Do Hindus pray to Jehovah?

[seeking the truth]

This is I think guys is the mother of all questions for me regarding Hinduism.

I think every Jew and most Christians I have ever asked this question said no, they do not.

A couple of Hindus I had asked this question had also said no but I would like to hear from you guys here please if you won't mind? Also, if you say no, can you tell me exactly why please? Thanks.

 

[SalixIncendium]

No. Hindus do not pray to the God of Israel.

Para Brahman is the highest principle in Hinduism, and those that pray do so to Saguna Brahman (Para Brahman with qualities) as Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, and the thousands of other gods and goddesses.

 

[seeking the truth]

So you pray mainly to a principle and not one God? That raises another question for me. One day I had googled "how many hindu Gods are there" and was shocked to the answer "33 million". Can you tell me if that might be accurate and if so why the need to have more than one God to pray to please?

 

[Vinayaka]

33 million is just a figure of speech somebody used to describe the number of devas, or heavenly beings. (lots) In reality there are probably no more than 20 to 30 (some of those being quite rare) God or Goddesses Hindus worship. Of course, the anti-Hindu crowd finds all sorts of things that they figure will be useful in the belittlement of everything Hindu.

Hindus are not at all one set of mind. It's an umbrella tern that contains all kinds of differint ideas on God ... monotheism, henotheism, atheism, polytheism, and more. So any question at all asked ..."What do Hindus think about ......" will garner a huge variety of answers, as we're incredibly diverse. There is consensus on some stuff, but this isn't one of them.

Same for anyone saying 'Hindus believe ....'. You have to do more research than simply accepting one person's view, and in particular if that person is non-Hindu, you have to do even more research.

Most certainly we don't pray to Jehovah. There may exist some similarities if you alter the interpretations on both or either side, but no Hindu I know of would call it that, as it's totally outside the Hindu paradigm.

 

[SalixIncendium]

So you pray mainly to a principle and not one God? That raises another question for me. One day I had googled "how many hindu Gods are there" and was shocked to the answer "33 million". Can you tell me if that might be accurate and if so why the need to have more than one God to pray to please?

I don't pray. Not all Hindus do. There are four primary yogas (disciplines) in Hinduism, bhakti (worship) being one of them. I, personally, do not practice bhakti yoga, and therefore, do not pray.

But I digress. I don't think anyone knows how many Hindu deities there actually are, but as @Vinayaka said, the number that Hindus typically recognize falls well short of 33 million. A simple Google search will get you a list of the most popularly worshiped.

Different deities in Hinduism have different associations and are prayed to for varying purposes. For example in just the Trimurti, there is a creator god (Brahma), a preserver god (Vishnu), and a destroyer god (Shiva). There are many gods with many varying functions.

 

[stvdv]

This is I think guys is the mother of all questions for me regarding Hinduism.

I think every Jew and most Christians I have ever asked this question said no, they do not.

A couple of Hindus I had asked this question had also said no but I would like to hear from you guys here please if you won't mind? Also, if you say no, can you tell me exactly why please? Thanks.

Once I went to a Church where they were singing portugese hymns in praise of Jesus (lasted for 12 hours).

As I don't know portugese, I did a Sanskrit Mantra (SoHum, meaning "I Am God"), very focused. After ca. 6 hours of intense Mantra repetition Jesus appeared to me, I saw Him with eye open.

Obviously, Jesus did not judge me for doing this Hindu Mantra, on the contrary, and even Graced me big time.

It's all about intention. If intention is good, and you put in Self Effort Grace is there.

Normally I pray to specific deity; Shiva if I need Shiva or Sai Baba if I need Sai Baba. So I was a bit surprised that Jesus appeared while doing the Sohum mantra. But thinking about it, this did make sense afterall.

 

[SomeRandom]

This is I think guys is the mother of all questions for me regarding Hinduism.

I think every Jew and most Christians I have ever asked this question said no, they do not.

A couple of Hindus I had asked this question had also said no but I would like to hear from you guys here please if you won't mind? Also, if you say no, can you tell me exactly why please? Thanks.

Generally no. Though there are certain sects that may incorporate other deities. Like universalist types who’s members might take a liking to certain deities that are then just sort of added into the gang, so to speak. Or even certain households who just add in Jesus if they choose to “convert.”

Usually Hindus just do their own thing.

 

[Terese]

No.

 

[Aupmanyav]

No. Hindus do not worship Jehowah. Some Hindus who may have studied in the Christian schools may have a soft corner for Jesus, but as Vinayaka said, this is outside the Hindu paradigm. As SomeRandom said, Hindus who went to Mauritius, Fiji, West Indies, Guyana and Surinam as indentured labor, have lived there for generations and may have marital relations with Christian families may be worshiping Jesus. In India, we already have a pantheon with enough Gods and Goddesses. It will not surprise us if a village/city/region has its own protector God or Goddess. But the God or Goddess, if I can say so, must be India-born, must be native.

33 million is a figure of speech, it was mentioned at a time when India's population was 330 million. Now the population is about 1350 million. But certainly, the number of deities goes into thousands. However, not all Gods are at the same level. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Mother Goddess Durga are the major deities. One may count another thirty or forty as second level Gods and Goddesses. The second level includes the Gods and Goddesses of the Indo-Aryans. The rest are regional Gods and Goddesses. So if one is in their territory, one may worship them.

And as Salix said, worshiping a deity or not is a personal matter. Salix does not worship, I am the Forum's declared strong atheist Hindu, who does not even accept the possibility of existence of Gods and Goddesses. We are very diverse in our beliefs.

Edited to add: Also that the deity must be at least 2,000 years old. The list is closed. No new entry permitted now.

 

[Jainarayan]

This is I think guys is the mother of all questions for me regarding Hinduism.

I think every Jew and most Christians I have ever asked this question said no, they do not.

A couple of Hindus I had asked this question had also said no but I would like to hear from you guys here please if you won't mind? Also, if you say no, can you tell me exactly why please? Thanks.

I do not pray to the Abrahamic God. To me he's another deity in another pantheon others worship. While a lot of what Jesus said is noteworthy, it's nothing new... Krishna said much of it 1,000 years earlier in the Bhagavad Gita. Therefore I don't even pray to Jesus. For me Jesus is a sage, a guru, a saint, a teacher, possibly an expansion or anshāvatāra (partial avatar, but even that's a stretch) but definitely not pūrnāvatāra (full āvatāra like Krishna or Rāma).

 

[SalixIncendium]

Edited to add: Also that the deity must be at least 2,000 years old. The list is closed. No new entry permitted now.

Fine. I just withdraw my application then.

Salix,
Didn’t have enough arms anyway

 

[Jainarayan]

Edited to add: Also that the deity must be at least 2,000 years old. The list is closed. No new entry permitted now.

Bu- bu- but Bollywood anoints Santoshi Maa!

Santoshi Mata - Wikipedia
Jai Santoshi Maa - Wikipedia

 

[Aupmanyav]

Didn’t have enough arms anyway

That proves it.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Bu- bu- but Bollywood anoints Santoshi Maa!

No, it did not. It is a Gujarati regional Goddess. Kindly read more about regional Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism. There are hundreds of them, for example, Dhari Devi in Uttarkhand (just one example that comes to my mind) or the Jamlu, Kala Nag, Naina Devi devatas and Devis in Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh.

During Dussehra, some 360 Gods and Goddesses gather in Kulu, Himachal Pradesh to pay homage to Raghunathji (Lord Rama) and acknowledge each other. They sometimes also have their rivalries. It is the biggest congregation of Gods and Goddesses. See one or two videos also. https://www.google.co.in/search?ei=...&ved=0ahUKEwisib7bioLnAhVG63MBHclJCYsQ4dUDCAo, Kullu Dussehra - Wikipedia

 

[ajay0]

This is I think guys is the mother of all questions for me regarding Hinduism.

I think every Jew and most Christians I have ever asked this question said no, they do not.

A couple of Hindus I had asked this question had also said no but I would like to hear from you guys here please if you won't mind? Also, if you say no, can you tell me exactly why please? Thanks.

There are monotheistic sects in Hinduism like the Brahmo Samaj, Lingayats, Arya Samaj and the Prajapita Brahmakumaris which worship an incorporeal God.

Sikhism is an another Dharmic religion which is strictly monotheistic.Waheguru is the Sikh term for the monotheist God, meaning 'wonderful teacher'.

The Prajapita Brahmakumaris worship the monotheistic God as an incorporeal point of light.

Brahma Kumaris - Home

So in that sense, yeah there are Hindus and Dharmiks who worship an incorporeal monotheistic God, who is termed as Jehovah, Allah and Ahura Mazda in other religions.

 

[Jainarayan]

No, it did not. It is a Gujarati regional Goddess. Kindly read more about regional Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism.

I know.,. I was being facetious. Hence the It's not unlike how Marvel's Thor movie came out and people became interested in Norse mythology and everything viking.

 

[Aupmanyav]

The problem between the 360 Gods and Goddesses of Kulu is for closeness to Raghunathji, the Supreme God. Who will sit to the right of him and who will sit on the left of him. One God abstained from attending the Durbar of Raghunathji for some years because another was given that place - but he has come back.

If you want to read about relationships between Gods and Goddesses of Kullu, then I would suggest you read this: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00614305/document.
@Vinayaka , @SomeRandom , you should also read this.

"The importance of Śringa Rishi's hār (region) in the electoral results is still taken into account by contemporary political leaders. The elected representative of the corresponding constituency to the Legislative Assembly was up until recently Karan Singh, a brother of the Rājā of Kullu,both leaders of the Hindu right-wing party, the BJP. According to a widespread opinion among Balu nāg's supporters, the Rājā, Mahesvar Singh, is today Śringa Rishi's ally because he wants the inhabitants of the corresponding constituency to go on supporting his brother. According to them a manifestation of such an alliance takes place at the annual festival of Dashera, when all the devī-devtā's palanquins are brought by their villagers to the capital topay homage to Raghunāth and to his human representative, the Rājā. Since the latter was up until recently also a member of the New Delhi Parliament, and president of the festival committee, Balu nāg's people accuse him of using his power to place Śringa Rishi's palanquin in the highest place during the two main Dashera processions: immediately to the right of Raghunāth's ceremonial chariot. While they consider instead that their own god should have been given this honorific position by tradition, they accuse the king of interfering in the ritual rules with his electoral politics."

Note: There are no kings in India now. These positions are only nominal and traditional. You could say 'member of the former Royal family'.

 

[Jainarayan]

Note: There are no kings in India now. These positions are only nominal and traditional. You could say 'member of the former Royal family'.

The romantic and history buff in me finds that kind of sad.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Yeah, but people still remember, revere these thoughts. Members of the former royal families still engage in their traditional religious duties, for example, The former King of Kullu starts the Dussehra celebrations, the former Kashi King in Varanasi starts the proceedings in Ramnagar Ramlila and the former Puri king starts the rolling of the Ratha at Jagannatha Puri.

Some of these people from former royal families contest elections at the national or state level. Some are successful, some not. That depends on many factors other than their belonging to former royal families, e.g., their own reputation, the party they are representing and the mood of the people. The Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, belongs to the former royal family of Patiala. His father, Bhupinder Singh, was a great debouch.