God in Hinduism
In Hinduism, the conception of God varies in its diverse religio-philosophical traditions. Hinduism comprises a wide range of beliefs about God and divinity, such as henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, agnosticism, atheism, and nontheism.
Forms of theism find mention in the Bhagavad Gita. Emotional or loving devotion to a primary god such as avatars of Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi is now known as the Bhakti movement. Contemporary Hinduism can be categorized into four major theistic Hindu traditions: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism worship the Hindu deities Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi as the Supreme God respectively, or consider all Hindu deities as aspects of the same, Supreme Reality or the eternal and formless metaphysical Absolute, called Brahman in Hinduism, or, translated from Sanskrit terminology, Svayaṁ-Bhagavān. Other minor sects such as Ganapatya and Saura focus on the deities Ganesha or Surya as the Supreme.
Hindus following Advaita Vedānta consider ātman, the individual soul within every living being, to be the same as Vishnu, Shiva, or Devi, or, alternatively, identical to the eternal and formless metaphysical Absolute called Brahman. Such a philosophical system of Advaita or non-dualism as it developed in the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy, especially as set out in the Upanishads, was popularized by the Indian philosopher, Vedic scholar, teacher, and mystic Ādi Śaṅkara in the 8th century CE, and has been vastly influential on Hinduism. Therefore, Advaitins believe that Brahman is the sole Supreme Being and Ultimate Reality that exists beyond the perceived reality of a world of multiple objects and transitory persons.
Hindus following Dvaita Vedānta consider that the jīvātman and the eternal and formless metaphysical Absolute called Brahman in Hinduism exist as independent realities, and that these are fundamentally distinct. Such a philosophical system of Dvaita or dualism as it developed in the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy, especially as set out in the Vedas, was popularized by the Indian philosopher, Vedic scholar, and theologian Madhvācārya in the 13th century CE, and has been another major influence on Hinduism. In particular, the influence of Madhvācārya's philosophy has been most prominent and pronounced on the Chaitanya school of Bengali Vaishnavism.
Henotheism, kathenotheism, and equitheism
was the term used by scholars such as Max Müller to describe the theology of Vedic religion. Müller noted that the hymns of the Rigveda, the oldest scripture of Hinduism, mention many deities, but praise them successively as the "one ultimate, supreme God", alternatively as "one supreme Goddess", thereby asserting that the essence of the deities was unitary, and the deities were nothing but pluralistic manifestations of the same concept of the divine.The idea that there can be and are plural perspectives for the same divine or spiritual principle repeats in the Vedic texts. For example, other than hymn 1.164 with this teaching, the more ancient hymn 5.3 of the Rigveda states:
Related terms to henotheism are monolatrism and kathenotheism. The latter term is an extension of "henotheism", from καθ' ἕνα θεόν — "one god at a time". Henotheism refers to a pluralistic theology wherein different deities are viewed to be of a unitary, equivalent divine essence. Some scholars prefer the term monolatry to henotheism, to discuss religions where a single god is central, but the existence or the position of other gods is not denied. Another term related to henotheism is "equitheism", referring to the belief that all gods are equal.
Panentheism and nontheism
The Vedic era conceptualization of the divine or the One, states Jeaneane Fowler, is more abstract than a monotheistic God, it is the Reality behind and of the phenomenal universe. The Vedic hymns treat it as "limitless, indescribable, absolute principle", thus the Vedic divine is something of a panentheism rather than simple henotheism.In the late Vedic era, around the start of the Upanishadic age, theosophical speculations emerged that developed concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of nontheism and pantheism. An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta.
Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept Brahman, incorporating within it transcendence and immanence. Different schools of thought interpret Brahman as either personal, impersonal, or transpersonal. Ishwar Chandra Sharma describes it as "Absolute Reality, beyond all dualities of existence and non-existence, light and darkness, and of time, space and cause".
Influential ancient and medieval Hindu philosophers, states philosophy professor Roy Perrett, teach their spiritual ideas with a world created ex nihilo and "effectively manage without God altogether". In Hindu philosophy, there are many different schools. Its non-theist traditions such as Samkhya, early Nyaya, Mimamsa and many within Vedanta such as Advaita do not posit the existence of an almighty, omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God, while its theistic traditions posit a personal God left to the choice of the Hindu. The major schools of Hindu philosophy explain morality and the nature of existence through the karma and samsara doctrines, as in other Indian religions.
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in a single creator God and the lack of belief in any other Creator. Different sects of Hinduism may or may not posit or require such a belief, as religion is considered a personal belief in Hinduism and followers are free to choose the different interpretations within the framework of karma and samsara. Many forms of Hinduism believe in a type of monotheistic God, such as Krishnaism with polymorphic theism, some schools of Vedanta, and Arya Samaj.Advaita Vedanta, for instance, espouses monism, and holds Brahman to be unchanging and undifferentiated from reality. Brahman is therefore undifferentiated from the individual self, or Atman. The concept is thought by some, such as David Adams Leeming and Gavin Flood, to resemble monotheistic conceptions of god to some degree, since all other since are believed to be manifestations of Brahman.
Several medieval Muslim scholars, such as al-Biruni and Amir Khusrau, described Hinduism as fundamentally monotheistic in nature, and attributed polytheistic worship to a lack of education.
Madhvacharya's monotheistic God
developed the Dvaita theology wherein Vishnu was presented as a monotheistic God, similar to major world religions. His writings led some, such as George Abraham Grierson, to suggest he was influenced by Christianity. However, modern scholarship rules out the influence of Christianity on Madhvacharya, as there is no evidence that there ever was a Christian settlement where Madhvacharya grew up and lived, or that there was a sharing or discussion of ideas between someone with knowledge of the Bible and Christian narratives, and him. Furthermore, many adherents consider the similarities to be superficial and insubstantial; for example, Madhvacharya postulates three co-eternal fundamental realities, consisting of Supreme Being, individual Self, and inanimate matter.Madhvacharya was misperceived and misrepresented by both Christian missionaries and Hindu writers during the colonial era scholarship. The similarities in the primacy of one God, dualism and distinction between man and God, devotion to God, the son of God as the intermediary, predestination, the role of grace in salvation, as well as the similarities in the legends of miracles in Christianity and Madhvacharya's Dvaita tradition fed these stories. Among Christian writers, G. A. Grierson creatively asserted that Madhva's ideas evidently were "borrowed from Christianity, quite possibly promulgated as a rival to the central doctrine of that faith". Among Hindu writers, according to Sarma, S. C. Vasu creatively translated Madhvacharya's works to identify Madhvacharya with Christ, rather than compare their ideas.
Statistics in contemporary India
In a 2021 nationwide survey Pew Research Center found out that 29% of the self-described Indian Hindus believe "there is only one God" while 61% believed in "there is only one God with many manifestations".Brahman
Many traditions within Hinduism share the Vedic idea of a metaphysical ultimate reality and truth called Brahman. According to Jan Gonda, Brahman denoted the "power immanent in the sound, words, verses and formulas of Vedas" in the earliest Vedic texts. The early Vedic religious understanding of Brahman underwent a series of abstractions in the Hindu scriptures that followed the Vedic scriptures. These scriptures would reveal a vast body of insights into the nature of Brahman as originally revealed in the Vedas. These Hindu traditions that emerged from or identified with the Vedic scriptures and that maintained the notion of a metaphysical ultimate reality would identify that ultimate reality as Brahman. Hindu adherents to these traditions within Hinduism revere Hindu deities and, indeed, all of existence, as aspects of the Brahman. The deities in Hinduism are not considered to be almighty, omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent, and spirituality is considered to be seeking the ultimate truth that is possible by a number of paths. Like other Indian religions, in Hinduism, deities are born, they live and they die in every kalpa.In Hinduism, Brahman connotes the highest Universal Principle, the Ultimate Reality in the universe. In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists. It is the pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. Brahman as a metaphysical concept is the single binding unity behind the diversity in all that exists in the universe.
Brahman is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and it is conceptualized in Hinduism, states Paul Deussen, as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world". Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads. The Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle. In the Upanishads, it has been variously described as Sat-cit-ānanda and as the unchanging, permanent, highest reality.
Brahman is discussed in Hindu texts with the concept of Atman, personal, impersonal or Para Brahman, or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school. In dualistic schools of Hinduism such as the theistic Dvaita Vedanta, Brahman is different from Atman in each being, and therein it shares conceptual framework of God in major world religions. In non-dual schools of Hinduism such as the monist Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is identical to the Atman, Brahman is everywhere and inside each living being, and there is connected spiritual oneness in all existence.
The Upanishads contain several mahā-vākyas or "Great Sayings" on the concept of Brahman:
| Text | Upanishad | Translation | Reference |
| अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि aham brahmāsmi | Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 | "I am Brahman" | |
| अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म ayam ātmā brahma | Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5 | "The Self is Brahman" | |
| सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म sarvam khalvidam brahma | Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1 | "All this is Brahman" | |
| एकमेवाद्वितीयम् ekam evadvitiyam | Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1 | "That is one, without a second" | |
| तत्त्वमसि tat tvam asi | Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq. | "Thou art that" | |
| प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म prajnānam brahma | Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7 | "Knowledge is Brahman" |