Hinduism sometimes is inaccurately described as polytheistic in comparison to Christianity which is described as monotheistic (somewhat inaccurately, some say)

Last updated on 11th Nov. 2019

Given below are my comments (slightly edited) on my Facebook post, Christian doctrine of Trinity, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2644815935734967, which corresponds to my blog post, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2019/11/christian-doctrine-of-trinity.html, which I felt appropriate to put up as a separate post.

As only my comments are provided below without others' comments, it may be somewhat awkward reading it at times. To see the full exchange, please visit above Facebook post.

In response to a comment, I wrote:
To my mind, the Trinity doctrine shows how early Christian theologians understood and conveyed their understanding of relation between divine Lord Jesus Christ and God (God of the Old Testament, I think, where God is the Father), and the Holy Spirit.

Sanathana Dharma theologians-equivalent which is our Rishis (sages), would have had to do something similar with relation of Avatars like Rama & Krishna with God (Nirgun Parabrahma - formless God).

My understanding of how they viewed it and conveyed it is that when practise of Dharma is in decline and needs to be re-invigorated, from Nirgun Parabrahman (also referred to as just Brahman)/formless God, an Avatar with form and divine powers descends to material world and shows mankind the way to practise Dharma and to have belief in God and worship God. [Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, verses 7 & 8 - Yada yada hi dharmasya, https://www.thedivineindia.com/yada-yada-hi-dharmasya/6041.]

Hindu scripture/Sanathana Dharma says, 'Ekoham Bahu Syam' which is interpreted as 'the non dual Brahman thought or willed, "I am One, let Me become many!" ; so by the sankalpa the Brahman projected himself as many.', http://vedapurana.org/single.php?s=1820&word=Ekoham%20Bahu%20Syam&secure.

The (changeless and eternal) Atma in the Avatar and common humanity is the same, and is part of Parabrahma (essence is the same as in Parabrahma) - that is what Hindu scripture teaches us, as per my understanding. Though the difference between Avatar and common humanity is that the Avatar descends through will of God among humanity/in the world, equipped with divine/superhuman powers to accomplish his objective of defeating evil and restoring practice of Dharma.

So, in essence, not only Avatar but all of humanity, indeed all existence, is made of the same essence as God (Nirguna Parabrahma/formless God). That's how I understand Sanathana Dharma/Hindu view (theology) about this matter.

...

Now I would like to move to the rather widely held view in the Western world, that Christianity is monotheistic (one God) whereas Hinduism is polytheistic (many Gods). And this widely held view of the Western world is disseminated throughout the world and so many people in other parts of the world, including Asia, get influenced by this view.

I think this is a ***wrong*** view.

The Trinity doctrine has three elements/persons. At least two of them are directly worshipped by Christians - Jesus Christ and God. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is also worshipped.

So there are multiple deities involved in Christian worship (I am not including Virgin Mary worship here as I want to stay focused on core Christian doctrine of Trinity).

How is that not polytheistic? If the argument is that the essence of these different persons/deities that are worhsipped by Christians, is the same, which is the One God, and so Christiainity is monotheistic, I would say that the same argument applies to Sanathana Dharma/Hinduism.

Nirguna Parabrahma (formless God) is the divine essence, one can say. And all the various devas (divine figures) in Hinduism like Brahma, Vishna, Siva, Rama and Krishna (and Shirdi Sai, Sathya Sai for Shirdi Sai/Sathya Sai devotees) to whom Hindus pray as different deities, are of the same essence as Nirguna Parabrahma/formless God. Therefore if Christianity with its core Trinity doctrine is viewed as monotheistic then Hinduism/Sanathana Dharma based on core Hindu scripture like Vedanta, is also monotheistic.

Now, some might say, but Christianity has only three persons in the Trinity and maybe Virgin Mary too as deities. Yes, that may be true. From what I have been exposed to, Christian churches typically have only these deities as the main deities. But they have saints to whom people pray to. These saints are worshipped and so they are deities like Sanathana Dharma/Hindu devas/devis that are worshipped by Hindus.

Therefore I think the view that Christianity is a monotheistic religion whereas Hinduism/Sanathana Dharma is a polytheistic religion, is an inaccurate and oversimplistic view, which can, and I think does, lead to wrong notions about Hinduism being spread.
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Did some browsing on the issue of Hinduism being viewed as monotheistic or polytheistic.

Here's one interesting link from a USA site: https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/life/faith/2014/08/20/hinduism-many-gods/14247795/. It is an article published in 2014 by an Aparna Chawla who is a dentist practising in Central Jersey (part of New Jersey state of USA, I presume).

She starts the article with: 'People often think that Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. They ask me, “Why do you have so many gods?”'.

Ravi: That fits in with what I wrote about widely held view in the Western world that Hinduism is polytheistic.

Here's a key part of her article: 'Hinduism is both monotheistic and henotheistic. Hinduism is not polytheistic. Henotheism (literally “one God”) better defines the Hindu view. It means the worship of one God without denying the existence of other Gods. Hindus believe in the one all-pervasive God who energizes the entire universe. It is believed that God is both in the world and beyond it. That is the highest Hindu view.'

Ravi: Hmm. Henotheism is a new term for me. But Max Mueller used it in the context of Hinduism as per its wiki page! Here's the related extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism

Henotheism was the term used by scholars such as Max Müller to describe the theology of Vedic religion.[14][2] Müller noted that the hymns of the Rigveda, the oldest scripture of Hinduism, mention many deities, but praises them successively as the "one ultimate, supreme God", alternatively as "one supreme Goddess",[15] thereby asserting that the essence of the deities was unitary (ekam), and the deities were nothing but pluralistic manifestations of the same concept of the divine (God).[2][5][6]

The Vedic era conceptualization of the divine or the One, states Jeaneane Fowler, is more abstract than a monotheistic God, it is the Reality behind and of the phenomenal universe.[16] The Vedic hymns treat it as "limitless, indescribable, absolute principle", thus the Vedic divine is something of a panentheism rather than simple henotheism.[16] In late Vedic era, around the start of Upanishadic age (~800 BCE), theosophical speculations emerge that develop concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism and pantheism.[16][17][18] An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta.[19] Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept as Brahman, incorporating within it the transcendent and immanent reality.[20][21][22] Different schools of thought interpret Brahman as either personal, impersonal or transpersonal. Ishwar Chandra Sharma describes it as "Absolute Reality, beyond all dualities of existence and non-existence, light and darkness, and of time, space and cause."[23]

[Wiki Refs]
2. Charles Taliaferro; Victoria S. Harrison; Stewart Goetz (2012). The Routledge Companion to Theism. Routledge. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-1-136-33823-6.
..
5. Ilai Alon; Ithamar Gruenwald; Itamar Singer (1994). Concepts of the Other in Near Eastern Religions. BRILL Academic. pp. 370–371. ISBN 978-9004102200.
6. Christoph Elsas (1999). Erwin Fahlbusch (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 524. ISBN 978-90-04-11695-5.
..
14. Sugirtharajah, Sharada, Imagining Hinduism: A Postcolonial Perspective, Routledge, 2004, p.44;
15. William A. Graham (1993). Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. Cambridge University Press. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-0-521-44820-8.
16. Jeaneane D. Fowler (2002). Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1-898723-93-6.
17. James L. Ford (2016). The Divine Quest, East and West: A Comparative Study of Ultimate Realities. State University of New York Press. pp. 308–309. ISBN 978-1-4384-6055-0.
18. Ninian Smart (2013). The Yogi and the Devotee (Routledge Revivals): The Interplay Between the Upanishads and Catholic Theology. Routledge. pp. 46–47, 117. ISBN 978-1-136-62933-4.
19. Jessica Frazier (2013). Russell Re Manning (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology. Oxford University Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-0-19-161171-1.
20. PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, ISBN 978-1406732627, page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII
21. Jeffrey Brodd (2003). World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery. Saint Mary's Press. pp. 43–45. ISBN 978-0-88489-725-5.
22. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 91
23. Ishwar Chandra Sharma, Ethical Philosophies of India, Harper & Row, 1970, p.75.
--- end wiki extract ---

Ravi: In the wiki extract above, I very much liked the sentence, "The Vedic era conceptualization of the divine or the One, states Jeaneane Fowler, is more abstract than a monotheistic God, it is the Reality behind and of the phenomenal universe."

More abstract than a monotheistic God!

Hmm. This is getting into complex and very intricate jargon territory. But I think that the above wiki page extract seems to confirm my view about Hinduism inaccurately (wrongly) being described as polytheistic, and expressed in part of my earlier comment which is: "Therefore I think the view that Christianity is a monotheistic religion whereas Hinduism/Sanathana Dharma is a polytheistic religion, is an inaccurate and oversimplistic view, ..."
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And now something really wide-ranging. Here's a small extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_views_on_monotheism :

Hinduism incorporates diverse views on the concept of God. Different traditions of Hinduism have different theistic views, and these views have been described by scholars as polytheism, monotheism, henotheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, agnostic, humanism, atheism or Nontheism.[1][2][3]

[Wiki Refs]
1. [a] Julius J. Lipner, Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-45677-7, page 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu.";
[b] Lester Kurtz (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, ISBN 978-0123695031, Academic Press, 2008;
[c] MK Gandhi, The Essence of Hinduism, Editor: VB Kher, Navajivan Publishing, see page 3; According to Gandhi, "a man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu."
2. Rogers, Peter (2009), Ultimate Truth, Book 1, AuthorHouse, p. 109, ISBN 978-1-4389-7968-7;
Chakravarti, Sitansu (1991), Hinduism, a way of life, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 71, ISBN 978-81-208-0899-7
3. "Polytheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
--- end wiki extract ---
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The above wiki page also mentions this relevant verse the from the Rig Veda:

According to Rigveda 1.164.46,
Transl: Klaus Klostermaier[22][23]

Indraṃ mitraṃ varuṇamaghnimāhuratho divyaḥ sa suparṇo gharutmān,
ekaṃ sad viprā bahudhā vadantyaghniṃ yamaṃ mātariśvānamāhuḥ
"They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmān.
To what is One, sages give many a title — they call it Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan."

[Wiki Refs:]
22. Klaus K. Klostermaier (2010). A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition. State University of New York Press. pp. 103 with footnote 10 on page 529. ISBN 978-0-7914-8011-3.
23. See also, Griffith's Rigveda translation: Wikisource [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_1/Hymn_164]

--- end wiki extract ---

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has referenced the key part of above Rig Veda verse namely, "Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti", many times in his discourses. (I think it is translated in English as: Truth is One which sages refer by many names).
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Here's a 2009 discourse of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba where he refers to ekam sad vipra ... http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume42/sss42-16.pdf.

In the discourse text it is given as: “Truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names (Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti).”

While I was not present for this discourse (in Hadshi, Pune), I recall having the great blessing of listening to Bhagavan say these words in public discourse when I was present in Sai Kulwant Hall. His tone would go up a few notches as he would utter these words in Sanskrit (Ekam sat viprah bahuda vadanti)! That I think was an indication of how much value he gave to such words.

If I recall correctly, I have heard that live on multiple occasions.

It is one of the great teachings of Sanathana Dharma that Bhagavan has banged into my head through me hearing it multiple times from his own voice. And I am deeply grateful to Bhagavan for having banged that into my head.
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Came across this fascinating response to the question, "Is Hinduism monotheistic or polytheistic?", from Rami Sivan, an Australian white guy who now is a Hindu priest, https://www.quora.com/Is-Hinduism-monotheistic-or-polytheistic/answer/Rami-Sivan.

He starts his response with "THEISM is a western theological/academic construct and an Abrahamic obsession. It has no relevance whatsoever to Hindu philosophy." He then advises readers to not engage in such discussion.

He then says that only Judaism and Islam are strictly monotheistic. He says, "Christianity is ersatz monotheism because the moment you divide the ONE into three and add the three into one - you have polytheism."

He goes on to talk about Brahman and Sat-cit-ananda.

I find his views to be frank, sensible and to-the-point.

A comment I put on the above Quora article of his: Thank you so much for this frank and crisp answer. I was wondering why Hinduism is referred to as polytheistic by some people, especially in the West. I have been sharing my views on it and requesting comments as part of discussion on my recent public Facebook post on 'Christian doctrine of Trinity' here: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2644815935734967.

Google searching for 'is hinduism a polytheistic religion' led me to your superb response. I will be sharing the link of your response on my Facebook post conversation and a short description of it.
--- end comment text ---

I was very intrigued about him and looked him up on the Internet. Here's a youtube video of him where, as a Hindu priest, he conducts a puja (Blessing ceremony) in 2009 in Sydney (PKJ Yoga), Australia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if4yxv4z_PA, around 10 mins. His chanting of the puja mantras is very good! I enjoyed it as I could recollect the mantras from the many, many times I have participated in such pujas, usually at my family homes (prior to my move to Puttaparthi in Oct. 2002), hearing such mantras, and chanting some of them.

Great to see a white Australian vadyaar (Tamil for Hindu priest)! I really was very happy to see him chanting the mantras so well and conducting the puja so well.
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The above comment sort-of puts a lid on the discussion, IMHO.
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
Thank you bro. for your valuable view on the matter. I find it to be interesting. One of the things I learned from reading Karen Armstrong's rather inaccurately (and pompously) titled book, 'History of God' which I think is more a history of Abrahamic religions with perhaps some mention of other religions, is that what religious practices/concepts work for people are what survive the great test of time. ... What has survived in Hinduism are concepts and practices which have worked for some groups of people (Shaivites, Vaisnavites, Devi bhaktas etc.) for centuries! ... Thanks again for your valuable time and valuable thoughts.
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In response to a comment about Karen Armstrong, I wrote (slightly edited):

Her book was a NYT bestseller. I recall it to be very readable but, as I indicated earlier, I found her coverage of Hinduism to be poor.

Here are two links about her book which you may want to have a look at:
* https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/4882/a-history-of-god-by-karen-armstrong/
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_God

...

And bro. if you have not heard of Prof. Diana Eck and her works on Hinduism then, for a superb view of Hinduism from one of the leading academic scholars on Hinduism in the world today, I highly recommend the book:

India: A Sacred Geography by Diana Eck, https://www.amazon.in/dp/0385347081.

Here are some of my blog posts related to it (the last one is critical of one of her views; so I don't agree with everything she says):

* India: A sacred geography - by Harvard Prof. of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Diana L. Eck, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2014/03/india-sacred-geography-by-harvard-prof.html, March 2014

* Harvard Prof. Diana Eck on Shiva Linga worship, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2014/10/harvard-prof-diana-eck-on-shiva-linga.html, Oct. 2014

* Criticism of (non) Historicity of Rama content in Harvard Religion Prof. Diana Eck's 2012 book, India: A Sacred Geography, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2015/01/criticism-of-harvard-religion-prof.html, 2015

[I thank wikipedia, mycentraljersey.com & Aparna Chawla, and quora.com & Rami Sivan, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) (small extracts from mycentraljersey.com and quora.com) from their websites on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]