Bala N. Aiyer

When we, as Hindus, pray to various Deities, often questions arise in our minds.

We often ask these questions in our mind- Is there One God or Many and why we worship in so many ways for so many forms with so many rituals. Often we ourselves are unable to comprehend or explain this. Our children often get mixed signals and are unable to understand the concept. We subsumed alien influence on Indian thought over millennia even as we tried to identify ourselves with foreigners to 'elevate' our status during periods of subjugation in an erstwhile peaceful society. More recently, we tend to oversimplify and claim that Hindus too believe but in "One God" as Paramãtma that is similar to the concept of monotheism of the Western Faiths. This sort of behavior is not unique to Hindus and is seen in other cultures in modern times. Recent proclamations by Islamic and Judeo-Christian scholars emphasize the relevance of their Scriptures accepting some aspects of one another's books and messages, now with the shrinking of the world with modern jet age travel. Many Islamic scholars are now accepting the Angels and Messiah of New Testament while maintaining that their own Prophet is the ultimate, final and perfect. They increasingly feel the socio-political-cultural pressures to conform and seek a relevant identity. While it is tempting for the purposes of social harmony to over-play the superficial similarities amongst various faiths, Hindu religion and Semitic religions differ in the most essential beliefs, in their orientation, approach and understanding on the concept of Deity and man, the Divine Spirit and the human soul.

The Hindu concept of God is quite different from the Judeo-Christian and Islamic concept. Here It is Supreme Divine Truth, also referred to as Îswara, Îswari, Paramãtma and Parabrahman. Even under the onslaught of philosophies closer to Hinduism, such as Buddhism and Jainism, Hindus never compromised on the monistic concept of the Supreme as Parabrahmam, although some sects modified ritualistic practices to suit the times. They rejected even the thoughts of Poorva-Mimãmsam of Sage Jaimini as a Darsana with pure rituals, until Kumarila added the concept of God to it. There is pure Monism, with a sub-titled Monotheism, accepting that "the Divine Brahman is within me" [Aham Brahmãsmi]. The individual Soul or Ãtma is also divine, but become Jiva or life when covered by the Upaadhis of our ignorance and our Karma, which needs to be cleared by repeated births to attain liberation.

The doctrine of Karma emphasizes that God is not a judge who sits in a remote heaven meting out punishments and rewards, but an indwelling being (the Self) whose "will" works in us through the moral law here and now. Karma Yoga is the highest form of application of this law, according to which one must perform his duties with a sense of detachment. Many scholars often misunderstood this as cessation of action. In reality however, it is trying to attain perfection in whatever we do by concentrating on what is to be done rather than the anticipated results. It is this Karma Yoga that elevates the Jiva [human Soul] to attain liberation to merge with or reach the Divine.

In spite of this monistic outlook, Hinduism, in proscribed practice, sports a form with prayers with many manifestations of the Divine that can be easily misinterpreted to be polytheism or Henotheism. Whilst the monistic Godhead is not describable, is Immanent, formless, and yet at the same time all-powerful, and all compassionate, is also transcendent. In the phenomenal Universe created by Him, He takes the transcendent forms of various Deities, both masculine and feminine, for various activities of creation, protection, and dissolution and also for the benefit of man and to uplift the Human soul. The strongest support for monotheism is seen in the verses of the Rig Veda - Chapter I -164 -46-: Truth is One and Sages call It by different names [Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudã Vadanti].

Yet the scriptures which said: "Thou art That" [Tat thvam Asi] also explained various Deities and said: "To protect and uplift the pious, to destroy the wicked and to establish the rule of Divine law, I shall manifest in every era" Bhagavat Gita -IV- 8. [Paritrãnãya Sãdûnãm Vinãsãya ca Dushkritãm, Dharma Samsthãbanãrthãya Sambhavãmi Yuge' Yuge'] (a striking similarity to the Messianic concept of the west) and they also said: "Let all my prayers to every form of the Divine shall reach the same Parabrahman Kesava" [Sarva Deva Namaskãrah Kesavam Pratigacchadhi]. The Agamas teach us of various Forms, manifestations and Avathãrãs of the Supreme God through His Yoga Maya as various Moorthis that we worship.

The Vedas, which are said to have been given by the Supreme Paramãtma to our Sages through their intuition, while explaining the rituals and prayers, also prescribe several prayer rituals for fire, for water and for various Divine and Celestial beings. The Puranas explain the stories of the various forms of Divine manifestations and Avathãrãs. In Hindu temples there are sanctums separate for each one of these Divine manifestations as a Palace of the Moorthies [Deities] ruling over our souls. This Supreme Spirit is also present as Atma within each individual human soul.

If one calls all these forms are one and the same, then one will have to consider Siva, Vishnu, Sakthi and Lakshmi, as also Rãma and Krishna are one and the same. Then how about Ganesha, Subrahmanya and Ayyappa. How about Ãnjaneya, Surya [Sun] and Saneeswara [Saturn] or the celestial forces like Indra, Agni and Varuna we pray in Vedic rituals? If we cut a tree and use the wood to make a table, a chair, a guitar and a statue, they are all not one and the same. They serve different purposes. But, when we set fire to any of them, they will burn as the wood. In the same way, Paramãtma is the Immanent, absolute reality; where as all forms, various Moorthies and Avathãrãs are the relative realities of the manifestations of the Îswara in the transcendent forms. The Paramãtma manifests as various Moorthies without ceasing to be Himself in the absolute immanent form. Paramãtma, though extends His presence in the entire universe, creates the Vedas and the various forms of His Transcendent nature, while creating this universe and all its beings.