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Unlock This CourseThe lesson Ultimate Reality: One God, Many Gods or None explained that some believers see ultimate reality as a personal God and others as an impersonal absolute. Hinduism holds both ideas. Remember, Hindus believe Brahman is the one supreme reality behind everything. Hindus speak of Brahman in two ways: without form and with form.
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Hindus say nirguna Brahman has no shape, no body and no gender. It cannot be seen, pictured or put into words, because any description would limit it. A teacher in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the Hindu scriptures, describes Brahman only by saying 'neti, neti': 'not this, not this'. The idea is that whatever you point to or think of, Brahman is greater than that.
Hindus believe saguna Brahman is the same reality, now with qualities people can know, such as love, power, wisdom and mercy. In this form God is understood as personal: someone who can be prayed to, loved and trusted, and who cares for the world. Hindus call God in this form Ishvara, and meet Ishvara through the deities (gods and goddesses), each with a name, a story and a form that can be shown in pictures and statues.
For Hindus these are not two different Gods. They are two ways of understanding the one Brahman. One way to picture this is water. Water vapour is in the air all around us, but it has no shape and cannot be seen. Ice is the same water in a solid form that can be seen and held.
Hindus do not all agree about how nirguna and saguna fit together.
Hindus who follow Advaita teach that Brahman is, in the end, nirguna. The deities are Brahman as human minds are able to picture it. Worship of a deity is good and helpful, because it trains the mind and heart. But the final goal is to go beyond all forms and know Brahman directly, through knowledge and meditation.
Many other Hindus, such as those who follow Dvaita, believe the highest reality is a personal God with endless good qualities. For them, a loving God is not a lower step on a ladder. Some say 'nirguna' only means that God has no bad qualities or limits. The goal is a loving relationship with God that lasts for ever.
The Bhagavad Gita speaks to this question. In chapter 12, Arjuna asks Krishna which worshippers are better: those who love God with form, or those who seek the formless. Krishna replies that those who worship him with loving devotion are the best. Those who seek the formless also reach him, but their path is much harder for people who live in a body. This is one reason why most Hindus worship God with form.
Hindus worship many deities. Most Hindus believe each one shows something of the one Brahman, in the way that one woman can be a mother, a daughter and a doctor at once. A famous line in the Rig Veda says, 'Truth is one; the wise call it by many names.'
Many Hindus have an ishta devata. Choosing one deity does not mean rejecting the others. In the Gita (chapter 7), Krishna says that whatever form a person worships with faith, he makes that faith steady.
Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God. They stress God's love and care for the world, shown when Vishnu comes to earth as avatars such as Rama and Krishna. Their main path is bhakti, loving devotion.
Shaivas worship Shiva as the supreme God, who creates, preserves and destroys. Shiva is pictured as a yogi deep in meditation and as Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance. Shaivas often stress meditation and self-discipline.
Shaktas worship the Goddess as the supreme reality. They believe she is Shakti, the energy that makes and moves the whole universe. They stress God as a mother who both protects and has great power.
Each group sees its own deity as the fullest form of Brahman and usually honours the others too. Some Hindus, called Smartas, treat several deities as equal forms of the one Brahman.
Remember, monotheism is belief in one God and polytheism is belief in many gods. Hindus give more than one answer.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad shows the idea in a story. The teacher Yajnavalkya is asked how many gods there are. He first says more than three thousand. Asked again and again, he gives a smaller number each time, until he answers: one.
Why do Hindus accept many forms? They believe an infinite God cannot be limited to one shape. People differ, so God meets each person in a form they can love. And a formless reality is hard to picture or pray to.
Do not write that nirguna and saguna are two Gods: they are one Brahman understood in two ways. Do not write simply that 'Hindus are polytheists': explain that most see the deities as forms of one Brahman. Do not say all Hindus rank nirguna above saguna: that is the Advaita view, and many Hindus disagree.
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three different beliefs about how many gods exist. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two beliefs about the nature of God in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why followers of this religion worship God in different forms. [6 marks]
(d) 'It is impossible for human beings to know what God is like.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. There is one God (monotheism) (1). 2. There are many gods (polytheism) (1). 3. There are no gods (atheism) (1).
(b) Hinduism. Hindus believe Brahman is nirguna, without form or qualities (1), which means Brahman is beyond all description, 'neti, neti' (1). Hindus also believe Brahman is saguna, with form and qualities (1), so God can be worshipped as a personal deity such as Vishnu or Shiva (1).
(c) Hinduism. Hindus believe Brahman is infinite, so no single form can show all that God is. Each deity shows something different: Saraswati shows God's wisdom and Durga shows God's power over evil.
Nirguna Brahman has no form and cannot be pictured. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says the path of the formless is much harder, so most Hindus worship saguna Brahman, God with form.
People are also different. Many Hindus have an ishta devata, the form of God they feel closest to. This is why Vaishnavas worship Vishnu, Shaivas worship Shiva and Shaktas worship the Goddess, while believing, as the Rig Veda says, that truth is one.
(d) Plan. For: Hindus teach that nirguna Brahman is beyond all words, 'neti, neti'; the different pictures of God within Hinduism and across religions might suggest nobody really knows; agnostics say there is not enough evidence to know if God exists, let alone what God is like; atheists say there is no God to know.
Against: Hindus believe saguna Brahman has qualities that can be known, such as love and power; the deities and scriptures such as the Gita show believers what God is like; Vaishnavas believe God comes to earth as avatars so that people can know him; Hindus say different forms show different sides of one truth, not confusion.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly disagree. Many Hindus would say humans can never know everything about God, but saguna Brahman lets them know God truly, if not fully. Notice the word 'impossible': one real way of knowing God would be enough to challenge it.
In part (b), give the meaning as well as the Sanskrit word. 'Brahman is nirguna' is a point, but the second mark needs the development: without form, so beyond all description.