Hinduism Is Monotheistic
Hinduism is poorly understood by Western believers and academicians. There seem to be a pantheon of gods who serve different functions or have separate purviews. Many Hindus use the term “god” in referring to deities who are the focus of religious rituals without meaning that there is more than one God. What may add to the confusion is that the word “god” can be used loosely in explication of Hindu cosmology.
Hinduism is actually a monotheistic religion that has given names to various aspects or parts of one God. In His Divine Grace Swami Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, there is reference to a “sun-god.” While sun worship is commonly understood to be veneration of the physical star, it refers to a inner Sun model of God: irrespective of beliefs, deeds, or socioeconomic status, each human being and deity is an extension of one God as a ray on a sun. This inner Sun may be called the Godhead by Hindus.
Hinduism recognizes three main gods that may be explained with reference to the inner Sun model of the Godhead. All life is permeated by three forces that emanate from a single point within the inner Sun and permeate the entire universe. These forces have names in Hinduism: Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. Originally, those names were not human personalities but aspects of one God. Brahma was the Absolute from which all things were made. Vishnu was the generative principle of the universe. Shiva represented the passage of time and how it destroyed and reconstructed the manifest world. It was only through retelling stories over thousands of years that the three ‘gods’ acquired anthropomorphic characteristics who accomplished mythical feats of bravery and established bodies of self-knowledge. Thus, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma are constitutive aspects of one God.
Most Hindus do believe that Krishna and Rama were incarnations of the Godhead. Some worship these beings without recognition that God can take physical form for certain purposes. In fact, Krsna argues that however people conceive of and worship God is acceptable; the referent is always to one God. Again, the incarnation of a part of God does not mean that there are multiple gods.
Hinduism also posits the existence of many demi-gods (literally 333 million of them). These divine beings have separate positions of authority in a hierarchy that ultimately derives from a single God. A scholar posited that there is not a pantheon of different beings but different mantras. The gods themselves have no material consistency; they exist when they are evoked through mantras. The names of Hindu gods are referents for an aspect of the Godhead or the divine energy that permeates all life; the mantra is a formula to bring that divine energy into the human incarnation. It does not mean multiple gods but rather beings who are part of one God and who serve humanity.
Hindus may choose an aspect of God to worship or pray to, a decision that is usually shared by the household (e.g., children) and, in some cases, members of one’s community. For example, a young couple without children may want help with fertility and pray to Parvati while a beggar asks Ganesha to remove all obstacles to money. These needs change with one’s life situation but different deities do not mean multiple gods. For those in the know, there is still only one God.
To be sure, there are millions of Hindus who have lost their monotheistic understanding much like there are many believers in other religions who misunderstand the doctrine preached by their leaders. Hopefully, curious future students of Hinduism will recognize that it recognizes one God with multiple aspects who now have names and associated myths. This deification process has gotten in the way of asking, “what is God trying to accomplish through me?” - a question all believers need to ask themselves.