Concept of God in Hinduism According to the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita - Dr Zakir Naik

Concept of God in Hinduism According to the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita - Dr Zakir Naik

COG-3 Before we discuss the Concept of God in any religion, first I’d like to make one point clear that the best and the most authentic way and methodology of understanding any religion is to try and understand what the scripture of that religion has to speak about Almighty God. Trying to understand the concept of God, by observing the followers of that religion may not be correct, because many a time the followers of that religion themselves do not know what is the correct concept of God. That’s the reason the best, the most authentic methodology to understand the concept of God in any religion is to try and understand what the sacred scripture of that religion has to speak about God.

As I mentioned, first we’ll discuss the Aryan Religions. And the most famous among the Aryan Religions is Hinduism which is a Vedic religion. First we’ll discuss the Concept of God in Hinduism.

When we ask any Hindu, that how many gods does he believe in? Some may say 3, some may say 10, some may say thousand, while the others may say, 33 crores, 330 million. But when we ask a learned Hindu, who is well versed with his Hindu scriptures, he will tell you that Hindu’s should actually believe and worship only one God. But the common Hindu he believes in a philosophy known as ‘Pantheism.’ The common Hindu believes that everything is god. The tree is god, the Sun is god, the Moon is god, the human being is god, the snake is god. What we Muslim believes is everything is God’s - GOD with an apostrophe ‘S’, everything belongs to God. The tree belongs to God, the Sun belongs to God, the Moon belongs to God, the human beings belong to God, the snake belongs to God. So the major difference between the Hindu’s and the Muslim’s, the common Hindu say, everything is God, we Muslims we say, everything is God’s. GOD with an apostrophe ‘S’. The major difference is the apostrophe ‘S’. If we can solve this difference of Apostrophe ‘S’, the Hindus and the Muslims will be united. How do you do it? As the Qur’an says,

“Ta`alaw 'Ilá Kalimatin Sawa'in Baynana Wa Baynakum” “Come to common terms as between us and you”

Which is the first term?

“Alla Na`buda 'Illallah” “That we worship none but one Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala).”

So let’s try and understand what is the Concept of God in Hinduism according to the Hindu sacred scriptures. Amongst the Hindu Sacred Scriptures, one of the sacred scriptures are called as Upanishads.

It’s mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, Chapter No. 6, Section No. 2, Verse No.1,

“Ekam Evadvitiyam”

It’s a Sanskrit quotation which means,

“God is only one without a second.”

It’s mentioned in Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Chapter No. 6, Verse No. 9,

“Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah.” which means,

“Of that God there are no parents, nor lords. Almighty God has got no father, he has got no mother, he has got no superior.”

It’s mentioned in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad; Chapter No. 4, Verse No. 19,

“Na Tasya Pratima Asti” “Of that God there is no Prathima.”

Prathima in Sanskrit means an image, it means an idol, it means a sculptor, it means a photograph, it means a picture, it means a painting.

So Shvetashvatara Upanishad; Chapter No. 4, Verse No. 19,

“Na Tasya Pratima Asti” “Of that God there is no image, there is no idol, there is no statue, there is no photograph, there is no painting ...