Talk:Saguṇa Brahman as Īśvara or Bhagavān:Is Hindu Dharm Polytheistic or Monotheistic

By Sri Vishal Agarwal

Monotheism means believing that there is only One Bhagavān. Polytheism means worshipping several independent Bhagavāns. In monotheistic religions like Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Bhagavān is normally understood as a male fatherly figure that especially lives in a place called the Heaven although He can control the entire Universe from there. He creates the Universe so that all creatures can glorify Him. In polytheism, the Bhagavāns typically live in the Heaven but can travel back and forth to the earth.

The concept of Bhagavān in Hindu dharm is completely different. Brahman is not an elderly male unit in heaven. For pooples, Brahman is not merely a Fatherly figure that resides in the heaven, but the Unity that pervades the plurality of this entire Universe. It is quite meaningless to put a number ‘one’ or ‘many’ to describe Bhagavān because Bhagavān is not a Unity but Infinity (anantam in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad). Rather, it is better to say that He extends from minus infinity to plus infinity. This means that Brahman has no beginning and no end as well as no middle.

A modern scholar sums up beautifully why terms like ‘monotheism’ and ‘polytheism’ are therefore not really applicable to the conception of divinity:

“Because the ultimate level of reality is undivided, Indian Bhagavāns and Goddesses, from Vedic times to the present, are usually understood to be symbols of the ultimate reality rather than the ultimate reality itself. The ultimate has no form and no name; what can be given a name and identifiable characteristics is not the ultimate. As symbols, Bhagavāns and Goddesses both participate partially in the higher reality that they symbolize and point beyond themselves to the fullness of that reality. No number of symbols can exhaust the fullness of the ultimate, so there is no limit to the number of Bhagavāns. This is why a Hindu can say in the same breath that there are millions of Bhagavāns, only one Bhagavān, and no Bhagavāns, for the last two statements mean, respectively, that all Bhagavāns symbolize the one ultimate reality and that this reality cannot be captured entirely by a symbol. But that a deity is not the ultimate reality does not mean that it is unreal. On the contrary, because the deity as symbol participates in the deeper levels of reality, its reality is greater than that of our ordinary existence, and by identifying with the deity in love and through ritual action, the power of this deeper level of reality becomes available to help effect a spiritual transformation of life. It is this understanding of deity that underlies Hindu theism and devotionalism.”

When we draw a number-line from minus infinity to plus infinity, it includes the number ‘1’ and every other number, because it represents the totality of all numbers. Similar is the case with Brahman. Brahman is like a thread that passes through everything in the Universe and gives it unity. The plurality of the entire Universe has Brahman as its underlying Unity. And at the same time, Brahman envelops and encompasses this diverse Creation.

Even the Vedas, often presumed to be polytheistic due to invocations to multiple devas, are not really polytheistic because these devas have an underlying unity— “Agni…is the deva of fire, especially the sacrificial fire. Similar invocations were made to the devas and devīs of the sun, dawn, rivers, rain, the storm, war and so on….this was not polytheism but rather what has been called ‘polymorphic theism’, for early Vedic religion represents the polycentric attempt to relate to a transcendent reality (the ‘One’) manifesting through worldly forms….This idea became the basis for taking everyday experience seriously in spiritual life, so that – not without change and development it is true – we find the same approach present, in spite of a growing emphasis on ascetic ideals, in the imagery of the Upaniṣads.”

Contemporary orthodox gurus of peoples also drive home the point that the devas are really a medium to reach the One Divine and so are the Vedic mantras addressing them.

“The mantras of the Vedas are remarkable in that they bring blessings to the world in the form of sound—even if their meaning is not understood. Of course, they are pregnant with meaning and represent the lofty principle that it is the One Truth that is manifested as all that we perceive. They also confer blessings on us by taking the form of devas appropriate to the different sounds (of the mantras). Sound does not bring any benefits, any fruits, by itself. Īśvara alone is the bestower of benefits. However, instead of making the fruits available to us directly, he appoints devas to distribute them in the same manner as the king or president of a country appoints officials to carry out his dictates. The mantras represent various devas in the form of sound. If we attain perfection (siddhi) by constant chanting and meditation of a mantra, it should be possible for us to see the deva invoked in his physical form. The devas also arise if we make offerings into the sacrificial fire reciting specific mantras. If a sacrifice is conducted in this manner, the devas give us their special blessings. We do not pay taxes directly to the king or president. In the same way, we pay taxes in the form of sacrifices and Vedic chanting to the aides of the Paramātmā for the sake of the welfare of the world. The sounds of the mantras constitute their form.”

Even though some peoples might regard Forms of Īśvara as eternal, they are so only in a relative sense. In reality, even Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva have a lifespan whereas the Paramātmā, whose powers they represent, alone is eternal— “The Paramātmā, being eternal, was present even before creation when there was no Brahmā. The Paramātmā, or the Supreme Godhead, is eternal. The cosmos, all sentient beings and insentient objects, emerged from Him. The Paramātmā did not create them Himself: He did so through the agency of Brahmā (the creative aspect of the Godhead). Through Viṣṇu (the sustaining aspect of the Godhead) He sustains them and through Śiva (the destructive aspect of the Godhead) He destroys them. Later Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva are themselves destroyed by Him. The present Brahmā, when he becomes a hundred years old, will unite with the Paramātmā. Another Brahmā will appear and he will start the work of creation all over again.”

This view that all Forms are temporary relative to the eternal Formless Brahman is reflected in the Upaniṣads as well— There are, no doubt, two forms of Brahman—one having a form and the other formless. The mortal and the immortal. The stationary and the moving. The discernible and the indiscernible. ''Yajurveda, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.3.1

There are several stories of devas defeating or worshipping each other in the Purāṇas. These are sometimes used by peoples (or non-Hindus) of incomplete understanding to assume that Hindu Dharm is polytheistic and childish because it shows different ‘Bhagavāns’ fighting or worshipping each other. But the correct understanding, according to our gurus, is that it all represents the sport of One Divine Bhagavān who wishes to teach us practical lessons through these narratives—

“These who are capable of looking upon all devas as the manifestations of the one and only Paramātman have no cause for exclusive devotion to any one of them. It is only when we think that one deva is separate from – or alien to – another that the question arises of giving up one for another. If we realize that all are the different disguises of the One Reality, the various devas and devīs portrayed in the Purāṇas, with all the differences among them, will be understood to be nothing but the līlā or sport of the Supreme Being. It is One alone that seems divided into manifold entities. This is to help men of various attitudes and temperaments. If this truth is recognized we shall be able to see the stories in the Purāṇas—stories that seem contradictory—in the true light.”

To summarize, we peoples are ‘Monists’ because we believe in a Brahman who is Infinite and who gives an underlying unity to this entire diverse creation.