Does Hindus worship 330 million gods? The number 330 million is constantly heard when any discussion regarding the gods in Hinduism take place. But the initiators of the discussion, who are mostly totally unaware of Hindu religion and wants to take a dig, deliberately skip the symbolism of the numerous Hindu gods. The symbolism of the 330 million that it represents the Brahman, which has different names, forms, activities, attributes and powers owing to differences of function. All animate and inanimate and those yet to appear is nothing but a manifestation of Brahman.
It is a known fact that it is impossible to worship the 330 million gods. But, why the number 33? In Brhadaranyaka Upanishad while discussing Brahman, Yajnavalkya is asked how many gods are there. He says that there are three hundred and three and three thousand and three gods. When the question is repeated? He says, thirty three. When the question is again repeated he says, six. Finally, after several repetitions he says ONE. (Chapter I, hymn 9, verse 1)
The number 33 comes from the number of Vedic gods explained by Yajnavalkya in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad – the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Indra and Prajapati. (Chapter I, hymn 9, verse 2)
Now to this 33 was added the maximum number of zeros that the ancient people thought were the number of living beings.
So when someone mentions about 330 million gods in Hindu Religion, it consists of the person mentioning it and those listening plus all living and non-living beings. In fact, if the ancient seers were to create the same symbolism today they will be counting it in billions.
Millions or billions, it is nothing but the manifestation of the ONE God and Hindus call it Brahman.
Lord Krishna explains thus in the Bhagavad Gita
- I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substratum, and the imperishable seed. (Chapter 9, Verse 18)
- I am the origin or seed of all beings, O Arjuna. There is nothing, animate or inanimate, that can exist without
- O Arjuna, know Me to be the eternal seed of all creatures. (Chapter 7, Verse 10)
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8 comments:
Good post, but i am still not clear as to why the symbolism of the 330 million is represented by, "Brahman", could you please elaborate?
Brahman is the term used to indicate that which is not definable - the supreme being...who can manifest in millions of ways for devotees....
I do remember and love that conversation that Yagnavalkya has with his second wife (who is more intellectually inclined). The number he comes up with each ' So how many Gods are there?' are interesting and hold a logical symbolism to each. From 33 million to the one.
I have heard by some wise people talking about muppath mukkodi (in malayalam)gods as considered as 33%Kodi ( angle or pecentage ) is represented as percentage. Man contains 33 % godly nature, 33% manly nature and 33% demonic nature.Thiry three kodi of gods is simple expression of our own nature.
I think this article very well explains the meaning of 330 million gods. Our dharma says all of us are gods, just our divinity has to be evoked through means like tap, dhyan, and good karma. In the end, the soul inside your body and the one inside my body would become one with the supreme soul - the God.
Thanks a ton for writing such an informative article.
The figure quoted is huge. It contains many functions, characteristics and traits of deities. These are sometimes human and non-human. This shows that the concept of deity and divinity is complex and is out of the scope of a human. The human can try to understand powers beyond human capability but it is an almost impossible process.
It is also a ploy used by religion to keep the devotee enquiring about the unknown. The devotee will have questions and impressions that will not be resolved and religion fills the void and influences the individual.
I also heard from my husband about the 33 crore deities in hinduism actually being referred to the ratio 1/3.ie. human have three gunas - deva guna, asura guna and manushya guna. So the ratio 1/3= 0.3333.... actually represents the deva guna in us (or divinity) which was limited to 33 crore because crore was the limit of mathematics at that time. I was in search for some strong support to this theory in internet when I came across this article. If anyone interested to read more, you can check out this link too..
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/33-crore-gods-of-hindus-178570.html
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