Lesson 2 – Concept of God in Hinduism
“The wise yogis concentrate their minds; and concentrate their thought as well in the Supreme Reality, which is Omnipresent, Great, and Omniscient. He alone, knowing their functions, assigns to the sense organs their respective tasks. Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator.” Rig Veda 5:81
Introduction to The Concept of God in Hinduism
In this lesson, we are going to discuss the concept of God in Hinduism. We are going to analyze it and find things common in it and Islam.
A Common Concept of God in Hinduism
People think the concept of God in Hinduism is based on polytheism. Some people believe in 3 Gods, others in many more. But if scriptures are read, they remind us of a single God. The only difference between Islam and Hinduism is that they believe in the concept that everything is divine wherever, whereas Muslims think everything is the creation of the divine. According to Holy Quran
“Come to common terms as between us and you.”
And the first common thing is,
“that we worship none but Allah.”
Thus we can analyze the similarities by viewing the scriptures.
Bhagavad Gita
According to the scripture,
“Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.”
Bhagavad Gita 7:20
Upanishads
We can get the concept of God in Hinduism from the following scriptures.
- “He is One only without a second.” Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1
- “Of Him there are neither parents nor Lord.” Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9
- “There is no likeness of Him.” Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19
- “His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye.” Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20
Now, let us compare it with Quranic verses
- “And there is none like unto Him.” Al Qur’an 112:4
- “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, well acquainted with all things.” Al Qur’an 6:103
The Vedas
The concept of God in Hinduism can also be seen in the Vedas. They are the most sacred scriptures and are four in number.
- Yajur Veda
- “There is no image of Him.” Yajur Veda 32:3
- “He is bodiless and pure.” Yajur Veda 40:8
- Atharva Veda
- “God is verily Great.” Atharvaveda 20:58:3
A similar message in Quran is,
“He is the Great, the Most High.” The Qur’an 13:9
- Rig Veda
It is the oldest of all Vedas and is considered the most sacred.
- “Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names”. Rig Veda 1:164:46
- “O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One.” Rig Veda 8:1:1
An attribute mentioned in rig Veda is Brahma and Vishnu. Muslims can never call their God by such names cause they have a visual representation, whereas God has no image.
- Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta
The brahma sutra of Hindu vendata is
“There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit.”
Thus the study of Hindu scriptures is important to know the concept of God in Hinduism. The concept of God in Hinduism and Islam has many similarities.
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