In the previous sections, we observed the evolution of words, beginning at a worldly level and gradually progressing toward the most profound philosophical meanings. In this section, Sri Ram Swarup explains the significance of the names of the Vedic Gods, which serve as illustrations of the highest spiritual truths.
Vedic Gods: Concrete Images
Higher meanings become names of the Gods within and the attributes of the Self. These meanings are the true objects of the mystic quest. On the terrestrial plane, the path to self-discovery lies through world discovery. A study of the most ancient and still alive Hindu religious thought, particularly its ancient Vedic expression, is important. Such a study completes our investigation into higher meanings and also throws light indirectly on the many forgotten, but related, ancient Gods of many Asian and European countries.
For various reasons, the old Gods were replaced by new ones. The persecution persists, not from theologians and religious zealots, but from staunch academicians. The latter hold that these initial Gods represented an attempt by the primitive mind to understand nature. They postulate a progressive evolutionary growth of religion culminating in Christianity and modern Europe.
The Hindu pantheon of Gods is still active, though slightly modified across time. Hindu India has a unique sense of continuity with its past, preserving its many old layers and forms. Therefore, its study may link us not only with its own past forms but also with the religious consciousness, intuitions, and forms that prevailed in the past in Europe, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, Baltic countries, Germanic and Slavic peoples, and the Middle East. The study may reveal a fundamental form of spiritual consciousness.
‘God’ today has acquired a different meaning yet retains the memories of more intuitive people. Etymologists connect this word with Gothic guth (Sanskrit Auta), which means ‘one to whom oblations are made.’ It connects us with the period when fire and nature elements like the sun and sky were living symbols of deities. In the Old Testament itself, certain hymns are considered ‘nature hymns.’ Etymologists also connect the word with the German word gotse, whose original meaning was an image or a figure.
According to Spengler, Christian propaganda transformed the old German word for God from a neutral plural to a masculine singular. God changed his gender and number after the conversion of the heathens. The Hebrew and Semitic words Elohim and El, too, are plural in origin, form, and sense. El is a common name for different deities in the Semitic world. Thus, the ancients neither excluded the plurality of Gods nor the use of images from their religious sensibility.
The Vedas, Upanishads, and Mahabharata extensively employ concrete images. Many important Gods like Surya, Agni, and Marut take their names after natural objects. The plurality of Gods expresses the spiritual consciousness of the race. The names of physical objects become the names of ideas, psychic truths, and Gods; sensuous truths become intellectual truths, which in turn become spiritual truths.
The knowledge of the senses becomes the knowledge of the manas and the buddhi. Similarly, the knowledge in the higher organs of the mind filters to the manas and the senses. Here, as we traverse the path, we meet physical forms, sound forms, vision forms, thought forms, and universal forms, all echoes of each other. We meet mantras, yantras, and icons of various efficacies and psychic qualities. Hence, the names of the most concrete things have a meaning larger than their immediate referents.
In the Vedas, words like the horse or the cow have larger meanings. The word for a horse in the Vedas is vaja (root vaj or uj). This also gives us words like ugra (mighty, strong, terrible), vajra (hard and mighty), and ojas (strength, vigour). People seek the general ideas of power, energy, swiftness, and heroism associated with the horse as boons. In the same way and by the same process, familiar objects like the sun, the moon, and the sky assumed divine forms. They expressed the light, the power, the grandeur, the beauty, the freedom, the joy, and the law of the Spirit.
Physical images never limit the presentation of the most abstract truths, as seen in the Upanishads. Here, the person in the yonder sun is the same as the person in the eye. The Upanishads use the figures of the sun, the moon, the quarters of heaven, the atmosphere, the waters, the fire, eyes, ears, nose, hands, and legs to guide us to the most secret truths.
When the mind becomes calm and the spiritual consciousness opens, things are no longer lifeless. This state infuses previously ordinary things with life, light, and consciousness. In this state, there’s no necessity to distinguish between the abstract and the concrete, as both eloquently convey the same message, mirroring each other. In this state, everything expresses the divine; everything is the seat of the divine; everything is That, including mountains, rivers, and seas.
When spiritual consciousness is alive, the world and words are also alive. However, when solely physical consciousness dominates, objects and words lose their ability to convey meanings beyond their most obvious, physical aspects. A study of languages from this viewpoint would show how a spiritual age or mentality uses words and names in senses no longer understood by a more materialist age. A physical consciousness yields only physical and outward meanings. This explains why many Indologists and Vedic scholars, despite being competent grammarians and linguists, find themselves in a difficult situation.
There is a school of thought that says that the sages secured Vedic secrecy by using words that have double and triple meanings. True, the teachings are secret but unintended. Secrecy is in the nature of things. Only an elevated consciousness can reveal higher meanings. There is no planned secrecy and no linguistic trick to secure it. The path to their knowledge is through love and sacrifice. But this is a difficult path. The soul employs outer symbols to convey inner realities. The soul uses them for its own self-discovery. Every spoken word contains the unspoken, and every known word contains the unknown.
The Vedic seers made this distinction quite clear. In all the visible signs they used, they saw the invisible. They declared Soma to be an intoxicating herb to the physical mind, yet a veritable deity to the spiritual consciousness. The God Agni, too, is not ordinary fire. In fact, to the seers, the ordinary fire derives from the transcendental fire and not the other way around. The most secret knowledge pertains to Agni’s true abode, forms, and appellations. Only the pure can reveal this. In the Upanishadic language, one can see True Fire in the cave of the heart.
Names of Gods: Vedic
The Vedas heavily use concrete images to present their Gods. Also, all Gods have multiple names. The knowledge of these names is important. All spiritual traditions share a similar concept. The God of the Jews has many names. Jewish mysticism claims that in addition to being known as Bore Olam (creator of the world), Kedosh Yisrael (Holy One of Israel), and others, God also possesses a secret name, “the Great Name,” which should remain unspoken. Islam, too, admits God’s names, though it denies His forms. God is Ash Shafi, the healer, but not At-Tabib, the physician, for the Quran does not use the latter epithet. Similarly, people prefer the Arabic Allah over the Persian Khuda, even though both may have the same meaning.
Socrates proclaims the awe, mystery, and unknowability of Gods and their names but also tells us how these are ultimately the names of man’s own intentions and meanings. Hindu thought also holds that the names of Gods are names of the truths of man’s own highest Self. So, knowing the epithets of God is a form of self-knowledge. Gods and their names embody truths of the deeper Spirit, and meditation on them in turn invokes those truths.
Nature’s mighty phenomena like the earth, the sky, the sun, and the stars are not only Gods, but each one of them also bears several names. The famous Amarakosa gives 36 names for fire, 27 names for the sun, 12 names for the sun’s rays, 29 names for water, 20 names for wind, and 11 names for night. The modern man is eager to express his understanding of a concept in just one or two names. However, the ancient sages perceived familiar objects as intersections of profound spiritual truths, viewing them as images, symbols, and signs of powerful forces.
These seers were required to assign multiple names to these objects, each symbolizing the inner and larger life within them. Thus, the seers referred to Earth, which a modern person might perceive as inert soil, as the unmoving one, acala; the stable one, sthira; the boundless one, ananta; the seat of all saps and flavours, rasa; the great nurse, dhatri; the mother, mata; and so forth.
Similarly, the sun is the bright one, Bhanu, the flaming one, Arci, and the brilliant one, Arka. He warms and burns, tapana; he removes all darkness, tamopaha; he is the eyes of the world, lokalocana; he brings about all seasons and creates all time, kalakrta; he rides a chariot drawn by seven horses, representing either the seven colors of the rainbow or the seven days of the week, saptasvah, and so on.
Similarly, Fire is known by many different names.
- Pavaka because it purifies
- Sucih, because it is unsullied
- The name Anala, which comes from the verbal root an, meaning to breathe, represents a living, breathing entity.
- Krpa-nila, homed in splendour.
- Krpitayoni, having the wood for its womb
- Krsnavartani, a smoky path
- Agni, because it is serpentine.
- Dahana, because it burns, scorches, and roasts
- Visva-pati, lord of all men
- Kavi, the wise
- Ghrtahavana, because he is invoked by oblations of butter.
- Amrta, or immortal.
- Rudra because he is also terrible.
- Mahan, because he is vast
To the Vedic seers, Fire was a God and worshipped as such. Hence, the Rigveda bestows praise on Fire in its very first Sukta. The Rigveda praises Devamrtvijam, the summoner; Hotaram, the one who holds all treasures; Ratnadhdtamam, the radiant one; Rajantam, the protector of sacrifices; Adhvaranam Gopam, the illuminator of truth; and Rtasya Didivim, the sovereign lord of the sacrifices. Those who have Agni as their protector will never be defeated, says the Rgveda.
But there are other Gods in Vedic literature like Indra, Pusana, and Varuna, where the symbols are purely psychic. This does not imply the elimination of all physical references. This is impossible. As the physical and spiritual are one, the physical is part of the mind’s language and understanding. One could begin with a somewhat physical or concrete symbol and then imbue it with more psychic qualities, or one could begin with a more abstract symbol and then imbue it with more physical attributes. In either case, the double processes of cross-reference and cross-fertilization are necessary. We elevate the physical and bring the divine down.
Of these psychic Gods in the Vedic literature, Indra is the most celebrated one. In the Rigveda, Indra is known by a variety of names, including ruler of the world (ifana), celebrated (srutam), mighty (mahan), invincible (astrtam), accomplisher of wonderful deeds (dasma), radiant as the sun (suracaksas), having performed a hundred sacrifices (satkratu), bestower of riches, cows, and light (Goda), powerful in action (tuvi kumin), bestower of many gifts (tuvi desna), and mighty oppressor of the enemies (tuvi badha). He is everywhere, vibhu; he is the master, prabhu; He is young, yuva; he listens attentively, Srut-karna; he has one thousand eyes, sahasraksa; he has handsome cheeks or a handsome chin, susipra; and so on.
Like Agni, Indra too has three stations. The Vedic seers say: We invoke Indra whether he comes from this earthly region, parthivat, or from the heaven above, divah, or from the vast firmament, rajasah.
The Vedic Gods are known for their important features. Each God has many or even thousand names (sahasranaman), multiple functions, and multiple forms, whether Rudra, Agni, or Indra. These forms are spiritual and mutually shared. Indra, Soma, and Visnu are wide-striding or much praised, urugdya; Indra, Agni, and Soma are fond of invocation, girvanas; and so on.
Each God is supreme in turn. Indra is the eldest, Jyestha. Agni, who is man’s messenger to the Gods, is the supreme God in his turn. The Vedas refer to him as Prathama, the first one, and Avgirastamah, the chief Angiras. Therefore, the praises and hymns bestowed upon one also apply to the others. “Indra, the bearer of the thunderbolt, also receives the excellent praises given to other divinities.”
Vedic Gods: One God: Many Gods: Advaita
This way of looking at the Godhead is disconcerting to the Western schematic mind. In the Vedic approach, there is no single God, no supreme God presiding over a multiplicity of Gods. These Gods were not jealous of each other. There is no order of seniority and precedence. It appears to be all anarchy. We cannot even call this melee a pantheon—a body of Gods, however disordered (Gk. pan+theos); rather, it is a body of demons and evil spirits, a pandemonium (pan+daimon).
The Hindus worshipped their Gods in turn with the same supreme epithets. Hence, the Vedic method was different. “Reality is one, but the wise call it by different names; they call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and Yama.” Reality is akin to an ocean sweeping across various continents, akin to a nugget of gold universal at all points, akin to a lump of sugar that remains sweet regardless of location.
The Hindus do not call their Gods either “One” or “Many.” What they worship is one reality, ekam sat, which is differently named. This Reality is everywhere—in everything, in every being. It is One and Many at the same time, and it also transcends them both. Everything is an expression—a play, an image, an echo of this reality. In Vedic literature, the question of the number of Gods was no point of dispute and agitated no mind. In Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, to a repeated question regarding the number of Gods, Yajnavalkya’s answer is first 3,306 Gods, then thirty-three, then three, then two, and then one.
There are two approaches to the concept of the Godhead. In one, God is jealous, brooking no other. In the other Vedic concept, all Gods are friends, one and equal. Western scholars have called this “henotheism,” a compound of two Greek words and meaning “towards one God.” It is supposedly a stage of progress from the polytheism of primitive tribes to the perfection of Semitic monotheism. Webster’s dictionary defines it as “the worship of one God without denying the existence of other Gods.”
The Hindu approach is neither polytheistic, henotheistic, nor monotheistic. It is Advaitic. They worship one reality—neither many Gods nor one God. This approach to God has bred a spirit of religious tolerance and freedom. Despite wars of all other kinds, ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt—all polytheistic cultures—were relatively free from religious wars. In polytheistic Rome, different sects met and built their temples and worshipped in their own way. But this freedom disappeared when Christianity, the religion of One True God, took over.
Monotheism was not always a spiritual idea, but in many cases, an ideology. Wars solidified it, which in turn sparked more wars. There were wars between different tribes, each claiming its own God to be supreme. Eventually, the winning tribe’s Gods supplanted the Gods of the defeated tribe. Diplomacy, the sword, and systematic vandalism all played their part in making a particular God supreme. The imperial needs of Rome bound the One God of Christianity from very early days. In more recent times, the Biblical God has tried to consolidate what the European arms and trade have conquered.
Though incomplete, monotheism expresses human intuition for unity and the Supreme. Religious “reformers” attempt to eliminate the multitude of Gods within a culture that worships multiple Gods. When the desire for unity is spiritual, the theology of One God is acceptable, leading the seeker to a position similar to Advaita and ekam sat. In a merely intellectual motive, God remains an outward being and not the truth of the Spirit. It does not help to reduce the number of Gods; instead, it multiplies the number of devils—especially if Christianity is a guide.
Some mediaeval Christian churches, obsessed with demons, counted six and a half million demons, while others, under the control of 72 Princes of Hell, counted 79,05,922. The latter had specific tasks: Lucifer fostered pride, Asmodeus engaged in lechery, and Belphegor indulged in sloth. The church also abounded in angels, cherubims, and seraphims organised in nine orders to battle the opposing demons.
Polytheism too is subject to the despiritualising influences of the externalising mind. The Gods lose their inner unity. In India, whenever such a phenomenon occurred, the sages attempted to restore the unity, with the Upanishads serving as one such effort. Monotheism represents man’s intuition for unity; polytheism is his urge for differentiation. If the human mind were uniform, then perhaps one God would suffice. But the powers and needs of humans are different. So only some form of polytheism can do justice alone.
One name, formula, or description cannot adequately convey the vastness of reality. We must express it through glimpses from various perspectives. A purely monotheistic unity expresses merely the intellect’s love of the uniform. Similarly, purely polytheistic Gods without any principle of unity amongst them lose their inner coherence.
The Vedic approach, probably the best, gives unity without sacrificing diversity. Delving deep into the life of the soul saves both monotheism and polytheism. In the soul, there are no distinctions between the One and the Many. The existence of God or Gods in the soul differs from their existence in the intellect. Mystics in all cultures have given monotheistic as well as polytheistic renderings of their inner lives and experiences. But one God or many Gods, purely on the intellectual plane, feeds no soul.
This deeper approach places significant emphasis on a genuine form of worship. Wherever there is sincerity, truth, and self-giving in worship, that worship goes to the true altar by whatever name we may designate it. However, worship becomes ineffective if it lacks desirelessness and incorporates elements like ego, falsehood, conceit, and deceit. The soul’s devotion, faith, austerity, and striving all belong to Him; they are His nourishment, and they can never reach a false God, despite a rival theology’s declaration to the contrary.
The problem of One or Many Gods is born of a theological mind, not of a mystic consciousness. The Yajurveda says, “Where the world is rested in one truth.” In another station of man, where the mind rules, the One and the Many, God and Matter, and God and Gods oppose each other.
Gods appear when the spiritual consciousness awakens, though in another sense they also fall away. There is a spiritual consciousness that can do without God. Buddhism, Jainism, Samkhya, Taoism, and Zen confirm the truth of this observation. When spiritual consciousness has awakened, God is “not this that people worship here,” but something more transcendental. Man’s soul embodies worship, reflecting the divine glory in everything and every symbol. Therefore, the Vedic seers worshipped Him in many forms and under many names. A true heart’s homage is taken up by That which is the secret meaning and the principle of truth in everything.
This discussion promotes our understanding not only of Vedic religion and Vedic Gods but of a spiritual consciousness expressing itself in the language of many Gods. This helps us to better understand the old religions of Europe and Asia; the old Gods of Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, Scandinavian, and Baltic countries; and the Gods of the Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic peoples. The beliefs of the best of these people were probably not polytheistic but, in deeper interpretation, Advaitic.
Conflict, vandalism, bigotry, persecution, and crusading accompanied the replacement of many Gods by One God in the cultural history of the world. These conflicts were very much like the ‘wars of liberation’ of today. It is difficult to say whether the replacement was enriching or impoverishing in the spiritual and cultural sense. There was a time when the old Pagan Gods inspired the best of people to acts of greatness, love, nobility, sacrifice, and heroism. We can make a pilgrimage in time to Names, Forms, and Forces that once incarnated and expressed man’s higher life.
In light of this discussion, Gods could take on a deeper spiritual significance. A more understanding approach toward their Gods of old will work for a less severe judgement about their past and their ancestors. This approach will also bridge the generational divide and alleviate the nation’s sense of rootlessness. The Gods provide an invisible link between the past and present of a nation. The peoples of Egypt, Persia, Greece, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries are no less ancient than the peoples of India, but they lost their Gods, and therefore they lost their sense of historical continuity and identity. Today, there is a spirit of revolt among Western youths against their parents’ religion. Some are seeking light in new symbols.
Africa and South America have gained political freedom; however, a recovery of a spiritual sense and ancient lost Gods would help them gain back their original culture. No people can import their own Gods and ascend spiritually under imported deities, saviours, and prophets. But one cannot revive the memory of old Gods artificially. After dwelling and meditating on them, they become vivifying forces. Nothing containing any truth is susceptible to destruction. It merely goes out of manifestation, reappearing under propitious circumstances.
The birth of many Gods will not herald the death of One God; on the other hand, it will enrich and deepen our understanding of both. For One God and Many Gods are spiritually one. Only on the conceptual plane do they stand in opposition. The controversy between “One God and Many Gods” or “My True God and Your False God” led to much spilt blood, polemics, and frayed tempers. There are still organized missions to wage war on the false Gods of the Heathens. Presently, when most theologies, whether pluralistic or monotheistic, have lost their appeal, we should be able to approach the problem in a more understanding way.
In the concluding part, Sri Ram Swarup looks at the names of post-Vedic Gods as amply demonstrated in the various sahasranamas to show how they help us attain the highest ideal of Indian culture, which is moksha, in an elegant and effective manner.
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