Understanding Vedic God

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Note: By ‘God’ we imply Ishwar or the Supreme

Entity and NOT ‘Devata’. ‘Devata’ is a different term
but often wrongly considered to mean ‘Supreme
Entity’.

While Ishwar is also a ‘Devata’, any entity – living

or non-living – that helps us or is useful for us is
termed ‘Devata’. But that does not mean every
entity is Ishwar and should be worshipped. To avoid
confusion, we shall use the term ‘Ishwar’ in this
article.
The Supreme One who
represents selflessness,
controls the entire
universe, is present
everywhere and is the
Devata of all Devatas,
alone is source of bliss.
Those who do not
understand Him remain
drenched in sorrow and
those who realize Him
achieve unconditional
happiness. (Rigveda
1.164.39)
Q: How many Ishwar are
there in Vedas? We heard
there are huge number of
Ishwar in Vedas.
A: You have heard from
wrong sources. Vedas
clearly specify that there
is One and only One
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 1
Ishwar. And there is no
mantra in Vedas that can
be interpreted to imply
multiple Ishwars.
Not only this, Vedas
also refuse existence of
any angel or Prophet
or incarnation who is
necessarily required to act
as an agent between You
and Ishwar.
To give a rough analogy:
Ishwar of Vedas = God
of Christianity minus the
concept of Trinity minus
the necessity to surrender
to Jesus
Ishwar of Vedas = Allah of
Islam minus the necessity
to accept Muhammad as
final Prophet.
In other words, If someone
says first part of Shahada
: lâ ilâha illallâh (There
is no other God except
one and only Allah) but
rejects the second part :
Muḥammadur rasûlullâh
(Muhammad is his
messenger), that is close
to concept of Vedic God.
In Islam, it is Shirk or
greatest sin to worship
anything except Allah.
If you take this concept
further and also refuse to
accept any Muhammad or
Gabriel as necessary to be
remembered apart from
Allah, you are avoiding
Shirk as per Vedas.
Q: What about the
various Gods or Devatas
mentioned in Vedas? What
about 33 crore Gods?
A:1. As mentioned earlier,
Devata refers to entities
that are useful for us. But
nowhere it is mentioned
in Vedas that we should
worship these entities.
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Of course, Ishwar is the
Devata or Devatas and
hence called ‘Mahadeva’.
He alone is to be
worshipped.
2. The Vedas refer to not
33 crore Devatas but 33
types (Koti in Sanskrit)
of Devatas. They are
explained in Shatpath
Brahman very clearly.
These include -
8 Vasus (Earth, Water,
Fire, Air, Sky, Moon, Sun,
Stars/ Planets) that form
components of universe
where we live,
10 Life Forces in our body
or Prana (Prana, Apana,
Vyana, Udana, Samaana,
Naga, Kurma, Kukala,
Devadatta) and 1 Soul
called Rudra,
12 Aditya or months of
year,
1 Vidyut or
Electromagnetic force
that is of tremendous use
to us
1 Yajna or constant noble
selfless deeds done by
humans
The master of these 33
Devatas is the Mahadeva
or Ishwar who alone is
to be worshipped as per
14th Kanda of Shatpath
Brahman.
The concept of 33 Devatas
is a great research based
subject in itself and
requires in-depth study
for proper understanding.
However, it has been made
very clear in all Vedic
texts that they are NOT
Ishwar and hence NOT to
be worshipped.
3. Ishwar has huge
number of properties.
Ignorant people wrongly
consider these properties
of Ishwar to be different
Ishwars. For example, in
today’s newspaper there
were 2 headlines – One
referred to Dr Singh and
other to Manmohan. That
does not mean India has
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 3
two Prime Ministers!
4. To dispel such
confusions, there are
several mantras in Vedas
that clearly state that
there is One and Only
One Ishwar without
any assistants, agents,
prophets or juniors to
liaison between Him and
Us. For example:
Yajurveda 40.1:
This entire world is
embedded within and
managed by the One and
Only One Ishwar. Never
dare do any injustice or
desire riches through
unjust means. Instead
follow the righteous path
and enjoy His bliss. After
all He alone is source of
all bliss!
Rigveda 10.48.1:
Ishwar alone is
omnipresent and manager
of entire universe. He
alone provides victory and
eternal cause of world. All
souls should look up only Yajurveda 13.4
to Him in same manner as
There is One and only One
children look up to their
Creator and Maintainer of
Father. He alone provides
the entire world. He alone
for our sustenance and
is sustaining the earth, sky
bliss.
and other heavenly bodies.
Rigveda 10.48.5 He is Bliss Himself! He
alone deserves to be
Ishwar enlightens the
worshipped by us.
entire world. He is
undefeated and undying. Atharvaveda 13.4.16-21
He is the creator of the
He is neither two, nor
world. All souls should
three, nor four, nor five,
seek bliss through seeking
nor six, nor seven, nor
knowledge and acting
eight, nor nine, nor ten.
thereupon. They should
He is, on contrary, One
never shun the friendship
and Only One. There is no
of Ishwar.
Ishwar except Him. All
Rigveda 10.49.1 devatas reside within Him
and are controlled by Him.
Ishwar alone provides
So He alone should be
true knowledge to truth
worshipped, none else.
seekers. He alone is
promoter of knowledge Atharvaveda 10.7.38
and motivates virtuous
Ishwar alone is greatest
people into noble actions
and worth being
to seek bliss. He alone is
worshipped. He is the
the creator and manager
source of all knowledge
of the world. Hence never
and activities.
worship anyone else except
one and only Ishwar. Yajurveda 32.11

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Ishwar resides at each A:
point in universe. No
1. Evidence means
space is devoid of Him.
the clear knowledge
He is self-sustaining and
determined through
does not need help of any
stimuli received from
agent, angel, prophet or
sense organs. But note
incarnation to perform
that sense organs capture
His duties. The soul which
the properties and not the
is able to realize this
’cause of these properties’.
One and only One Ishwar
achieves Him and enjoys For example, when you
unconditional ultimate read this article, you do
bliss or Moksha. not capture existence
of Agniveer, but only
There are innumerable
certain images coming
such mantras in Vedas
on your screen that you
that explain One and Only
interpret into meaningful
One Ishwar and instructs
knowledge. And then you
us to worship Him directly
conclude that there has
without invoking any
to be some writer of this
other entity – Incarnation,
article and claim that you
Prophet, Angel or Agent.
have evidence of existence
Q: How do you establish of Agniveer. So this is
existence of Ishwar? ‘indirect evidence’ even
though it appears ‘direct’.
A: Through direct and
indirect evidences. Similarly, this whole
creation that we observe
Q: But direct evidence of via its properties through
Ishwar cannot be possible. sense organs imply
How do you then establish existence of Ishwar.
Ishwar?

Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 5

 2. When you can link a organs like eyes, nose,
sensory input directly to tongue, skin or ears. For
an entity, you claim to example we cannot see
have ‘direct evidence’. subatomic particles even
For example when you through most powerful
eat a mango, you feel the microscopes, we cannot
property of sweetness hear ultrasonic sound, we
and associate it with the cannot feel the touch of
mango that you consumed. each individual molecule.
What is important is that
In other words, Ishwar is
you can associate such
impossible to be evidenced
‘direct evidence’ ONLY
through these coarse and
with specific sense organ
weak sense organs just as
that was used to observe
mango cannot be sensed
that property.
through ears or subatomic
Thus in previous example, particles cannot be sensed
you cannot have ‘direct through any sense organ
evidence’ of mango for that matter.
through ‘ears’ but only
3. The only organ that
through ‘tongue’ or ‘nose’
can sense Ishwar is mind
or ‘eyes’.
or Mana. When mind
Also in reality this is also is fully controlled and
‘indirect evidence’ though devoid of involuntary
we term it ‘direct evidence’ disturbances (like
for sake of simplicity. thousands of thoughts
coming all the time) and
Now since Ishwar is the
adequate knowledge about
most subtle entity existing,
properties of Ishwar has
it is impossible to have
been obtained through
‘direct evidence’ of Ishwar
study and practice, Ishwar
through coarse sense
can be evidenced directly

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through intellect in same
manner as a mango is
evidenced through its
taste.
This is the goal of life
and this is what a Yogi
attempts to do through
all the various methods of
mind control that include
cultivating traits like non-
violence, truth-seeking,
compassion, seeking
bliss for all, high moral
character, fighting against
injustice, unity among
people, etc etc.
4. In a way we get hints of
direct evidence of Ishwar
everyday in our life. When
we try to indulge in any
wrong act like theft,
cheating, brutality, we
hear that faint ‘inner voice’
in form of fear, shame,
doubt etc. And when we
indulge in noble deeds like
helping others, blessing a
child etc, we again hear
that ‘inner voice’ in form
of fearlessless, sense of
satisfaction, enthusiasm
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 7
and feeling of bliss.
This ‘inner voice’ is from
Ishwar. Often we reduce
its audibility by trying to
silence it through loud DJ
Music of stupid tendencies
around. But then we all
at times feel this ‘inner
voice’ getting louder now
and then, when things are
relatively silent.
5. And when the soul
purifies itself from mental
disturbances and gets
away from the DJ club, it
is able to directly evidence
itself as well as Ishwar.
Hence both through direct
and indirect evidence,
Ishwar is established as
clearly as other entities
witnessed by us.
Q: Where does Ishwar
live?
A: 1. Ishwar is
omnipresent and hence
resides everywhere. Had
Ishwar been living at a
particular place like some
special sky or on some manage it.
special throne, He could
3. Further, if Ishwar is
not have been omniscient,
omnipotent, why would
omnipotent, manager of
He be scared to restrict
all, creator of all and
Himself to a small space.
destructor of all. You
This makes Ishwar limited.
cannot perform actions at
Christians say God is on
a place where you are not
4th sky and Muslims say
present.
that Allah is on 7th sky.
2. If you say that Ishwar And their followers keep
manages the world from fighting each other to
one place just like sun prove themselves right.
illuminates earth from Is it that God and Allah
far off or you watch TV decided to live in separate
through remote control, skies so that they also do
this is defective logic. not start fighting like their
Because sun is able to angry followers?
illuminate the earth or
In reality these are
remote control is able
childish talks. When
to operate the TV only
Ishwar is All-Powerful and
through radiation waves
controls entire universe,
that travel through
there is no reason why He
the interim space. Just
would be scared to limit
because we are unable to
himself to a small part of
see them we call it remote
universe. And if He is, he
control. In reality there
cannot be termed All-
is nothing like a remote
Powerful.
control. Thus the very
fact that Ishwar is able to
manage something implies
that it is present there to

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Q: Does it mean Ishwar
is also in dirty things like
alcohol, urine, excreta?
A: 1. The entire creation
is within Ishwar. Because
Ishwar is also outside
these things but these
things do not exist outside
Ishwar. So all things in
world are pervaded by
Ishwar. To give a very
rough analogy, we are
within Ishwar in similar
manner as a pice of cloth
within tub of water. There
is water within, outside
and all around the cloth.
There is no portion of
cloth which is not wet with
water but there is water
beyond the cloth as well.
2. Anything is dirty or
good for us depending
upon our duty towards it.
The same set of atoms
that form the tasty mango
we eat is so lovely for
us. But when the atoms
disintegrate, interact with
other chemicals and form
excreta, that becomes
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 9
dirty for us. But in essence
all these are merely
different combinations
of particles of nature.
Since we have a mission
on this earth, we analyze
each thing with regards
to the mission and accept
some/ reject rest. What we
reject is dirty or trash for
us and what we accept is
good for us. But for God,
such duty does not exist
and hence nothing is dirty
for Him. On contrary, His
duty is different from
ours – to help us achieve
bliss in just manner – and
hence nothing in His entire
creation is untouchable for
Him.
3. If you look from
another analogy, Ishwar is
not like a pampered social
worker who would prefer
to plan remotely in his
air-conditioned office but
would desist from visiting
the slums where actual
social work has to be done.
He, on contrary, exists to
manage the most dirty of meted out to a criminal,
the places for our benefit. one cannot be kind to
innocents. It will also be
4. And since He alone is
not justice to the criminal
most perfect, despite He
because he would not be
being everywhere and
prevented from further
everything being within
crimes.
Him, He is separate and
different from these things. For example, if a dacoit is
forgiven, he would harm
Q: Is Ishwar Kind and
several innocent people.
Just? And if he is imprisoned,
A: Yes. He is the epitome it would not only prevent
of kindness and justice. harm to innocents but also
allow him opportunity to
Q: But these are opposite improve himself and not
traits. Kindness means do further crimes. So in
to forgive a criminal. justice alone lies kindness
And justice means giving for one and all.
punishment to criminal.
How can both exist at 2. In reality, kindness
same time? refers to the purpose of
Ishwar and justice to the
A: Kindness and Justice process. When Ishwar
are basically one and punishes a criminal, He
same. Because both serve does it to prevent the
the same purpose. criminal from doing
1. Kindness does not further crimes. And he
mean forgiving a criminal. also prevents innocent
Because if that be done, people from getting
several innocent people punished for no offense
would become victims. of theirs. Thus the entire
Thus unless justice is purpose of justice is

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kindness to all.
3. As per Vedas, and
observation, the source
of sorrow is ignorance
which causes one to do
wrong acts called crimes.
So when a soul does
such wrong acts, Ishwar
restricts his freedom to
do crimes and allows him
opportunities to remove
his ignorance and remove
sorrow.
4. Mere saying sorry is
not sufficient to receive
pardon of Ishwar. The
source of sin or crimes
is ignorance and until
that is removed, the soul
would continue to get
rightful punishments or
rewards for its actions
every moment throughout
several births and deaths.
And the purpose of all
this justice is His kindness
towards the soul to gift it
with ultimate bliss.
Q: Does that mean,
Ishwar will never pardon
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 11
my sins? Islam or
Christianity are better.
There, if I confess or say
sorry, all my past records
are deleted and I am
given fresh opportunity.
A:1. Ishwar does pardon
your sins. His pardon lies
in the just results of your
actions that He provides
and not in deleting your
past records.
2. If He were to delete
your past records, He
would be doing greatest
injustice and brutality to
you. Because in this case,
He has allowed you to be
promoted to next class
even when you have not
gained the competence
to pass the present class.
And in process he is doing
injustice to others also
who interact with you.
3. Pardoning means
providing opportunity to
improve your competence
and not giving you 100%
when you deserved a
zero. This is exactly
what Ishwar does. And
remember that improving
competence does not
happen in one moment
or through one word
of ‘Sorry’. It demands
dedicated practice and
efforts over a period of
time. Only lazy people seek
shortcuts like trying to
get 100% without even
studying the course.
4. Unfortunately, those
who attract people to their
religion by saying that God
will forgive their sins are
fooling themselves and
people. Suppose someone
has diabetes. Does it get
treated merely by saying
sorry? When a physical
disease takes much more
than a sorry to be treated,
how can mind – the most
complex thing known to
humanity – be treated by a
sorry?
5. Actually these
ideologies have a blatant
flaw – they believe in one
12 agniveer.com
life and do not believe
in rebirth. So they want
to create artificial hurry
formula to attract people.
And scare them to Hell of
they do not agree to them.
We have already covered
the loopholes of One Life
theory in God must be
crazy!
6. Vedic philosophy is
much more natural,
amenable to logic and
reasonable. Neither is
there a Hell where you
would be thrown to burn
forever by an Ishwar who
is as loving as Mother, nor
would He debar you from
opportunities to actually
raise your competence
through efforts and
achieve what you truly
deserve. After all what is
more satisfying:
a. Rank 1 through a fake
mark sheet when we know
that actually we had got
zero, or
b. A proud Rank 1 through
hard work and burning
midnight oil, when we
know that we did the
best we could to become
masters of the subject!
So in vedas, there are no
shortcuts or longcuts to
success. There is only the
right cut! And the success
is much more satisfying
than what any illusionary
and illusive shortcut can
be imagined to provide!
Q: Is Ishwar with form or
formless?
A: He is formless as per
Vedas and commonsense.
1. He cannot be
omnipresent if He has
form. Because form
implies existence of
boundary. And hence He
should not exist beyond the
boundary if He has form.
2. Form can be seen
only if Ishwar is coarse.
Because any object finer
than what can reflect
light waves cannot be
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 13
seen. Now Vedas clearly
define Ishwar as the
most finest, without gaps
and uniform everywhere.
(Refer Yajurveda 40.8
for example). Hence He
cannot have form.
3. If Ishwar has a form,
it means that someone
created His form. This is
not possible. If you say
that He himself made His
form, it means He was
formless earlier.
4. If you say that Ishwar
is both formless and
with form, it is not
possible because both are
contradictory.
5. If you say that He takes
divine forms at times,
kindly specify what divine
means. Say Ishwar took
divine form of a man.
Now how will you define
boundary of Ishwar
atoms and non-Ishwar
atoms. Further since He
is present everywhere
with same density
(uniformity), how we
distinguish between man-
Ishwar and rest of world.
And if Ishwar is same
everywhere, how are we
seeing the boundary?
6. What we see as
human body is actually
continuous exchange of
matter and energy with
rest of the world. It is
impossible to distinguish
each atom as part of
human body or rest of
the world. So it will be
impossible to segregate
even body of man-Ishwar.
For example, will the spit,
urine, sweat and other
excreta from man-Ishwar
also be divine?
7. In Vedas there is no
concept of Ishwar being
with form. Further there
is nothing that Ishwar
cannot do without form
that He must assume a
form.
8. What we normally
consider as divine Ishwar
forms – for example
people like Ram and
Krishna – were actually
divinely inspired.
Remember, we talked
about ‘inner voice’ of
Ishwar? These legends
were epitome of Ishwar
worship and purity of
mind. And hence for
normal people, they
were Ishwar themselves.
However Vedas prohibit
worship of anyone except
Ishwar. Thus, these
persons should instead be
emulated (their examples
be followed in our own
real lives) to offer our
gratitude to them. This
hero-followership is as per
Vedas and explained in The
power of Now! – Know
Vedas.
9. Had Ishwar taken form
and worship of these
forms been the recipe for
salvation, Vedas would
have detailed description
on this topic. But Vedas
do not even hint at such

14 agniveer.com
concepts.
Q: Does it mean all these
temples and worship of
Ram, Krishna, Durga,
Lakshmi wrong?
A: Take example of a pious
mother living in a remote
village. Her son gets bitten
by snake. She rushes to
local Tantrik for Jhaad
Phoonk in an attempt
to save life of her child.
Would you call her wrong
or right?
The bulk of Ishwar
worshippers today, be it
Hindu, Muslim, Christian
or whatever are in same
state. Their intentions
are genuine and worth
greatest respect. But
out of ignorance, they
adopt wrong practices of
worshipping Ishwar. This
is obvious from the fact
that hardly anyone even
knows about the Vedas,
even though, at least the
Hindus agree that Vedas
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 15
are supreme.
The right way to show
our gratitude to great
legends of past should be
by imbibing their virtues
and doing noble deeds
accordingly. For example,
we see Ravans all around
in form of corruption,
terrorism, immorality
etc. If we can unite to
counter these in rightful
manner, that would be
true glorification of Ram.
Same with Krishna, Durga,
Hanuman etc.
I have been a fan of
Hanumanji throughout
my life. My way of his
glorification has been
preservation of my moral
character and putting
efforts for a strong and
healthy body that serves
the society. What point is
in worshipping Hanuman
with weak body and
irritable stomach yet
consuming heavy laddus!
While the motive behind
all these modes of worship
is worth greatest respect
and we humbly bow to the
purity of true devotees
of any cult, it is our wish
to see all devotees to
adopt the same methods
of worship that Ram or
Krishna adopted in their
own lives!
Q: Is Ishwar Omnipotent
or All-Powerful?
A: Yes, He is omnipotent.
But that does not mean
He can do whatever He
wants. Doing whatever
one may want is sign of
indiscipline. On contrary,
Ishwar is most disciplined.
Omnipotence means that
Ishwar does not need
help of any other entity
to conduct His duties –
creation, management,
destruction of universe. He
is self-sufficient to conduct
His duties.
But He would act only
as per His duties. For
example, He will not kill
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Himself to create another
Ishwar. He cannot make
Himself an idiot. He
cannot do theft or dacoity
etc.
Q: Does Ishwar has a
beginning?
A: Ishwar is without any
beginning and without
any end. He was always
present and will always
remain. Further His
properties remain same at
all times.
Soul and Nature are two
other beginningless and
endless entities.
Q: What does Ishwar
want?
A: Ishwar wants bliss
for all souls and wants
them to achieve this bliss
through deserving efforts
purely on basis of merit.
Q: Should we worship
Ishwar or not? Why?
After all He never
forgives!
A: Ishwar should be
worshipped and He alone
should be worshipped.
It is true that by worship
of Ishwar, you will not
receive any shortcut pass
certificate when you have
actually failed. Only lazy
and cheaters desire such
unscrupulous means to
success.
The benefits of worship of
Ishwar are different:
a. By worship of Ishwar
one is able to understand
Ishwar and His creation
better.
b. By worship, one is able
to better understand His
properties and adopt those
in his own life.
c. By worship, one is able
to hear ‘inner voice’ better
and get constant clearer
guidance from Him.
d. By worship, one
eradicates ignorance,
gains strength and is able
to withstand toughest
Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 17
challenges in life with
confidence and aplomb.
e. Ultimately, one is able
to remove ignorance
completely and achieve
Moksha or salvation with
ultimate bliss.
Please note that worship
does not mean some
mechanical recitations or
blankness of mind. It is
a proactive approach to
imbibe wisdom through
actions, knowledge and
contemplation.
We shall discuss this in
detail subsequently. For
now, you can refer to: How
to worship?
Q: When Ishwar does
not have limbs and sense
organs, how does He
conduct His actions?
A: He does not need
coarse organs for his
actions that happen at
most microscopic level.
He does so through His
inherent powers. He sees
without eyes because Creator, Maintainer etc.
his eyes are present at But He is Nirguna, if you
every points in space, He refer to properties that
does not have legs, but He does not possess – like
is fastest, He does not dumbness, senselessness,
have ears but listens to anger, cheating, birth,
everything, He knows death etc. Its only a
everything but is beyond semantic difference.
complete cognizance of
Q: Please summarize
everybody. This shloka
comes in Upanishad. major properties of
Ishopanishad also Ishwar as per Vedas.
describes this in detail. A: His properties are
Q: Does Ishwar know His infinite and cannot be
expressed in words. But
limits?
here are some major
A: Ishwar knows properties:
everything. This means
• He exists
that He knows whatever
is truth. Since Ishwar • He is animate
is limitless, He knows
Himself as limitless. It • He is source of all bliss
would render Him ignorant and happiness
if He tries to know His • He is formless
limits when none exist.
• he is unchangeable
Q: Is Ishwar Saguna or
• He is all-powerful
Nirguna?
• He is just
A: Both. Ishwar is Saguna
if you refer to properties • He is kind
like Kindness, Just,
• He is unborn

18 agniveer.com
• He never dies and remains
perfect always
• He is infinite
• He is fearless
• He is omnipresent
• He is pure
• He has no defects
• He has no agents
• He has no beginning and
and establishes direct
no end either in time
relationship with all souls.
or space
He alone deserves to
• He is uncomparable
be worshipped without
• He maintains entire invoking anyone else.
universe
This alone is the path to
• He creates entire bliss and removal of all
universe miseries!

• He knows everything Now enjoy a beautiful

song summarizing some of
• He never deteriorates
the properties of Ishwar:

Mission Agniveer - Vision Vedas. 19

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