why hindus worship rivers, snakes and other gods creations?

Question

It is seen that the hindus worship all those creations of GOD, which can hurt the man kind, like snakes, rivers, and so on... are they afraid of these creations and belive that by worshiping them nothing will happen..?

Answer 1

The rivers of India have been closely associated with our history and civilization. Entwined with spirituality and philosophy, they have always been worshipped as personifications of divinity. The places located at the course of rivers are treated as sacred.

Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion, perhaps, lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological balance. Nature, or Earth, has never been considered a hostile element to be conquered or dominated. In fact, man is forbidden from exploiting nature. He is taught to live in harmony with nature and recognize that divinity prevails in all elements, including plants and animals.

Snake worship refers to the high status of snakes in Hindu mythology which, along with a host of other life forms, appear as vital characters in the Hindu epics. Snakes are one of the most sacred animals, second only to the cow.

Snakes are associated with Hinduism in their Puranass Snakes like Shesha (Adisesha, Sheshnaga, or the 1,000 headed snake) upholds the world on his many heads and is said to be used by Lord Vishnu to rest. Shesha also sheltered Lord Krishna from a thunderstorm during his birth.
Vasuki allowed himself to be coiled around Mount Mandara by the Devas and Asuras to churn the milky ocean creating the ambrosia of immortality. Kaliya poisoned the Jamuna / Yamuna river where he lived. Krishna (Balakrishna / infant Krishna) subdued Kaliya by dancing on him and compelled him to leave the river. Lord Shiva also wears a snake around his neck.

Similarly Hindus worship other creations of God, as we are all benefitted by them and it is our tradition to thank and pray all those who help us and have taken part in our Mythology and Religion.-

Answer 2

No. Eternal Hindu religion as it originated ( & not how it finally turned out ) was meant for the well-being & worship of life & all of god's creations. Here comes the reason for worshipping snakes. And though river is not alive, ancient men without so much as materialistic scientific knowledge believed them to be flowing from gods ( like Ganges was thought to be flowing from the head of Lord Shiva ) & hence worshipped them.

Answer 3

The idea was initially very noble and uplifting. It signified one of the most important sayings of the Hindu philosophy i.e God is omnipresent. He is not confined to the temples and the religious places or persons. He is present in every particle of this universe. As such we should love, respect and protect every thing including snakes, rivers, mountains. But later on with the passage of time Hindus became ignorant of those noble and lofty laws and principles such practices. They started thinking that no harm will come to me if i worship the snake. I will be saved from floods if i worship the river etc. The most noble things have become corrupted to such ignorance and ritualism. This is true of not only Hindus but of all religions. All religions in their present day form are hollow in spirit and full in outward show and ritualism. The followers are hardly questioning. They just follow what the religious person in the temple, mosque, church, etc tell him as if those were the last words.

Answer 4

The minds of all beings are connected. When there is a disturbance in one mind, it affects the minds in its vicinity. The creatures live peacefully with each other when the give-and-take goes on with proper amount in the proper time. Some creatures like the snakes, etc are not supposed to give you anything but still you have to give them something. May be, they have given you something in their previous births which you have not paid for yet. So, in this give-and-take policy, you clear all the debts you incur from all the creatures.

In some way or other, you are indebted to all creatures on the earth and heaven. You have to clear these debts periodically. This is what the Hindus do on days relevant to the particular elements. This is a great science. Sciences like Physics, etc study the behavior of gross matter. But the Hindu literature gives a knowledge of the behaviour of "Mind".

Anything that exists has consciousness, even if you may not agree with me. Rivers have consciousness. God can manifest in any form, as animate or (the so-called) inanimate beings. This is because He exists in every being. Sometimes, He manifests as human beings, sometimes as beasts, sometimes as birds, reptiles, trees, plants, or even stones.

So, there is nothing wrong in worshipping some birds, beasts, rivers, etc.

Answer 5

when you worship God why not his creations.when you worship one thing, you tend to see it always and do nothing to make it disappear from your sight; India has been predominantly an agrarian society and rivers and snakes findplace in india; Indians did not go for inventing modern methods and get destroyed by them inspite of possessing extensive knowledge of scienctific principles;but, alas, india is one of the many countries where harmful industrial and scientific inventions and products are made to rule the life of people; even yesterday (7.7.07), Mr Al Gore organisd a concert for saving the globe; in episde after episode, the late Steve Irvin emphasises protection of world life forms; a good man was in the wrong society. ok. suffice?

Answer 6

Its sad to see people commenting on a religion about which, perhaps, they know nothing.
In the present context of environmental destruction Hinduism's worship of all elements of nature is actually laudable.People usually conserve what they worship.In poor,illiterate villages and tribal areas of India, lush forests thrive because people worship trees and look after them.And if snakes scare people and they worship it then that too helps in conservation indirectly.On a spiritual level when you worship the Creator than it automatically follows that you worship and take care of his creations too.Monotheistic religions, that came much later, have tended to mock religions like Hinduism and called its followers pagans but if you look at their record then you will realise that we need not accept their view of our religion.We just need to understand the true meaning behind what seems like strange rituals to the rest of the world.

Answer 7

I have never heard of anyone worshipping a river, but perhaps there is some merit to such a practice. At least a river isn't a figment of the imagination.

Answer 8

worshipping gives a sort of self satisfaction and self confidence. though many of us who pray the real purpose behind such prayer rather real result, we are taught to do the way we are doing. a confidence gained in whatever way, either by praying or otherwise, gives the ultimate result of our seeking. identifying god to be river, snake, jesus, allah are easy way of concentrating mind. since many of us beyond the capacity of realisation of such facts, our ancestors have shown easy of doing and achieving it. all people cannot gain will power. a person of guilt even if he prays hours together, he cannot gain will power. a person with purity when makes prayer, will achieve will power. this will power is giving the result which we mistakenly think that god whom we prayed has given the result. nothing wrong in praying river. water is the life line of living beings. a prayer to river is in the form of gratitude for enabling sustain life by providing water. when this is the background, one should not go in the narrow lines of good and bad of any religion. religion is only a media to achieve will power. but ultimate working of humanity is on will power. when that is week, we even fail to understand the worldly realisation!

Answer 9

if you would give us the formula for creating any object from nothing, we will stop praying to all these objects.

Now i at least hope you all to have at least the basic intellect to understand my above words.

What an idiots, and what limited thoughts you have, real pity. its ur kind of guys, who told earth was not a sphere, and sun and all planets rotated around earth.

sometimes i get surprised at your confidence towards the limited tiny capabilities you have, that too at the mercy of the creator, who have given you some biksha, when you begged him.


In simple words, we know its value but you don't, that is all the difference, if i have to give non biased statement. and it is also true that not all humans are lucky enough to get the power to know gods creation.

( Nice question Justine, thanks for that )
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-- deito
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Answer 10

The answer lies in my question.
Why all the creations of GOD are working i.e. live?
Ans : As GOD lives in all its creations, because of that only
those things are working properly.
And hindus think that going neared to GOD is only possible
when you will be small i.e. bowed infront of him. Thats why
hindus bows / prays / worships all the creations of GOD.