The Unique Hindu Gods

Hinduism is a very old and traditional Indian religion that dates back to sacred texts written between 900 and 400 BCE. The book, Upanishads, which literally means to sit beneath, reflects the deeper meanings of Hinduisms and are reflections of early information found in Vedic writings. From the outside, Hinduism is not only very unique and different, but also can be very confusing and complex. Individuals not familiar with polytheism or who have practiced monotheism may have a hard time understand the relationships between each God and what it represents. It has been said there are three hundred thirty-three million Gods in in the Hindu faith, which by definition would certainly make it a polytheistic religion. Those same individuals may be even more confused if they were to visit with a practitioner who tells them there really is only one God and the other Gods are merely idols to help them focus their understanding of the religion. The religion can certainly be confusing to the outsider, but at the core of Hinduism, it is very similar to most other organized religions. To dig into the complexities and intricate details of Hinduism is not the goal of this discussion, but rather to point out the primary or popular Gods that are worshipped in Hinduism. (Introduction to World Religions Patridge)

As a new practitioner or in the early learning phases, one might be taught to worship an idol. This might be an idol that his parent’s worships or even a God of something that is important to the practitioner. These idols are known as Murti and can come in many different forms. A Murti is a manifestation of the supreme God and can be presented by a three dimensional statue, two-dimensional painting or even just the word “Om”. It...

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...ten represented with four or more arms. Showing the God with multiple arms emphasizes the deity’s immense power and ability to perform multiple acts at one time. To express a deity in human form and with multiple arms is to reflect super human power as well. (www.asia.si.edu/pujaonline/puja/why_multiple.html)

As you can see, Hinduism is not only a very complex and hard to follow religion, but is also very misunderstood. To a monotheist or atheist, it may seem silly or even fable like. Because of the polytheistic views, there are also similarities to Greek and Egyptian Mythology. Regardless of how you view Hinduism, the desire to be a good person, find your way into afterlife and be accepting of all other religions in my mind is a great way to practice. It is also very interesting to study the complexity of the different Gods and what each of them represent.