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by Jayaram V
Hinduism is characterized by not only one Supreme God but also by many
gods and goddesses, such as Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Lakshmi, Parvathi,
Saraswathi
and so on. In Hinduism they are regarded as the
manifestation of Iswara, the Universal Creative Consciousness, the One
Supreme, or the Saguna Brahman.
In addition to gods and goddesses, in Hinduism we also come across
the worship of many objects such as trees, plants, rivers,
lakes, snakes, hills, the various planets, some stars, constellations,
the sun, the moon and so on. Many saints, babas and sages also are
objects of their veneration.
The Hindus worship the gods and goddesses variously adding further
complexity to the manner of worship in Hinduism. They may worship them
all or only some of them at a time, or venerate each of them
separately as the Supreme God himself.
Generally, the present trend is that most of the Hindus believe and
worship many gods simultaneously in the hope of receiving blessings
from many of them. Some times this may even create confusion in their
minds as to whom to worship in a given situation. But most of them
resolve these problems in their own individual ways.
There are traditions according to which each Hindu god is to be
worshipped on a particular day in a week, month or year and many
follow these traditions. There are certain specific rules and
regulations to be observed by the devout Hindus while worshipping
them, which involve performance of specific rites, rituals and
chanting. Many observe these rules with great sincerity.
Polytheism is an integral part of Hinduism, despite of opposition
from certain intellectual quarters over the centuries. After contacts
with Islam and the Christianity of the British, attempts were made by
some educated Hindus like Raja Rammohan Roy and Keshab Chandrasen to
discourage polytheism.
The reformist movements like Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj were
products of such a reaction. But their impact did not last long as is
evident from the way present day Hindus visit the temples and worship
various gods, observe the festivals and celebrate the glory of gods
and goddesses, perform pujas and vratas whenever the occasion demands.
They may listen to numerous discourses delivered by enlightened
persons, go through numerous books on religion, but they hold their
gods and goddesses to their chests dearly and worship them with deep
devotion and sublime faith. There is a certain purity of approach and
innocence of faith in this practice that is rarely seen else where.
The average modern Hindu, who is devoted to his religion is very
clear in his mind as to his approach in this matter. He worships the
gods and goddesses because he believes in them and is sure of their
existence in the higher worlds of God's creation.
He conducts himself in tune with the supposed expectations of his
beloved gods. For him life without them is simply a sacrilege, which
he is sure he cannot afford. It is not the for the sake of society or
family, though that is not entirely absent, but for himself and his
own welfare he worships them and holds them with highest regard in his
mind.
On a given day a devout Hindu, may worship his gods or goddesses in
the morning, noon or in the evening or whenever he chooses to, even
while his mind is busy with worldly matters. He may worship them in
the comforts of his own house or visit the near by temple or shrine.
In the past there were violent clashes and heated debates among
groups of devotees worshipping different gods as was the case between
Vaishanavites and Shivites. But presently there seems to be a total
reconciliation and integration of these divergent beliefs into one
acceptable whole. Today a majority of the Hindus accept different gods
whole heartedly as a part of one large Divine family without any sense
of conflict or rancor in their minds.
The gods belong to different worlds and planes of existence and
assist the mankind in various ways. At the highest level are the
Trinity, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesa, each ruling a particular
divine kingdom.
Brahma is the creator, who rules Brahmalok, (the world of Brahma),
and engages Himself in the process of creating forms and breathing
life force into them. For various reasons Brahma is not worshipped the
way the other two gods of trinity are worshipped. There are in fact
very few temples built in his honor.
But his consort Saraswathi, who is the goddess of learning is
worshipped by many, especially the students or the brahmacharis of the
Vedic schools. She is frequently found in the company of Ganesha and
Sri Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and the consort of Lord Vishnu, and
receives honors and prayers along with them.
Vishnu is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the
worlds and looking after their welfare. He rules Vaikunth. He has a
number of followers all over the world who venerate Him as the Supreme
Lord. A number of temples have also been built in His honor right from
the post Mary period.
Though He was a minor deity in the early Vedic period, He became
very popular with the rise of Vaishnavism during the subsequent
periods. Some of His incarnations are also worshipped in many parts of
India and they attract wider following among people than Himself as
Vishnu.
Most famous among his incarnations are Lord Rama and Lord Krishna,
the heroes of the epics, the Ramayana and the Bhagawatha. They have
millions of devotees all over the world. Lord Balaji, is also equally
famous. His temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh is reckoned to be the
richest in the world and attracts huge number of devotees throughout
the year.
Lord Vishnu is also worshipped as Dhananjaya, Narayana,
Anantasayana, Kapila, Narasimha, Varadaraja, Srinivasa and
Jagannatha (of Puri temple).
His consort Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth is equally popular. She
is worshipped in many households regularly, especially by the seekers
of artha or material wealth. She is also worshipped variously as Padma,
Kamala, Sita, Narasimhi, Varuni etc.
Lord Siva is the destroyer of the worlds. He is the supreme yogi
who is easy to be pleased. He is as popular as Lord Vishnu and He is
the chief deity of Saivism which also became popular in the same
period as Vaishnavism.
In fact a long rivalry existed between the two, each side claiming
their supreme deity to be the Supreme Lord of the universe. While
Vaishnavism caught the imagination of the householders and seekers of
material comforts, Saivism caught the imagination of the renunciates
and seekers of knowledge. Today both these gods are extremely popular
across the length and breadth of Hindu society.
References to Siva can be found in the Rigveda where in He is
referred as Rudra, the god of anger. According to some Siva is not the
same as the Rudra of the Vedas. Whatever may be the truth, Siva is
also known as Rudra because of His nature to show bouts of occasional
temper.
His anger is the anger of righteousness, not to be confused with
the petty anger of the human beings. It is born of out of a specific
divine purpose, to destroy something in order to create something new.
It is the manifestation of an energy whose intent is to create purity
of purpose and harmony of structure in the object of destruction, but
not to destroy some thing for the sake of destruction only. He is the
destroyer of negativism and egoism and purifier of the consciousness
with His abundant grace.
He resides in kailash atop an icy mountain. The ice signifies the
ignorance of a frozen and static consciousness (the waters of Hindu
scriptures). The word "Si" means cool (sheetal) and the word
" va " to live (vasa). The word "Siva" therefore
means, He who lives on the top of cool mountains ( of frozen
consciousness).
He is not worshipped generally in his original physical form (as a
mula murthi), but mainly as Sivlinga, the phallic symbol signifying
creation as the combination of Purusha and Prakriti. He is also
worshipped variously as Nataraja, Dakshinamurthi, Ardhanarishwara,
Virabhadra, Chandeswara, Pataleswara etc,.
Many Hindus worship the navagrahas or the nine planets mainly to
ward off adversity and evil influences. Generally they are not
worshipped in homes but in temples. These planet gods play a key role
in Hindu astrology.
The navagrahas are : 1. Surya (the sun), 2. Soma or the moon, 3.
Managala, Kuja or Angaraka, (mars), 4. Budha (Mercury), 5. Brihaspati
(Jupiter), 6. Sukra (Venus), 7. Sani (Saturn), 8. Rahu and 9. Ketu.
People generally worship these planet gods to appease them and ward
off evil and negative influences.
The Ashtadikpalas or rulers of the eight directions also need
special mention. They are not generally worshipped as individual
deities but addressed in many invocations, as a part of some important
rituals and Vedic ceremonies.
They also play a vital role in Vasthu Shastra (the science of
construction). East is ruled by Indra, west by Varuna, North by Kubera
and South by Yama. Among the intermediate directions, north east is
ruled by Iswara, north west by Niruthi, south east by Agni and south
west by Vayu.
The description would be incomplete without the mention of three
deities who have become very popular in modern times, namely 1.
Vignesha, the son of Siva and Parvathi, the leader of the devas, 2. Hanuman,
of the Ramayana fame who is known for his devotion and love for Rama
and 3. Karthikeya or Swami Ayyappa or Kumaraswami who is the second
son of Shiva and Parvathi and has a wide following in many parts of
India especially in the south.
Worship of Divine Mother is equally popular in India. As the ruler
and creator of the worlds she attracts a large following across the
length and breadth of the country. She is worshipped both in her
peaceful forms and her fierce forms. On the positive side, she is the
personification of love and peace, providing solace to Her devotees.
Though She was known originally for her fierce form and association
with esoteric rituals of tantricism, Shri Adi Shankaracharya brought
her into the public glare through his famous work "Saundarya
Lahari" and his travels to various parts of the country and made
her acceptable to a majority of Hindus in Her most benign form as the
Mother of unbound love.
Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, one of the greatest saints ever born
on earth, proved through his own personal experience that any one with
true devotion and purity of their hearts and minds can seek her
blessings and guidance.
She is worshipped as Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Uma or Parvathi. In
her fierce forms she is worshipped as Kali, Karali, Bhairavi, Bhavani,
Chandi, Durga etc. The many schools of tantrism regard Her as the
Supreme Deity and worship Her in various manners.
She is most popular as Goddess Durga in eastern India and else
where also. During the Durga Festival She is worshipped continuously
on a grand scale for nine continuous days during which many devotees
observe complete fasting, taking nothing but water during the whole
period.
The Hindu gods are real and true manifestation of the Supreme Self.
They are a part of Hindu consciousness. They impart beauty, variety
and charm to the very practice of religion. It is difficult to
conceive of Hinduism without their presence.
Suggested Further Reading
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