Who Is GOD?

242 Pages·2011·1.03 MB·English

Who Is GOD?
Does God Have Shape or Form?
Attributes of God Based on the Vedas
And
A Comparison and Contrast with Those in
The Abrahamic Faiths and Later Hindu Scriptures
Sudhir Anand
ASK Publications, Los Angeles
Published by:
ASK Publications
Post Office Box 29182
Los Angeles, CA 90029-0182
Tel/Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008906259
Copyright © 2009 Sudhir Anand
All Rights Reserved
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or in the form of phonographic
recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system without written permission
from the author, except in the case of brief quotation included in a review.
Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)
Anand, Sudhir (Sudhir K.), 1943–
Who is God? Does God have shape or form? : attributes of God based on the
Vedas and a comparison and contrast with those in the Abrahamic faiths and
later Hindu scriptures / Sudhir Anand.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-9700929-5-3
1. God (Hinduism) 2. God—Comparative studies. 3. Vedas—Interpretation,
etc. I. Title.
BL1213.32 .A62 2008
294.54
Printed in the United States of America on Part Recycled Paper
EKAM SAT VIPRA BAHUDHA VADANTI
(RIG VEDA 1: 164: 46)
GOD IS ONE, SAGES CALL GOD BY MANY NAMES

(See Page # 91 for Details)

CONTENTS
Preface and Introduction vii
Chapter 1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE VEDIC DHARMA 1
Chapter 2 ONE GOD & THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 21
BASED ON THE VEDAS
Chapter 3 VARIOUS NAMES OF GOD
OM: THE PRINCIPAL NAME OF GOD & 83
OTHER PROMINENT NAMES OF GOD
IN THE VEDAS
Chapter 4 DOES GOD HAVE SHAPE OR FORM? 127
(Is God Anthropomorphic?)
Personification and Perception of God: Comparisons and
Contrasts of God’s Description in the Vedas with that
in the Abrahamic Faiths and Later Hindu Scriptures.
Chapter 5 IS ANY RELIGION SUPERIOR TO OTHERS 149
IN EXPLAINING AND/OR REACHING GOD?
TRUE FAITH, REASON AND DEVOTION
TO GOD
Appendix: Devotional Songs (Bhajans) Based on the 183
Vedic Concept of God
Bibliography 195
Index 205
Index for Attributes of God 211
Index for Names and Attributes of God 214
in Sanskrit Based on the Vedas

Preface and Introduction
Is there only One God in the universe who has been rightly or
wrongly described in different ways by Hindus, Jews, Christians
and Muslims? Or, are there many versions of ‘One God’ because
God keeps changing and evolving to suit the needs of founders
and followers of various religions? What are God’s real attributes?
Is Omnipresent God, a formless entity, a Universal Spirit with
no shape or form, or is God an anthropomorphic being or entity
(i.e. has human form) who sits on a throne in the heaven? Does
God incarnate as a human being as believed by Hindus and
Christians or does He not? Is God a loving God or a tyrant? If
He is a loving God, why do beliefs in a loving God often divide us,
rather than unite us as mankind? Why do differing beliefs in God
sometimes even generate hatred rather than foster understanding?
Whose beliefs and which beliefs are right? Whose beliefs and
which beliefs are wrong? We all have a free will and may believe
whatever we choose but are our beliefs and faith in God based
upon truth, common sense and reason or upon unsubstantiated
dogmas as well as unbelievable miracles and myths? This book
tries to address questions such as these based on the description
of God in the Vedas.
The questions regarding God and His attributes are important
for all of us to answer with an open and thoughtful mind, so that
we all can co-exist peacefully in the 21st century instead of fighting
with each other based on the claims of superiority of one religion
over others. Therefore, we should all do our best to seek truth
wherever we may find it while critically analyzing the divergent
opinions of various fundamentalists of all religions who claim
that they have all the answers about God. Moreover, our faith
vii
viii Who Is God?
and concepts of God must reconcile with reason and modern
science to the extent possible, while realizing that God may
never be provable by the usual method of physical observation
used by science.
In recent years, especially in the post 9/11/2001 world, many
fundamentalist Muslims have claimed Islam to be the ‘only way’
and they want to convert the whole world to Islam. On the other
hand many Christians, especially evangelical Christians consider
Christianity to be the ‘only way’ and would like to convert the
entire world to Christianity. After 9/11, Reverend Franklin
Graham (son of Reverend Billy Graham) during an interview on
‘NBC Nightly News’ called Islam “an evil and wicked religion.”
In the United States, he and others in this manner have stated
that the God of Christians is different than the God of Muslims.
Pope John Paul II in year 2000 proclaimed that Catholicism is
superior to all other religions in facilitating the path to God. Such
claims of religious superiority, along with the need to convert
others to the same or similar beliefs as one’s own religion does
not promote brotherly love among people of the world, instead it
sows the seeds of enmity for others. In the context of such claims
it is relevant to learn, what the root scriptures of Hindu religion,
the Vedas say about God and His attributes.
Ekam sat viprä bahudhä vadanti (Rig Veda 1:164: 46 and
Atharvaveda 9:10: 28)
Ekam sat viprä vadanti bahudhä
One, God exists eternally, sages call God by many names
This is a segment of a mantra (in Sanskrit) from the Vedas which
states that God is One, He exists eternally, sages or wise persons
call the same One God by many names (see page # 91 for the
complete mantra). We as humans may give God different names
and ascribe different attributes to Him but nevertheless He
remains the same One God.
Preface and Introduction ix
This book introduces the reader to many Veda mantras and
their translations to substantiate that according to the Vedas
there is One God who is addressed as Om and also by many other
names based upon different attributes. Moreover, according to
the Vedas God is formless and has no shape or form. God does
not exist as an anthropomorphic being or entity who sits on a
throne in heaven. Instead, God is Omnipresent as the Universal
Spirit and does not incarnate as a human being or directly father
children. God can be never adequately represented by any human
being or an image such as an icon/idol, statue or a picture. God
is Omniscient and the Root Source of all true knowledge. All
individuals have the potential to directly (without intermediaries)
acquire bliss and true knowledge from God through the practice of
spiritual yoga — meditation. Similarly, God is Omnipotent. God’s
omnipotence, however, does not mean that He can do whatever
He pleases. Even God follows rules of the material science He
has created. God does not and can not perform miracles that
defy rules of the material science such as turning a wooden
staff into a live serpent or vice versa. Also, God is Just, Kind
and Perfect. God is a Perfect Judge who judges us based upon
our karmas (deeds) and not because He favors certain people
and is prejudiced against others. Similarly, God’s kindness does
not mean that He forgives sins or heinous acts of persons simply
because they acknowledge His incarnations as Rama, Krishna or
Christ as their savior or accept Muhammad as His last prophet.
His kindness instead implies that He is always giving us new
opportunities to move closer to Him and find bliss. He gives new
opportunities even to sinners, to change themselves and follow
the right path. As the inner voice to our soul, God is constantly
providing us with enlightenment and inspiration leading us to the
correct path and to help us do the right thing. Also, God creates
an aversion in us when we want to do something bad. It is our
choice whether we want to listen to God’s voice or not. Finally,
x Who Is God?
God is Supreme Bliss and it is only by knowing God that one can
acquire bliss in one’s life. The beliefs described above from the
Vedas are in many ways markedly different than those described
in Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Muslim) faiths as well as
in the later Hindu scriptures e.g. Puränas — the basis of many
current Hindu beliefs and practices. What you will read in this
book about God is based upon the Vedas and the information
is very different than what is portrayed about Hindu beliefs in
the popular lay press or in the academic writings based on the
Vedanta teachings of Adi Shankra or Swami Vivekananda.
In this book, attributes of God such as Omnipresent,
Omnipotent, Omniscient, Kind and Just, along with issues like,
“Does God incarnate as a human being? Has God sent the last
prophet ever to be? Does God select ‘chosen people’ (i.e. is God
prejudiced)?” are discussed in considerable detail as there are
differences among various religions as to the exact meaning of
these words. (See page #65–81 for details.)
The aim of this book is to promote an understanding of One
God and His attributes based on common sense, reason and
truth. It discourages blind faith in the dogmas, miracles and
rituals of any religion. The book also helps us learn that while
various religions have many fundamental differences, they also
share many common universal truths. It is the hope of the author
that our belief in One God would serve to unite mankind instead
of dividing it because of our differences. To the extent, we all
pray to and worship the same One Just and Kind God who is
Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and make an effort to
get close to God by following His path of truth, love, generosity
and respect for fellow beings our efforts will be rewarded by
personal spiritual growth, happiness and finally lead to the
attainment of bliss.