So many Gods. So many festivals. So many rituals.

[Guest guest]

So many Gods. So many festivals. So many rituals. What for?

 

 

So many Gods, Goddessess, Festivals, rituals in Hinduism. There is a

spiritual science behind it that few understand. Please read this

article that I found on the net written by A. Parthasarathy who

explains why there seems to be so many and so much multiplicity in

Hinduism, which is actually worshipping the same God in different

forms.

 

 

Anish

 

(devishakti_india)

 

 

 

Article By A. Parthasarathy

 

 

 

The Hindu scriptures are a unique blend of the subtle philosophy of

Vedanta on one hand and gross worship on the other. Hinduism appears

a strange amalgam of the highest classical literature with gods and

goddesses, rituals and festivals, ceremonies and celebrations. The

Hindu themselves are confused and confounded by this mixture. The

Vedas, the very source of Hinduism, authoritatively proclaim that the

Reality proclaim that the Reality is one and one alone. Why then do

the Hindus fall into manifold denominations and follow a variety of

conflicting spiritual practices? Why so many Gods? So many divisions?

Sects, creeds and castes? Why then does not Hinduism concentrate on

one practice like other religions? Such questions have baffled even

intellectuals from time immemorial.

 

 

The Hindus are not polytheistic. Hinduism speaks of one God that is

the supreme Self in man, Atman, Brahman. The different gods and

goddesses of the Hindu pantheon are mere representatives of the

powers and functions of one supreme God in the manifested world.

There is a general misunderstanding that the Hindus worship

innumerable gods and goddesses. The different forms of worship, the

number if superstitions and misleading spiritual practices have all

contributed to the wrong impression that the Hindus are polytheistic.

This is far from the truth. In fact, the Hindu worships one God be it

directly as Brahman (Brahman here is not caste Brahmin) or through

his manifested representatives and expressions.

 

 

The Hindu religion is ingeniously designed to treat all types of

disorders of the mind. The human mind is most complex. It suffers

from multifold diseases. Religion is meant to cure these diseases and

regain the spiritual health of individuals. Each individual has to be

treated separately according to his disease. There cannot be one

doctor, one medicine, one cure for all diseases. Hinduism is like a

hospital with its many wards, sections and divisions. Each if them

has a distinct purpose to attend to particular needs of a particular

disease. They are taken care of specialists with special equipments.

All of them put together cater to all types of ailments of all sorts

of people so that every one of them can come out of the hospital as a

healthy person. So too does Hinduism have different treatments for

different types of individuals to make them whole and realize their

supreme godhead.

 

 

The mind of man is in a chaotic state because of his vasanas

(desires). As long as there are desires within, the mind helplessly

runs in all directions seeking fulfillment of its desires.

Consequently it is agitated. An agitated mind cannot concentrate. It

is unfit for contemplation and meditation which alone leads him to

the eternal bliss of Self-realization. Religion is meant to help man

withdraw his mind from its preoccupation with the world at large and

converge it to the single-pointed thought of the Self within. When

the mind is brought to single-pointedness it can be directed towards

meditation and realization of the supreme Godhead. Without practicing

spiritual courses according to one's own constitution, there can be

no progress towards meditation and the bliss of realization.

 

 

One cannot stop the mind from its ramblings as long as it possesses

desires. To circumvent this great hurdle Hinduism has thoughtfully

brought in gods and goddesses, rituals and festivals, ceremonies and

celebrations. The master plan of the Hindu Sages is to divinize

everything in this world since man's attention has always been upon

the world. The plan has been drawn logically, scientifically,

practically. By this plan the mind is reminded of the supreme even as

it is engaged in the desires objects of the world. For instance,

Hinduism has personified wealth and riches in the form of Goddess

Lakshmi. So a man who runs after material wealth is made to remember

the goddess in all his transactions. Thus a touch of divinity is lent

to his material pursuits. Another man may pursue knowledge. Knowledge

is personified as the Goddess Saraswati. So his mind is also drawn to

the higher even though he is engaged in the pursuit of worldly

knowledge. Thus there are numerous gods covering the entire sphere of

human activities.

 

 

The life of a Hindu is a series of prayers and worship. Everything is

divinized from the cradle to the grave. There is a ritual associated

with every aspect of Hindu life. The entire passage from birth to

death is nothing but a series of rituals and religious ceremonies,

prayer and worship. The idea is to remind his dissipating constantly

of the purpose of his dissipating mind constantly of his existence in

the world. That is to unfold his Self, to realize his godhood.

 

 

The plan of Hinduism is to help the seekers reach the goal of

religion. Religion is derived from the Latin terms of " re "

and " ligare " . " Re " means " back, again " , " ligare " means " to bind, to

unite " . Etymologically, religion means " that which binds one back to

the origin " . The origin of man is his real Self, his supreme Self, to

draw out the divinity in man. Hinduism deals with the process of this

union most systematically and scientifically