Concept of God
The Rig Veda, the oldest scripture and the mainstay of Hindu philosophy does not take a restrictive view on the fundamental question of God and the creation of universe. It rather lets the individual seek and discover answers in the quest of life. Nasadiya Sukta(Creation Hymn) of the Rig Veda thus says[71][72]:Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism,polytheism,panentheism, pantheism,monism, atheism, agnosticism,gnosticism among others;[66][67][68][69]and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. It is sometimes referred to ashenotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization.[70]
Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Most Hindus believe that the spirit or soul — the true "self" of every person, called theātman— is eternal.[73] According to the monistic/pantheistic theologies of Hinduism (such asAdvaita Vedanta school), this Atman is ultimately indistinct from Brahman, the supreme spirit. Hence, these schools are called non-dualist.[74] The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realize that one's ātman is identical to Brahman, the supreme soul.[75]The Upanishads state that whoever becomes fully aware of theātman as the innermost core of one's own self realizes an identity with Brahman and thereby reaches moksha (liberation or freedom).[73][76]
The schools of Vedanta and Nyaya states that karma itself proves the existence of God .[77][78] Nyaya being the school of logic, makes the "logical" inference that the universe is an effect and it ought to have a creator.[79]
Dualistic schools (see Dvaita and Bhakti) understand Brahman as a Supreme Being who possesses personality, and they worship him or her thus, as Vishnu, Brahma,Shiva, or Shakti, depending upon the sect. The ātman is dependent on God, whilemoksha depends on love towards God and on God's grace.[80] When God is viewed as the supreme personal being (rather than as the infinite principle), God is calledIshvara("The Lord"),[81] Bhagavan ("The Auspicious One"[81]) or Parameshwara ("The Supreme Lord"[81]).[74] However interpretations ofIshvara vary, ranging from non-belief in Ishvara by followers of Mimamsakas, to identifying Brahman and Ishvara as one, as in Advaita.[74] In the majority of traditions of Vaishnavism he is Vishnu, God, and the text of Vaishnava scriptures identify this Being as Krishna, sometimes referred to assvayam bhagavan.
His hands and feet are everywhere, He looks everywhere and all around,His eyes, ears and face point to all directions, and all the three worlds are surrounded by these.
Atheistic doctrines dominate Hindu schools like Samkhya and Mimamsa.[83] TheSāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra of Samkhya argues that the existence of God (Ishvara) cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist.[84] Samkhya argue that an unchanging God cannot be the source of an ever changing world. It says God was a necessary metaphysical assumption demanded by circumstances.[85] Proponents of the school of Mimamsa, which is based on rituals and orthopraxy states that the evidence allegedly proving the existence of God was insufficient. They argue that there is no need to postulate a maker for the world, just as there is no need for an author to compose the Vedasor a God to validate the rituals.[86] Mimamsa considers the Gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. To that regard, the power of the mantras is what is seen as the power of Gods.[87]
