இந்து மதத்தில் 330 மில்லியன் (!!!) கடவுளர்கள்
நேற்று இரவு டாக்டர் ராபர்ட் வின்ஸ்டனின் 'கடவுளின் கதை' என்ற விவரணப்படத் தொடரின் முதல் பாகத்தைப் பார்க்க நேர்ந்தது. விவரணப்படத்தைக் கூட எப்படி இவ்வளவு சுவாரஸ்யமாக எடுக்க முடியும் என்று டாக்டர் வின்ஸ்டனிடம்தான் கற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.
28000 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பிருந்த மத நம்பிக்கையிலிருந்து ஆரம்பித்து மூவாயிரம் ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முற்பட்ட இந்து மதம் வரை வந்திருக்கிறார்கள். மதுரை மீனாட்சி அம்மன் கோவிலும் அழகர் திருவிழாக்காட்சிகளும் இருந்தன.
மூன்று ஆச்சரியத் தகவல்கள் தெரிந்து கொண்டேன்:
- மத நம்பிக்கை விவசாயத்திலிருந்துதான் வந்தது. தனது சக்திக்கு அப்பாற்பட்ட இயற்கை சக்திகளை நம்பி இருக்க வேண்டிய கட்டாயம் ஏற்பட்டபோதுதான் அவற்றை வணங்குகிற பழக்கம் ஏற்பட்டது
- புத்த மதம் சிலபேரால் நாத்திகத்துக்கு இணையாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. இதற்குக் காரணம் புத்த மத கோட்பாட்டின் படி துன்பத்திலிருந்து விடுபடுவது தனிமனிதன் கையில்தானிருக்கிறதே ஒழிய கடவுளால் அவனை விடுவிக்கமுடியாது என்பதே.
- இந்து மதத்தில் 330 மில்லியன் (!!!) கடவுளர்கள் இருப்பதாக நம்பப்படுகிறது.
இத்தொடரின் இரண்டாவது பாகம் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை 7 மணிக்கு ஒளிபரப்பாக இருக்கிறது.
posted by நிலா @ 3:18 AM
7 Comments:
இது பிபிசியில் வரும் விவரணப்படமா?
As per Hindu mythology, there are 330 million Devas (I am not sure whether this number includes people from other equally-elitist groups like Kinnaras, Gandharvas etc). Agreed Devas represent the Good side of the Good Vs Evil battle. But then it doesn't necessarily mean that there are 330 million "Gods" in Hinduism. Myopic view of someone who doesn't know/practice Hinduism first-hand.
yes, narain. Forgot to mention BBC
Subramonia,
thanks for the info. I am not involved in religions. But I am surprised that Dr.Winston made such a mistake! Perhaps, he thought if devas are not human they must be Gods!
I am interested to know whether there is any worship of devas at all in Hinduism!
Hi Nila,
It is not just 330 million gods. It is more than that. In tamil it is known as "mupathu mukkodi". Mukkodi in Tamil (according to pinkalandai) is known as "piramakarpam" or "kodi kodi kodi" or mukkodi. It is one followed by 21 zeroes. The number of gods are thirty times mukkodi. It is lot more than 330 million.
We can get this clarified by simebody else. Recently somebody posted the tamil-kanakku page from pinkalanthai. I do not remember the blogspot id. The series starts like,
Kodi, Arputham, Nikarputham, Kumbam, Ganam, Karpam, Nikarpam, Pathumam, Sangam, Vellam, Anniyam, Maththiyam or Arththam, Parartham, Puriyam and then Piramakarpam.
Later,
Endrendrum Anbudan,
Seemachu
cio2003 at yahoo dot com
Seemachu
thank you for the interesting info
நிலா, முப்பது முக்கோடி தேவர்கள் என்று சொல்வார்களே தவிர, தேவர்கள் கடவுள் ஆக மாட்டார்கள் என்று நினைக்கிறேன்.
This is what our Hindu Dharma says:
(From Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/brhad_III-09.html
MANY GODS AND ONE BRAHMAN
But, there was one man who would not listen to this advice. He had to do something, and he puts a very intricate question. He was the last man to query. There were eight people who put questions. Now the eighth man comes and he dies actually, in the very audience, due to an incident that took place on account of too much meaningless querying. He was called Sakalya.
atha hainam vidagdhah sakalyah papraccha: kati devah, yajnavalkya, iti. sa haitayaiva nivida pratipede, yavanto vaisvadevasya nividy ucyante; trayas ca tri ca sata, trayas ca tri ca sahasreti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya iti. trayas trimsad iti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya, iti. sad iti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya, iti. traya iti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya, iti. dvav iti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya, iti. adhyardha iti. aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya, iti. eka iti. aum iti. hovaca katame te trayas ca tri ca sahasreti.
Atha hainam vidagdhah sakalyah papraccha: This gentleman gets up and asks certain questions. They are very very long queries, and very long answers also are given. "How many gods are there?" This is what Vidagdha Sakalya wanted to know. The question put to Yajnavalkya by Sakalya means this much - kati devah, yajnavalkya, iti. Sa haitayaiva nivida pratipede, yavanto vaisvadevasya nividy ucyante: When the question, how many gods are there, was put, Yajnavalkya contemplated the list of gods given in a passage, or a Mantra of the Veda called the Nivid which has reference to a group of gods called Visvedevas. And in accordance with the statement made in that Mantra, called the Nivid in the Veda, Yajnavalkya says: Trayas ca tri ca sata: "Three hundred and three." The answer was given. Then he says: Trayas ca tri ca sahasreti: "Three thousand and three." "All right! Let me see," was the retort of Sakalya. Katy eva devah, yajnavalkya: "Is this the answer that you give me to my question, how many gods are there? Three thousand and three; three hundred and three! Have you no other answer to this question?" Then Yajnavalkya gives another answer. Trayas trimsad iti: "There are thirty-three gods." Aum iti. hovaca: "All right"! Again he asks, not being satified with this answer. "Tell me again properly; how many gods are there?" - katy eva devah, yajnavalkya? Sad iti: "Six are there." "All right!" He was not satisfied; he again asks a question. Hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya: "How many gods are there. Tell me again. Think properly." Traya iti: "Only three gods are there." Aum iti. hovaca, katy eva devah, yajnavalkya: Not being satisfied, he asks again: "How many gods are there? Tell again." Dvav iti: "Two gods are there." Again he asks a question, not being satisfied. "Tell again; how many gods are there?" katy eva devah, yajnavalkya. "One and a half gods" - adhyardha iti. Then he was very much upset. "What is this you say, one and a half gods. Tell again properly; how many gods are there?" - katy eva devah yajnavalkya. Eka iti: "One god is there," he said finally. So, a series was recounted by Yajnavalkya in a very humorous manner, all of which has some meaning which will be mentioned in the following passages. Katame te trayas ca tri ca sahasreti: "All these numbers that you have mentioned - three thousand and three, three hundred and three - what are these gods? Give the names of these gods, the deities." Then Yajnavalkya said:
sa hovaca, mahimana evaisam ete, trayas trimsat tv eva deva iti. katame te trayas trimsad iti. astau vasavah ekadasa rudrah, dvadasadityah, te ekatrimsat indras caiva prajapatis ca trayastrimsav
the
Sa hovaca, mahimana evaisam ete, trayas trimsat tv eva deva iti: "All these three thousand and all that that I mentioned - they are not really gods. They are only manifestations of the thirty-three. The thirty-three are the principal manifestations, and others are only their glories, radiances, manifestations, magnificences or forces, energies, powers." "But what are these thirty-three" - katame te trayas trimsad iti. "The thirty-three gods are eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas - they make thirty-one (ekatrimsat) - then Indra and Prajapati - these make thirty-three gods."
Now, these are called gods in a very special sense, and there is a meaning behind their being designated as gods. The term god means a power that causally works inside a form. That which regulates from inside any particular individual, groups of individuals etc. is the god of that individual or the god of that group of individuals. In a broad sense we may say, the cause of anything is the deity of that thing. Now again we have to bring to our mind, the meaning of the word 'cause'. The deity does not operate as an external cause. The sun as the cause of the eye is not the sun that is ninety-three million miles away, disconnected from the eye in space. That principle which controls the eye or any other organ has something to do internally also with the structure of the organ. Likewise is the case with every other function. The god of any particular phenomenon is the invisible presence. So it will be mentioned here in the following passages that every visible object has a presiding deity inside. Even the hands cannot be lifted unless there is a force inside; the eyes connot wink unless there is a force inside the eyes, likewise with every other function or limb of the individual. What are these Vasus, Rudras and Adityas? They have to be explained. They are not far away from us. They are immanent within us.
katame vasava iti. agnis ca prthivi ca vayus cantariksam cadityas ca dyaus ca candramas ca naksatrani ca, ete vasavah, etesu hidam sarvam hitam iti, tasmad vasava iti.
Katame vasava iti: "What are these Vasus which are eight in number?" "Fire is one deity; earth is one deity; air is another; the atmosphere is one deity; the sun is one deity; the heaven is one deity; moon is one deity; the stars are one deity. These constitute eight groups" - agnis ca prthivi ca vayus cantariksam cadityas ca dyaus ca candramas ca naksatrani ca. Ete vasavah: "Why do you call them Vasus?" What is the meaning of the word Vasu? Vasu is that in which something resides. In Sanskrit, Vasu means, to abide. That which is an abode of something; that in which something abides; that which is the repository or the support of something is the Vasu of that thing. Now, these things mentioned here, eight in number, are really the substances, in a subtle form, out of which everything is made, including our own selves. All bodies are constituted of the vibrations of which, ultimately, these principles consist. Agni, Prthivi, Vayu, Antariksa etc. are not solid bodies, though names are given here, which are applicable to physical bodies. Even the earth is not a solid body. It is a vibration. It is something difficult to understand for a casual observer. There is no such thing, ultimately, as a "solid" body. Everything is a conglomeration of forces. Force concretises itself. The increased density of a particular force is the reason why we give it a particular name in a particular context, as it becomes visible. Even these distinctions between earth and fire and air etc. are tentative distinctions. One is convertible into the other. So we see that there is an internal connection among the gods. We know that solids can become liquids, and liquids can become gases, and anything can be converted into anything by certain processes to which they are subjected. The solidity of the earth; the fierceness of fire, the fine character of air; the glowing nature of the sun etc., can be attributed to the increased density of the manifestation of the force of which they are all constituted. Distance does not matter here. Even if the sun is so many millions of miles away, it can regulate us, control us. Distance is completely overruled by the existence of invisible powers, cosmic energies that can reach over great distances as immense light does. So, all bodies are constituted of these Vasus. Our physical body, our subtle body and the physical bodies and the subtle bodies of everyone and everything everywhere - all these are made out of the energies of certain forces which go to make up these elements - the fire, the earth etc. What is there in our body except these things? If you dissect the body of any individual and observe, chemically, the constituents you will find that these constituents of the bodies of individuals are nothing but the constituents of these eight principles mentioned. They are, therefore, called Vasus because everything abides in them. Etesu hidam sarvam hitam iti, tasmad vasava iti: "Everything is deposited as it were in these constituent principles. Therefore, they are called Vasus."
katame rudra iti. daseme puruse pranah atmaikadasah; te yadasmat sariran martyad utkramanti, atha rodayanti, tad yad rodayanti, tasmad rudra iti.
Katame rudra iti: "Who are the Rudras?" The Rudras are inside us. They are not in Mount Kailasa, as theology would tell you. They are inside us, operating in a particular manner. The powers which constitute the Rudras are the ten senses and the mind. They are eleven in number. "The ten senses and the mind make eleven. These are the Rudras." They make you do whatever they like. They are the controllers of your system. You cannot do anything independent of the senses and the requisites of the mind. What can the body do? What can the individual as a whole do, except in the direction pointed out by the senses and the mind? - katame rudra iti. daseme puruse pranah atmaikadasah.
Te yadasmat sariran martyad utkramanti, atha rodayanti, tad yad rodayanti, tasmad rudra iti: Rudu is to cry, in Sanskrit. "When the senses and the mind leave the body, they make one cry in anguish." One is in a state of grief, and weeps in sorrow due to pain of severance of the senses and the mind from the physical abode. The individual concerned also cries, (when they are leaving) and the other people connected with that individual also cry at the time of the departure of what we call the soul in the individual which is nothing but this total function of the senses and the mind. Inasmuch as these eleven, the senses and the mind, subject the individual to their dictates and make you yield to their demands and clamours, and make you cry in agony if you violate their laws, they are called Rudras.
katama aditya iti. dvadasa vai masah samvatsarasya, eta adityah, ete hidam sarvam adadana yanti; te yad idam sarvam adadana yanti, tasmad aditya iti.
Katama aditya iti: "What are the twelve Adityas, the suns?" They are not twelve suns. "They are twelve forces of the sun," twelve functions of the sun, twelve ways in which the sun's energy works. Dvadasa vai masah samvatsarasya, eta adityah, ete hidam sarvam adadana yanti: Aditya is a Sanskrit word meaning the sun. The forces of the sun, the movements of the sun, the phases of the sun, take away the lives of people. Adadana means, they take you, withdraw you, absorb you. Every day is a passing of life. The movement of the sun is not merely a beautiful phenomenon that we can gaze on with wonder every morning. Every rise of the sun is an indication that so much life has gone. Every bell that rings tells you that your death is nearing. And so, these twelve months of the year may be regarded as the twelve functions of the sun. They are twelve functions in the sense that they are responsible for the twelve ways in which the sun influences the individuals on earth and the entire atmosphere around it. The movement of the planets, and other stellar bodies in connection with the location of the sun, becomes responsible for, what we call, the twelve months in the passage of time. And inasmuch as there is such movement which is twelve in number, there is a twelve-fold influence of the sun on things around, and these twelve influences of the sun are called twelve Adityas, by way of symbology. And they are called Adityas because they withdraw the lives of things. They cause transiency in things. They are the cause of the perishability of bodies - adadana yanti. Te yad idam sarvam adadana yanti, tasmad aditya iti: Time, actually is meant here, which "takes away the vitality of people."
katama indrah, katamah prajapatir iti, stanayitnur evendrah, yajnah prajapatir iti. katamah stanayitnur iti. asanir iti. katamo yajna iti, pasava iti.
Who is Indra? The power that overpowers everybody - That is Indra. The energy that is with you by which you assert yourself and feel a confidence in yourself is Indra. Even if you are a weakling, you feel a confidence sometimes. That confidence comes due to a hidden potentiality in you, a power in you which is beyond your present conceivable capacity. Katama indrah, katamah prajapatir iti. "Who is Indra? Who is Prajapati?" (other gods who are mentioned in the list) Stanayitnur evendrah: "The rain cloud can be called Indra. Yajnah prajapatir iti: Sacrifice can be called Prajapati." Katamah stanayitnur iti: "What do you mean by rain cloud?" "By rain cloud I do not actually mean the cloud, but the lightning which is the embodiment of energy." Indra, therefore, is the designate of force which overwhelms other forces. It is Indra because it rules. It rules in the sense that nothing can stand in its presence. So, in short, Indra represents here a deity designating a force present in every individual, yourself and myself included, a force that can give you the confidence of there being nothing impossible for you. That hidden hope and energy which is present even in the smallest creature is God Himself, revealing Himself in some minute form. A ruler in everybody and the energy that is hiddenly present in every individual is what the term Indra conveys in this context.
Yajnah prajapatir iti: Prajapati is the Supreme Being Himself. He is identified with Yajna, or sacrifice. Here sacrifice does not mean merely oblations in a sacred fire, but a compulsion exerted upon every individual body by this Prajapati, or the Universal Virat, or Hiranyagarbha, by which it becomes obligatory on the part of every individual to accede to the Law of this Being. Sacrifice is a form of self-surrender. What is sacrifice? It is an offering of what you have and what you are in some measure in the direction of something which you regard as the goal. Now here the goal is Prajapati. He is called Yajna, and he is identified with pasava iti. The individual is called the victim of the sacrifice because of the compulsion exerted upon it by the goal of the sacrifice. We are all victims of the sacrifice in the sense that we are obliged, compelled, forced to yield to a law which is transcendent to our own selves. It is not true that we are entirely free though it looks as if we are like that. Our freedom is conditioned by the necessity of that law which operates within us as the Antaryamin, and which calls for a sacrifice on our part, not in the sense of offering ghee etc. in fire, but the surrender of our own value to the Eternal Value. Therefore, in that sense, Prajapati, Yajna - Supreme Sacrifice, includes within Himself everything that is the victim of the sacrifice, which means to say, every individual is included in the universal.
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