Why are there so many gods in Hinduism? What do the Hindu scriptures say about God?
Read on to learn more. Do you remember the story of the six blind men and the elephant? One man described the elephant as a pillar after touching its leg. Another man, on feeling the elephant’s ear, described it as a fan, and so on. When it comes to God, we are similar to the men in the story. We describe or perceive God by using attributes such as compassionate or just, fair or dark, male or female, and so on. No matter how sophisticated our conception of God, it is still limited to the imagination of our minds. Brahman Most religions speak of one god (monotheism). However, only Hinduism has a concept of ‘only god’ (monism). Everything that exists is said to spring from a single entity called Brahman (not to be confused with the Brahmin caste or with the creator god Brahma), and everything ultimately returns to this original state. God, as stated by the Hindu scriptures, is not a matter of intellectual understanding, but the ultimate goal of every individual. Hinduism recognises that
