Is Hinduism a monotheistic or a polytheistic faith?

Answer 1

Both could be true, for different reasons.

As to "most polytheistic" it's a well-established fact that Hinduism has a pantheon of over 300 million gods. That's one god for every 220 people on the planet right now. The next-nearest in size would probably be the Greek pantheon, which has only a few dozen actual gods, but thousands of demigods and other beings which inhabited the lands around them-satyrs, nymphs, and so forth. Even with all of these other beings, it doesn't come to 1% of the size of the Hindu pantheon.

As to "most monotheistic" religion, it's hard to say "most" when we're talking about a singular thing. It is in fact monotheistic, in that all gods are merely masks of Bramha, who dreams reality into existence and who intentionally forgets that he's Bramha while in the guises of these other deities.

Thus, at the exact same moment, it is monotheistic and polytheistic, because of the way that Bramha behaves.

And for extra credit: Bramha is also the literal stuff from which the universe is made. Since it's all Bramha's dream, you are not actually you; you are Bramha in the shape of you. You are not reading this on a computer; you are seeing concepts from Bramha in the shape of computer with words on it. Thus, since you don't remember being Bramha, you are still uniquely you; and yet the fact remains that you are a part of Bramha. Both are true.

Such dichotomies are common throughout Eastern philosophies.

Answer 2

In Hinduism Brahman is the supreme god.

Under its command are seven basic gods.

They are,

1. Indra

2. Shakti

3. Brahma

4. Vishnu

5. Shiva

6. Shani

7. Yama.

Relationship between Brahman and other Hindu gods:

The seven colors of the rainbow merge to form white light. Similarly, the seven basic gods merge to form the supreme Hindu god, Brahman.

Just like the seven colors emerge from white light the seven gods spring from Brahman.

Brahman is the ideal Hindu god. The seven gods are practical gods and thus are more popular than Brahman.

The two options for Hindus:

Thus, Hindus have two options.

1. They can worship just Brahman and thus become Monotheistic

2. They can worship any of the seven gods, the goddesses that are derived from these gods or the infinite secondary gods that are combinations of the seven basic gods. This option would make them Polytheistic.

Therefore, Hinduism is considered as both Monotheistic and Polytheistic religion.

Answer 3

It is not considered monotheistic like Islam or Christianity, it's considered as polytheistic with a unique monotheistic flavour. There might be some main Gods but it's still considered polytheistic.

THE UNIQUE NATURE OF HINDU GODS

Like in monotheistic religions, in Hinduism there is one supreme God viz. Brahmam.

Like in polytheistic religions, there are many gods and goddesses in Hinduism.

However, unlike in other polytheistic religions, all the Hindu Gods when merged form the supreme Hindu God, Brahman.

Answer 4

According to Hinduism god is one. During hard times one Supreme God took many different forms & saved mankind. These different Incarnation (avatāra) are known as many God.

Answer 5

the ans is bit tricky. Basically Hinduism has belief in monotheistic one Supreme God. While there are many God & Goddess in Hinduism which are different form of the same Supreme God.