Nirguna brahman was the concept of the ultimate reality as formless, without attributes or quality. The concept of god in hinduism varies in its diverse traditions. The prasna upanishad says that god is the supreme prajapati or creator, in whom are blended both the matter and energy of the universe. By doing yagna, vedic hindus worship their supreme formless god brahman. For people who read things in their simplest form, i do not recommend this, or any religious text, as it will be pointless, and you will derive nothing from it. Yajurveda the following verses from the yajurveda echo a similar concept of god. What do the vedas say about the form of god vedas clearly describe. The others are yajur veda or yahurveda, sama veda and atharva veda.
What then is the significance of the statements in shruti vedas, where god is described as formless and without any qualities. Had people consulted these books, they would not have fallen into this error, viz. What is the difference between vedas, upanishads and. In the vedas it is written that you cannot make any form for the god, you should not pray worldly things and you should not pray manufactured things. There are writings in many places in the vedas that almighty god is not formless. Vedas very clearly define god as changeless, formless, everperfect and. But this is a wrong assumption even by many hindus due to. World christianity belief about god being formless contradicts the holy bible.
Since the mind could only comprehend and derive inspiration in a language that it can understand and interpret, the saguna brahman, iswara in the form of various manifestations became the object of devotion and personal brahman the highest god of hinduism in hindu scriptures. They are the original scriptures of hindu teachings, containing spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of life. It is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. Another point worth analysis is that all these alternate theories like advait god and soul and nature are all one and same. A number of hymns in the vedas describe god in details. If vedas say god is unborn formless, how were rama and krishna born. Adorable god created the rig veda, sam veda, atharva veda and yajur veda. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Bhagvad gita or any other book has to be interpreted as per vedas. Indeed, the vedas compare him to other living entities of the universe and say that he is the protector of dharma, he puts you in different bodies based on your karma. All religions agree on this concept without any dispute.
In sundara kanda of valmiki ramayana also, god is said to be formless and infinite, how could rama in earthly bodily form fulfill these conditions. Preface the praises to a formless god that this book illustrates and discusses are those composed by lowcaste saintpoets of the nirguni or sant movement of hindu and sikh devotion in north india. The concept of god in hinduism by swami krishnananda. Vedas a treasure of unlimited knowledge the ancient as well as present learned of eternal knowledge of vedas have clearly stated that right from the beginning of the creation till now. It is ego that most of the people respect the idol worship as well as formless gods worship mentioned in vedas but when an aspirant follows the vedas, his mind becomes stable, then he only accepts worship of formless god and not. He does not incarnate or sends messengers in the way prophet comes in islam and son of god comes in bible. Shiva lingam scientific meaning and significance religions. Reciting vedic scriptures, doing vedic yagnas and vedic. It is believed that knowledge of vedas are trasnfered to rishisages directly by the brahman formless god. Brahman connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe. These vedas was not the name of book, they referred to gods knowledge. Pictures of lord krishna playing a flute are commonly dismissed as quaint, mythological representations of the ineffable, faceless divine.
The vedas are considered the earliest literary record of indoaryan civilization and the most sacred books of india. Irfi islamic research foundation international, inc. God lives in eternal place which has also been called. Devas, the expansions of brahmangod into various forms, each with a. Rather, they explain that beyond the formless, impersonal realization of god is the highest understanding of the absolute truth as the supreme personality of godhead.
Sacred books of the east, volume 15, the upanishads part ii page no 253 the vedas vedas are considered the most sacred of all the hindu scriptures. Shiva lingam scientific meaning and significance many believe that linga means male reproductive organ and shiva lingam is phallus, the symbol of generative power in nature. That is why vedas very clearly define god as changeless, formless, everperfect and all capable at all times without requiring any further changes on temporary or permanent basis. Another point worth analysis is that all these alternate theories like advait god and. In major schools of hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists.
One can not break the rules and regulations of god mentioned in vedas. The rig veda is the oldest of them and it consists of 1,028 vedic sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all. Verily he is one single, indivisible, supreme reality. This proves, therefore, that god is formless, if he were to possess a body, another person would be required to make the different organs of his body, such as eyes, ears and the like, for he, who is the product of the combination of the different parts, must have. The vedas an englishonly, indexed version of the 4 veda samhitas in one document issue 1, draft 2 compiled by the dharmic scriptures team november 24, 2002 ano bhadraha kritavayo yantu vishwataha let noble thoughts come from every side rg veda 1. Atharvaveda the atharvaveda praises god in book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3. It is ego that most of the people respect the idol worship as well as formless gods worship mentioned in vedas but when as aspirant follows the vedas, his mind becomes stable, he then only accepts worship of formless god and not others.
Even though god is widely recognized as the greatest person, his form and personality are not widely known about. If vedas say so, i would suggest put all the vedas in to garbage. His guru explained that he had already found god ever new joy is god. Each of these groups of gods came from different religious texts. Gist of all the holy scriptures like vedas, bhagavad gita, quran, bible, shiv puran, vishnu puran, durga puran is that kabir sahib is supreme god. The realisation of god is regarded as the supreme blessedness or shreyas, as apart from preyas or temporal experience of satisfaction. Vedas reveals one god but hinduism filled with 33crores of gods vedas reveals god as spirit atman or brahman and no form whereas hinduism worship god in the form of various nonvedic idols of.
Not many people are aware of the vedas and those who do are often mistaken that it as a religious book similar to the bible or koran. Vedas clearly define him as unborn, formless and unchangeable. Most of the sects that make up this movement were founded in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Hindus, according to vedas you should worship only one god, then why you are not following the vedas. How can one dare to do such blasphemous acts with a gods book. Rig veda or rigveda means praiseverse of knowledge. Debate of form and formless god across religions is. Supreme god in christianity according to the bible jagat. So god has unlimited qualities like formless, omnipresent, etc. In the vedas the universal god brahman is formless, ineffable. Dont know where you find that the vedas say god is bodyless or have no.
You cant have light formless without a source in form. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. If there is ego, neither a formless god is realized nor difference between idol or formless god is established. Formless and ineffable nirguna brahma as described in vedas. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of hinduism known as the vedas. God is formless because this is the primary meaning of the vedas. First and foremost, god as described in the vedas is not some super human being with super human powers, who creates the universe, life forms, and then punishes or rewards people based on his own laws sending. The philosophical maxims of vedic literature have stood the test of time, and the vedas form the highest religious authority for all aspects of hinduism and are a. They have themselves translated the vedas into hindi, in which it is clearly written that god lives in the upper lok world. The vedic gods were around first, as the vedas were written around 1500 b.
Many of these sects are still active today, but, with the. The god with form limited consciousness of mind is unified with formless god unlimited consciousness of brahman vedas mostly describe nirakar nirguna brahman which is formless, omnipresent, eternal consciousness. Supreme formless and ineffable reality nirguna brahma as. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read essence of vedas. The actual reason why vedas are the most sacred hindu books.
If there is ego neither a formless god is realized nor difference between idol or formless god is established. In genesis, in the creation of the universe, on the sixth day, god created humans in his own image. Sacred books of the east, volume 15, the upanishads part ii page 263. Likewise god is in form and the light emanating from his body is formless. These vedic gods formed the basic structure of the hindu framework. In the same way, god instructed human souls by virtue of his omniscience and omnipresence without the use of the organs of speech. Dont know where you find that the vedas say god is bodyless or have no images. Smritisramayana and mahabharat and purana stories and law books and story. On the contrary, the vedas are books of knowledge, they are not religiously affiliated nor do they belong to a particular race or. Vedas mention supreme god as brahman not to be confused with brahma of trinity. In his autobiography, parmahansaji raised a question aboutwhen shall i find god. If you say that ishwar is both formless and with form, it is not possible. Vedas reveals one god but hinduism filled with 33crores of g.
On contrary vedas state that he is able to perform all his duties at all times maintaining his unchangeable identity. Holy samved sankhya 1400 keyi dev supreme god kabir who brings tatvgyan to the world is the amighty grod. The question is how vedic hindus worship their supreme formless god brahman. In gita, why importance is given to feeding priests for the dead persons soul, while vedas are strictly against any such practice.
O vedic hindus, how do you worship your supreme formless. Arya samaj and maharishi dayanand consider vedas to be true. The rig veda is a must read book for anyone who is researching the origins of religion, or the origins of man. It doesnt directly say formless, but we interpret it that way as something that cant be seen would logically lack form. Every hymn of the vedas is like a part of a three dimenstional jigsaw pussle, which when.
Ishwar of vedas god of christianity minus the concept of trinity minus the. Samved satguru rampal ji maharaj is that guru who gives naam jaap in 3 stages. Every time god engages in creation he manifests that knowledge and then that knowledge was coming down through the ears. Supreme god kabir appears in the form of a guru and gives jaap of three naams. Hindus, according to vedas you should worship only one god. Presently, the founder of arya samaj, maharishi dayanand, has been considered to be the complete scholar of the vedas. An ignorant man may say how a book can be without beginning or end. Take a note that brahman is not any kind of energy but it is pure consciousness of space. In vedas it is mentioned that there is only one god who is. Debate of form and formless god across religions is settled once for all by sri ramakrishna. This article is the second part of my earlier article on the vedic concept of god, where in i have tried to further simplify things based on reader comments and queries what god is not. God is the universal consciousness, the ocean of bliss which can only be experienced. The vedic literature explain that god, krishna, is a person. Brahman as a metaphysical concept is the single binding unity behind diversity in all.
In vedas it is mentioned that there is only one god who is body less. Its absolutely rubbish to say that godalmighty is formless alone. No wise, goddesiring man in the world considers the four vedas rigved, yajurved, samved and atharvaved to be wrong. The kathopanishad has it that god is the root of this tree of world existence. Vedas very clearly define god as changeless, formless, everperfect and all capable at all times without requiring any further changes on temporary or permanent basis. Even many theists think that, in the ultimate issue, god is formless.
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