the only living entity and it was a Female. There was nothing on earth but only water. This power used to travel by water. Once it realised that it needs a companion and that can help in the creation of many more entities. The power created a 'PIND' or a small rocklike shapeless structure. SHAKTI concentrated all her energy into the PIND. a Young Boy emerged 'Satva' from the PIND. Shakti expressed her desire to create life in association with Satva. Satva refused saying "since you have created me, I happen to be your son, so please forgive me for disobeying you". SHAKTI got furious and with her power burnt the boy into ashes. Sometime later, she again created another pind. A young Boy emerged. He was Raj. SHAKTI again expressed her desire to create life with him. He too refused giving the same reason as Satva did. Shakti turned aggressive. Raj pacified her and told her that she shall immolate but before doing so he would like to tell her that if she creates Tama from her power, he would accept her proposal. Raj immolates. Now SHAKTI creates Tama and he accpets her proposal to create the Universe but puts across a condition. He tells her to show her power by emerging and taking a shape. SHAKTI agrees. Now she takes her ful form- seated on a lion's back, her ten arms equipped with weapons, she is SHAKTI. She is none but Vaishnavi/Vaisho Devi, the mother/creator of the Universe. The reason she is called Vaishno inspit of being Shiva (Tama's wife) is because it was on Raj (Vishnu's) advice that she created Tama(Shiva) and in turn created herself. Satva is none but Brahma. SHAKTI handsover all her power to SHIVA and authorizes him as the SUPREME LEADER of the UNIVERSE. She also tells him that she would take birth as a human and get married to him. This form of SHAKTI is Sati. She also took birth as Parvati. SHAKTI also tells Shiva that she would forget the entire episode of being the ulitmate power unless being reminded by someone so that she does not have any 'aham' or pride in being the supreme power. Shiva then reinstates power in the two pindis from which Satva and Raj had emerged, thus giving Brahma and Vishnu to the Universe. Saraswati and Lakshmi also emerge from the two Pindis. SHIVA, BRAHMA & VISHNU are called TRIDEV and DURGA/SHAKTI, SARASWATI & LAKSHMI are called TRIDEVI.
Awaiting a Feedback.
Yes Gayatriji, there are numerous such incidents mentioned in the Puranas and in regional folklore. The Supreme Soul that we Hindus worship is Brahman. It is referred as That. Neither male nor female. It is all that is animate and inanimate. Creation happens at its will....
Now humans who are worshipers of Shakti assume Brahman to female and think in that way.
But if you are able to decipher the truth you will realize that all these attempts are human efforts to give proper definition to creation but they don't realize that defining Brahman and its activities is beyond human power.
if that the case then why do we have specific days assigned for each og the forms of God/Supreme Power/Brahman? God's like Ganesha and Krishna...are they mere imagination? I don't think so...They are a PART of the WHOLE but they do exist...else Hindus across the world would'nt be building temples for specific deities for worshipping...Like Ganesha is gold Vigna Harta or the remover of all obstacles..so it means that he is the God for removing all troubles in our life.
i feel gayatri has not understood the point...there is Ganesha, Krishna and other gods...they all are manifestations of Brahman who is worshiped in different forms and names....and this is the beauty of Hinduism...to worship a personal god in the form you best can identify with....
Thanks
Vinod Sharma
Dear Vinod, I did thououghly understand the concept of Brahman and all its manifestations....the reason I was talking about the individual Gods was to ask if the stories that we hear from various sources were just a myth...as I would not call them myths because they must have happened sometime for sure.
I want top say madam gayatri that what she has heard is wrong. No authentic hindu scripture agrees with what you have said.There are many theories about the supreme gad and origin of universe in hindu scriptutres but no one tells what you have said.you should refer authentic hindu scriptures regarding this matter.For your information I would like to say that Vaishno devi was an incarnation of devis in tretayug who was a great bhakta of lord Vishnu.A the time of incarnation of lord Vishnu in the form of lord Ram ,she started doing tapsya to get lord Ram as husband as lord Vishnu had promised her.But lord Ram refused to marry her as he had decided to marry only once during lifetime.But he said her in Kakyug during Kalki avatar he would marry her.he said her to stay on trikuta mountain upto that time.He said that she would be known as Vaishno devi as she would spread vaishnav dharma on earth.he told her that Hanumana would stay on trikuta for her protection.So Hanumana is still on tiikuta as her protector.
Gayatri - there are many 'stories' and pasttimes (lilas) around of the devi and devtas of hinduism - you will find many at each temple in India - but you have take them with a pinch of salt. But we must look at the authorised scriptures to find the truth... scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita & Srimad Bhagavatam - these two are specific for Kali yuga (as they have been written most recently - 5000 years ago and are the essence of the Vedic scriptures specically made for people of Kali yuga) These scriptures are authorised because Gita is spoken by Lord Krishna and Srimad Bhagavatam is written by Vyasadeva. These contain the truth passed down by the Lord. We should not 'speculate' like 'Oh I have heard this from my friend', otherwise we will misunderstand and be cheated.
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