Hindu Concept of God

Personal God

In general Hinduism considers God not just as the Supreme All-powerful Gigantic One, Who commands the humanity to tread the way He/She/It says, but also a personal God Whom the individual can worship out of love and not necessarily out of fear ! The fear brings one only upto certain point and beyond that it repels, but love takes through to the point. Devotion or bhakti as often referred to is a very key concept in Hinduism, even for the philosophically inclined ones. While the shashtras - be it vedas, Agamas, purANas - describe the Glory of God, one finds abundance of stotras that praise the God in love.

God is Formless or with Form ?

For Hindus God, as is, is beyond any attributes of form, color, shapes ... That is, God does not have any specific form or name. In this state God is referred to as nirguNa brahman (attributeless god). However God takes forms as perceived by humans and this perceived form is called saguNa brahman (god with (good) attributes). These forms could range from calm to fierce to yogic (1). Each form has its significance. For example when one is depressed and sees the form of God Strong and Powerful, the seeker feels the moral boost that God would definitely be the support for the right thing. Similarly when in an auspicious ceremony would like the God to be the calm provider of boons. In a spiritually elevated state, the choice would be the yogic form of God. The forms provide a basis for the Hindu worshipper to easily pursue the otherwise incomprehensible Supreme. So Hinduism supports both form as well as formless worship of the God. Whether one worships in saguNa or nirguNa way, it is ultimately the same God.

Let us hail the God, Who does not have a name or a form or anything like that, by singing thousands of Its names!
- thiruvAcakam

Is there an evil force against God ?

God is the Almighty and Supreme. So how can there be anything good or bad against It ? If the good things are the creation of God and bad things of some other evil force, will the gravitational force of the earth be attributed to God or the other force, as it is vital good element for us to live at the same time kills somebody who falls down from a high-rise building! In the system made by God, normally one gets to enjoy the good or bad things based on what have been their inclinations and the actions they made because of that. (This is called karma). There is no evil (satan type) against God. In fact atharva veda puts it very clearly,


"na dvitIyo na tR^itIyashchaturtho nApyuchyate
na pa.nchamo na ShaShThaH saptamo nApyuchyate
nAShTamo na navamo dashamo nApyuchyate
ya etaM devamekavR^itaM veda"

There is none second to It, neither third not even fourth.
There is none fifth to It, neither sixth not even seventh.
There is none eighth to It, neither ninth not even tenth.
It is the only Supreme. This is to be known.

The concept of good and bad things is at a lower level and that too in a different way than strictly good and evil. The divines called devas are the protectors and the essentials who support the worlds. For example, air, sun, moon, water, fire etc. Those who disrupt the life supporting mechanism are the daemons called asuras. The conflicts between the two often arise and the Hindu epics talk in detail about them. However it should be kept in mind that as specified in purANas all the devAs are not the perfect beings and the asuras the worthless evils.
Is God in some heaven beyond ?

God is not just something that stays in a far off heaven, who would be met with after death, if one gets to heaven etc. God is omnipresent. It is right in front of us. Oh, It is right inside us too. Well, It is in each and every minute of the minute particle present/void anywhere! Does It stay in a world beyond ? Of course It does there too. (Very renowned gAyatri mantra hails the Supreme to be the earth, the world around and the skies beyond). One need not wait for the whole lifetime to get to meet God. The important concept in Hinduism is that God can be realized right here in this world and the God is not just Magnificent Almighty, but is also a sweet lovely One, with whom you can have a relationship - devotee, spouse, sibling, child, parent... God is not just in some heavens, It is right in us. It is both transcendental as well as intermixed in everything. Those who realize Its presence reap the grand reward.

Those who say He resides up in the sky, say so;

Those who say the Lord of divines residing down in the world beneath, say so.
I would say, the Lord of wisdom, Who got His throat brightly adorned with the stain of poison, is residing in my heart ! (2)

Is God a He ?
Hinduism says, God is not just a He. It is beyond the created contours of gender. For this reason the scriptures very often use the term "It" to refer to God apart from using He and She. Especially when it comes to the Supreme in the natural state (Formless, Attributeless), they prefer It to He or She. The form of Lord ardhanArIshvara(3) clearly conveys that God is masculine, feminine and neuter. When the God is called the Lord of all creatures, It is the God irrespective of the gender, animal race, or whatever other differentiation one could think of.

God is understood not only postulated

The beauty of Hinduism is that the concept of God is tried to be understood, experienced. There are purANas that elaborately tell through the voice of the divines the glory of God. These are one part. On the other hand the scriptures like upaniShads analyze through questioning and reasoning the concept of God. These two types go very much hand in hand. Neither the divine glory limited to the reaches of the human mind with the purANa like scriptures telling the things beyond the normal human reach. At the same time they do not command a blind following of some super-human texts, but also very much permit analysis. The presence of a range of philosophies in Hindu system is the testimony of this. There are texts like yogasutras that cover the scope from reasoning to divine glory too. So the total and complete spectrum of human verification to super-human wisdom is richly available for the smooth progress of the follower in Hinduism. No need to be blind-folded, explore your way to the Supreme !!

Those who did not get the deeper sense out, keep lecturing out the book-confined knowledge.
- aRpudhath thiruvandhAdhi

Thanks kev for the visit and k

Nice post as always, Sesha I prefer to call God using Him, with an H in block letter. I think we shoud not discuss of God if a He or She, opinions differ on that.  'It' would denigrate God since it is associated to objects.  


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Nice Post Mr. Murthy


We Call Lord Shiva Ardhanarishavar and have seen Ardhanarishavar pics also, thats also a beautiful form of expressing Lord in Hinduism

We have been provided the facility to worship the God the way we want. Sometimes as mother (Maa Durga), father (Lord Shiva) or sometimes as a lover like Meera was in love with Lord Krishana.

Hinduism : Which is its land / country ?

Which is the land of Hinduism? Is this discipline specific to any land? Could it be followed by anybody in the world?

sanAtana dharma is collection of the paths that lead to the betterment of the world, Humanity. It leads to the eternal bliss when one makes sincere attempts in the pursuit. It provides the various platforms through which various types of people in this whole world depending upon the nature and inclination attain the perfection. All it asks for is for the whole world. All it tells is for the whole world. One can keep on listing the statements from the holy scriptures lokA samastA sukino bhavantu (May all the worlds (people) be comfortable), yathA naH sarvamijjagat ayaxmahuM sumanA asat (through which our this whole world stay free from diseases and in friendly-terms) ............ This list does not end here. The thoughts of this religion goes beyond boundaries when it wishes swastir mAnuShebhyaH, UrdvaM jigAdhu bheShajaM, saMno astu dvipate, saM chatuShpateH (humans be happy, may the herbs grow high, may the two legged be happy, may the four legged be happy), vAzka an^dhanar vAnavar Aninam ( (long) live the kind hearted people, divine celestial powers and the cow herds) and so many hymns well-wish not even for just humans without any discrimination, but even for the other two and four legged creatures (which often one looks down at) and for the plants and divines even ! Nobody gets spared in this well-wish list. These are not one or two hymns here and there. When one undertakes the study of the sanAtana dharma scriptures it is more often these kindling statements are found than not. The direction taken is the betterment of the whole humanity or more wider the Universe. This is not a global religion, but it is a Universal religion!!

But isn't the name Hinduism associated with the name Indus - the river that flows in the Indian subcontinent? And how does one explain the words, rituals etc. which indicate the Indian subcontinent?

The name Hinduism is in fact the derivative of the word Indus. But like the fact that while the land and people of America were always there, historians write that somebody "discovered" America, this ancient religion which was in practice for undeterminably long time, was given the name Hinduism as the practices were found flourishing beyond the river Indus. The names that the people of this religion used were sanAtana dharma (eternal discipline) and vaidika dharma (discipline of vedas - knowledge). In both these terms there is no indication of the land. When we realize that it is a coined term that solves the puzzle.

But has Hinduism been followed in other places ever? Yes, the purANas (written thousands of years before) indicate that this religion once was spread completely on all the seven subcontinents (1) and later due to reasons unexplored, it remained only in the Indian subcontinent.
(Indicators like the commonality between Indian and other languages, cultural similarities and some of the excavations add weight to this standpoint. Many may be aware of how the far east - Vietnam and other countries - lost their Hindu tradition in near past. (2) ). It is because of the continued practice of this religion in India that made the influence on the rituals and Hindu encyclopedia. So this would certainly not inhibit people of any land or creed following the Hindu practices.

Anybody who wants to benefit could follow any path in Hindu school of philosophy. After all science is for everyone!!


"I am the slave of the slave of the worshipers of Lord Shiva, who live even beyond (in terms of land, creed, time etc.)."
- sundarar

Read the whole

Nice thoughts On Hinduism

now a question where is this written in Hindu scriptures

'Ahimsa Paramo Dharma' - Non violence is the highest duty.

Lord Krishna has said something different on it

+k for sharing