How many Gods/Godesses are there currently in Hinduism?
2006-10-01 04:23:48 · 13 answers · asked by emski fairy 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
There are so many gods in Hinduism. Do Hindus believe that there are multiple Gods ? Why do they worship multiple gods ?
There are 33 devas (divines) that include agni, indra, varuNa, vAyu and others. There are many references to these names in the vedas. If we analyze it we could see that each one is an essential function (fire, water, air, sun etc) that supports our living in this world. So these 33 aspects are hailed in the vedas. But Hindus consider the trinity (brahma, viShNu, rudra) to be above these divines. While brahma does not get worshipped by many as the God, shiva (rudra is an aspect of Lord Shiva) and viShNu are worshipped by the Shaivites and the Vaishanavaites respectively. Along with Shaivism and Vaishnavism, shAktam, gANApatyam, kaumAram, sauram are the four religions that make up the shaNmata (six religions) on the Hinduism.
Hindu scriptures state clearly that there is only one Supreme God (ekam sad viprAH bahutA vadanti). Then why are so many deities and worship ? It can be understood by reading the scriptures that each of these devas represent/have an aspect/energy of the Supreme. So in essence it is a complete divine system that operates. For example the Shaivites consider shakti as the dynamic part of the Supreme. Each of the six religions of Hinduism would call by different names and would put forward different philosophies, but all agree that there is one and only one Supreme God.
It is in fact the specialty of Hinduism that it lets multiple perspectives of the God to coexist on its platform, all sharing the same common dharma.
In essence there is only one God and the other divines (many times callas as gods) are responsible of one part of nature or other. The God is worshipped in multiple perpectives, names in Hinduism that has six major religions in it. This has been possible due to the tolerance of Hinduism.
The different practices based on the three Vedas, SaMkhya, Yoga, Pashupata, VaiShNava etc. say this is supreior, that is superior etc. But as the sea is the final resting place for all types of streams, You (God) are the final reaching place for all those paths.
- shiva mahimna stotram
2006-10-01 04:28:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
1
2006-10-01 04:25:01 · answer #2 · answered by St♥rmy Skye 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hindus believe each of us to be a part of God. Much like the leaves on a tree, each is a leaf, but still each leaf is undeniably the tree. Much like Christianity teaches that we are all a part of God.
Many twist this to make fun of Hindus and say that they believe in millions of Gods. This is just religious bigotry.
If you study Hindu scripture you will be surprised to learn that western science and theology are just now catching up to what Hindu scripture was teaching 4000 years ago.
Love and blessings don
2006-10-01 04:33:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thousands quite literally- Hinduism has many Gods but the most well known are Hanumaan, Ganesh, Kali maa and so on.
2006-10-01 04:25:36 · answer #4 · answered by Squirrel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As per hinduism there is only one god...that is called 'Brahman' (pls dont mistake it with Brahma) !!! Brahman is the absolute consciousness and all others are sub-gods...or ishwaras who have limited powers. Every so called gods in every religion comes under Brahaman!
Let me ask a doubt. Christians claim that they have only one god..ie Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ in turn tells about his father and calls him as his real god ! So one plus one became two !
How did that happen ?
So every religion has its own follies and truths. Let us accept the good points in every religion and lead a good life. We fought each other in the name of religions and who won ? Who lost ? Just the family members of the people who gets killed and burnt in the name of religion....nobody else !
2006-10-01 20:46:01 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is only one god. Not only in Hinduism, but for all other religion. We are calling him in different names. Don't believe in religion. Believe in the god, and stop to ask this type of questions also.
2006-10-01 04:27:58 · answer #6 · answered by Gopalakrishnan 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm not totally sure, i think it varies, depending on whether you count certain gods/people. They are all reincarnations of three main gods, so if you look at it like that, there are only three...
But I've heard anywhere from 2000-1 million!
2006-10-01 04:25:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Official tally runs around 3 million. There's no real official number, though. There are around 100-150 that are most frequently worshiped.
2006-10-01 04:26:49 · answer #8 · answered by angk 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there is only 1 god in hinduism he forms himself in differnt shapes
it says in da hindu book
2006-10-03 09:48:08 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
if you are talking about the absolute total then it is going into the thousands.
The main 3 are Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva.
2006-10-01 04:25:52 · answer #10 · answered by Siu02rk 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋