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Concept of GOD in Hinduism...3

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM

The most popular among the Aryan religions is Hinduism. 'Hindu' is actually a Persian word which stands for the inhabitants of the region beyond the indus Valley. However in Common parlance Hinduism is a blanket term for an assortment of religious beliefs, most of whom are based on the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Geeta.

Commo Concept of God in Hinduism:

Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in a multitude of Gods. Some Hindus believe in the system of three God while some Hindus actually believe in the existence of thirty-three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However learned Hindus who are well versed with their scriptures insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.
The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus' belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living to be divine sacred. The Hindus therefore consider the human beings as manifestations of God. For the common Hindu, everything is God.

Islam on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of divine creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God's i.e.  God with an apostrophe 's' . In other words we believe that everything belongs to God. The trees, the Sum, the Moon and everything in this (Universe belong to God).
Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is difference of the apostrophe 's'. The Hindus says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God's, i.e. God with an apostrophe 's'.
The Holy Quran says :
"come to the common terms as between us and you". The first common term is " that we worship none but Allah".

The first common term is " that we worship none but Allah".

So let us try and find commonality b analysing both Hindu  and Islamic scriptures.

Bhagwad Geeta


The most popular among all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagwad Geeta. Consider the following verse from the Geeta:
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."

(Bhagwad Geeta chapter 7 verse 20)

Upanishads:


The upanishads are also considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus. Consider the following verses from the Upanishads:
  • "Ekam evaditiyam"
           He is one only without a second
(Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1)
  • "Na casya kasuj janita na cadhipash".
           Of Him there are neither parents nor Lord
(Svetasvatara Upanishad 6,9)
  • "Na tasya pratima asti"
           There is no likeness of Him
(Svetasvatara Upanishad chapter 4:19)
  • "Nainam urdhvam na tiryancam na madhye na parijagrabhat na tasy pratime asti yasya nama mahad yasah."
          There is no likeness of Him whose name is great glory.
(The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan pg 736 & 737)
(Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, the Upanishad part 2 pg 253)


Compare the above verses with the following verses of the Holy Quran:

"And there is none like unto Him." (Holy Quran 112:4)
"There is nothing whatever like unto Him." ( Holy Quran 42:11)
  •  The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of Man to imagine God in a particular form:
"NA samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canaiam. Hrda hardiantham 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.
(Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20)

The Holy Quran refers to this aspect in the following verse:
" No vision can grasp Him but His grasp all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things". (Holy Quran 6:103)

The Vedas


Veda's are considered the most sacred amongst all the Hindu scriptures. There  are four main veas. Rig vedas, Yajur ved, Samved and Atharva veda.

  1. YajurVeda
  • Consider the following verses from the Yajurved:
"Na tasya pratima asti"
There is no image of Him.( Yajurveda 32:3)
 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 pg 377)

  • "He is bodiless and pure." Is mentioned in Yajurveda 40:8
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 40:8)(Yajurveda samhita by Ralph I.H Griffith pg 538)
  • It is also mentioned in the Yajurveda:
"Andhtama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
They enter darkness, those who worship natural things. for example air, water, fire, etc. They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. Asambhuti means created things, for example table, chair , idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)
  • It is also mentions a prayer stating
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander" (Yajurveda 40:16)

         2. Atharva veda
consider the following verses from Atharva veda :
  • "Dev maha osi"
God is verily great.( Atharva veda 20 58:3)

Verily, Surya, thou art great; truly, aditya, thou art great. As thou art great indeed thy greatness is admire: yea, verily, great art thou, O God. (Atharva veda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney pg 910)

A similar message is given in Quran in Surah Rad:
"He is Great, the most High".( Holy Quran 13:9)

        3. Rig Veda
  • The oldest of all the vedas is Rig veda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rig veda states that "Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names." (Rigveda 1:164:46)
  • The Rigveda gives no less than 33 different attributes to Almighty God, many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1
Amongst the various attributes given in Rigveda, one of the beautiful attributes! Mentioned in Rigveda Subh 2 verse 3 for Almighty God is 'Brahma'. Brahma means ' The Creator'. Translated into Arabic this word it means "Khaliq'. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as 'Khaliq' or ' Creator' or ' Brahma'. However Muslims definitely do not subscribe to the view that 'Brahma' is Almighty God who has four heads ( nauzubillah), Muslims take strong exception to it.

Described Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda:
"Na tasya Pratima asti' (There is No image of Him) [Yajurveda 32:3]

Another beautiful attribute mentioned in the Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. 'Vishnu means 'The Sustainer' Translated into Arabic it means 'Rabb'. Again , Muslims can have objection if  Almighty God is referred to as 'Rabb' or 'Sustainer' or 'Vishnu'. But the popular image of Vishnu among Hindus is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right armas holding the ' Chakre' ie a discus and one of the left arms holding a 'conch shell' , riding a bird or reddening on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Yajurveda chapter 40 verse 19.
  • Consider the following verses from the Rigveda:
"Ma chidanyadvi shansata"
O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One.( Rigveda book 8:1:1)
(Rigveda Samhita volume 6 pg 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar)

"Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta:
 The Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta is:
"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"
There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not int least bit.

Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism.

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