Self transcends cosmic dissolution

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The Teachings of BhagavanSri Ramana Maharshiin His Own WordsCHAPTER ONEGODSometimes questions were also asked about the multiple godsof Hinduism. In this connection it should be explained thatHindus, like Christians or Muslims worship the One God.Some of the questions about God recorded above were put byHindus. However, they also worship God manifested in variousforms, one possibility or name or form or viewpoint notnegating another.Devotee: Why are so many gods mentioned?Bhagavan: The body is only one, but how many functions areperformed by it! The source of all these functions is one. It isthe same with the gods. 1It would sometimes be asked whether the various gods andtheir heavens were real. But such a question starts from thepresumption of the reality of this physical world and thequestioner's body – a presumption which Bhagavan wouldnot admit. Instead, he would turn this question, like all others,to the quest for Reality.D.: Are the Gods, Ishvara and Vishnu, and their heavens,Kailas and Vaikuntha, real?B.: As real as you are in this body.D.: I mean, have they got a phenomenal existence like mybody, or are they pure fictions like the horns of a hare?B.: They do exist.D.: If so, they must be somewhere; where are they?B.: In you.D.: Then they are only my idea; something which I createand control?B.: Everything is.D.: But I can create a pure fiction like the horns of a hare,or a partial truth, like a mirage; while there are also facts whichexist irrespective of my imagination. Do the gods, Ishvara andVishnu, exist like that?B.: Yes.D.: Is God subject to cosmic dissolution at the end of a cycle?B.: Why should He be? A man who realises the Selftranscends cosmic dissolution and is liberated; why should notIshvara (God) who is infinitely wiser and abler than a man?D.: Do gods and devils also exist?B.: Yes.D.: How are we to conceive of Supreme Divine Consciousness?B.: As that which is. 21 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 371.2 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 30