Thought 90: Who is god? How does he look?

The question, “Who is God?” has been engaging the human mind right from the beginning. Every religion has a god. Every God is supposed to have supernatural powers. People worship this god with the hope that he would fulfill their desires. Someone remarked cynically once that even if there were no god, people would have invented one.

We all need a god - desperately. I will narrate here an incident which happened several years ago. I happened to be in our village when I was 13 or 14 for the summer. This village was a very backward village in the Kaikalur Taluk, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. There were no medical facilities or doctors in a radius of 10 miles. My aunt, who was living in a city several miles away, came there for the summer with her two kids. She was an atheist; she never believed in god. She used to argue that there was no such thing as god and that god is an invention of vested interests who manage temples. Suddenly her eldest son, who was 7 years or so, took ill. She was very concerned and the local native medical advice, which is usually sought by the residents on such occasions, did not help much. We are all surprised to see her suddenly vowing to go to Tirupathi and seek the Darshan of Lord Venkateswara, if the child gets well soon!

Every religion has a god who is apparently different from gods of other religions – which means that there are several gods. Hinduism itself recognizes several gods. When you accept that there are several gods, it is but natural for each religion and religious sect to claim that their own god is superior to all other gods.

When you are in the religious plane, of course, you cannot help believing that there is a different god looking after people of different religious denominations. In the spiritual plane, however, you deal with one god alone – because, in this plane, you are only interested in discovering and developing a relationship between you and your god. Therefore, you want to understand “who is god”. Vedaanta gives you clarity and the depth of understanding on this issue.
For most Hindus, god comes in various shapes and forms. There is Vighnesvara, Shiva, Subramanya, Rama, Krishna, etc. The goddesses also come in various shapes and forms, such as Durga, Lakshmi, Parvati, etc.

Every Ruupa (form) has a Naama (Name). Every Naama (Name) is associated with a Ruupa (Form). Every being in this world is described by a Nama-Ruupa. This has nothing to do with religion. It is a universal rule. Even gods have Naamas and therefore Ruupas. If a god has a Naama, then, he must be associated with a particular form.

The next thought is about “Who is god? How does he look? (Continued)