NationStates Jolt Archive

There are 4 that I know of. Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesh. I'll keep from making a poll until a few more are suggested.

But which is your favourite?

I think I personally prefer Shiva. Change is good.

quick synopsis

depending on which part of Hinduism you follow

Brahma is the creator.
Vishnu is the sustainer.
Shiva is the distroyer.
(Though there are sects that claim one the above is the main supreme god and the others are just manefestations of him.)
Kali is a creature of anillation who can only be tamed by Shiva. Physically she is the opposite of Shiva having black skin skinny limbs, as opposed to Shiva's plump, white form.
Ganesh is the master of intellect and wisdom and a patron of traders. So much so that there is huge festival in his honour each year in Mumbai - the financial capital of India.
Hanuman epitomizes virtue, strength and courage.
Vaishno devi is is known as the Divine Mother, the goddess of strength and the female aspect of divinity.
Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and all literary arts.
Durga is a warrior godess and the slayer of demons.
Lakshmi is goddess of wealth, light, wisdom and fortune, as well as (secondarily) luck, beauty and fertility.

On a side note their devas and devis, which aren't quite gods and godesses.

Shiva owns. And isn't Brahma the uber-god thing that they all come from?[/ignoranceofhinduism]

There are 4 that I know of. Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesh. I'll keep from making a poll until a few more are suggested.

But which is your favourite?

I think I personally prefer Shiva. Change is good.

okay... this was much shorter than anticipated. Oh well.

on a completely unrelated note the time tonight at 1:02:03am will read -
01:02:03 04/05/06


WTF? Completely pointless.

Shiva owns. And isn't Brahma the uber-god thing that they all come from?[/ignoranceofhinduism]
Well there's Brahma the creator, and then Brahma the universal spirit of everything and then the bramin, the priest class. Stop me if you're a little confused.


As for the question, Shiva is cool.

WTF? Completely pointless.
I know. I can't be bothered with giving things points today. Maybe tomorrow.

Kali, because she's nice and vicious and she shares a name with a martial art I've studied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

Don't know why but I am partial to Hanuman.

Maybe the primatologist in me? ;)

Ganesh is the Remover of Obstacles. The god of domestic harmony and success. He is also the most revered of all the Hindu gods apparently.

Kali, because she's nice and vicious and she shares a name with a martial art I've studied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KaliThug. :p

Thug. :p
http://i2.tinypic.com/x3yidf.jpg

http://i2.tinypic.com/x3yidf.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/word.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/word.jpg
Nice.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/Shiva.jpg
Shiva
Four arms. That's it. My favorite dream come true. I'd love to have four fully functioning arms. :D

What's up with post #10?

Hmm... what a brief bit of research Kali appears to be a the divine mother... I guess I can agree with that. I've seen mothers when their angry and worried about their children, and they are very, very scary.

I like Ganesh

I like Lakshmi because I like...MONEY!!!! Though money is barely the tip of the iceberg of everything she represents (culture, wisdom, etc.) to me, the money is the most important part.

What's up qith posts #10 and #11?

Hmm... what a brief bit of research Kali appears to be a the divine mother... I guess I can agree with that. I've seen mothers when their angry and worried about their children, and they are very, very scary.
Well, you see there was a cult called the thugs who worshipped Kali and killed people. That's where we get the word thug. Now Infinite Dunes called me a thug, so I posted a picture of the words "Thug Life", which were tatooed on Tupac's stomach BTW. Then Ifrean posted the response "Word", but did so with a humorous picture.

Well, I know virtually nothing about Hinduism, but Ganesha is the god of the traders and generally a nice fella it seems. So that's who I'll be praying too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/230px-Ganesha.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha
What a neat god. See, this is where the Abrahamaic religions went so horribly wrong.

I think Aditi gets my vote as favourite Goddess. She's the unchained spirit of the universe that represents the Sky, the Heavens, the past and future. Even though she's somewhat of an enigma, the tales involving her reflect a lot of my ideas on the state of existence.

Well, you see there was a cult called the thugs who worshipped Kali and killed people. That's where we get the word thug. Now Infinite Dunes called me a thug, so I posted a picture of the words "Thug Life", which were tatooed on Tupac's stomach BTW. Then Ifrean posted the response "Word", but did so with a humorous picture.Oh that makes sense now. But I never saw a picture in your reply, just an empty reply that quoted me.

And I got the point about the cult, what's why I said it. It's one of the few bits of etymology that I know.

Poll is up. I added most people's suggestions and threw a couple more in. Unfortunately I didn't see Kamsaki's post in time. :(

theres like 3 million of them, so I am not sure.

Oh that makes sense now. But I never saw a picture in your reply, just an empty reply that quoted me.

And I got the point about the cult, what's why I said it. It's one of the few bits of etymology that I know.

Poll is up. I added most people's suggestions and threw a couple more in. Unfortunately I didn't see Kamsaki's post in time. :(
I think Tinypic.com is acting up.

Ganesh is an elephant for fecks sake, makes religion fun! lol

Well, I know virtually nothing about Hinduism, but Ganesha is the god of the traders and generally a nice fella it seems. So that's who I'll be praying too.


http://www.chennaibest.com/cityresources/Arts_and_Antiques/img/heritage4.jpg

He could be reading your post.:p

I think Tinypic.com is acting up.It's not that. I tried quoted the post and there is no text or tags in there at all.

Indra, the ancient Vedic God of war, thunder and the monsoon. He kinda got nerfed in later Hinduism, but I like him as he's portrayed in the Rig Veda: Supreme War-Lord of the Heavens, son of the Sky and the Earth.

Well there's Brahma the creator, and then Brahma the universal spirit of everything and then the bramin, the priest class. Stop me if you're a little confused.

Brahman - is the Universal spirit-soul. Advaitha (neo-advaitha as some would argue) hold that it is the Supreme state and has no personality.

Brahman is unrelated to Brahma the God of the Hindu pantheon. All Hindu streams accept that Brahma is a demi God and not the Supreme. The idea of a trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is an alien thought to Hindus and is mainly a western (mis)understanding.


As for the question, Shiva is cool.

Yes, few things can approach the beauty of the Nataraja

http://www.geocities.com/sarabhanga/Nataraja.jpg

I like Hanuman, cause he has an army of monkeys :D

"Four arms. That's it. My favorite dream come true. I'd love to have four fully functioning arms. :D"

True. But Ganesh also has four arms, plus is the Remover of Obstacles, and that elephant memory thing would come in handy :p ...

Heh, so far the godessess are getting their arses kicked by the gods by 1 votes to 10 respectively. Maybe I should have thought about where I placed the names. Or even waited a little longer before making the poll. Oh well.

I like GaneshGanesh all da way, man! Elephants rule. Humanity blows, yet elephants rule. :fluffle: :fluffle: :fluffle: :fluffle: :fluffle: :fluffle: :fluffle: By the way, fluffles are cool! Ganesh, ganesh, No one's better than ganesh!!!!!:p

i think your missing a couple thousand deities.

I was under the impression that Shiva was a bit more than just 'the destroyer': Isn't he the lord of both life and death, and the progression of fate? He's the destroyer because the path of fate progresses inevitably to death and destruction, and it is in that that he gained the transcendent knowledge that makes him special, but I thought that he was more than just the force of destruction. 'The Lord of the Dance.'

Brahman - is the Universal spirit-soul. Advaitha (neo-advaitha as some would argue) hold that it is the Supreme state and has no personality.

Brahman is unrelated to Brahma the God of the Hindu pantheon. All Hindu streams accept that Brahma is a demi God and not the Supreme. The idea of a trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is an alien thought to Hindus and is mainly a western (mis)understanding.

Thanks, my bad. My knowledge of Hinduism has eroded quite a bit in the 2+ years since I studied it.

Kali absolutely. Like the Morrigan and Hecate, a goddess of fertility and death showing the relatedness of the two. Death nourishes life and life becomes death.

Me, I like Ganesh.

Hanuman the Monkey God!

Shiva ftw!

Lakshmi sounds pretty good. I'll go with that.

Krishna gives this thread 2 thumbs up.

Krishna gives this thread 2 thumbs up.Despite not being on the poll?

Yes I know Hinduism has many other devas/devis, but there are only ten poll options. What's even more confusing is that not all Hindus view the devas and devis the same way.

As the person who complained about my description of Shiva, well you're right, but I was trying to give a quick synopsis of all 10. Shiva ultimately is the distroyer, but isn't viewed a in a negative way because of it, due to the Hindu believe in reincarnation. They beleive that death is a necessary part of the continuation of life.

That's my understanding of Hinduism so far.

Despite not being on the poll?

Krishna IS Vishnu. To be specific, Krishna is the supreme personality of the Godhead Maha Vishnu. Krishna is probably the most followed deity by Hindus.

Krishna IS Vishnu. To be specific, Krishna is the supreme personality of the Godhead Maha Vishnu. Krishna is probably the most followed deity by Hindus.As I understand it Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, but they aren't viewed as the same god. Kinda like God and Jesus I think... I think Budhha is also supposed to be an incarnation of Vishnu in Hinduism.

I've always been told that Ganesh is the most followed deva of the Hindus.

As I understand it Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, but they aren't viewed as the same god. Kinda like God and Jesus I think... I think Budhha is also supposed to be an incarnation of Vishnu in Hinduism.


Yes, Krishna (as told in the epic Mahabaratha) is an avatar of Vishnu. But Vaishnavists hold that Krishna is unlike other avatars and is a direct manifestation of the Supreme personality of the Godhead Vishnu.

This is the view amongst all Vaishnavist sects particularly amongst the most famous of all - the ISKCON of Hare Rama Hare Krishna movement.

Yes, Buddha is also an avatar of Vishnu (according to Vaishnavists although Buddhists tend to disagree, but meh what do they know:p ).

The God and Jesus analogy is wrong since it is commonly held that Jesus is an entity seperate from God...son of God is being a seperate entity right? correct me if there are alternate views on this.

Krishna is not a seperate entity from Vishnu, in the spiritual sense, Krishna is one of the personalities of Vishnu. who took the avatar of Krishna 5000 years ago to establish dharma and save his devotees.


I've always been told that Ganesh is the most followed deva of the Hindus.

Ganesh is a popular deity in the western parts of India (Maharashtra) and amongst business classes and materially minded. But for spiritual liberation, people look up to Krishna. It is difficult to generalise because same person will pray in the morning to Krishna for spiritual succour and prays to Ganesh when he opens his shop for business.

Which is the sky-pillar one?

EDIT - Shiva, apparently.

Yes, Krishna (as told in the epic Mahabaratha) is an avatar of Vishnu. But Vaishnavists hold that Krishna is unlike other avatars and is a direct manifestation of the Supreme personality of the Godhead Vishnu.

This is the view amongst all Vaishnavist sects particularly amongst the most famous of all - the ISKCON of Hare Rama Hare Krishna movement.

Yes, Buddha is also an avatar of Vishnu (according to Vaishnavists although Buddhists tend to disagree, but meh what do they know:p ).

The God and Jesus analogy is wrong since it is commonly held that Jesus is an entity seperate from God...son of God is being a seperate entity right? correct me if there are alternate views on this.

Krishna is not a seperate entity from Vishnu, in the spiritual sense, Krishna is one of the personalities of Vishnu. who took the avatar of Krishna 5000 years ago to establish dharma and save his devotees.



Ganesh is a popular deity in the western parts of India (Maharashtra) and amongst business classes and materially minded. But for spiritual liberation, people look up to Krishna. It is difficult to generalise because same person will pray in the morning to Krishna for spiritual succour and prays to Ganesh when he opens his shop for business.I bow to your superior knowledge. I'm going to make a guess that you Indian, Hindu, or both. Perhaps a Vaishnavist as well?

I think perhaps the Christian analogy might fit when you consider the holy trinity - the father, the son, and the holy ghost. Each is supposed to be God, but there is only one God.
...
Meh, I wouldn't trust me though. I'm an atheist and know bugger all about religion.

I'm going to make a guess that you Indian, Hindu, or both. Perhaps a Vaishnavist as well?

Correct on all three counts, although I don't make a very good Vaishnavist, what with all my desire for sense gratification and all..:p

I think perhaps the Christian analogy might fit when you consider the holy trinity - the father, the son, and the holy ghost. Each is supposed to be God, but there is only one God.

I guess you are correct too in a way. Just the other day I was at a presentation by a Swami at San Jose who drew similarities in the Pancha tattva in Vaishnavism and Christianity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchatattva
According to Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, Pancha Tattva refers to the Five aspects of God or Absolute Truth. 'Pancha' is sanskrit for 'five', and 'tattva' means 'truth' or 'reality'.

In the late 1400's these five features of God (Krishna) are believed to have incarnated on Earth as five people. Namely Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Acharya, Gadadhara Pandita, and Srivasa Thakura. They famously spread the Hare Krishna mantra, and the practice of devotion to Lord Krishna throughout India.


[edit]

The Five Features

* Caitanya is said to be Krishna (God) Himself, The Supreme Person.
* Nityananda is Krishna's first personal expansion.
* Advaita Acharya is a combined incarnation of Lord Vishnu & Lord Shiva.
* Gadadhara is an incarnation of Krishna's internal energy.
* Srivasa is Krishna's pure devotee.

"I bow down to Lord Krishna, who appears as a devotee (Lord Chaitanya), as His personal expansion (Sri Nityananda), His incarnation (Sri Advaita), His devotee (Sri Srivasa), and His energy (Sri Gadadhara), and who is the source of strength for the devotees." (Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 1.14)

The idea of this concept is somewhat similar to the idea of Christian trinity - God expands into personalities with identical or different powers.

Have you ever read "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Yogananda? It has a very beautiful explanation of the trinity concept in terms of different consciousness and not as seperate entities.

Which is the sky-pillar one?

EDIT - Shiva, apparently.

That story is a concocted one and has no basis in any of the bonafide puranas (both Shaivist and Vaishnavist).

Vishnu. Extra arms are useful.

Hanuman first and formost, closely followed by Ganesh and then Nataraja (does the cosmic dancer count as a god??)

That story is a concocted one and has no basis in any of the bonafide puranas (both Shaivist and Vaishnavist).
Well, that spoils my fun. :(

i love green tarra, because she's green.

=^^=
.../\...

Hanuman first and formost, closely followed by Ganesh and then Nataraja (does the cosmic dancer count as a god??)

Nataraja (Nata - nadanam - dancer, raja - king/lord) is the form of Shiva in cosmic dance of ecstacy.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/images/as/images/as1987.80.1.L.jpg

The above bronze sculpture is from the Chola period (circa 800 AD) of southern India and is currently with the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The upper right hand holds the Damaru (Drum) which symbolizes the primordial vibrating sound of creation (Aum). The upper left hand contains Agni (he root word for the english word ignite) or the fire, which signifies dynamic destruction. The opposing concepts in the upper hands show the counterpoise of creation and destruction.

The second right hand shows Abhaya (fear not in Sanskrit), removing fear and bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma. The second left points towards the raised left foot (a dance gesture called "gaja hasta") which signifies upliftment/salvation.

The dwarf (apasmara purusha) on which Nataraja dances is personification of illusion who leads mankind astray and symbolises ignorance in man, which is defeated by the dance of Śiva.

The surrounding flames ("prabhamandala," or surrounding effulgence) represent the manifest material Universe with its boundaries. The snake swirling around His waist is kundalini, man's inherent power.

Within Lord Śiva's dancing manifestation is represented not only all of time and space, but also the primal creative force that is beyond the circle of illusion that mortals live within, all movement and vibration of the universe, and the stillness beyond all existence.

* from wiki with words added in.

Nataraja (Nata - nadanam - dancer, raja - king/lord) is the form of Shiva in cosmic dance of ecstacy.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/images/as/images/as1987.80.1.L.jpg

The above bronze sculpture is from the Chola period (circa 800 AD) of southern India and is currently with the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The upper right hand holds the Damaru (Drum) which symbolizes the primordial vibrating sound of creation (Aum). The upper left hand contains Agni (he root word for the english word ignite) or the fire, which signifies dynamic destruction. The opposing concepts in the upper hands show the counterpoise of creation and destruction....(Snip)[/SIZE]

cool, many thanks.