Hindus Worship only one God. To know more, read on (How lucky I am being a Hindu. It gives me a Wow feeling).

Hello.

 Before I start this blog post, let me clarify two things.

 

1.   This is about the reasons that make me feel lucky to be a Hindu.

2.   My blog will be limited to talking about Hindus and the Hindu religion (way of Life) as I am one of them and would not even touch any other religion. If one is looking for comparison or criticism of Hindu or other religions, then this is not the place

 Now the Blog.

         Once I was asked by someone (a Hindu) staying in a Gulf country that whenever religion comes up for discussion, all others following different religions tease that person for being a Hindu and worshipping 33 Koti (taken as Crores but actually means types) gods while they have everything fixed, one god, one prophet, etc. That person told me that one is answerless because what they say seems correct.

         That got me thinking about this topic. Is it so? What do I get being a Hindu that others don’t get? It dawned on me that there is just Nothing that should make a Hindu apologetic about being a Hindu. This is what (given in the next few paragraphs) I told that person.

          It is not difficult to answer people not following Hinduism, when they criticise a Hindu, jokingly or seriously about the Hindu way of worship. In fact, there is so much that one gets being a Hindu, which others don’t get. In a short span of thinking spree, I could count a series of benefits of being a Hindu. With my thought process at full speed, I explained my thoughts to that person who felt satisfied and empowered to answer people who teased him/her for being Hindu.

          Hindus do believe in only one god, called Brahmana or Paramatma who is symbolised in the sound of “Om”. We also believe that the Supreme Being is present in all of us because the supreme god, Brahmana, is the Supreme Soul and we all are part of it, as it is said, “Aham Brahmasmi”. It does not mean “I am a god” rather, it means “I am part of Brahmana i.e. I am a soul or Spirit” or in other words, I am one with the Supreme Soul as I am a miniature part of that Very Soul. It is a different thing altogether that they may worship the Parmatma in various of its forms depending on their individual choice.

          Later on, I did some research to reconfirm that Hinduism believes in only One God, Next two paragraphs were not part of the original discussion. They are part of the research that I carried out.

       That Hindus have one ultimate god is a fact that is reiterated umpteen times in our most sacred texts. Let me quote a few here. 

       Chandogya Upanishad (छान्दोग्योपनिषत्)  6:2:1 states "Ekamevadvitiyam" which means "He is only  One without a second" and this is just a part of the Shlok, balance of which reads सदेव सोम्येदमग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयम् । तद्धैक आहुरसदेवेदमग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयं तस्मादसतः सज्जायत.Loosely translated, it reads "Before, O child, this was a mere state of being (sat), one only, without a second. Thereof verily others say: 'Before this was non-being, one alone, without a second; from that non-being proceeds the state of being.’

          Let me also quote from the First Veda, Rigveda, whose chapter 1:164 Shlok 46 states that “they call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman. To what is One, sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan (एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति).”

         Having read all that has been mentioned in previous paragraphs, a very logical question can arise. The question is, if that is so, why do we have so many Devis and Devatas. To begin with, one must remember that word called GOD in the English language is very much the Trinity concept of Hinduism of Bramha (Generation of Life), Vishnu (the Operators or the one who Sustains the world) and Mahesh (The Destructor of the world) therefore, GOD in that context is also a combination of three sub-powers and not just one single entity.

        I very light-heartedly feel that outsourcing as a concept is as old as Hinduism and its philosophy. The Brahmana or Supreme Spirit has assigned (outsourced) the task of management of the universe, namely creating, sustaining and ending the life to his three main elements, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Since they are the direct representatives of the Supreme Spirit, in general, most Hindus worship the Supreme Spirit as either Brahma, Vishnu or Mahesh, mostly the last two.

        Then why do we still have 33 types of Devi and Devitas? Let us take an example. Like the supreme being, the Parmatma or Brahmana, Knowledge is also one but does that mean we should, all our life, read or study just one book to know everything. A library represents Knowledge in miniature form. It holds supreme knowledge within its four walls, however, everyone who enters the library does not read a particular book to gain knowledge on various subjects.

        When in a library, a person chooses a section where books on a subject that he likes or wishes to read and picks those selected books of that subject which interest him or meet his aspirations. That means while knowledge may be one, it has multiple forms by way of myriad subjects and a person studies that part of knowledge that interests him as mentioned above.

        Does a student seeking knowledge read an all-pervasive book irrespective of the field of their study? A science student reads books on his subject and a commerce student reads books on accounting, etc. Both of them have the same aim, to acquire knowledge, not just any knowledge but knowledge that they prefer, of the relevant field of interest.

       In Hinduism, the concept of worship is very similar to the above example of a Library. We worship that form of Paramatama or Brahmana which suits our needs in life. We as Hindus, using the choice Hinduism grants to us, may worship any form of the Parmatma, in any which manner we want, at any time of the day and at any place we want. We Hindus have been provided absolute freedom in our religion to worship whoseever we want, A form of Parmatma that fulfils our spiritual needs. There are no compulsions in Hinduism.

        As a Hindu, if one is interested in bodily strength and physical power, that person prays to god using the form of Lord Hanuman. Someone who wants mental or inner power prays to the god using one of the Avatars of Shakti. If wisdom is what is desired, then the chosen form of god to pray is Maa Saraswati. Essentially Hindus worship and pray to the same God, Brahmana or Parmatma but the form of god that is to be worshipped varies, depending on an individual’s basic interest and objective and of course, individual.s choice. Remember, there are no compulsions in Hinduism.

         Hinduism provides us almost as many forms of "the God almighty" (the only one, Ishwar or Parmatma) as there may be individual interests. That helps us to pray to God through the form that one visualizes and that meets his / her aspirations. After all, god for us is one of us. We communicate with him directly and not through any mediator. Tumhi ho Mata, Pita Tumhi ho, Tumhi ho Bamdhu, Sakha Tumhi Ho (You (the God) are my mother, my father, my brother and my friend, oh God you are one of us, within us)

       We Hindus don't need a mediator. For a Hindu, an Avtar is not a mediator. By way of an Avatar, God descends on this Earth for a specific purpose and returns back from this Earth when that purpose is accomplished. 

        Srimad Bhagwat Gita states this beautifully in Chapter 4 and I quote, “यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत। अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥Chapter 4 - Verse 7॥ परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् । धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥Chapter 4- verse 8॥“. Its  meaning is, “Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharata, And there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth ;For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, For the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.”

        The form that we choose to worship and through whom our prayers are channelized to the Paramatma helps us in pursuit of our interests. It could be an Avtar or a Devi or Devata. We, as Hindus, too believe in one ultimate God, Brahmana or Parmatma but we have our unique way of reaching him through the path that we like to take. This understanding really empowers us to answer various questions of those who do not follow our faith or way of life.

        All this research made me feel very lucky to be what I am, a Hindu. I enjoy the freedom, my direct connection with my God is my personal bond with him/her. He is not someone looking over my shoulders and saying, “Now that he is committing this sin, it’s my chance to punish him.” After all, the job of giving punishment does not belong to my Bandhu and Sakha. 

       I have very little to hate for other people or other ways of worship as my religion has never claimed to be supreme or the only religion which alone can give you salvation. Hinduism in fact states that there are various ways of (worship) seeking the ultimate truth, the Almighty God and all of them are equal. It is a different story that such magnanimity may not be shown by others following non Hindu ways of worship.

         For me, a Hindu, the God is not sitting in some exalted domain, my god is within me. I can question my god (or God’s whichever form I like) and ask him, are you a Nirgun (formless, ever-present god) or Sagun (in a body or flesh i.e in some form like a devi or whatever) without any guilt. Questioning my beloved God in whichever form I like and seeking answers is very much part of the religion that I follow. That is because God for me is not beyond question. Why is it so? See below in the next paragraph.

         God, in my way of worship, is a mother or a father or a brother or sakha (friend) i. e. he or she is what I want him or her to be. The god, in whichever of his avatars I choose, is one among us. He is our guide and friend who motivates us to do good all the time. 

         I am sure no one is looking over my shoulders to see, "ok this guy is doing some sin and now I have to Punish him". In my (Hindu) way of worship, god is here to help me and not to punish me for my so-called sins, that job is left to my Karma, my running account of deeds that I did in past births and I am doing in this birth and irrespective of which page (birth) in the ledger I am at, the account keeps running (as I have stated earlier) with the trial balance taken at end of each page (life).

         Karma (or Chitra Gupta as god’s accountant of Karma) maintains a running account of my good deeds and also not-so-good deeds and keeps paying me the principal along with the interest as per the balance sheet of all the good and not-so-good deeds in one or the other Janma or reincarnation (hence the rebirth). I, therefore, have hope that I have a series of Janmas (lives or Births) in years to come and one day, when my good balance becomes supreme, I shall automatically attain Nirvana. Salvation to me,, a Hindu, is not an external function. For me, it's an internal function, of my own doing, based on my own Karma, the Good I do leads me to salvation.

         My religion tells me, as long as one devotes him/herself to what one's "Dharma" is, that person will achieve nirvana. Not only that, my religion bestows upon me various methods to follow for worshipping God Almighty. I can do Karma yoga if that suits me (the lord Krishna way, something that I practised all my life) or I can do Bhakti Yoga in line with a series of Saints and sages.

         I can pray to god in Nirgun form or Sagun form. I can pray at the time of my choosing or just remember him in my mind without any outward expression. As a Hindu, the form of Prayer and the form of god through whom I want to pray to is of my choosing and not handed down to me as the only choice. Place of Prayer, Time of prayer, style of prayer and even to pray or not to pray are of my own choosing.

         The concept of rebirth and the thought (and not the fear) of accounting for my own deeds helps me make a better choice of deeds that I do, like not troubling any form of life, helping people, etc.

        As a follower of Hinduism, I am told that every way of worship deserves equal respect from me. My religion also tells me that for self-defence, defence of women, children and the weak, irrespective of whichever profession I follow, I can pick up a weapon of my choice.

        That means I may be soft-spoken and conscious of others’ feelings, but if someone takes me for granted, or troubles me, my family, my neighbours or my society, I shall and I am duty bound to resist orally, physically and if need be, by using suitable weapons. I am also taught the basic rule of "No first use" but if the time comes, use it to the full impact using the right to second strike.

       Sant Tukaram once very famously said the following, hat we all MUST remember -

"Bhale Tari Deu Kasechi Langoti | Nathalache Kathi Deu Matha || MayBapahuni Bahu Mayavant | Karu Ghaatpat Shatruhuni ||?

       It means that if the person is good then we will offer him even the clothes which we are wearing. If the person is evil we will hit his head with a stick. We are more caring than our parents but to those with evil intentions, we can be more disastrous than his enemies.

         Finally, my religion has introduced me to this beautiful world and everything that is in it, it has told me by way of various stories of mythology, etc, the moral values, compassion towards everything that exists in this world and to be of value to everyone who depends on me in any which way.

         I feel very happy and proud when I think of all those things that I get just for being a follower of Hinduism and though it may not be in my hand to choose if given a choice, I would love to be born a Hindu all over again,

        Lokarpanmastu (dedicated to the people)