Why does hinduism have so many gods ?

[wolfgaze]

Originally Posted by Vinayaka

Astika schools.

I'm no scholar, so if you google it you'll get far better answers than I can give. Some Hindus I know say they're atheist, but mainly they're atheist to the Abrahamic God of form, distinct from Brahman. In this case, advaita Vedanta is atheistic. So in many cases it becomes a definition of God as much as true atheism.

Then there is the term 'Hindu' itself, which can mean a cultural Hindu only, not defined as religious. They can be 'non-practicing' etc.

So yeah, basically its a complicated issue, and gets debated by scholars, which I'm not. Best wishes in discovering something.

Thanks for the response Vinayaka...

Some might consider me an 'atheist' as I do not subscribe to nor identify with the notion of a separate, anthropomorphic 'god/deity/creator'... So I know what you mean about about being 'atheist to a god of form'... Pandeist (relating to pantheism) would be a more accurate term to describe my perceptual orientation...

I would imagine for some that when your state of awareness is such that you intimately understand the connection/relationship between the conceptualizations of 'atman' and 'brahman' - there is no longer any sense of or perception of separateness (separation) remaining, and this would not leave room for identification with a 'god of form' that resides outside of oneself.

[Vinayaka]

The differing paradigms sometimes make words like 'God' difficult. I'm personally at both levels simultaneously, form in this level of reality, but formless at an ultimate level. So out of 'nothing' comes something. Still, the anthropomorphised version is 'that' (Brahman with form) of Nataraja, and is vastly different than the Abrahamic God, at least from my very limited perspective. Mainly this is due to a difference between emanation, and creation, amongst a few other things like modus operandi.

[Lumpino]

I think that many hindu gods and goddesses are something like angels and other lower spiritual beings in christianity. What about Apsaras, Gandharvas and many others.

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by Lumpino

I think that many hindu gods and goddesses are something like angels and other lower spiritual beings in christianity. What about Apsaras, Gandharvas and many others.

That could be. I've heard people who were trying to explain the word 'deva' say that it's basically the same as 'angel' in Christianity. I personally have no idea.

[chesterking]

Didn't Romans use to worship a lot of Gods as well? They even worshipped Cats?

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by chesterking

Didn't Romans use to worship a lot of Gods as well? They even worshipped Cats?

I believe they did, although history always leaves something out or puts something in. Still, there is one very major difference between Hindus and Romans.

[kris]

What is the major difference?

[Vinayaka]

One is a living tradition with about a billion practitioners today. The other ... perhaps a few revivalists, perhaps ... I don't about that know actually. I'd say that's a major difference.

[DavidMcCann]

If Roman religion ended, it was because it was persecuted out of existence. It's hard to practice a religion when it's been made illegal and the temples have been closed. Actually, I recently read that theres a continuous tradition of pagan worship in a village in the hills of Abruzzo.

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by DavidMcCann

If Roman religion ended, it was because it was persecuted out of existence. It's hard to practice a religion when it's been made illegal and the temples have been closed. Actually, I recently read that theres a continuous tradition of pagan worship in a village in the hills of Abruzzo.

I'm not up on it via reading of history, but I think much European paganism was persecuted out of existence, sadly. We've (speaking for Hindus here) managed to survive mostly because of sheer numbers. We did have 100 000 temples raised by conquerors, and still survived. The level of inhumanity in persecution has waned substantially so we (and others) should be able to survive from ere on out.