Concept of God in Hinduism

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM

The most popular amongst the Aryan religion is Hinduism
1. Common concept of God in Hinduism:
If you ask a common Hindu that how many Gods he believe in, some may say three some may say thirty three, some may say a thousand while some may say thirty three crore i.e. 330 millions. But if you ask this question to a Hindu learned man who is well Versed with the Hindu scriptures, he will reply that the Hindu should actually believe and worship only one God.
2. Difference between Islam and Hinduism is ‘s’
(Everything is ‘God’s’ - everything is ‘God’):
The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim is that the common Hindu believes in philosophy of Pantheism i.e. everything is God, the tree is God, the sun is God, the moon is God, the snake is God, the monkey is God, the human being is God.
The Muslims believe that everything is God’s. God with and apostrophe ‘s’. Everything belongs to God, the tree belongs to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, monkey belongs to God, the human being belongs to God.
Thus the major difference between the Hindus and the Muslims is the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s, God with an apostrophe ‘s’. If we can solve the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’, the Hindus and the Muslims will be united.
The Holy Qur’an says, “Come to common terms as between us and you”, which is the first term? “That we worship none but Allah”, so lets come to common terms by analyzing the scripture of the Hindus and the Muslim.
3. Bhagwad Geeta 7:20
The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagwad Geeta. Bhagwad Geeta mentions in Chapter 7, Verse 20, “Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires worship demigods” that is “Those who are materialistic, they worship demigods” i.e. besides the true God.
4. Upanishad
Upanishad are also one of the sacred scriptures of the Hindus.
(i) Chandogya Upanishad, Chapter 6, Section 2, Verse 1
It is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, Prapathaka(Chapter) 6, Khanda(Section)2, Shloka(Verse) “Ekam evaditiyam”, “He is one only without a second”.
The principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan, page 447 and 448(sacred books of the east Volume 1 the Upanishads, part I, page 93)
a) (ii) Similar to what is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in Surah Ikhlas, Chapter 112, Verse 1, “Say he is Allah one and only”.
b) (i) Svetasvatara Upanishad, Chapter 6, Verse 9
It is mentioned in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, Adhyaya(Chapter) 6, Shloka(Verse) 9, “Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah” “Of him there is neither parents nor lord”.
“na tasya kascit patir asti loke, na cesita naiva ca tasya lingam, na karanam karanadhipadhipo na casya kascij janita na cadhipah”.
“Of him there is no master in the world, no ruler, nor is there any mark of him. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the sense organs; of him there is neither progenitor nor lord”.
(The principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745 and in sacred books of the east Volume 15, the Upanishads, part II, page 263)
(ii) Similar message is given in Holy Qur’an in Surah Ikhlas, Chapter 112, Verse 3,
“He begets not, nor is he begotten”.
(i) In Svetasvatara Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 19
It is mentioned in Svetasvatara Upanishad, Adhyaya(Chapter) 4, Shloka(Verse) 19,
“Na tasya pratima asti” “There is no likeness of him”.
“nainam urdhvam na tiryancam na madhye na parijagrabhat na tasya pratima asti yasya nama mahad yasah” “There is no likeness of him whose name is great glory”.
(The principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737 and in sacred books of the east Volume 15, the Upanishad, part II, page 253)
c) (ii) Similar message is given in the Holy Qur’an in Surah Ikhlas, Chapter 112, Verse 4,
“And there is none like unto him”.
c) (iii) Surah Shura, Chapter 42, Verse 11 and also in Surah Shura, Chapter 42, Verse 11,
“There is nothing whatever like unto him”.
d) (i) In Svetasvatara Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 20
It is mentioned in Svetasvatara Upanishad, Adhyaya(Chapter) 4, Shloka(Verse) 20,
“na samdrse tishati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam” “his form cannot be seen, no one sees him with the eye”
“nasamdrse tishati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam. Hrda hrdistham manasa ya enam, evam vidur amrtas te bhavanti”
“His form is not to be seen; no one sees him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him as abiding in the heart become immortal”.
(The principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737 & in sacred books of the east Volume 15, the Upanishad part II, page 253)
e) (ii) Similar message is given in the Holy Qur’an in Surah Anam, Chapter 6, Verse 103,
“No vision can grasp him. But his grasp is over all vision: he is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things”.
5. Yajurveda
Vedas are the most sacred amongst all the Hindu scriptures, there are principally 4 Vedas, Rigved, Yajurved, Samved and Atharvaved.
a) Yajurveda, Chapter 32, Verse 3
It is mentioned in Yajurved, Chapter 32, Verse 3
“na tasya pratima asti” “There is no image of Him”
It further says as “He is unborn, He deserves our worship”
“There is no image of him whose glory verily is great. He sustains within himself all luminous objects like the sun etc. may he not harm me, this is my prayer. As he is unborn, he deserves our worship”.
(The Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377)
b) Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 8
It is mentioned in Yajurved, Chapter 40, Verse 8, “He is body less and pure”
“He hath attained unto the bright, bodiless, woundless, sinewless, the pure which evil hath not pierced. Far-sighted wise, encompassing, he self existent hath prescribed aims as propriety demands unto the everlasting years”
(Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph I.H. Griffith page 538)
c) Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 9
It is mentioned in Yajurved, Chapter 40, Verse 9
“Andhatma pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste”
“They enter darkness, those who worship natural things” For e.g. air, water, fire etc.
It further continues and says, “They sink deeper in darkness those who worship Sambhuti i.e. created things”, For example table, chair, idol etc.
“Deep into shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti’s worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent”
(Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T.H. Griffith page 538)
6. Atharvaveda
a) (i) Atharvaveda, Book 20, Hymn (Chapter) 58, Verse 3
It is mentioned in Atharvaveda, Book 20, Hymn (Chapter) 58, Verse 3
“Dev maha osi” “God is verily great”
“Verily, surya, thou art great; truly, aditya, thou art great. As thou art great indeed thy greatness is admired: yea, verily, great art thou, O God”
(Atharvaveda Samhiti Volume 2, William Dwight Whitney page 910)
a) (ii) Surah Rad, Chapter 13, Verse 9
A similar message is given in Qur’an Surah Rad, Chapter 13, Verse 9,
“He is the Great, the most High.”
7. Rigveda
The most oldest and sacred amongst all the Vedas is Rigveda.
a) Rigveda, Book No.1, Hymn No. 164, Verse 46
It is mentioned in Rigveda Book no.1, Hymn no.164 Verse 46
“Sages (learned Priest) call one God by many names”
“They have styled (Him, God or the sun) indra (the resplendent), mitra (the surveyor), varuna (the venerable), agni (the adorable), and he is the celestial, well-winged garutmat (the great), for learned priests call one by many names as they speak of the adorable as yama (ordainer) and matarisvan (cosmic breath)”.
b) (i) Rigveda, Book 2, Hymn 1
Rigveda gives no less than 33 different attributes to Almighty God several of these attributes are mentioned in Rigveda, Book 2, Hymn 1
b) (ii) Brahma - Creator - Khaliq, Rigveda Book 2, Hymn 1, Verse 3
Amongst the various attributes given in Rigveda one of the beautiful attributes for Almighty God is ‘Brahma’. ‘Brahma’ means ‘the creator’. If you translate into Arabic it means ‘Khaliq’. We Muslims have got no objection if you call Almighty God a ‘Khaliq’ or ‘Creator’ or ‘Brahma’ but if someone says that ‘Brahma’ is Almighty God who has got 4 heads and on each head is a crown and he has got 4 hands. We Muslims take strong except to it because you are giving an image to Almighty God. Moreover you are going against Yajurveda, Chapter 32, Verse 3, which says,
“Na tasya pratima asti” ‘”There is no image of him”
b) (iii) Vishnu - Sustainer - Rabb: Rigveda, Book II, Hymn 1, Verse 3
Another beautiful attribute mentioned in the Rigveda, Book II, Hymn 1, Verse 3, is Vishnu, ‘Vishnu’ means ‘the Sustainer’. If you translate into Arabic it means ‘Rabb’, we Muslims have no objection if anyone call Almighty God as ‘Rabb’ or ‘Sustainer’ or ‘Vishnu’ but if someone says Vishnu is Almighty God who has got 4 arms. One of the right arm holding the ‘Chakra’ i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘Conch shell’ and he is riding on a bird or reclining on a snake couch. We Muslims take strong exception to this, because you are giving an image to Almighty God. Moreover you are going against Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 8.
c) Rigveda, Book 8, Hymn 1, Verse 1
It is mentioned in Rigveda, Book 8, Hymn 1, Verse 1
“Ma Chidanyadia Shansata”
“Do not worship anybody but Him, the divine one Praise Him alone”
“Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata in dram it stota vrishanam saca sute muhaur uktha ca sansata”.
“O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the divine one. Let no grief perturb you. Praise Him alone, the radiant, the showerer of benefits. During the course of self-realization, go on repeatedly uttering Hymns in His honour”.
(Rigveda Samhiti, Volume IX, page 1 and 2 by Swami Satyaprakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidhya Lankar)
d) (i) Rigveda, Book 5, Hymn 81, Verse 1
It is mentioned in Rigveda, Book 5, Hymn 81, Verse 1,
“Verily great is the glory of the divine creator”
(Rigveda Samhiti, Volume 6, page 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidhyalanka)
d) (ii) Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 2
Similar message is given in the Holy Qur’an In Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 2,
“Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds”.
e) (i) Rigveda, Book 3, Hymn 34, Verse 1
It is mentioned in Rigveda, Book 3, Hymn 34, Verse 1
“The bounteous giver”
(Hymns of Rigveda, Volume 2, page 377, by Ralph T.H. Griffith)
e) (ii) Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 3
Same as Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 3, “Most Gracious, most merciful”
f) (i) Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 160
It is mentioned in Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 16
“Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wonder”
“By goodly path lead us to riches, Agni, thou God who knowest all our works and wisdom. Remove the sin that makes us astray and wander: most ample adoration will we bring thee”
(The Yajurveda Samhiti by Ralph T.H Griffith Page 541)
f) (ii) Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 6 and 7
Similar message is given in Surah Fateha, Chapter 1, Verse 6 and 7
“Show us the straight way, the way of those on whom thou has bestowed thy grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath. And who go not astray”.

g) Rigveda, Book No VI, Hymn 45, Verse 16
It is mentioned in Rigveda, Book VI, Hymn 45, Verse 16
“Ya eka ittamushtuhi”
“Praize Him who is the matchless and alone.”
(Hymns of Rigveda by Ralph T.H. Griffith page 648)
8. Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta
The Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta is:
“Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste nen na naste kinchan”
“Bhagwan ek hi hai dusara nahi hai, nahi hain nahi hai zara bhi nahi hai.”
“There is only one God, not the second, not at all, not in the least bit.”
Therefore only if you read the Hindu Scripture will you understand the correct concept of God in Hinduism.
12:43:43 PM
Posted By Mohammed Irshad Hussain Comments (5) Society
Comments
ramhyd Tuesday, October 10, 2006 1:15:06 PM
Well done friend, keep it up. Let me add a few things. Bible says God made man in his image. This makes people feel that God looks like human beings. The truth is that God is an ocean of peace, love, bliss and truth and He made man with these qualities initially (that is what is meant by image). 330 millions refers to deities and not God. Deities were humans with divine qualities who lived on this very planet of ours. We are not deities now because we have lost our original virtues and become degraded with all vices.

K. Venugopal Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:29:37 PM

I find this insistence on “believing in only one God” a contradiction of terms. If you say God, then how can there be many? For God is defined as the Absolute and Absolute means exactly that – total. You can count only when there are two. When there is no other, then how can you count? So this Islamic insistence on “believing in one God” is sheer ignorance. The Hindus express God in various ways, which us in essence expressions of our true self. When the totality includes the knower, then how can the knower know something that his not him? The Hindu is not seeking to express a different totality every time he expresses the totality differently.Moreover, Islam’s contention that God speaks to man only through scriptures or that he has remained silent after dictating his last testament to Mohammad and would start talking again only on the day of the Judgment to deliver verdicts is rather childish. That God is ever speaking thorough his creation, through man’s intelligence, man’s heart, nay through man’s consciousness, should be an obvious fact to anyone even slightly inclined to spiritualism. This constant presence of God would make man to eventually realize that the constant presence was none other than he, the long thought puny man.

K. Venugopal Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:31:20 PM

Everything is God’s, Islam says. Hinduism says everything is God. (When I say “Hinduism says” I mean, “It is also said in Hinduism”, because there is no end to the varying expressions of truth contained in Hinduism.) Unless everything is God, how can God be Absolute? By saying that everything is not God, Islam is only belittling God. In other words, Muslims are praying to a lesser God!About demigods, isn’t what the Bhagwad Geeta saying common sense? If you are materialistic (that is, if you are dependent on the external), naturally you are worshiping that which is not God. Islam, in truth, is worshiping that which is not God. That is to say, Allah is a demigod. In fact, you cannot ultimately worship God. For you yourself are the God that you have been seeking. TAT TWAM ASI. “Ekam evaditiyam”, “He is one only without a second”. This shloka too points to the Absolute, not a Creator separated from his creation. Quintessentially Hindu. Quran’s “Say he is Allah one and only” (according to your translation) brings man up only to the level of loyalty. What about realizing the Absolute Truth, that Allah is what we are? Sorry folks, no answer in the Quran, turn to the Vedas.

K. Venugopal Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:32:43 PM

Having said this much about your quotations from the Vedas, it should be clear to anyone with an open mind that Quran is essentially talking about loyalty to God whereas the Vedas are talking about the truth that we are indeed that God. Vedas are simply asking us to wake up to the truth about us.About the worshiping of natural things being a ticket to enter darkness, the Vedas said it in the context of the Vedas itself being in essence a celebration of nature. It did not however want the disciple to stop at celebration of nature, it wanted him to get into the very spirit of the celebrated nature, in the light of which, anything lesser is akin to darkness. The effect of the Vedic injunctions can be seen even today, where no Hindu who does Pooja to a cow or sits down in meditation under a tree or does aarti in front of a stone thinks that the cow or tree or stone is the end point of his prayers. He knows that there is a power behind the cow, tree or stone and it is to that power that he prays or worships, hoping thereby to one day realize the power within himself. If the cow, tree or stone comes in between, it is only because he needs a concentration point or because he celebrates the expression of the divinity variously.Have you heard of anybody worshiping a table or chair (chair – maybe, the types who dream of political power)? Therefore, it was not honest on the part of the writer to include table and chair as his examples. Idols, of course. Idol-worshiping is a science and an art. It’s basis is the kundalini power within us. This is a very big subject. A separate blog is called for.

K.Venugopal Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:33:21 PM

When you say you have no objection to calling Allah as Brahma, you are verily on the Hindu wavelength. But the moment you object to our imagination decorating Brahma with four heads and hands etc, you are revealing your fascist mindset. Are you trying to gag imagination? If you say there is no image of Him, I say, well let’s start with making one and lets not ever stop making images of Him. (Is there an end to the images of our roly-poly Ganapati?)Muslims appear to be terrified of the idea of giving an image to God. Let them know that the famous Chidambaram Temple in Tamil Nadu contains a hallowed space that does not have any images of God within. Muslims could worship there at the Chidambaram temple, being certain that they are not worshiping any idols.I wish in conclusion to comment that it is wonderful that the Muslims are discovering that the word of God is reflected in the Vedas also. Of course, this is in consonance with the teachings of Islam that Allah sent messengers and scriptures to everyone. However, it must also make Muslims realize that the Vedas are alive and kicking among the Hindus and therefore the question of the Quran superceding all previous scriptures is not a point of fact. Quran is just one of the many scriptures extant and valid in today’s world and Islam is just one of the many religions and Mohammad is just one among the innumerable men of divinity and Allah is just one of the names we use to denote the Absolute.