Monotheism vs Polytheism in Hinduism
Is Hinduism monotheistic? Or is it polytheistic? We all know Hindus pray to different gods. Do all of them pray to many gods? Is Hinduism a religion at all? This post looks at monotheism vs polytheism in Hinduism and in doing so, checks out if Hinduism is a religion at all.
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Monotheism in Hinduism: Brahman
Monotheism in Hinduism is a bit difficult to explain. Probably because everyone living in the bracket term “Hinduism” is free to choose his or her deity. At the same time, some of them pray to the different qualities of God as different deities. Monotheism in Hindutva exists, though Wikipedia and other sites may say that Hinduism, as such, is not a monotheistic religion. Hinduism is complicated. I will try to explain it in layman’s terms, without using the fancy terms. In doing so, you will understand the monotheism vs polytheism in Hinduism discussion.
Hinduism is not one religion but rather an umbrella term to cover native Indians who follow different traditions. I will talk about monotheism vs polytheism in Hinduism in the following paragraphs of this post. I will also talk about the different sects in Hindutva and other things that are deemed worship-worthy in this ancient religion.
Hinduism is both monotheistic and polytheistic. And everything in between. There exists a set of people who believe everything is God and there is a set of people who see God as a separate entity. There are people who pray to natural elements such as the rivers, plants, etc in a bid to understand God.
The early literature refers to Indra as the God: One God who was the caretaker of all. Later literature replaces the term Indra with Brahman, the one who creates and destroys the universe and is responsible for the sustenance of the universe. This Brahman is not to confused with “Lord Brahma” whom the Indian mythology refers to as the creator only or with “brahmin” who are people performing sacred rituals.
Brahman is closely related to the word “Brahmand” which is basically the universe. In other words, the “Brahmand” is the womb of the Brahman who is the God, whence the universe and life came out and after pralaya (destruction) goes back to the womb. Thus, universe is created, sustained, and then destroyed by Brahman. The process keeps on repeating until eternity. Brahman is said to be of no form. Very few people pray to God as this formless being. His sound is OM/AUM. It is said the AUM sound contains all other possible sounds in the universe.
Brahman has no gender. He’s neither male nor female. He is above gender. He existed before creation and will continue to exist after dissolution of this creation.
According to the Rig Veda, there was nothing before creation. He (Brahman) breathed on his own, without any breath. This means Brahman existed before creation (and after creation).
Hinduism is probably the only religion that simultaneously believes in the Bing Bang theory and God. The Hindu will believe in the Big Bang theory if you tell him about it, but he will also say the Big Bang happened because of Brahman.
Hindu Monotheism: The Advaita and Dvaita Philosophies
Two main schools of Hinduism though united by the thought that there is only one God, are divided by the type of prayer. There are Advaita believers and there are Dvaita believers.
Advaita means God and His creation is one. God is not separate from His creation. Everything that exists, is God. Thus, you and the phone you are holding are the same God. Swami Vivekananda is one example of the Advaita believers. He preached the Vedanta philosophy that says everything is God. The rocks and rivers are also God and there is no harm in praying to them.
The Dvaita believers too believe that there is only one God. The only thing that separates these people from the Advaita section is that these believers think God is a separate entity that exists throughout the universe. You can find God everywhere. They may or may not pray to the formless God. Some of them use symbols to worship God. Others focus on the formless God.
Thus, the Advaita Vedantists and Dvaita believers are two different Hindus, coexisting, nevertheless.
The Three Main Sects in Hinduism
There are so many sects among Hindus that one would get confused about what is happening. The following three are prominent: Vaishnava, Shivaite, and Shakta. Then, of course, there are the polytheists.
Each of the sect and sub sect is a religion in itself. This reinforces the idea that the whole of Hinduism is not just one religion but rather a bracket term that covers all these sects and sub sects.
The Vaishnavas
The Vaishnava sect among the Hindus pray to God in the form of Lord Vishnu. They believe Lord Vishnu creates, sustains, and dissolves existence. They also believe in different avatars of Lord Vishnu.
Among the prominent sub sects of Vaishnavas is the Krishnaite sect. People following this sect believe Lord Krishna to be the Supreme God who created everything. The Vaishnavas in general believe Lord Krishna to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu but the Krishnites believe Lord Vishnu is a form of Lord Krishna. They do acknowledge the existence of other gods whom they believe to be created by the God they follow. They stick to their ideals though.
Another sub-sect of Krishniites is Chaitanyism. These are the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who advocated praying to Lord Krishna along with Radha. Thus these people always pray to the intertwined concept of male God and His female counterpart.
Other sub-sects pray to different other forms of Lord Vishnu. You may notice here that God is one and people are praying to the different forms of the same God. Only the name, form, and characteristics of their gods differ.
The Shaivites
Shaivites pray to God in the form of Lord Shiva. They believe that Lord Shiva created everything and is responsible for the sustenance of life in the universe. In Hindu mythology — however — Lord Shiva is responsible for the destruction or dissolution of creation. The logic does not hold ground with Shaivites because they believe Lord Shiva to be the Ultimate.
There are many sub-sects as there are many forms of Lord Shiva: Nataraja, Linga, Shankar, and of course, the formless God. Some others pray to God in Ardhnaarishwar form, meaning half-female God. It is usually the Shiva-Shakti combination.
The Shaktas
The Shaktas pray to the female form of God. They believe in a primary female force that created the universe, including the other gods. Mostly the sub-sects pray to the Goddess in the form of Ma Kali or Ma Durga. But there are other forms too like Ma Kamakhya, Ma Saraswati, Ma Paarvati, and Ma Lakshmi.
Based upon their choice of the form, name, and characteristics of the Goddess, there are different sects. Again, the female God is the Supreme God. There is no confusion here but depending upon what they want to achieve, they follow different sects praying to different forms of the Goddess.
Polytheism in Hinduism
Polytheism too is prevalent among a majority of Hindus. Polytheism in Hinduism is the acknowledgment of many gods and praying to more than one god in different forms. These are the people who are affected by the scriptures and rituals rather than the philosophy of the Hindu religion. All religions have three aspects: Philosophy, Mythology/Scriptures, and Rituals. Some people believe in the Philosophy of their religion, others believe in rituals. Some may believe everything.
There are different cults too. People following a cult generally pray to the leader of the cult or to the form of God the cult leader offers. Some others go to graves and pray to the departed though such kind of prayers are considered unhealthy.
Monotheism vs Polytheism in Hinduism: The Conclusion
From above, Hinduism looks like a polytheistic religion but when you look under the hood, it is mostly monotheistic with everyone praying to one God in the form they like. Of course, there is polytheism too. Thus, Hinduism is not a concrete religion. It is rather an umbrella term used to define the multiple sub-religions and sects among Hindus. The word “Hindu” came from the geographical term “Indus” and by large it refers to people living in the Indus settlements.
The main problem of religions, sects, sub-sects, etc. is that people following them fail to acknowledge that it is the same God to whom they are praying in different forms. They give a name and form to God and refuse to acknowledge that others too are praying to the same God. That’s the root cause of the religious unrest in the world.
The simplest thing to do is to pray to God in the form you like and let others choose their own form and name of God for prayers.
Let peace prevail…
Want mental peace? Stay grounded in God.
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