Hindu God and Goddess

Hindus view cosmic activity of the Supreme Being as comprised of three tasks: creation, preservation, and dissolution and recreation. Hindus associate these three cosmic tasks with the three deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Lord Brahma brings forth the creation and represents the creative principle of the Supreme Being. Lord Vishnu maintains the universe and represents the eternal principle of preservation. Lord Shiva represents the principle of dissolution and recreation. These three deities together form the Hindu Trinity.

Hindu religion is often labeled as a religion of 330 million gods. According to the Hindu scriptures, living beings are not apart from God, since He lives in each and every one of them in the form of atman (BG 10.39). The number 330 million was simply used to give a symbolic expression to the fundamental Hindu doctrine that God lives in the hearts of all living beings.

Hinduism is supposed to be 'apauruseya', i.e., of impersonal origin & so also are the Gods of Hinduism. They are eternal & though the deities appear to be different & independent, they are really facets of the same Brahman, the Supreme God.

As Sri Ramakrishna says, there can be as many spiritual paths as there are spiritual aspirants & similarly there can really be as many Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions & social background of the devotees.

The Hindu scriptures were eloquent while describing the qualities of God. He is all-knowing & all powerful. He is the very personification of justice, love & beauty. He is ever ready to shower His grace, mercy & blessings on His creation.

From the Rig Veda, we come to know of the vedic gods eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, Indra & Prajapathi, being the Gods of earth, the heavens & the space.

The main Hindu Gods as we accept today can be broadly classified as Saiva Gods (Siva, His consort, His sons, His other forms), Vaishnava Gods (Vishnu, His consort, His various avatharams)& Sakthi or Saktha (Forms of Goddess Sakthi).

Hindu Gods and Goddess

Kali : sect name of the goddess Durga is depicted as wife to Shiva. Her idol is black, smeared with blood, has huge teeth and a protruding tongue that drips with blood. She wears a garland of skulls, earrings of corpses and is girdled with serpents. She usually has four arms, symbolizing absolute power over all finite things. One hand holds a sword, the second holds a severed human head, the third is believed by her devotees to be removing fright and the fourth is often interpreted as granting ecstasy.Kali, all-powerful, absolute and all pervasive, is beyond fear and finite existence and is therefore believed to be able to protect her devotees against fear and grant them limitless harmony and peace.
Finally, as total night, devouring all that exists, she is sometimes depicted as standing on Lord Shiva, which, like the necklace of skulls, symbolizes the remains of finite existence. Kali's devotees reportedly pleased her in the past with human sacrifices.Below are few other Hindu Gods and Goddesses:

Aditi
Highest creator of all that has been created. Variously described as the mother, wife and/or daughter of Vishnu; ma of the gods and all heavenly bodies.

Ambika
a personification of Parvati in Hindu mythology. An amazingly beautiful woman who lured devils to their deaths. She announced that she would not summit to anyone who had not defeated her in battle and when they approached to fight her she killed their retinue with a supersonic hum, then transformed herself into the fearsome Kali and slew them.

Brahma
the post-Vedic form of Prajapati; the originator and creator

Devi
A twelve-armed warrior goddess, created by Brahma, Vishnu and Siva to slay Mahishasura, the buffalo-demon, who menaced the universe.

Durga One of the forms of the goddess Shakti, She was born fully grown. Durga is famous as the man-armed many-weaponed goddess who slays the buffalo-demon Mahish.

Ganesha
The god of wisdom and prosperity. He is depicted with a chubby human body, four arms and an elephant's head. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati.

Kama
God of desire and love. Son of Vishnu and Lakshmi and husband of Rati

Krishna
He is believed and worshipped as an incarnation of Vishnu by his devotees.

Lakshmi
A companion of Vishnu and mother of Kama. She is the goddess of beauty, wealth and enjoyment.
 

What Makes Up Hindu Religion ?

Scriptures for Hindu religion:
Hinduism is not a religion in the normal sense, but it is a set of traditions and beliefs evolved over a long period of time. There are different sects of Hinduism, but they all admire the ancient scriptures called Vedas. Upanishads are more philosophically inclined Vedic texts. The ancient Indian scholars called Rishis' search for the knowledge, that would make man kind to be free from the cycle of reincarnation can be seen in Upanishads.

Central themes for Hindu religion
The fundamental concept of Hinduism is the belief in the ultimate reality called Brahman (universal soul) and its identification with the Aatman (individual soul). All creatures go through a cycle of birth and re-birth. The status of the being in each birth is determined by the principle of Karma. This can be broken only by self realization, and the being is said to be attained Moksha (liberation).

Gods of Hindu religion
The ultimate God is supposed to be Brahman, the absolute reality, which is formless and infinite. For the sake of worshipping the infinite reality with the limited human minds, Gods had been personified and associated with different attributes. The most worshipped Hindu deities are Shiva, Vishnu and Shakthi (Devi).

Mythology for Hindus
The roots of the Hindu mythology lie in the Vedic civilization. But the major sources of Hindu mythology are epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas.

Hindu Vegetarianism
A large section of Hindus are advocates of vegetarianism, even though it is not made compulsory in Hindu tradition. Cow is considered to be a holy animal.

Themes and symbols:
Tilaka and Bindi: Hindus traditionally wear a mark on their forehead and other parts of the body, in different forms. Hindu women wear a decorative dot on their forehead, which is called Bindi. Sometimes Hindus wear holy ash called Vibhuti also.

Aum is the sacred symbol which represents the absolute reality, Brahman. This can be seen in all mantras and prayers. It represents God in its three aspects- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Another noble and auspicious symbol is Swastika, which stands for purity of the soul. The four directions, which had been shown in the symbol, represent four Vedas and their harmonious existence.

Hindu philosophy:
There exist six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. They are:

• Nyaya

• Vaishseshika

• Samkhya

• Yoga

• Purva Mimamsa

• Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta)

Non Vedic schools are called Nastika. The schools that enrich Hinduism today are Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta.

Practices of Hindu Religion
Hindu religious practices generally include seeking an awareness of God as well as and looking for blessings from different Gods. Hinduism has developed several practices that can help one to relate himself with the divinity.

Hinduism is actually based on idol worship. Hindus worship the idols of their Gods and Goddesses at the temple or at their home. For Hindus, visiting temples are not indispensable. In fact many of them visit temples during religious festivals only.

Hinduism is associated with many symbols and icons and these symbols get their meanings from mythology, scriptures and cultural traditions. Every symbols and icons have a sacred implication.

There is one more thing that most of the pious Hindus utter during worshipping, that is Sanskrit “Mantra”. “Mantra” is actually an invocation to God including prayer, praise, devotion and dedication and through its sound and chanting style, it takes one’s mind to the holy and divine thoughts.

Hindu Symbol OM

‘OM’-The symbol is comprised of three syllables put into one. In Sanskrit the vowel "o" is constitutionally a diphthong compound of a + u; hence OM is representatively written as AUM. The symbol of AUM is formed by three curves (curves 1, 2, and 3), one semicircle (curve 4), and a dot.

Symbolism behind the three Curves of OM:

Large Lower Curve:

The large lower curve forms the waking state (jagrat), in this state the consciousness of a human is turned towards the gate of sense. The larger size of the curve signifies state of human consciousness.

The Upper Curve:

The upper curve represents the state of deep slumber (sushupti) in other words, the unconscious state. This is a state where the human has no desire of anything nor does he have a dream.

The Middle Curve:

The middle curve implies the dream state (swapna). In this state the consciousness of a person is turned inwards, and the person who dreams holds an exciting view of the world.

The above-mentioned signs are the three states of a person's consciousness, and thus these three curves represent the whole physical phenomenon.

Symbolism behind the Dot:

The dot in the Aum signifies the fourth state of consciousness, which in Sanskrit is known as ‘turiya.’ This state signifies the coming to rest of all relative existence. This quiet and peaceful state is the ultimate goal of all Hindus.

Symbolism behind the Semi Circle:

Finally, the semi circle in the OM symbolizes "Maya" (illusion). This illusion or maya prevents us from the achievement of bliss. This effect is used to prevent the seeker from reaching his ultimate goal, the realization of the One, and all-pervading, absolute principle.

Symbolism behind the Sound of OM:

As regards the sound and form, AUM is symbolic of Brahma and the whole universe.

• A symbolizes Creation

• U symbolizes Preservation

• M symbolizes Destruction

The three sounds also symbolize the three Vedas (Rig-Veda, Sam Veda, and Yajur Veda).

This is in other words represents the Trinity in Hindu Dharma namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Other Symbolism behind OM:

• The three letters in AUM also indicate three planes of existence, called heaven, earth and netherworld.

• AUM can represent all the words produced by the human vocal organ. This can be said because; A is produced by the throat and U & M by the lips.

• According to the Vedas, AUM is associated with the sound of the Sun and also the sound of Light.

• It symbolizes the sound of the infinite.

But overall the nature of OM is threefold. It is a sacred sound. It forms the essence of all mantras. It is the ultimate reality (Brahma). It is also said to be the central essence of the Vedas.

While meditating, if we chant OM, we create within ourselves a vibration that connects us with the cosmic vibration and we start thinking universally. The silence between each chant becomes felt physically. The Mind moves from the opposites of sound and silence until the sound ceases. In this silence, there is no thought. This is the state of trance.

Hinduism Facts

Facts about Hinduism: Hinduism is the oldest surviving religion of the world, where its origin took place before history was ever recorded. It is called as ‘Sanatana Dharma’ i.e. it is eternal religion and spontaneous by nature. It has no founder to give credit to its discovery nor does anyone know its date of origin. Here are some basic facts about Hinduism.

Basic facts about Hinduism

• Hinduism is not a religion in the normal sense, but it is a set of traditions and beliefs evolved over a long period of time.

• It is also called Sanathana Dharma or Eternal Religion

• There exists no single scripture or single prophet to follow.

• No central organization or authority to control the movements or progress.

Size rank

It is the third largest religion in the world.

Founder of Hinduism

None

The Original Language

Sanskrit

Main location

India.

Spiritual Leader

Gurus or sages

Major Sects of Hinduism

• Shaivism

• Vaishnavism

• Shaktism

The Sacred Texts of Hinduism

• Vedas

• Upanishads

• Bhagavat Gita

Purpose of life in Hinduism

The purpose of life is to obtain liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.

The Three Debts:

• debt to God

• debt to saints and sages

• debt to ancestors

The Three Paths to be followed:

• Karmamarga - path of work and action

• Jnanamarga - path of knowledge

• Bhaktimarga - path of devotion to God

The Four Stages in Life:

• Brahmacharya - During education - grow and learn

• Grhastha - Taking care of marriage, family and career

• Vanaprastha - starts seeking spiritual things

• Sanryasa - abandon world to seek spiritual things

The Four Purposes of life:

• Dharma- Fulfilling social , moral, and religious duties

• Artha - Attaining financial and worldly success

• Kama – Satisfying desires God

• Moksha– Attaining freedom from rebirth

Basic Tenets of Hinduism

• Satya - Follow truth, do not lie

• Ahimsa - Follow non violence

• Brahmacharya - do not overindulge

• Asteya - do not steal, do not possess

• Aparigraha - Non-corrupt

• Shaucha - Be clean

• Santosha - Be content

• Tapas - Be self-disciplined

• Svadhyaya - Learning the scriptures

• Ishvara Pranidhana - surrender to God

Basic Beliefs in Hinduism

• It believes in one and all pervasive Supreme Being who is both transcendent and immanent.

• The universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.

• It believes in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.

• It believes that all life is sacred and pure to be loved and respected.

• It believes that our soul reincarnates through many births until it attains moksha- liberation from the cycles of birth and rebirth.

• It believes in ahimsa and dharma-doing one’s duties.

God in Hinduism

God in Hinduism is the Supreme Being-Maha Vishnu who is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. This Supreme Being is the universal energy which is everywhere and in everything. The different deities and Gods worshiped are different aspects and avatars of this Supreme Being. This Supreme Being is formless, shapeless and genderless.

Forms Of God

The Hinduism is well known for the multiplicity of the Gods. It doesn't advocate the worship of any particular deity. In this context, the Hindu conce