EXISTENCE OF GOD & MAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

Inspite of being invisible, having no eyewitnesses and beyond the conventionally accepted facts, an extremely over-whelming majority of mankind all over the world believes in the existence of God. According to the scientific community, there is vast, rather divine energy beyond the realm of time and space, which causes formation of galaxies, star, worlds, living beings and all other things which are governed by certain rhythms.

Hence, in absence of availability of clear facts, all the religions were woven around mythology pronounced by the odd and the wise philosophers. Much of Hinduism and the myths around it, took shape with the advent of Aryan race which came to this land from Caucasian region, sometime around 5000-3000 BC.

Influenced by the aboriginals of the land whose culture might have been limited to rituals to propitiate animals and spirits of the dead and by Dravidians who believed in things symbolic of God’s creation as perceived at that time, Aryans propagated natural elements like earth (Bhoomi), sky (Gagan), air (vayu), fire (Agni), and water (Neer), giving rise to the concept of almighty naming him Bhagvan. Hymns in praise of these elements were composed, such.

TO ACHIEVE ULTIMATE PEACE, AS KRISHNJI PRONOUNCED IN GITA4, THERE ARE THREE ROUTS

Gyan Marg : ACQURING KNOWLEDGE AND SPREADING IT The route typically taken by saints and scholars. Examples are Kabir, Guru Nanak etc.

KARM MARG: DOING GOOD TO OTHERS The route typically taken by reformers and good Samaritans. Examples  are  Swami Dayanand, Gandhi etc.  who actively contributed towards improving the cosiety as a whole. This found sup- port of Buddha also.

BHAKTI MARG: DEVOTION TO GOD The route typically taken by holy personalities like Meera, Surdas, Tulsidas etc. to instill faith among People in general.

As Gayatri Mantr in literature being written at that time, namely the Vedas. This literature provided fillip to the concept of God’s different manifestations, like Vayu Dev, Surya Dev etc. Popularisation of Vedic literature gave rise to belief in the existence of God the creator, God the preserver and God the destroyer. With difficult periods showing up regularly in the form of invaders, the concept of reincarnation of Gods took shape. And finally, each individual chose his own personal God, suiting his own predispositions and personality.

As clarified in the following chapter (Om), choosing of personal God has been a matter of convenience for realization of Sagun God (with form) as against the relatively difficult realisation of Nirgun God (without form),the supreme power. According to human belief, where the Atma being indestructible is deep rooted, every individual aspires to ultimately merge with this supreme power and be emancipated.

Each Individual has to choose one or more ways to achieve ultimate peace. A real saint or Guru can be helpful in determining this, depending on individual’s predisposition & personality.

It may be in the fitness of things to add here that since all mythologies are based on folk tales, full of fiction, Hindu mythology and its constituent details on gods & goddess should not be put to scientific test/logic, but to be looked as they are.

Another interesting feature of a Hindu’s relationship with his gods/goddess is that each individual establishes a direct and personal relationship with them. To facilitate the relationship, images of all gods/goddesses have specially large and penetrating eyes. As a consequence, Hindus are generally introvert, concentrating more on themselves and their gods/goddesses and less on the surroundings and the society.