Introduction to Hindu Gods and Goddesses

by Sri Swami Sivananda

O Lord of all life! O Heavenly flame!
Centre and Soul of every sphere!
Thy light is truth.
Thy warmth is love.
Grant us wisdom, to make us free.
Come, fill our hearts with peace.
Direct us, protect us, save us
Till we reach the other shore of immortality.

THE oil lamp does not talk, but it shines and sheds light all around. The jasmine does not speak, but it wafts its fragrance everywhere. The lighthouse sounds no drum, but sends its friendly light to the mariner. The Unseen beats no gong, but its omnipresence is felt by the dispassionate and discriminating sage.

Behind all names and forms is the one nameless, formless Essence. Behind all governors is the one Supreme Governor of governors. Behind all lights is the one Light of lights. Behind all sounds, there is the soundless Supreme Silence. Behind all teachers is the one Supreme Guru of Gurus.

Behind all these perishable is the one imperishable Absolute. Behind all these motions is the one motionless Infinite. Behind time, minutes and days is the one timeless Eternity. Behind hatred, riots and wars is the one hidden Love.

What Is God?

God is the totality of all that exists, animate and inanimate, sentient and insentient. He is free from ills and limitations. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He has no beginning, middle, or end. He is the Indweller in all beings. He controls from within.

God is all in all. God is the only Reality in this universe. The existence of things is by the light of God.

God is ever living. All depend on Him. He is not depending on any. He is the Truth.

God is the end or goal of all Yoga Sadhanas. He is the centre towards which all things strive. He is the Highest Purpose or Highest Good of the world.

You have the urge of hunger. There is food to appease the hunger. You have the urge of thirst. There is water to quench thirst. There is the urge to be always happy. There must be something to satisfy this urge. This something is God, an embodiment of happiness. God, Immortality, Freedom, Perfection, Peace, Bliss, Love are synonymous terms.

Varying Concepts of God

Every man has his own conception of God. The God of a military man wears a helmet. The God of a China-man has a flat nose and a pipe for smoking opium. The God of a Hindu has marks on His forehead, and wears rosary and garland of flowers. The God of a Christian wears a Cross. For some, God has wings. A buffalo will think that God is a very big buffalo.

What is God? It is hard to tell. But, when I look at the Ganga, I know it is God. When I see the jasmine, I know it is God. When I behold the blue sky, I know it is God. When I hear the chirping of birds, I know it is God. When I taste honey, I know it is God.

The Supreme is indefinable, though scholars give intellectual accounts of It which are not absolutely true.

Ocean can be compared to ocean alone. Akasa can be compared to Akasa alone. Even so, Brahman or the Absolute can be compared to Brahman alone.

Just as air is formless and at the same time takes the form as of a cyclone, so also, God who is formless in His un-manifested or transcendental state, assumes a form for the pious worship of His Bhaktas. He reveals Himself in the form in which the devotee loves Him the most.

Law Governing the Lord’s Descent

When Lord Jesus was born, the angels sang a beautiful song in praise of the Lord and, in so doing, revealed the purpose of His Descent:

Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good-will toward men.

Lord Jesus had come into this world of men in order to re-establish the true and the highest glory of God—peace on earth, and good-will in the hearts of men towards all fellow-beings.

The law governing the Lord’s Descent upon earth is the same at all times, everywhere. There is descent of God for the ascent of man. The aim of every Avatara is to save the world from some great danger, to destroy the wicked, and protect the virtuous. Says Lord Krishna: "Whenever there is decay of righteousness, then I Myself come forth. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age."

When unrighteousness grows and righteousness is on the wane, when the forces un-divine seem to be stronger than the divine forces, when the Word of God or Commandments of His Messengers is forgotten or disobeyed, when religious fanaticism follows the letter of the scriptures killing their spirit, it is then that the Lord Incarnates Himself on earth, to save man, to save righteousness. He takes human form when He comes down on the physical plane. He is called an Avatara.

An Avatara is a mighty person. He removes the veil of ignorance of thousands of men and women, and takes them to the land of eternal rest, bliss and sunshine.

The Avataras are one with the Supreme. They are not parts like the individual souls. Avataras or Incarnations are rays of the Lord. When the work of Loka-Sangraha is over, they disappear from the world.

Kinds of Avataras

Avataras are of various kinds. There are Purna-Avataras, with full Kalas or rays. There are Amsa-Avataras or partial incarnations. There are Lila-Avataras.

Lord Krishna is a Purna-Avatara. Sri Sankaracharya was an Amsa-Avatara. Matsya, Kurma, Narasimha, Vamana, Varaha, Rama, etc., are Lila-Avataras.

Krishna and Rama were the Avataras of Lord Vishnu. Dakshinamurti was an incarnation of Lord Siva. Dattatreya was the Avatara of the three Murtis—Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are the three aspects of God. Brahma is the creative aspect; Vishnu is the preservative aspect; and Siva is the destructive aspect. There is no polytheism in Hinduism. Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, Sakti are different aspects of the one Lord.

The Divine Form of an Avatara

Some people say: "How can we take Krishna as the Lord or Bhagavan? He took birth and died. He is only a man." This is a false statement. This is the utterance of an ignorant child. Lord Krishna only manifested Himself, for the time being, to do Loka-Sangraha work, to affect the solidarity or well-being of humanity, and then disappeared. Lord Krishna is Lord Hari Himself. There is no doubt of this.

Lord Rama is the Supreme Soul, the Antaryamin, the Protector of all beings. He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is Lord Hari. He was never born. He never died. Lord Hari simply manifested in the form of Rama to do Loka-Sangraha, and then vanished.

Lord Rama and Lord Krishna had no physical bodies. Their bodies were not made of the five elements. They had divine forms. They had Chinmaya-bodies, though to all appearance it appeared like flesh. They had no real birth and death like human beings. They appeared and disappeared, just as a Yogi does. Their bodies were not left in this world. There is no destruction for their bodies.

Philosophy, Mythology and Ritual

In every religion, there are three parts, viz., philosophy, mythology and ritual. Philosophy is the essence of religion. It sets forth its basic principles or fundamental doctrines or tenets, the goal, and the means of attaining it. Mythology explains and illustrates philosophy by means of legendary lives of great men or of supernatural beings. Ritual gives a still more concrete form to philosophy so that everyone may understand it. Ritual consists of forms and ceremonies, etc.

Mythology is a part of every religion. Mythology is concretized philosophy. Mythology is the science which investigates myths or fables or legends founded on remote events, especially those made in the early period of a people’s existence. Mythology inspires the readers through precepts and laudable examples, and goads them to attain perfection or the highest ideal. The abstract teachings and high subtle ideas are made highly interesting and impressive to the masses through the garb of stories, parables, legends, allegories and narratives. The sublime and abstract philosophical ideas and ideals of Hinduism are taken straight to the heart of the masses through impressive stories.

Mythology is slightly mixed up with a little history. It is difficult to make a fine distinction between history and mythology.

The Ancient Mythology of Hinduism

There are great truths behind the ancient mythology of Hinduism. You cannot ignore a thing simply because it has a garb of mythology. Do not argue. Shut up your mouth. Keep your intellect at a respectable distance when you study mythology. Intellect is a hindrance. It will delude you. Give up arrogance, vanity. Cultivate love for imagery. Sit like a child and open your heart freely. You will comprehend the great truths revealed by mythology. You will penetrate into the hearts of the Rishis and sages who wrote the mythology. You will really enjoy mythology now.

You study geography through maps. There is no real country or town in a map, but it helps you to know a great deal about the different countries. Similar is the case with myths. You can grasp the subtle, philosophical truths through myths only. The object of myth and legend is merely to lure the mind to the truths of religion.

By studying mythology, you will get several object lessons for molding your character and leading an ideal, divine life. The lives of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Bhishma, Nala, Harischandra, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Radha are sources of great spiritual inspiration for molding your life, conduct and character. When you are in a dilemma as to what to do during puzzling situations or when there is conflict of duties, you will get the exact solutions through study of mythology.

The Diverse Sects and Creeds of Hinduism

A foreigner is struck with astonishment when he hears about the diverse sects and creeds of Hinduism. But, these varieties are really an ornament to Hinduism. They, certainly, are not its defects. There are various types of mind and temperament. So, there should be various faiths also. This is but natural. This is the cardinal tenet of Hinduism. There is room in Hinduism for all types of souls—from the highest to the lowest—for their growth and evolution.

The term Hinduism is most elastic. It includes a number of sects and cults, allied, but different in many important points. Hinduism has, within its fold, various schools of Vedanta—Saivism, Saktism, Vaishnavism, etc. It has various cults and creeds. It is more a league of religions than a single religion with a definite creed. It is a fellowship of faiths. It is a federation of philosophies. It accommodates all types of men. It prescribes spiritual food for everybody, according to his qualification and growth. This is the beauty of this magnanimous religion. This is the glory of Hinduism. Hence there is no conflict among the various cults and creeds. Lord Krishna says in the Gita: "However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men take from every side is Mine." All diversities are organized and united in the body of Hinduism. Despite all the differences of metaphysical doctrines, modes of religious discipline, and forms of ritualistic practices and social habits prevalent in the Hindu society, there is an essential uniformity in the conception of religion, and in the outlook on life and the world, among all sections of Hindus.

The Question of Idol-worship

Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world—save a few Yogis and Vedantins—are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind.

The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.

Everyone is an idol-worshipper. Pictures, drawings, etc., are only a form of Pratima. A gross mind needs a concrete symbol as a prop or Alambana; a subtle mind requires an abstract symbol. Even a Vedantin has the symbol OM for fixing the wandering mind. It is not only the pictures or images in stone and wood that are idols. Dialecticians and leaders also become idols. So, why condemn idolatry?

When Idols Became Alive

The God in you has the power to awaken the latent Divinity in the idol. Regular worship, Puja and other modes of demonstrating our inner feeling of recognition of Divinity in the idol unveils the Divinity latent in it. This is truly a wonder and a miracle. The picture comes to life. The idol speaks. It will answer your questions and solve your problems.

For a devotee, the image is a mass of Chaitanya or consciousness. The devotee beholds actually the Lord in the idol. He draws inspiration from the image. The image guides him. It talks to him. It assumes human form to help him in a variety of ways.

The image of Lord Siva in the temple at Madurai, in South India, helped the fuel-cutter and the old woman. The image in the temple at Tirupati assumed human form and gave witness in the court to help His devotees. The idols in the temples of Tirupati, Pandharpur, Palani, Kathirgama, etc., are powerful Deities. They are Pratyaksha Devatas. They grant boons to the devotees, cure their ailments, and give Darshan. Wonderful Lilas are associated with these Deities.

For a Bhakta or a sage, there is no such thing as Jada or insentient matter. Everything is Vaasudeva or Chaitanya: Vaasudevah Sarvam Iti. Narsi Mehta was put to the test by a Raja. The Raja said, "O Narsi, if you are a sincere devotee of Lord Krishna, if as you say the idol is Lord Krishna Himself, let this idol move." According to the prayer of Narsi Mehta, the idol moved. The sacred Bull Nandi before Siva’s idol took the food offered by Tulsidas. The Murti played with Mira Bai. It was full of life and Chaitanya for her.

All Deities Are Aspects of the One Lord

You can attain God-realization through worship of Avataras like Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. Many have already attained God-realisation in this manner. Tukaram, Ramdas, Surdas, Mira Bai and Tulsidas have seen God face to face. Their powerful writings bespeak of their high spiritual attainments.

Worship Lord Rama or Lord Krishna at all times with all your heart, and with all your mind. Glorify Him in your heart. He will soon reveal Himself to you and you will feel His Presence. You will attain immortality and eternal bliss.

God reveals Himself to His devotees in a variety of ways. He assumes the very form which the devotee has chosen for his worship. If you worship Him as Lord Hari with four hands, He will come to you as Hari. If you adore Him as Siva, He will give you Darshan as Siva. If you worship Him as Mother Durga or Kaali, He will come to you as Durga or Kaali. If you worship Him as Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, or Lord Dattatreya, He will come to you as Rama, Krishna, or Dattatreya. If you worship Him as Christ or Allah, He will come to you as Christ or Allah.

All are aspects of one Isvara or Lord. Under whatever name and form, it is Isvara who is adored. Worship goes to the Indweller, the Lord in the form. It is ignorance to think that one form is superior to another. All forms are one and the same. All adore the same Lord. The differences are only differences of names due to differences in the worshippers, but not in the object of adoration.

The real Jesus or Krishna is in your own heart. He lives there forever. He is your Indweller. He is your partner always. There is no friend like the Indweller. Resort to Him. Take refuge in Him. Realize Him and be free.

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