On Hinduism

The Truth is One, The Wise Refer to It in Many Ways. In Sanskrit: Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti.

The search for a single Truth is a core part of the Hindu tradition. So also is the understanding that the single Truth can be expressed in multiple ways of truth (with a small t).

Pop quiz: Why are leaves green?  One correct answer is that they contain chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is green colored. Another correct answer might be that leaves are green because they absorb red and blue color, and reflect the green color.  Both are correct answers, but only one might be considered right depending on whether you are writing a quiz for Biology (Chlorophyll) or Physics (color theory).  

Why shouldn’t there be more than one way to approach the truth? Who would disagree with something this obvious? That person will be who is trained to look only for a single right answer. 

Truthfully, monotheism’s invention is a more recent, and political, invention. The Hebrew Bible is not monotheistic (Yale’s Christine Hayes has a wonderful course on it), even though modern interpretations tend to read a type of monotheism into old texts.  The modern insistence on a “single Truth” runs counter to all mystical traditions that know that there are as many ways to know the truth as there are people. 

The habits of thought resulting from monotheism have led to the modern education system, where we are taught to seek a “single right answer” to the quiz question. Is that always correct? Should we accept this way of thinking? The “single right answer” is true only for a very small fraction of mathematical truths. In the vast majority of life’s truths, there are multiple truths all competing for attention, and all equally true, but only from a certain perspective. 

Hinduism certainly arrived at that conclusion; a single Truth can be expressed in myriad ways. Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti.

Other reading material: Yale’s Christine Hayes, 

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Is Hinduism Monotheistic, Why Does Hinduism Have So Many Gods, How Many Gods Are There,

Contributor: Gaurav Rastogi

Location of this post (1g): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/is-hinduism-monotheistic/

Hindus believe in only One God or the Ultimate. Here, first it has to be cleared that it is not Gods but deities (divine manifestations; devtas). Further, it is not 33 Crores (330 million) but 33 Koti (samUha, groups, types) of deities.

Blame it on the inadequacy of the English language or the vested interest of the mischievous colonial translators that created the narrative or propaganda that Hinduism is a polytheistic religion containing 33 Crore Gods. The Truth is, Hinduism is absolutely monotheistic, or more specifically believer in omnipresent one Ultimate Reality.

Per the Hindu scriptures, there are 33 categories of celestial living beings (that have finite life terms, and subject to birth- death continuum). The leaders of these 33 categories are described in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and as shown in the diagram below. For example, the Sun is one of such deities.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Vandana Mishra , A Guru explaining why Hinduism is said to have 330 million gods!

Contributor: Dilip Amin

Location of this post (2i): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/do-hindus-have-33-crores-gods/