If God is one, why are there so many Gods? · एकं सत्

Visitors often ask Hindus: do you believe in one god or millions? The surprising answer from the scriptures is — both, and neither. How can the one be many?

The Rigveda answers the question three thousand years ago: "They call it Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni… Truth is one; the wise call it by many names" (1.164.46). The many gods are not rivals; they are names and faces through which the one reality is approached.

In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, a student named Vidagdha Shakalya asks the sage Yajnavalkya exactly this: "How many gods are there?" The answer begins with three thousand three hundred and six — and then keeps shrinking…

• From 3,306 to one
• Ishta devata — the form you love
• Different answers within Hinduism
• For life today

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• Rigveda — 1.164.46
• Brihadaranyaka Upanishad — 3.9