Yeah, There are 33 Crore Gods in Hinduism. But Gods or Demigods?
The term Demigod means "a being with partial or lesser divine status, such as a minor deity, the offspring of a god and a mortal, or a mortal raised to divine rank." or "a man who is greatly admired or respected."
So actually Demigods are being with partial or lesser divine Status
Means man with superhuman strength!
What About God?
"creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being."
The Supreme Being Who is The Ruler of the Universe!
I don't think Demigods are supreme being, They are being with super powers. But they are of course above us as Humans.
So we should not say that Demigods are Equal or above God!
So now let's come to the topic
There are 33 Crore Demigods And 1 God
Now Question is Who is this God? What is his Name? This God Have a Form or Not?
Now let's Analyse the scriptures Shall We?
There are Two Main Category of Vedic literature - Shruti and Smriti
Smriti consists of The Purana, Itihasa and some other Scriptures
There are total eighteen puranas and Two Itihasa(History) - Ramayana And Mahabharata
And of course there are Manu-smriti which is Dharma shastras(law books)
So who created things according to the Vedas?
RIGVEDA 10.90.13 : States That He Created Surya, Agni, Indra, Vaayu and Chandra.
RIGVEDA 10.190.3 : States That He Created Surya and Chandra.
AITERAYA UPANISHAD 1.2.1-4 : states That He Created Devas (Demigods), Provided Them With Nourishment and Ordered Them into Their Respective Abode.
BRIHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAD 4.4.16 : States That The Devas Meditate on That God as Light/Longevity.
BRIHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAD 5.5.1 : States that God Created Prajapati and Devas, Along with Men and Asuras are Prajapati's Son.
MUNDAKA UPANISHAD 2.1.7 : State That from Him Emerged The Devas and All Other Living Entities.
From These Verses, It is Clear That God Created all Living Entities and All Demigods, Along with Men who is Worshiping God. But who is He?
Let's Check The Scriptures Further More
Surya and Agni are also Created by God
RIGVEDA 7.99.1 : Vishnu is said to Create Surya and Agni
This is What Arjuna Says In Bhagavad Gita
The term Demigod means "a being with partial or lesser divine status, such as a minor deity, the offspring of a god and a mortal, or a mortal raised to divine rank." or "a man who is greatly admired or respected."
So actually Demigods are being with partial or lesser divine Status
Means man with superhuman strength!
What About God?
"creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being."
The Supreme Being Who is The Ruler of the Universe!
I don't think Demigods are supreme being, They are being with super powers. But they are of course above us as Humans.
So we should not say that Demigods are Equal or above God!
So now let's come to the topic
There are 33 Crore Demigods And 1 God
Now Question is Who is this God? What is his Name? This God Have a Form or Not?
Now let's Analyse the scriptures Shall We?
There are Two Main Category of Vedic literature - Shruti and Smriti
Shruti consists of the four Vedas – the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.
Each Veda has four component parts;
Samhitas – mantras for recitation by brahmacharis (students).
Brahmanas – rituals of worship for grihastas (householders).
Aranyakas – philosophical texts for vanaprashtas (retired life).
Upanishads – philosophical texts for sannyasis (renunciates).
Of these the Upanishads are the most well known.
Smriti consists of The Purana, Itihasa and some other Scriptures
There are total eighteen puranas and Two Itihasa(History) - Ramayana And Mahabharata
And of course there are Manu-smriti which is Dharma shastras(law books)
So who created things according to the Vedas?
RIGVEDA 10.90.13 : States That He Created Surya, Agni, Indra, Vaayu and Chandra.
RIGVEDA 10.190.3 : States That He Created Surya and Chandra.
AITERAYA UPANISHAD 1.2.1-4 : states That He Created Devas (Demigods), Provided Them With Nourishment and Ordered Them into Their Respective Abode.
BRIHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAD 4.4.16 : States That The Devas Meditate on That God as Light/Longevity.
BRIHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAD 5.5.1 : States that God Created Prajapati and Devas, Along with Men and Asuras are Prajapati's Son.
MUNDAKA UPANISHAD 2.1.7 : State That from Him Emerged The Devas and All Other Living Entities.
From These Verses, It is Clear That God Created all Living Entities and All Demigods, Along with Men who is Worshiping God. But who is He?
Let's Check The Scriptures Further More
Surya and Agni are also Created by God
RIGVEDA 7.99.1 : Vishnu is said to Create Surya and Agni
RIGVEDA 7.40.5 : Rudra (Shiva) gets his strength by propitiating Vishnu.
So he is Actually Vishnu, But lets Gather More Proofs, Shall We?
(Vishnu, Krishna, Narayana, Ram, Govinda are names of Supreme Lord)
RIGVEDA 1.22.10 : Vishnu occupies the paramount position. All the other deities look always to His feet.
RIGVEDA 10.113.2 : Vishnu is glorified because of who and what He intrinsically is. Indra, on the other hand, is only glorious circumstantially.
RIGVEDA 1.156.2 : Vishnu is the most ancient of all, yet also the most recent. Nothing and no one creates Vishnu, yet Vishnu creates everyone and everything.
Other Scriptures
PADMA PURANA, UTTARA KHANDA 6.71.114 : Realization of Supreme Lord Vishnu alone Leads to Salvation. This is the settled view of all Scriptures. What is Contrary to this is only Delusive
NARASIMHA PURANA 64.78 : By Reviewing all The Reveled Scriptures and Judging them again and again, It is now Concluded that Lord Narayana is The is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and thus He alone be Worshiped.
NARAYANA UPANISHAD 1 :"Then the Supreme Personality Narayana desired to create living entities. From Narayana, Brahma is born, and from Narayana the patriarchs are also born. From Narayana, Indra is born, from Narayana the eight Vasus are born, from Narayana the eleven Rudras(Shiva) are born, from Narayana the twelve Adityas are born.' This Narayana is an expansion of Krishna."
NARAYANA UPANISHAD 4 : "In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme Personality Narayana. There was no Brahma, no Siva, no water, no fire, no moon, no heaven and earth, no stars in the sky, no sun."
VARAHA PURANA : "Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and from Him Brahma was born, from whom Siva was born."
let's check what Lord Brahma Says About Vishnu
BRAHMA-SAMHITA 5.1 : "Krishna, who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."
BRAHMA-SAMHITA 5.39 : "I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krishna and the different avataras in the world in the forms of Rama, Nrsimha, Vamana, etc., as His subjective portions."
BRAHMA-SAMHITA 5.50 : "I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Ganesa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds."
And this is what Krishna Himself Says in Bhagavad Gita
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.7 : "There is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.10 : "know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 9.17 : “I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable OM. I am also the Rig, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.8 : “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.20 : “I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 15.15 : “I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 15.18 : “Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 9.8 : “The whole cosmic order is under me. By my will it is manifested again and again, and by my will it is annihilated at the end”
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.39 : “Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being, moving or unmoving, that can exist without me”
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.2 : "Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and the sages."
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.26 : “O Arjuna, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities”
BHAGAVAD GITA 9.19 : “I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain”
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.24 : “With a single fragment of myself I pervade and support this entire universe”
Some verses where Krishna talks about Demigods
And Many Many Many More Verses
Some verses where Krishna talks about Demigods
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.20 : “Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.”
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.21 : "I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship the demigods, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to some particular deity"
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.22 : "Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone."
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.23 : "Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet."
BHAGAVAD GITA 9.23 : "Those who are Devotees of other Demigods and who worship them with Faith actually Worship only Me, but They do so in a Wrong Way
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.22 : "Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone."
BHAGAVAD GITA 7.23 : "Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet."
BHAGAVAD GITA 9.23 : "Those who are Devotees of other Demigods and who worship them with Faith actually Worship only Me, but They do so in a Wrong Way
BHAGAVAD GITA 10.12-13 : Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.
Of course There are lots of other Scriptures and Verses that I didn't Include But From these Verses, We have to unerstand That Lord Vishnu is the Supreme GOD
Let's Conclude this Topic With Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.1
yam brahma varunendra-rudra-marutah stunvanti divyaih stavair
vedaih sanga-pada-kramopanisadair gayanti yam sama-gah
dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yogino
yasyantam na viduh surasura-gana devaya tasmai namah
Unto that personality whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upanisads, to whom the chanters of the Sama Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogis see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon — unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.
Very informative.
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