Are Hindus Monotheists or Polytheists? 1
Are Hindus Monotheists or Polytheists? 1
Hindu texts and practices suggest the simultaneous existence of polytheism and what seems to be monotheism, but some Hindus find it insulting to be called polytheists. This paradox can be traced to the history of Hinduism. This chapter examines whether Hinduism is monotheistic or polytheistic by looking at the Rig Veda (“Knowledge of Verses”), the first of the three Vedas and the earliest extant text composed in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India. It considers how the polytheism of Vedic religion sometimes functioned as a kind of serial monotheism referred to as “henotheism” or “kathenotheism.” It then discusses the Atharva Veda and Upanishadic monism, as well as the doctrine of the Upanishads known as pantheism or panentheism, monism and universalism under the Muslims and the British, Neo-Vedanta in Europe and America, and fundamentalism and diversity in India.
Keywords: polytheism, monotheism, Hinduism, Rig Veda, kathenotheism, monism, universalism, Neo-Vedanta, fundamentalism, India
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