In classical Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), what is the definition of a god/dess?

Question

I know they are considered as manifestations of the One God, but I am puzzled as to what makes them have the status of god/desses.

Answer 1

I will try to reply according to Srimad Bhagavatam (the most revered Book of Sanatana Dharma)
In Material World, we differentiate Male and Female based on Sex organ or Bodily features. But in Spiritual Word, there is no material Body.. The forms of male and female are still there but it is based on Nature of the soul.

Purusa (Male) means Enjoyer and Prakriti (female) means Enjoyed...
Purusa (Male) means Controller and Prakriti (female) means Controlled...
So in Spiritual world Only God and his Expansions that are non different from him are Purusa (Male)... All souls are engaged in service to that Personality and are Prakriti (Female)

In Material world, souls generally get body according to their attraction for a particular type of Gender... For example if you are meditating on the female body at time of death and as a matter of fact all your life then you get a female body.. This is law of Transmigration of soul as explained in Bhagavad Gita. And as per the body received they are called male or female..

But in comparison to what male, female mean in Spiritual terms, all living entity here are trying to become God or Male or Enjoyer...Only those who engage in service of God are being situated in actual position as servant of God or Female...

You may have heard of many Demigods or Devatas ( as Durga, Ganesh, Shiva, Saraswati etc) in Heavens as mentioned in Vedic Scriptures, but they are all in material world and not in Kingdom of God and the same rule of Transmigration of soul holds for them as for us...Heaven is separate from Kindom of God or Vaikuntha.

But in Kingdom of God, One takes a form according to his Rasa or taste of service to Supreme God...
Now God being Original Male has form of Male.. If you want to love and serve god as His wife or girl friend then you take up female form, if you want to serve God as his Play Friend then you mostly take form similar to God as Male.. If you want to love and sever god as Mother, then you take up form as Female, If you want to love and serve god as his Father then you take up male form.. If you want to serve and love god as his Pet then you can even take up animal form... It depends on your mood of love and service of God...

Its Higher Philosophy.. Most religions don’t have such detailed description of God ... so I request you to please read it with Open mind..
For more information on Demigods and How we get Bodies here you can read Bhagavad Gita On line at http://www.bhagavadgitaasitis.com/en

Answer 2

There's really no such thing as "classical" Hinduism - a lot of answers to questions such as this are post-constructed based on modern ideas about monotheism, etc. Many people would have been perfectly happy recognizing hinduism as a polytheist religion years ago before that fell out of vogue.

That said, there's an elaborate pantheon in the mythological system that went through various stages of evolution. The Vedic Gods like Indra and Varuna eventually became secondary to gods like Vishnu and Shiva, and are now sometimes considered only "demigods"; then there's a whole host of pseudo-divine figures like daityas and yakshas, apsaras etc.

The ultimate point is, according to the school of thought you seem to espouse, there's nothing especially "divine" about such creatures - they're beings just like you, in that they are aspects of Bramhan. There's nothing figurative about them.

Answer 3

It is a difference between religion and mythology.

The Hindu religion has one God, Brahma. He/she/it (actually Brahma has no gender) has various names and manifestations, but is essentially unique. In this sense Hinduism is monothestic.

Hindu mythology is another question. The various manifestations of the supreme Brahma (short a), which represent creation, preservation and destruction are personified as Brahma (long a), Vishnu and Shiva. There is also the Devi, the female manifestation of God, who also has various personifications.

There are also 'avatars' of the gods, who are demi-gods who embodied a particular god on earth. The best known of these is Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, but there are many others.

In essence, Hinduism has an inner, monothestic religion, which is surrounded by a outer, popular shell of stories and multiple deities. The Gods and Goddesses have arisen out of traditional stories which on one level can be considered allegories, but on another level are simply entertaining tales.

So essentially tradition has awarded them their status as Gods and Goddesses.

Answer 4

Hindus understand that the one truth may be seen as different to different people. Hinduism encourages devotees to describe and develop a personal relationship with their chosen deity (ishta devata) in the form of a God or Goddess. Worship of the deities is often done through the aid of pictures or statues which are said not to be God themselves but conduits for the devotee's consciousness,

Answer 5

Concept of God
Hinduism is sometimes called a polytheistic religion, but strictly speaking, calling it henotheistic would be more accurate. The Hindu scriptures depict God both as a personal being (as in the Judeo-Christian religions) and also as a principle. According to the Bhagavata Purana (1.2.11), the same Absolute is understood in three ways--as Brahman (the nonpersonal, all-pervading aspect of the Supreme), as the Paramātmā (the Oversoul or Supersoul, the aspect of God within the heart of all beings), and as Bhagavān, the Absolute in the transcendent personal feature.

The Hindu scriptures insist that Brahman cannot be described in words, but can be understood only through direct experience. Nevertheless, Hindu sages, within the limits of human language, have endeavoured to depict the nature of Brahman, and such attempts make up a large portion of the Hindu scriptures, particularly in the ancient Vedic texts known as the Upanishads. Several "mahaa-vaakyas," or great sayings, indicate what the principle of Brahman is: "Brahman is knowledge" (prajnaanam brahma), "Brahman is the Self" or "Brahman is the soul" (ayam aatmaa brahma), "I am brahman" (aham brahmaasmi), "You are brahman" (tat tvam asi),"All this [that we see in the world] is Brahman" (sarvam khalv idam brahma), and "Brahman is existence, consciousness, and happiness" (sachchidaananda brahma).

Thus, Brahman (not to be confused with the deity Brahmā) is conceived of as the very essence of existence and knowledge, which pervades the entire universe, including every living being. Moreover, Brahman is considered the only thing that ultimately exists. The goal of Hinduism is to somehow "wake up," and realize our own connection to the divine reality that may be called Brahman or God.[12]

The presence of God within the heart of every living being is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita (15.15 and 18.61), which says that God in this aspect is the source of inner direction and that from Him come memory, knowledge, and also forgetfulness.

When God is thought of as the supreme all-powerful individual person, he is called Īśvara or Bhagavān. Most Hindus, in their daily devotional practices, worship some form of this personal aspect of God, although they believe in the more abstract concept of Brahman as well. Īśvara is a word used to refer to the personal aspect of God in general; it is not specific to a particular deity.

Depending on which aspect of Īśvara one is talking about, a different name will be used--and frequently a different image or picture. For instance, when God is talked about in his aspect as the creator, he will be called Brahmā). When referred to in his capacity as preserver of the world, he is called Vishnu. When referred to in his capactity as destroyer of the world, he is called Shiva. This conception of God having three aspects is the Trimurti concept mostly strongly held by the Smarta school, but rejected by other denominations, such as Vaishnavism. Many of these individual aspects of God have other names and images. For example, Krishna and Rama are considered forms of Vishnu. All the various deities and images one finds in Hinduism are considered manifestations of the same God, called Īśvara in the personal aspect and Brahman when referred to as an abstract concept.

Hindus generally worship primarily one or another of these deities, known as their "ishta devatā," or chosen ideal. The particular form of God worshipped as one's chosen ideal is a matter of individual preference. Regional and family traditions can play a large part in influencing this choice. Hindus may also take guidance about this choice from their scriptures.

Although Hindus may worship deities other than their chosen ideal from time to time as well, depending on the occasion and their personal inclinations, it is not expected that they will worship--or even know about--every form of God. Hindus generally choose one concept of God (e.g., Krishna, Rama, Shiva, or Kali) and cultivate devotion to that chosen form, while at the same time respecting the chosen ideals of other people.

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Deities

Krishna revealing his universal form to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book TrustThe Hindu religion also believes in many celestial entities, called Devas. The word Devas may variously be translated into English as gods, demigods, deities, celestial spirits or angels, none of which is an exact translation. The feminine of deva is devī. It is the worship of the devas that gives the impression that Hinduism is polytheistic. However, the terms Īshvara and devas must not be confused. Devas could be said to be as numerous as 330 million.[13] Hinduism is incorrect said to have 330 million Gods, which are more correctly devas, or celestial beings. The number is also not 330 million (or 33 crores) but the word 'koti' in sanskrit means crore as well as categories, representing 33 devas. Hinduism is ultimately monistic, which considers the One Reality, the Universal and non-dual Brahman, behind all forms.

According to the philosophy of Mīmāṃsā, all the devas and devīs are the sovereign rulers of the forces of nature, and there is no one Supreme Īshvara as their Lord. To do a desired action, humans must please each or several of these devas by worshiping them with proper rituals. This view could be regarded as purely polytheistic. Although the later Mīmāṃsakās retracted this view and accepted Īshvara, many Hindus today still hold it.
According to the philosophy of Advaita Vedānta, all the devas are simply mundane manifestations of the Supreme Lord (Īshvara) in the human mind and hence, ultimately, different manifestations of the One Brahman that the human mind conceives.[14]. Advaita philosophy holds that in order to worship the formless Īshvara, the devotee conceives a physical form of God in his mind for the sake of worshiping Him with love (bhakti).
According to the philosophies of Nyāya, Vaisheṣhika, and Yoga, the Vaishnavite schools, and certain schools of Shaivite thought, the devas are those celestial beings who are subservient to the Supreme Lord Īshvara but are above human beings. Thus they preside over the forces of nature and act as a link between God and the mortal world. They all derive their power from God, under whose control they always work.
Whatever their wider relation may be, the devas (also called devatās) are an integral part of the colorful Hindu culture. The 33 early Vedic devas included Indra, Agni, Soma, Varuṇa, Mitra, Savitṛ, Rudra, Prajāpati, Viṣhṇu, Aryaman and the Ashvins; important devīs were Sarasvatī, Ūṣā and Pṛithvī. Indra is traditionally called the king of the demigods. The Purāṇas laud Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Shiva (sometimes called the Trimūrti), signifying respectively the creative, ruling and destroying aspects of the same One God. Brahmā, Viṣnu and Shiva are not regarded as ordinary devas but as Mahādevas. The Purāṇas also laud other devas, such as Gaṇesha and Hanumān, and avatāras such as Rāma and Kriṣhṇa. Devīs, worshiped as the mother, include Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī and Parvatī, and Durgā and her forms such as Kālī.

In Hinduism the scriptures recommend that for the satisfaction of a particular material desire a person may worship a particular deity.[15]

Hindus accept that ultimately there is only One Supreme Reality, diversely manifested. "The Ultimate Reality is the same, but different people call it by different names"