Deva

I do not know a religious text that tells a story like this, but I wish that I did. In the story, the sage Gautama finds a baby elephant and must raise it. In return, he and the elephant become the closest of friends. Indra, leader of devas, contests their relationship and comes to Earth in the representation of a king. Indra commands Gautama to give the elephant to him, but Gautama refuses and clarifies that he does not own the elephant, but is merely the best friend of the creature. Indra tries to push further, offering Gautama any earthly desire possible. Gautama again refuses and says he knows that the king is actually Indra testing him. Indra was honored to meet the man and realized that Gautama already had all the riches and wisdom that life could offer. This story again shows a more powerful being testing a human to see if they are worthy of entrance to the heavens. Testing of humans by gods, devas, angels, and all other forms of deities to gain entrance to heaven is a common theme across every religion throughout history. These tests are great for a plethora of reasons, but their biggest advantage is that they give society a “reason” to act morally right and civil. Stories like these and the passage of the Ten Commandments are the reason that civilized countries have reasonable laws at…

A single, all-knowing entity is central to the religion that I had grown up with. A god named God a figure of perfection who cradles the world. Watching over the people of Earth and holding control of what goes on with no-one sitting at his level sharing such an amazing power of creation. God made it all and holds so much faith from the people and for the people, but no matter what anyone says, I cannot bear the thought of giving all of my faith to someone or something so inhumanely “pure”.…

The statues of Shiva Nataraja, also known as Shiva as the Lord of Dance, came from the sculptors of the south Indian Chola dynasty. These statues, from the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, are some of the most significant icons from the Hindu religion. This important symbol bears all of the characteristics that Shiva represents: creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe. This religious piece of art, made using the ‘lost-wax’ method of sculpting, has gotten a lot more prominent…

Hinduism is a combination of many related beliefs and countless sects. It comes from a mixture of indigenous beliefs and practices mixed with Vedic beliefs. Every Hindu sect has one particular deity as ultimate above others. They worship the gods with rituals and meditation. They worship these gods so they could be reborn over and over in higher positions than they previously were. They keep doing that until they are able to escape the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Vishnu is second god in…

Storytelling: the mythological art of Hinduism in aspects of transmitting and performing devotion Storytelling, as expressed by Johari is a human activity which is “as old as the humanity itself. (P.1)” While mythologies, being the collections of explanatory stories that serves to anchor people’s understanding on both the natural and cultural, tangible and intangible world are shared universally. Hinduism, particularly favors the heavy use of mythological stories as a vehicle that can transmit…

Cultural appropriation has been defined by many as the process of using something from a different culture and making it marketable without taking into consideration the religious and cultural aspects of the thing in question. Unfortunately, a multitude of organizations are guilty of this and it is clear that the perpetrators value money more than the cultures they are taking advantage of. It seems as if it would be difficult for people who work for these businesses to avoid cultural…

Numerous and various deities have become the unique and significant representations of Hinduism. Deities are also symbols, which not only suggest the diversity of the tradition, but also illustrate unity, tolerance, and acceptance that characterize the believers of this ancient tradition. A deity in Hinduism is a symbol of the tradition according to Paul Tillich’s description in his work Faith as Ultimate Concern. A deity satisfies the first characteristic of a symbol, which the symbol points…

“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” –Hercules. Studies have shown that to be considered an epic hero, characters must go on a journey also called a quest to show heroic qualities: courage, selflessness, and patience. Rama from The Ramayna and Gilgamesh from The epic of Gilgamesh are both considered to be epic heroes. These two tales demonstrate the possibility that different cultures and religions corresponds in a way that enable them to…

The Progression and Development of Vishnu throughout History In the Hindu Religion Vishnu is arguably the most important god amongst all other gods. Together with Shiva and Brahma, Vishnu makes up the Hindu holy trinity which is known as the Trimurti. “Trimurti” translates to “three forms” in English. These three gods make up what is known to conform to God’s duties of “creation, sustenance and destruction.” Importantly, Vishnu is considered to be the one who maintains balance in the Universe…

The Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism There are three great god and goddess in Hindu. That is the god of creation, the god of protection and the god of destruction. Brahma Brahma is considered to be the god of creation, which is considered to be the god of pray in the Vedic myths and officially named Brahman in Hindu mythology. Brahma is directly linked with cosmic will brahman, which is generally believed that everything in the universe is from the Brahman and is back to Brahma after destruction.…