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Hinduism
One God
Or
Many Gods?
THE DIVINE REALITY
THE BRAHMAN
The Brahman
 The one Divine Reality
 Eternal
 Creator of all things
 The Vedas say, “God is One. Men call
Him by various names.”
Nirguna Brahman
 Absolute Reality
 Indestructible
 Beyond the grasp of human
imagination
Saguna Brahman
 One’s personal God
 The form in which God appears to you
 Examples: Shiva, Jesus, Jupiter, Isis, Pele
Most humans need to worship God through
one of these forms because we cannot relate
to or comprehend Nirguna Brahman = The
Divine Reality
GODS AND GODDESSES:
ASPECTS OF THE DIVINE
Hindu Mythology
Like all mythology, it teaches us
something about:
 The attributes of the God
 How God interacts with humanity
 How we should live
 How we should relate to God
They are not meant to be taken literally
HINDU GODS
The Trimurti
• Trimurti – three aspects
of The Brahman
• Brahma = the Creator
• Vishnu = the Preserver
• Shiva = the Destroyer
• Each is a different
aspect of Brahman
• Most Hindus worship
one of these gods
Brahma – The Creator
• Created by Brahman
and the female energy
known as Prakriti
• Created the universe
• Depicted with four
heads – each recites
from one of the Vedas
• Is not popular in
modern India and few
worship him
Vishnu – the Preserver
• Maintains law and order
in the universe
• Incarnates himself to
protect humanity
• Avatars = incarnations
• Most important:
Krishna and Rama
• Many Hindus consider
the Buddha and Jesus
to be avatars of Vishnu
Krishna
• Avatar of Vishnu
• Hero of the BhagavadGita
• Was most likely an
actual person who was
later worshipped as a
god
• Advocates dharma –
one must always do
one’s duty
• Bhakti = love; devotion
– the worship Krishna
asks for. It does not
demand knowledge.
Rama
• Avatar of Vishnu
• Hero of the
Ramayana
• Saved humanity
from the demon
Ravenna
• Example of dharma
– doing one’s duty
no matter what the
consequences
Shiva
• The Destroyer and
Liberator
• One of the oldest of
the Hindu deities
• Ascetic
• Meditation
• The Ganges River
originates in Shiva
Shiva - Nataraj
• Shiva as “Lord of
the Dance”
• His dance keeps the
universe going
• When Shiva stops
dancing, the
universe will be
destroyed and then
re-created
Ganesh
• The son of Shiva
and Parvati
• God of prosperity,
good luck and
wisdom
• The Elephant head
replaced his own
after Shiva
accidentally killed
him – symbol of self
sacrifice and love
THE GODDESSES
Hinduism believes that the Divine is
neither male nor female, so Hindus
worship the female essence of the
Deity through the goddesses.
The feminine power of the Divine is
called Shakti.
Each of the gods of the Trimurti has a
female consort = the Tridevi
Tridevi
Sarasvati
• Wife of Brahma, the
Creator
• Goddess of knowledge
and inspiration
• Patroness of artists
• In her four hands she
holds a book for
knowledge, a Hindu
rosary for the spiritual
knowledge, and a
musical instrument
Lakshmi
• The wife of Vishnu
• Goddess of wealth and
prosperity
• Provides Vishnu with
the resources he needs
to keep the universe
running
• Incarnates herself
whenever Vishnu does
(Krishna’s lover Radha;
Rama’s wife Sita)
Krishna and Radha
Rama and Sita
Parvati
• Wife of Shiva
• Shows that union
with God comes
both through
meditation and
doing good works
Durga
• A manifestation
of Parvati
• Warrior
Goddess who
fights evil
• She helps us to
fight our own
negative
qualities
RELIGIOUS
SYMBOLISM
Shiva Nataraj
• Four arms = mastery
of the four directions
of the universe
• Ring of flame & water
= universe
• Drum = creation
• Flame (in Shiva’s
hand) = destructive
energy
• Snake – mastery over
all creation
• Hand pointing down –
release from
ignorance and
salvation
• Crescent moon –
seasons and changes
in life
The Lingam and Yoni
• Symbols of Shiva as
creator
• Lingam – male
creative power
• Yoni – female
creative power
• Probably the oldest
symbols in
Hinduism
Shiva Symbols
• Trident – destroys evil
• Cobra – control over
death
• Tiger skin (he sits on) –
Lord over forces of
nature
• Drum – creation
• Lines on forehead –
ability to see past,
present and future
Shiva and Nandi
• Most gods and
goddesses have a
“vehicle” = a sacred
or mythical animal
that transports them
• Nandi – the sacred
bull
• Represents faith,
strength and
constancy of belief
Vishnu
• Conch – water from
which all life flows;
power to maintain
universe
• Lotus –Divine truth
• Chakra (discus) –
conquering evil and
ignorance
• Mace – power of
knowledge
conquering evil
• “U” on forehead –
Vishnu’s sacred
footprint
• Vehicle – Garuda
the eagle
The Lotus
• Symbol of purity,
fertility, plenty.
• Associated with
many deities, but
mostly with the
goddesses Lakshmi
and Sarasvati who
are often depicted
sitting on one
Om (Aum)
• The first sound
made in Creation
• Symbol of Brahman
– the Divine Reality
• The main symbol of
Hinduism