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What Percentage Of Hindus Worship Only One God?
- Thread starter wizanda
- Start date
Fireside_Hindu
Jai Lakshmi Maa
Anyone have any idea what percentages of Hindus recognize Brahman is One, and all Avatars are reflections of Brahman?
No idea =)
I have no idea either, and the question isn't clear. Do you mean if they see various representations as one God, or just stick to one representation? For the first part, as various representations as one, then I would guess a lot. I don't think very many at all, if any, worship just one representation. The idea of what's a God also makes it more complicated. Many have one Supreme God, but also worship other Gods like helper Gods (henotheism). Also, not all sects believe in avatars. Only Vaishnavites and some Smartas believe in avatars at all. So, in summary, its complicated.
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Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Do I believe in Brahman as the sole entity in the world - Yes. Do I believe in various Gods - I do not, but I respect them all, others believe and worship them all, my family does that. Believe in Vishnu, not believe in Shiva - No, both are equal and probably the same. Laxmi or Parvati - both are equal and probably the same. etc. People are welcome to worship them separately. Would I disrespect the name of a regional Hindu God which I am hearing for the first time - No. If Hindus worship that deity, then I will also respect him/her. Happens many times, we have many regional and village Gods and Goddesses. Hindu views cannot be put to numbers like that.
http://www.himachalspider.com/resources/4536-Interesting-facts-about-deities-Himachal.aspx
(I did not know about many deities mentioned in this article. But that is OK. All these deities gather in Kulu on Dussehra to greet the main deity of the valley, Lord Sri Ram).
Himachal Goddess
Edited: I think the village deities are ranked like knights in a king's court, some are more important than the others. Perhaps it depends on the population size of the village. Some have gold-plated palanquins while others have silver-plated palanquins as mentioned in the article. While on travel, the deities cannot be put on ground and people share to hold them all the time. Here is Sheshpal and his helper.
http://phototravelings.blogspot.com/2013/06/local-dieties-of-himachal-pradesh.html
http://www.himachalspider.com/resources/4536-Interesting-facts-about-deities-Himachal.aspx
(I did not know about many deities mentioned in this article. But that is OK. All these deities gather in Kulu on Dussehra to greet the main deity of the valley, Lord Sri Ram).
Edited: I think the village deities are ranked like knights in a king's court, some are more important than the others. Perhaps it depends on the population size of the village. Some have gold-plated palanquins while others have silver-plated palanquins as mentioned in the article. While on travel, the deities cannot be put on ground and people share to hold them all the time. Here is Sheshpal and his helper.
http://phototravelings.blogspot.com/2013/06/local-dieties-of-himachal-pradesh.html
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shivsomashekhar
Well-Known Member
Anyone have any idea what percentages of Hindus recognize Brahman is One, and all Avatars are reflections of Brahman?
1. Most Hindus have never heard of Brahman. Brahma - yes, Brahman - no.
2. Only Smarthas would accept all avatars as the same. There is no shortage of avatars in Hinduism and a good number of them are not avatars of Vishnu.
So, you are looking for the intersection of the two and that number is less than 1% - IMO.
BG 14.27
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham
amṛtasyāvyayasya ca
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikāntikasya ca
And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness
BG13.13
jñeyaḿ yat tat pravakṣyāmi
yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
anādi mat-paraḿ brahma
na sat tan nāsad ucyate
I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.
BG7.7
mattaḥ parataraḿ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaḿ protaḿ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham
amṛtasyāvyayasya ca
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikāntikasya ca
And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness
BG13.13
jñeyaḿ yat tat pravakṣyāmi
yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
anādi mat-paraḿ brahma
na sat tan nāsad ucyate
I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.
BG7.7
mattaḥ parataraḿ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaḿ protaḿ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
I do not think any Hindu will disrespect SrimadBhagawadGita, but that does not mean that every Hindu will agree or interpret Gita in the way some others may do.
Upon further reflection ... This is a really difficult question for several reasons.
1) Many Hindus wouldn't actually know what they think. They might say that it's all one God appearing in many forms, and then go to a temple, do the rounds of 10 or more Gods, and view them all differently, talk to them as if they are different etc. This kind of philosophy behind it all really isn't the average Hindus forte. On different days they might answer differently, or it might depend on who they're discussing it with, and what that person wants to hear.
2) The entire concept of God or god or gods is also vague. When a priest involes the devas from the Vedas like Vayu, Varuna, etc, are these Gods or devas? Again, most Hindus wouldn't be able to answer.
3) Many people espouse the view that they are most surrounded with, quite naturally. So a person who goes to a Smarta style temple of an Advaita Vedanta Center will answer much the same as Kirran did above, wheres a person who walks past two really different style temples, but his nature is more sectarian could tell you flat out that he prefers the God in one temple over another, indicating he actually believes there are at least 2 Gods.
4) Most people wouldn't put much stock in answering anyway.
So I don't think its really possible to make an accurate assessment.
1) Many Hindus wouldn't actually know what they think. They might say that it's all one God appearing in many forms, and then go to a temple, do the rounds of 10 or more Gods, and view them all differently, talk to them as if they are different etc. This kind of philosophy behind it all really isn't the average Hindus forte. On different days they might answer differently, or it might depend on who they're discussing it with, and what that person wants to hear.
2) The entire concept of God or god or gods is also vague. When a priest involes the devas from the Vedas like Vayu, Varuna, etc, are these Gods or devas? Again, most Hindus wouldn't be able to answer.
3) Many people espouse the view that they are most surrounded with, quite naturally. So a person who goes to a Smarta style temple of an Advaita Vedanta Center will answer much the same as Kirran did above, wheres a person who walks past two really different style temples, but his nature is more sectarian could tell you flat out that he prefers the God in one temple over another, indicating he actually believes there are at least 2 Gods.
4) Most people wouldn't put much stock in answering anyway.
So I don't think its really possible to make an accurate assessment.
Satyamavejayanti
Well-Known Member
Anyone have any idea what percentages of Hindus recognize Brahman is One, and all Avatars are reflections of Brahman?
Namaste,
No idea about numbers, but coming from personal experience and understanding and being a practitioner, i would say that the major section of Hindu Dharmah would have the view which is not directly associated with the word "Brahman".
I would say the most simple understanding is that there is "OM", from omkara (OM) is produced Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu and all the Devis and Devtas, and the Avatars are the manifestation of either Shiva or Vishnu or other Devi Devta.
Now this OM is known also as "Brahman", in the Vedanta darshan, those Hindus who consider OM as the primal supreme principal are the everyday Hindus IMO.
Dhanyavad
Hindus in general are not trained to explain their faith in terms of explicit propositional truth claims. That said, I would surmise based on my own experience that most Hindus feel that the Gods they worship are same in their essence but different in the characters they manifest to their devotees.Anyone have any idea what percentages of Hindus recognize Brahman is One, and all Avatars are reflections of Brahman?
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Because this is considered something very personal, has no relation with what another Hindu believes.