Features of the Divine
Hindus view BrahmanIn Hindu belief, the absolute reality that is the true essence of all existence, God. as the Divine and believe the Divine can be understood in three ways.
- God exists everywhere as a non-personal God, which Hindus call Brahman.
- God exists as antaryamiBrahman as God within humans., which is God within humans.
- God exists as vaikunthaBrahman as a personal God living through deities., which is God as personal, taking form as deities who live in a spiritual world.
Hindus argue that the Divine is beyond human understanding and therefore use different ideas or deity / deitiesOne god or goddess. In Hinduism, the word for gods and goddesses that many Hindus believe are different aspects of the one Supreme Spirit (Brahman). to understand the Divine. For example, they might see the Divine as a mother, sister, auntie and friend all at the same time.
The idea is that the Divine is not just one concept but many. Just as a human is one person but can have multiple roles, the Divine can be multiple concepts at once. Remembering this helps Hindus to understand the Divine.
The UpanishadsAncient Hindu scripture containing ideas about the nature of Brahman (the Supreme Spirit) and ways to live well and achieve moksha (freedom from rebirth). are one of the holy scripture(s)A piece of writing that has religious significance. of Hinduism and are seen as a source of wisdom and authority. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad shows that, although there are many deities, all with different characteristics representing different parts of Brahman, there is just one true ultimate God, the Divine.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (391) describes the nature of the many possible deities, all of which relate to different aspects of God.
Then Vidagdha, the son of Sakala, asked him [Yajnavalkya]. 鈥楬ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 Yajnavalkya decided it through this [group of Mantras known as] Nivid, [saying], 鈥楢s many as are indicated in the Nivid of the Visvadevas, three hundred and three, and three thousand and three鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said Sakalya, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥楾hirty-three鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said the other, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥楽ix鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said Sakalya, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥楾hree鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said the other, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥楾wo鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said Sakalya, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥極ne and a half鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said the other, 鈥榟ow many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?鈥 鈥極ne鈥. 鈥榁ery well鈥, said Sakalya, 鈥榳hich are those three hundred and three and three thousand and three?鈥