Polytheism illogical?

[awatkins69]

Actually, in Hinduism, the “gods” are simply manifestations of the One God; so the individual “gods” themselves do not have ultimate Power.

Actually, that’s somewhat true. In Hinduism, the individual gods are in fact worshiped. There are something like 330 million gods. Also, the interpretation of Hinduism as being explicitly polytheism, monotheism, pantheism, henotheism, gnosticism, etc. varies very very significantly amongst different groups. Most would say that there is one God who deserves supreme worship while there are many (many) others.

 

[SedesDomi]

Actually, that’s somewhat true. In Hinduism, the individual gods are in fact worshiped. There are something like 330 million gods. Also, the interpretation of Hinduism as being explicitly polytheism, monotheism, pantheism, henotheism, gnosticism, etc. varies very very significantly amongst different groups. Most would say that there is one God who deserves supreme worship while there are many (many) others.

There is no true “polytheism” in Hinduism (nor “pantheism”, or “gnosticism”). All Hindus believe in One Reality, or Source, or Creator, or Truth. Hinduism may, though, be described as monotheism, and/or henotheism:

Ekam sat vipraha bahudha vadanti
Truth is one, the wise call it by many names. – Rig Veda

The 330 million “gods”, or more properly “devas”, are not “gods” in the Roman/Greek pagan sense. They are all creations/manifestations of the One Reality. Hinduism, then, is “poly-devic”, rather than “poly-theistic”. (“Deva” is related to the Latin “deus” and the English “divine”.)

Even “henotheism” is not totally accurate, because henotheism implies the real existence of two or more Realities/Gods. More accurately, Hinduism is “heno-devic”.

 

[Roy5]

My experience with Hinduism in India was instructive. I stayed with a Hindu family that was well-educated, and they had the elephant god on their door and an ‘altar’ with pictorial representations of other gods as well. However, as a poster has stated, that family saw all these divinities as representative of the one God. I perceived it to be somewhat pantheistic, but that family was wonderful, kind and generous, so I’m not about to criticize their faith. They also manifested broad tolerance of my faith. They regarded Christ as another excellent representation of the divine.
However, among the Indians who are less educated, there is a tendency to worship different gods, with many Hindu sects picking one or another particular deity on whom they focus. Frankly, I think that it may not differ all that much from historic Christianity, where the better educated over the centuries have had a sophisticated view of the faith while many others practiced a rather superstitious version. This is less so today, but persists.

 

[SedesDomi]

However, among the Indians who are less educated, there is a tendency to worship different gods, with many Hindu sects picking one or another particular deity on whom they focus.

Even among the ‘educated’, there is worship/veneration of different Devas, because the One Deity has commanded that these Devas be worshipped/venerated.

To take one example, the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition names the One Truth/God/Reality as “Shiva”. Shiva and Truth/God/Reality are identical. Truth/God/Reality is Shiva, and vice versa. In this context, Shiva isn’t simply one deity among many to be worshipped.

(Other Hindu traditions, say the Hare Krishnas, see “Krishna” as the One Truth/God/Reality; for them, Shiva is a lower deva, created by Krishna. The theological relationship between Shaiva Siddhanta and the Hare Krishnas may be compared to that between Christianity and Islam.)

But back to Shaiva Siddhanta: Shiva is Truth, but Shiva has also created/manifested the Maha-Devas (the Great Devas) Kartikeya and Ganesha. Kartikeya is venerated especially by those who practice Yoga. Ganesha, on the other hand, is venerated whenever one begins a new project or adventure, because Ganesha overcomes obstacles. Devas like Kartikeya and Ganesha serve specific functions in the cosmos, functions that Shiva commands them to make. The Shaiva Siddhanta worship/veneration of such Devas is part and parcel of the Shaiva Siddhanta worship/veneration of Shiva.