Hindu Gods revisited

[Shantanu]

Namaste all

It is my opinion that it is not appropriate for one to mix up God with other gods in the guna consciousness.

There is one Creator God, who we know as Sri Krishna (male) and Durga (female). The Creator God by magic generated Brahman-Nature, what we Hindus call vyvaharika reality.

In Brahman-Nature there is a Trimurthi with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva representing three corners of the triad.

In between this three corners millions of gods exist to guide individuals in their own particular truth paths. Brahma is the sattvic god, Vishnu is the rajasic god and Shiva is the tamasic god. There consorts in female form are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati respectively.

If a person tends towards sattvic gunas (attributes) he or she will be blessed by Brahma; if a person is of rajasic gunas, he or she will be blessed by Vishnu; and if a person is of tamasic gunas, he or she will be blessed by Shiva. It is up to the individual which guna he or she wishes to be as a person and in doing so worship only that god in the Trimurti. The Creator God is represented in the Trimurti by Brahma and operates in Brahman-Nature by the Spirit of Truth (OM). One can therefore change one's gunas from tamasic to rajasic and also to sattvic depending one what is important to a person, what kind of character he or she chooses to be and then find that god only in the Trimurti as the one to worship.

Any comments or clarifications would be most welcome.

Shantanu

[JohnGE]

(This is from philosophy of Yoga)
The three gunas are: Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva

All three gunas are always present in all beings and objects. We humans have the unique ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in our bodies and minds. The gunas cannot be separated or removed in oneself but can be consciously acted upon to encourage their increase or decrease. A guna can be increased or decreased through the interaction and influence of external objects, lifestyle practices and thoughts.

(From China Buddhism Encyclopedia)

The Two Realities -Vyavaharika and Paramarthika

[fortunebuddy]

Thank you so much for providing information

[timetraveler]

With respect, this is not common or widely agreed upon at all. Most believe Shiva as supreme and Vishnu of course as well.

Shiva and Vishnu have some fun stories, but when Vishnu and Brahma were fighting one time they came to Shiva to settle.

Shiva turned into a pillar of flame whose height nor depth could be seen, and Brahma rose on a swan to reach the top, and Vishnu went as a boar to see the bottom.

Neither discovered the end, but Brahma returned and spoke untrue, saying that he reached the top, and presented a Ketaki flower. Vishnu conceded defeat at this, but Shiva knew the truth and proclaimed Vishnu the winner.

So angered at Brahma, Shiva was ready to kill, but Vishnu persuaded him instead to have mercy. So instead, Shiva cursed that Brahma could not be worshipped in temples.

From the Shiva Purana.

A.R. Nataranjan says it like this;

"Again in Rigveda ‘Brahmana’ there is reference to a dispute between the Creator Brahma and Preserver Vishnu as to which of them was superior. Lord Siva appeared before them as a effulgence, a column of light or jyotisthambha which is the symbol or linga of Siva. Later in response to their prayer he took the form of Arunachala."

"Arunachala: From Rigveda to Ramana Maharshi"

[Viraja]

Replying to Shantanu.

I am not speaking from the standpoint of an expert, but rather adding my 2c to the conversation/thought.

Not only are there many deities with different gunas to choose from, there are also many paths. And this does not imply different religions or schools of thought. I am talking about Yoga (Raja, Bhakti, Karma), Meditation (as in Kriya Yoga) and of course, the famous 6-fold path (Koumaram, Shaktam, Shaivam, Vainavam, etc).

I once questioned a Kriya yoga practitioner who was teaching newbies in Youtube, as to how Bhakti yoga differed from Kriya yoga in conferring results.

He replied saying that Kriya yoga and related practices yield to quicker spiritual progress, an increase in will-power, and dissolving of ego in the higher spirit comes easy this way. Whereas, from his viewpoint, Bhakti yoga built on merit (punyam) that gave us various things we seek for.

Personally, I chant Hare-Krishna mahamantra each day because I believe that this mahamantra chanting increases compassion and selflessness. It is my 1-fold Sadhana. So you might say, I personally believe that worship using mahamantra results in increase of Sattwa guna.

But I do not think all mantras act this way. There are bijas and other strict rules followed with certain other mantras, that yield materialistic results as well as ashtama-siddhis if a yogi were to attain perfection (mantra-siddhi) from them.

But, I have gathered widespread information on the subject, and therefore, it can be trusted that deities, do have specific gunas, and not all are Sattwic.

Thanks and regards,

Viraja