The Concept of God in Hinduism
The following rg veda mantra was supposed to have been used by Mr. Modi in a reply to a question.
एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति
ekaM sadvipraa bahudhaa vadanti
The complete Rg Veda 1-164-46 is as below.
इन्द्रं॑ मि॒त्रं वरु॑णम॒ग्निमा॑हु॒रथो॑ दि॒व्यः स सु॑प॒र्णो ग॒रुत्मा॑न् ।
एकं॒ सद्विप्रा॑ बहु॒धा व॑दन्त्य॒ग्निं य॒मं मा॑त॒रिश्वा॑नमाहुः ॥४६॥
एकं॒ सद्विप्रा॑ बहु॒धा व॑दन्त्य॒ग्निं य॒मं मा॑त॒रिश्वा॑नमाहुः ॥४६॥
46. indraṃ mitráṃ váruṇam agním āhur átho divyáḥ sá suparṇó garútmān;
ekaṃ sád víprā bahudhā́ vadanty agníṃ yamáṃ mātaríśvānam āhuḥ.
ekaṃ sád víprā bahudhā́ vadanty agníṃ yamáṃ mātaríśvānam āhuḥ.
46. They called him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni; he is heavenly Garuḍa, who has beautiful wings. That which is One, the sages speak of as Multifarious; they called him Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan.
One interpretation of this mantra is - "There is only one God. It is men who has given him many names". Another is - "sages call one God by many names".
Sivananda Online says "God, Brahman, Allah, Isvara, Jehovah, Ahuramazda, etc., are one".
These interpretations are excellent to promote religious harmony and cultural unity.
It takes the genius of Swami Krishnanandaji for the traditional sampradaya interpretation.
Please see the link below.
The earliest statement of the Nature of Reality occurs in the first book
of the Rig-Veda: Ekam Sat-Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. "The ONE BEING, the
wise diversely speak of."
Swamiji interprets this mantra as referring to both unmanifest and manifest supreme being. Rg Veda mantra is talking about both nirguna isvara and saguna isvara. Nirguna isvara is brahman who does not have any attributes. Maya sahita brahman is saguna isvara - one with attributes.
Lalitha Sahasranamam - vyakta avyakta swarupini - Devi is both perceptible and imperceptible.
Ekam Sat - Unmanifest brahman - atman is one. There is only one absolute reality.
bahuda vadanti - Manifest isvara is called by many names.
Swamiji lists the names of isvara as pasupati, vishnu, krishna, siva, ganesha, surya, skanda and so on. Rg Veda lists isvara as Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni,Garuḍa,Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan and such.
Acaryas say that maya rahita isvara is brahman and maya sahita brahman is isvara.
brahman with maya as upadi - limiting adjunct is isvara. Technically it may be incorrect to say that the term isvara and the term brahman are same. Though everything including isvara resolves into brahman.
Since maya is one, isvara is one. That manifest isvara can be called by any names.
brahman with maya as upadi - limiting adjunct is isvara. Technically it may be incorrect to say that the term isvara and the term brahman are same. Though everything including isvara resolves into brahman.
Since maya is one, isvara is one. That manifest isvara can be called by any names.