Hinduism and the concept of God

The Hindu concept of God goes beyond considering Him as the supreme, all mighty and omniscient figure. According to Hindu teachings, though God governs the whole universe, every human being can develop a personal relation with Him. One can worship God out of love and not only out of fear. Devotion or bhakti is a form of love that the followers of Hinduism have for God. It is often referred to as a key principle of Hinduism, even by the philosophically inclined people.

According to Hindu scriptures, God is beyond any attributes of form, color and shapes. He does not have any specific form or name and is referred to as Nirguna brahman (attribute-less god). However, God can take any form. He can be strong and powerful, the provider of boons, the destroyer or the savior. These forms provide a basis for the Hindu worshipper to easily pursue the otherwise inconceivable supreme deity. In general, Hindu followers believe that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent.

According to Hinduism, God can do anything. He is all-powerful. The world is created by Him and everything happens according to His wishes. He can create this world in zero time and also destroy it in a fraction of second.

The world is created by God and He knows everything about it. There is nothing hidden from Him, He knows all. He has records of the past births of every creature and knows what an animal or person will do in its present and coming lives. There is nothing called free will, everything is governed and directed by Him.

According to Hindu teachings, God is present everywhere at the same time. Hindus believe that God creates the whole cosmos/ world. Nothing can exist without Him.

The beauty of Hindu teachings lies in the fact that they allow the followers to experience, and understand the concept of God. There are the Puranas that elaborate the glory of God. There are also scriptures like Upanishads that use questions and reasoning to explain the concept of God. Texts like the Yogasutras cover the whole scope, from reasoning to divine glory of God. These scriptures and texts tell things that are beyond normal human comprehension. However, they do not command a blind following, and permit the scope of analysis.