How do Hindus respect gods?

Answer 1

Hindus believe in one god: Vishnu

Vishnu created two demigods: Brahma and Mahesh (shiva). Although they are demi-gods (created by god) hindus just refer to them as gods and goddesses too just for ease although there is only one god. Praying to Vishnu will lead to a faster route to heaven throughout each lives. Although praying to other gods is not wrong, it's the indirect and slower route to heaven and freedom.

Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer of evil) are the holy trinity in Hinduism.

Shiva helped earth in times of need i.e produced kali to destroy evil and also produced the great holy river Ganges from his forehead when India was in desperate need of a river for living needs. He decided to sit in meditation praying to Vishnu on the top of the Himalayas therefore today, the Himalayas is regarded as the body of lord shiva.

Shiva created his wife Parvati/ Durga. They had four children: Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati. (When I say children, I don't mean by birth but they were actually created)

Brahma created the earth and a few saints to live on earth. Those saints eventually created 8 beings whom had wives to start the population. To this day, Hindus still know which one of the 8 they derived from. Marriage within the same lineage was not allowed however it is not regarded too important these days as we have come so far, we are merely related to one another! The father's lineage is what is passed onto the children since the wife does not belong to her family any longer but becomes part of her husband's.

Brahma married Shivas daughter: Saraswati

It is believed that Vishnu has descended to Earth 9 times as different human/animal-like beings to restore peace and spiritual education to man. There remains one more time for Vishnu to descend where all the human population would be wiped out by Vishnu when every single person on Earth is sinning. Other religions call this the judgment day. The whole Earth cycle will then start all over again. There are 4 ages (or yugas) within each cycle: Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali. They go in order of the golden age at the beginning to the dark ages at the end where the earth is full of sinners towards the end. During the golden ages, there was a clear platform between heaven and earth where anyone who was granted the power to do so were allowed to travel and communicate between the two. Very few had this power. Nowadays, due to all the sinners, communication between god and earth does not occur at all. Even the highly respected priests/saints are not as pure as the golden age. It is believed that below earth, there are 7 hells and above earth there are 7 heavens. Earth is neither heaven or hell. Those seven defer in pleasure / suffering. The lower you go, the more suffering there is and the higher you go, the less the suffering.

The 9 incarnation of Vishnu on earth are as follows: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narashima, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and the tenth on judgment day: Kalki

The first six are collectively known as narayana. Narayana's wife is commonly believed to be Shivas other daughter Lakshmi.

The most popular and well remembered are the most recent incarnations Rama, Krishna and Buddha. Ramas wife was Sita and although Krishna did not have a wife, he had love for an ordinary milk maid called Radha who was deeply in love with him.

In terms of partners, Hindu's believe that one's life partner never changes in each life and is eternal. Therefore Sita and Radha were most probably re-incarnations of goddess Lakshmi.

Idol worship is not practiced in most other religions. In Hinduism, Idols are made in form of the incarnation that have descended on the earth and also seen in dreams or directly by the great saints from the past who had pure love and devotion to see what their creator looks like. They had to meditate in secluded forests for hundreds of years in order to receive such rewards. It is said that some of the oldest idols (time of b.c) actually rose from the ground and was god's actions.

Hindus believe that the statues are a platform between heaven and earth since god is ubiquitous, He can easily present himself within the statue when it is being prayed to. It makes it easier to know the image of the being they are praying to rather than praying to the sky etc. Although there is nothing wrong with that either.

Hindus believe strongly in reincarnation and karma. Every organism has a life and every life has a spirit. It's body is like a piece of clothing. The body may die (like you remove your clothing) but the spirit is immortal and lives on. Every spirit moves along the animal kingdom in each life until it becomes the final and ultimate organism: the human being. Humans are special in the sense that they are aware of their existence and also aware of the existence of their creator. They also have the choice of not to hurt another organism (by being vegetarian) where as animals do not understand this. The human life itself has different levels known as castes / class. The upper most class is the Brahmins who are very close to gaining freedom from reincarnation. They are very religiously educated, non-materialistic and forget all relationships with other beings on earth since relationships are superficial i.e ends after death however the relationship with god is eternal. They spend their whole lives gaining wisdom and meditating/praying. The lowest of the class live an impure life and do all the dirty work.

The lower down the kingdom, the more suffering there is therefore karma plays a role in this. A person's next life is based upon their actions in their previous life. They can either go down one level, go up one level or stay the same. To gain freedom from reincarnartion is called moksha. That is when you reach the place where we originated from (from god in heaven) and live in total bliss. This feeling is not understood by anyone here as the earth is materialistic. Even our bodies are made out of matter however in heaven, we have no form, our spirits have no material needs and we live eternally in bliss close to our creator. Materialistic needs always lead to greed and then sadness. For example have you ever felt like you desperately wanted something but after you got hold of it, just got bored of it? That is one small example.

Answer 2

as a matter of respect hindus salute the gods with sri or om(sri ram sri krishna).the rituals performed in the temple are all things done to god due to the respect for him

Answer 3

In the Hindu religion, cows represent all living things. For this reason they are highly revered and are not eaten.

Answer 4

Hindus believe that God exists in everything, and everything around them is considered sacred. They believe that God is one, and everything has a part of the God and must be respected.

Answer 5

Hindu art, dance and drama are usually based on ancient stories. These ancient stories are about Gods and Goddesses.