While some hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i. The concept of god in hinduism is largely empathic with natural powers such as agni. Gandhi, religious philosophy, truth, god, universality in religions of the world, morality and religion and the philosophy of the bhagavad gita. Ishvara is a transcendent and immanent entity best described in the last chapter of the shukla yajur veda samhita, known as the ishavasya upanishad. Hinduism never claims that a particular prophet is the prophet and a particular faith is the faith.
A comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism and. Hinduism gives less importance to the image of god in ones mind than to what values one carries and how. This paper is centered on the origin of the concept of gods in the indian religions and how it has. What we call sanathana ancient dharma righteous conduct is presently referred to as hinduism. May 15, 2017 as i got older, and i started to understand more about hinduism, little did i realize that the concept of god as some being with awesome superpowers that resides in the heavens, outside this world. The goal is to assist young hindus learn about hinduism, and to disspell common misconception about hinduism. For example, there is no concept of original sin in hinduism. Unlike abrahmic religions such as christianity and islam, hinduism mentions that creator and created are not separate and both of them are same, just as a paper manifests as different types of books, god manifests in all forms and we are all part of him rather than being separate. Thats when i have introduced concept of one god from hinduism.
Patanjali, the founder of the yoga system of philosophy, speaks of the transformation of one genus or species into another. The theme of this paper is to show that monotheism is at the core of both these great religions. Hinduism does not condemn those who deny god as the creator and ruler of the world, who do not accept the existence of an eternal soul and the state of moksha or state of liberation. Then, it describes the concept of god for worlds several major religions including hinduism, sikhism, judaism, and others. Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Hence, there are these three main truths see below, which form the basis for theological discussion. The ancient indians were not interested in history as such, which is simply the records of kings and merchants written by the victors. A comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism and islam. All hindus worship one supreme being, though by different names. Zakir naik had discussed the concept of god in major religions of the world like christianity, buddhism, jewish, islam, hinduism etc and now all the program is now before you in the shape of a pdf book ebook free. The flow of hinduism can be divided roughly into major periods of change and development. Ishvara is a philosophical concept in hinduism, meaning controller or the supreme controller i. Indian people commonly refer to hinduism by the more traditional phrase eternal religi. Hinduism upholds that god can be realised through all paths.
Hinduism has mainly four major denominations and adherent to this denominations mostly believes in monotheism. The realisation of god is regarded as the supreme blessedness or shreyas, as apart from preyas or temporal experience of satisfaction. Hinduism does not render the upholders of such views unfit to be recognised as pious and. Which book in hinduism is the best to understand the. They are the most ancient and authentic scriptures of hinduism and the most complicated too. The concept of trimurti or threeforms comprising of the gods. As i got older, and i started to understand more about hinduism, little did i realize that the concept of god as some being with awesome superpowers that resides in. The primary purpose of all religions is to provide salvation to. There are puranas that elaborately tell through the voice of the divines the glory of god. Concept of god in major religions ebook pdf the choice. He says, the primordial being, the primary datum, can be elucidated and not described. The earliest statement of the nature of reality occurs in the first book of the rigveda. The concept of creation in hinduism by murali chemuturi. Different philosophies within hinduism reconcile these seemingly conflicting statements about.
There is also the concept of brahman not to be confused with the god brahma, which in itself is open to debate. Which book in hinduism is the best to understand the concept. Hindu students association and hinduism today, brings you series of videos to educate hindus, and nonhindus on basics of hinduism. The book ends with a detailed analysis of concept of god in islam and how it perfects the concept of god. Hinduism vedic scriptures pdf thursday, december 2018. Hinduism is defined and described in a variety of ways, as the following items indicate. Everyone has got the right to follow his own path and to approach god in his own way. The kathopanishad has it that god is the root of this tree of world existence. The concept of god in hinduism sanskriti hinduism and. Concept of god in hinduism download important scriptures on advaita philosophynon dualism school of hinduism shankara bhashya in hindu vedic religion there is only one supreme god which exist at two different levels of reality. It is our intentions to make this videos brief, and easy to digest. Actually a program was arranged by peace tv before a very big gathering of muslims and non muslims, in which dr.
The concept of god in hinduism by swami krishnananda. The mangod appears on earth in human form and incarnates from time to. The concept of person in the hindu tradition differs radically from how it has. Each adherent may follow a unique philosophy and worship different gods. Hindus believe that karma is the foundation of life. Sep 20, 2017 concept of god in hinduism in hindu vedic religion there is only one supreme god which exist at two different levels of reality. Different philosophies within hinduism reconcile these seemingly conflicting statements about the nature of god in various ways. Hence, evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment, and the virtuous must have gods bounties and favors. By demonstrating the fundamental unity behind these beliefs, different schools of thought within hinduism are harmonised. Hinduism a brief overview of the development of hinduism. Concept of god in hinduism if you like our work and would like to stay updated please subscribe and press the notifications bell next to the subscribe button to receive more updates. The existence of god or gods is one of the crucial subjects in the field of religious studies.
Many scholars consider the evolution of god within buddhism as an effect of hinduism. Thus the major difference between the hindu and the muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe s. Thanks for a2a user12367849578736737000 i will give a brief introduction on the following important texts of hinduism. Posted on december 14, 2017 august 26, 2018 by nadarajah. Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world, and is based on ancient texts known as the vedas, as well as prehistoric animist religions which existed in the mohenjo daro civilization. It is an aspect of a duality, its opposite being virtue or dharma. God in a monotheistic or the supreme being or as an ishtadeva of monistic thought. In this research paper we will discuss the concept of god in hinduism and islam, the two major world religions. The hindu concept of god is not of an entity that creates the universe and blesses or punishes people at will. Hinduism a brief overview of the development of hinduism there. Devotion or bhakti as often referred to is a very key concept in hinduism, even for the philosophically inclined ones. May 12, 2016 it first categorizes the belief of the major religions into 5 types of religions. This paper correlates hindu concepts of god to those found in the semitic religious tradition and the bahai faith.
Sen makes the following observations in his book hinduism, hinduism is more like a tree that has grown gradually than like a building that has been erected by. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Concept of god in hinduism hinduism for beginners names of all available gitas bhagavad gita commentary by saint jnaneshwar jnaneshwaribhavarth deepika. Sir charles eliot remarks in this connection, hinduism has not been made, but has grown. Hinduism is not a single religion, it is actually a collection of various religions. This freedom makes the understanding of god in hinduism, the oldest monotheistic religion. Hinduism flows from the misty past some 6000 to 7000 years ago. Otherwise it goes against the idea of god s omnipresence. Hinduism as well as its history of relations with buddhism, christianity, and islam. It first categorizes the belief of the major religions into 5 types of religions.
The concept of god in major religions book download. God is not separate from creation, but all life, all atoms, all beings have the divine within them. Hinduism is a name given to these collection of philosophies. This is because the peoples of india with different languages and cultures have understood the one god in. The six persons who are parties to this conversation, namely, rnb, dd, ot, pp, sv and pa are all hindus who have grown in an atmosphere full of the culture and tradition. The concept of god in hinduism varies in its diverse traditions. In hinduism, god is both the creator and infused within the creation. However, learned hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a hindu should believe in and worship only one god.
Most of the hindus worship many gods and goddesses but they believe that they are the manifestations of one absolute being. Book the concept of god in islam and hinduism author. We will end the first part of the chapter concerning the concept of god in hinduism in the words of the renowned authority on hinduism and indian philosophy prof. The concept of god in islam there is nothing like unto him, and he is the hearing, the seeing. Today, with about 900 million followers, hinduism is. Hinduism spans a wide range of beliefs such as henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, atheism and nontheism. God in hinduism exists at three different levels of reality simultaneously. While the shashtras be it vedas, agamas, puranas describe the glory of god, one finds abundance of stotras that praise the god in love. It is the biggest misconception about hinduism that hindus worship 330 million gods making hinduism a polytheistic religion, but in fact, hinduism believes in only one god but allows its followers to worship the god in many forms such as nature including trees, sun, idols, animals, etc. The book ends with a detailed analysis of concept of. The prasna upanishad says that god is the supreme prajapati or creator, in whom are blended both the matter and energy of the universe. God is understood not only postulated the beauty of hinduism is that the concept of god is tried to be understood, experienced. Hinduism begins simply by differentiating between matter and spirit. Allah almighty is the ever living, the one who sustains and protects all that exists.
Emotional or loving devotion bhakti to a primary god such as avatars of vishnu krishna for example, shiva and devi emerged in. Consequently, the concept of god within hinduism is difficult to encapsulate. Spirit is understood within two main categories, namely. Aug 17, 2017 god is understood not only postulated the beauty of hinduism is that the concept of god is tried to be understood, experienced. Dec, 2018 hinduism vedic scriptures pdf thursday, december 2018. And unlike the religious movements those men started, hinduism claims no single founder or triggering event. While the vedas described brahman as the power of ritual, the concept was later defined in the upanishads composed between 800 and 300 bce, as the essence of the universe. Hindu god and goddesses ramakrishna math, bull temple road. On the other hand the scriptures like upanishads analyze through questioning and reasoning the concept of god. Indeed, most hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple gods. Before we begin the discussion, let us be clear that the concept of sin in hinduism is different from that of the abrahamic religions. If you ask some lay persons who are hindus that how many gods do they believe in, some may say three, some may say thirtythree, some may say a thousand, while some may say thirtythree crores i.
Unity in diversity anjam khursheed abstract this paper correlates hindu concepts of god to those found in the semitic religious tradition and the bahai faith. In one of the sayings of prophet muhammad pbuh, we are told that god is more loving and kind than a mother to her dear child. Turiya state is state of oneness of mindnonduality with brahman. The concept of creation in hinduism stellar house publishing. Hinduism also asserts that divinity is equally present in every soul, whether that be in a human or a subhuman body.
We can gain a better understanding of the concept of god in hinduism by analysing hindu scriptures. Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in a multitude of. Let me begin by saying that, in reality, there is no religion called hinduism. Many buddhists adopted the local god and thus the religion of nogod was transformed into the religion of manygods big and small, strong and weak and male and female. The key principles, beliefs and concepts of hinduism. Common concept of god in hinduism hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. The concept of salvation is present in almost all religions in its own distinct way. Pdf a comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism. The earliest statement of the nature of reality occurs in the first book of the. Pdf hinduism is commonly thought to represent polytheism. The word hindu was coined by the mlecchas arabsegyptians to denote people residing on the eastern side of the river sindhu presently. While some hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in. A comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism and islam abid mushtaq wani abstract. Hinduism spans a wide range of beliefs such as henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, atheism and nontheism forms of theism find mention in the bhagavad gita.
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