Sri Ishta Siddhi Subrahmanya Swami

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

By Parama Poojya Swami Harshanada
Foreword by Swami Adidevananda

I am glad to introduce this book Hindu Gods and Goddesses. I hope this book will satisfy the long-felt need for a suitable book on this subject.

What is called 'Hinduism' in the present day could not be destroyed by an invader or foreigner or practicing Hindu could explore Hinduism in depth. Its roots are embedded in mysterious sources. Its branches have invaded space. Hinduism is all-pervasive, all-inclusive and penetrating into depths.

Hinduism is supposed to be apauruseya, i.e. of impersonal origin and therefore it is devoid of errors of instrument and cognition. Even if the three prasthanas (authorities) namely, the Upanishads, the Brahma sutras and the Bhagavad Gita did not exist, that could have hardly done any harm to Hinduism.

Even so are the gods of Hinduism. They are eternal, undecaying and undying. Some Gods are prominent in the Vedas and some in later Vedic literature, itihasas and puranas. The Vedic dictum 'Truth is one. Sages call it by different names' set the tune in the orchestra of Hinduism. This idea disproves the notion that Hinduism is polytheistic.

The Greeks had many gods and goddesses in their pantheon. They would take sides in battles or wars, hating or loving some human being. Other ancient religions and mysteries had their own gods and goddesses. In Hinduism gods and goddesses do not take sides prominently. We may ask, 'What is the need to have so many gods in religion? Are they personifications of nature or conceptual symbols?' According to some scholars gods represent forces of nature. Agni represents fire. Vayu represents the wind. Indra is the thunderbolt. Soma is the god of plants and liquor and on. Here we find one tendency in the prayers of Vedic Aryans. When Varuna or Indra is glorified, that particular god has all the attributes of the Highest. This view also disproves the multiplicity of the gods.

Hinduism has not turned its back on Vedic beliefs. On the contrary it is a continuation of Vedic tradition. Veda in its embryonic state has all the characteristics which developed in course of time. It has already been stated that each god was praised as the Highest. Naturally there was no absolute sovereign but still some gods permanently occupied a lasting place. For instance Indra is a great warrior who drove back darkness, killed the demon Vrtra and protected the votaries.

Towards the end of the Vedic age, i.e. towards the end of the 5th century BC, there appeared the Upanishads. Without giving up the Vedic modes of thought, the texts revealed a sort of philosophico-gnosticism which established the relation between Atman and Brahman. Towards the end of the Upanisadic period, popular Hinduism comes out in bold relief. Here we see a religion fighting against some tendencies, open to some tendencies and making the Upanishidic ideas more popular.

In Brhadaranyaka Upanisad we find Vidagdha Sakalya questioning Yagnavalkya thus: How many gods are there? He answered in accord with the Nivid: “Three hundred and three, and three thousand and three.” By a process of regress the gods are reduced to one, the unitary Brahman. The Anglo-Saxon word 'god' hardly gives the sense of the Sanskrit term 'deva'. While god is pantheistic in Western poetry and mysticism, there is a tendency for transcendentalism in Hinduism. Nevertheless though one Godhead is emphasized, again and again a sort of trinity is recognised in Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. While Brahma is the principle of creation, Vishnu preserves and Siva destroys. Among the Vedic Gods Vishnu and Siva is nothing. Ultimately by a series of developments Vishnu and Siva are identified with the Brahman of the Upanishads.

There is a remarkable passage in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad: 'The gods are fond of the cryptic, as it were, and dislike the evident' (paroksapriya iva hi devah pratyaksadvisah). Many a scholar has overlooked this esoteric sentence. The meaning is, we are not to take every sentence in an etymological sense. The names of the gods, their raiment, and their instruments have symbolic and psychological significance. For instance, the Astrabhusanaadhyaya of Vishu Purana (1.22) is a great authority on the subject. The ornaments and weapons which adorn the body of the divine Figure, symbolically represent the principals of the universe. It is thus: the living principle is in the form of Kaustubha, Prakrti Srivasta, Mahat the club, Sattvikaaharikara the conch, Tamasa ahanikara the bow, knowledge the sword, ignorance its sheath, the mind the discus, sense and motor organs the arrows, and the subtle and gross elements the garland. Similarly we have to understand the Vedic language and the subsequent literature symbolically.

A superficial student of Hinduism sees in our religious literature much chaos and irrational practices which border on superstition. A student of Hinduism must possess a spirit of charity, dispassion and tolerance. Far from being an intellectual game, sadhana and philosophy are spiritual experiences. In Hinduism symbology and truth, esoteric and exoteric, sadhana and philosophy, psychology and ethics fascinate us.

A study of the Hindu gods is as fascinating as it is difficult. It is fascinating because of its exciting variety. It is difficult since it is symbolic. Swami Harshanada, who has already written many books in English, has handled this subject with a fair degree of care and skill. Special mention should be made of his treatment of the topics of Samudramathana and Ganapati.

We hope that the present work will prove to be a valuable addition to the literature on the gods of Hinduism.

- Swami Adidevananda