Hindu Gods Provide a Link with All Ancient Gods
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It’s been just over three decades since I have walked this earth, and I am already fed up of the arguments over the validity and supremacy of different pantheons and Gods. I sometimes wonder how, as a collective, we could possibly have fought and continue to fight over this singular question for millennia! I still come across people and publications that defend the presence and purpose of their own pantheons and perspectives on divinity. I myself come from an elaborate pantheon of elaborate gods and goddesses, and have seen my contemporaries argue over their dominance and importance. It’s an outdated argument, and it is time we moved on. Instead of fighting and bickering over the differences in our names and perspectives of divinity; instead of tearing down one mind and person from another, how about we build bridges instead? Instead of fighting over whose God is real and whose isn’t, how about we sit together and ponder over just how a singular concept ended up with so many names, faces and versions? Wouldn’t that be an infinitely more rewarding and inspiring endeavor!
Many get lost in the Hindu pantheon- it is vast, elaborate and intricate. To the modern mind, it is often even utterly unnecessary. But if you turn back and look into history, the Hindus weren’t the only culture to offer an elaborate pantheon- we are just one of the few who have survived to date. From the ancient Egyptians to the Mayans and Aztecs, from pagans in Europe to the Polynesian tribals in the Pacific- we encounter pantheons and spectrums of gods and goddesses just as colorful, powerful and diverse as the Hindu pantheon today. One could argue that an elaborate pantheon is a natural extension of a developed set of religious or spiritual beliefs- one that celebrates and engages with the myriad expressions of God through the experiences, elements and landscapes we inhabit and encounter. But there have been just as many movements that have taken the exact opposite route- focusing on a singularity of experience and concept when viewing, discussing or engaging with God. These elaborate pantheons might seem at odds with the ‘singular’ concepts of God, but really they are not in conflict. The Hindus for instance refer to their Gods as avatars- forms of the purest essence that is God, specialized in purpose, power and presence. Each God in the Hindu pantheon represents an aspect of the whole that is God. This isn’t very far off from the ancient Egyptian term for their Godsneteru; in the Egyptian pantheon as well each character was an aspect of the supreme power, and not God in totality himself. Just like a whole ocean can be contained in a single drop, even if the drop is not the entire ocean, the avatars and neteru are just as revered and God him/herself, worshipped and regarded as powerful, sacred beings. Even with an elaborate selection of forms and faces, names and traditions to choose from, an understanding and relationship with God as a singular presence exists in these traditions and others like them. This isn’t where the similarities end; a closer inspection and experience of these traditions and religions reveal overlaps in the pantheons. Taking the Hindu and Egyptian pantheons again for instance, one finds a reverence for the Divine Feminine in her fierce forms. The Hindus call her Durga-the protector of life and all things pure- mounted on her lion (or tiger); in her even more fearsome and destructive aspect she is called Kali. The Egyptians call her Sekhmet- the lion goddess- the harbinger of justice when humanity goes askew; like Kali, Sekhmet too drinks the blood of those that fall to her fire and force. This is just one of the many examples you would find. For across time and space bridges have and continue to exist- from one religion and pantheon to another, from one heart and mind to another. If only we look, we shall find just how much we have in common- even when the names and forms of God differ and vary.