The Concept of God in Hinduism

 The Concept of God in Hinduism

Faith and worship in monotheistic

GOD is often conceived as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. God is the universe itself. God’s attributes are: omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, Omni-benevolence, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God is the source of all moral obligations, and the “greatest conceivable existent”. There are many names for God. A Being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions; The force, effect, or a manifestation or aspect of this Being; A Being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by people, thought to control some part of nature or reality; An image of a supernatural Being; an idol. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed.

Hinduism as “The eternal law” – Sanâtana Dharma

Hinduism is the dominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. It comprises. three major traditions, Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, whose followers consider Shiva, Vishnu, and Shakti [also known as Devi] to be the supreme deities respectively. Most of the other deities are either related to them or different forms [incarnations] of these deities. Hinduism is believed to be the “Oldest religion” in the world, and many practitioners refer to Hinduism as “The eternal law” – Sanâtana Dharma.

The concept of God

In Hinduism, the concept of God is complex and depends on the particular tradition. One of the most ancient forms of God in Hinduism is ‘Brahman’, the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world, which cannot be exactly defined. Brahman is the eternal, unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal, and impersonal. The word “Brahman” is derived from the verb [brh] [Sanskrit: to grow] and connotes greatness and infinity. Brahman is talked of at two levels [apara and para]. Para-Brahman is the all-inclusive - He is the head from which all concepts including the alphabets emerge. He is the fountainhead of all concepts but He Himself cannot be conceived. He is the universal conceiver, universal concept and all the means of concept

Three main forms or ‘Tridev’

God is recognized in many forms and believed to manifest in three main forms or ‘Tridev’. ‘Ishvara’ is a theological concept in Hinduism translating to “Lord,” applied to the “Supreme

Being” or God in the monotheistic sense, or as an Ishta-deva in monistic thought. Shiva is the Supreme God of Shaivism, one of the three main sects of Hinduism. Vishnu is the Supreme God of Vaishnavism.

 

People understand God in their own way and often in their own imagination. But what is required is the understanding of God as He is, what He is and how He is. The correct understanding about God has to be given by God Himself! There are some who don’t believe in the existence of God, often the reason being His existence cannot be proved like that of human beings. But because we cannot see God with the naked eye, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t exist. Just like wind, which cannot be seen but can be very much felt, it is possible to experience God’s presence through Godly knowledge and meditation.