Part
- 1: Understanding and Visualizing the Supreme | |||||||||
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| The
Supreme God Himself manifests in these forms to be understood | ||||||||
| Various sections of the Hindu Society called this same Paramãtma by different names, but still He [or She] is the Supreme Truth, all-powerful Îswara or Îswari and "GOD" in all faiths. For the Saivites, He is Parasiva or Parameswara. The Vaishnavites referred to Him as Nãrãyana or Mahãvishnu who is Savisesha Brahmam [Here Nãrãyana is not formless but with a form beyond our comprehension]. For those following Sakthism, She is known as Parãsakthi, Devi or Durga and for the Smãrthas "It" is Para-Brahmam. This One Supreme God makes the various manifestations in the transcendental forms of Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma as well as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi and many other Deities in the phenomenal universe as a relative Reality. | |||||||||
| These various forms of Moorthis are different at this level, and They come down to our earth as Avathãrãs or manifestations to protect the pious and destroy the evil. The woodcutter who walks through the streets of Madurai and beaten by the king is different from the Lion headed man who comes out of the pillar for eleven minutes to tear up Hiranya. The Dwarf [Vãmana] who sets his two feet around the world and space asks for the head of Mahãbali for the third feet to show His universal form is different from the Durga as Mahishãsura-mardhini with 18 hands destroying the demon. So also, Ganesha is different from Krishna as much as Ayyappa from Rãma. | |||||||||
| Many of us experience the communion with these Deities during our prayers or when we visit the Holy spots of the particular manifestations. If all are the same, one and the same God, we cannot explain how we get such experience at any time. The religion, while giving us the theory of One Supreme Paramãtma without a form also has given provisions for the several manifestations for each one to pray. | |||||||||
| The Supreme God Himself manifests in these forms to be understood by every one at various levels. Each one of these manifestations is thus a reality by Their own right for the individual who prays for that form. Hinduism is thus a concept that necessarily defies a 'one size fits all' brand of theology, which is impractical for the simple reason that variety pervades all aspects of human existence. These cannot be compared to the Western thinking or brushed aside as non-truth for the Monotheistic principles. | |||||||||
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