HINDU BELIEFS
Relevant topics Quotations
Nature & Features of ‘Everything is Brahman, and Brahman is everything’ Monist school of belief
Brahman
‘From Brahman the universe comes forth, in it the universe merges, and in it the universe
breathes’ Chandogya Upanishad - shows Him as spirit, ultimate reality, absolute truth
‘I am the basis of the formless Brahman, the immortal and imperishable, of eternal
dharma, and of unending divine bliss’ Bhagavad gita Bhagavan, personal and loving God
‘He is the swan, dwelling in the bright heaven; he is the Vasu, dwelling in the sky…’ Katha
Upanishad - He is everywhere and within the heart
‘But you cannot see me [Brahman] with your present eyes, therefore I will give you divine
, eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!’ Gita Saguna Brahman
‘For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest, the path of realisation is full of
tribulations’ Gita humans living in the material world are unable to comprehend the vast
complexity of God so need physical representations to aid understanding - murtis
The trimurti Story in the Kurma Purana 1.6: Vishnu takes the form of a boar and carries the earth from
a demon at the bottom of the cosmic ocean (galaxies). ‘Vishnu raised the earth in the
form of a boar’
“Brahma decided to start creation afresh but discovered that the earth was submerged in
water. How would his creations survive if there was no earth? He therefore requested
Vishnu to bring up the earth from under the water. (Kūrma Purana 1.6)”
The Kūrma Purana (1.9) tells a Hindu story of creation, summarised here: Brahma and
Vishnu together killed the demons that wanted to sabotage the creation of the universe.
After being frustrated in his creative work, Brahma cried, and died, but then Shiva was
born from Brahma – who revived. Shiva lived in all of the elements, including the sun,
water, sky, fire, wind and trees.
‘Shiva was to live in the sun, the water the sky, the fire, the wind, the trees, the bodies of
brahmanas and the moon’
Avatara “The supreme Lord said: ‘both you and I have had many births, O Arjun. You have
forgotten them, while I remember them all. (Bhagavad Gita 4.5)” Krishna can remember
his own previous incarnations, but humans like Arjun forget, and become too concerned
with the one life they are living presently.
‘Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth, …
and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being age after age’ Bhagavad Gita
Atman ‘Never was there a time when i did not exist, nor in the future will any of us cease to be’
Bhagavad Gita
‘No one can cause the destruction of the imperishable soul.’ Bhagavad Gita
The father said to the son: ‘Throw the water away and then come back to me again.’ The
son did so; but the salt was not lost, for the salt existed forever. Then the father said, ‘Here
likewise in this body of yours, my son, do you not perceive the True; but there, in fact, it is.
In that which is the subtle essence, all that exists has its self [atman]. That is the true, that
is the atman, and that is what you are.’ (Chandogya Upanishad 6.12)
Karma, Samsara, ‘As a person sheds worn garments and wears new ones, likewise the soul casts off its word
Reincarnation & Moksha body and enters a new one’ ~ Bhagavad Gita
‘The soul passes into another body at the time of death. The wise are not deluded by this’
Relevant topics Quotations
Nature & Features of ‘Everything is Brahman, and Brahman is everything’ Monist school of belief
Brahman
‘From Brahman the universe comes forth, in it the universe merges, and in it the universe
breathes’ Chandogya Upanishad - shows Him as spirit, ultimate reality, absolute truth
‘I am the basis of the formless Brahman, the immortal and imperishable, of eternal
dharma, and of unending divine bliss’ Bhagavad gita Bhagavan, personal and loving God
‘He is the swan, dwelling in the bright heaven; he is the Vasu, dwelling in the sky…’ Katha
Upanishad - He is everywhere and within the heart
‘But you cannot see me [Brahman] with your present eyes, therefore I will give you divine
, eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!’ Gita Saguna Brahman
‘For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest, the path of realisation is full of
tribulations’ Gita humans living in the material world are unable to comprehend the vast
complexity of God so need physical representations to aid understanding - murtis
The trimurti Story in the Kurma Purana 1.6: Vishnu takes the form of a boar and carries the earth from
a demon at the bottom of the cosmic ocean (galaxies). ‘Vishnu raised the earth in the
form of a boar’
“Brahma decided to start creation afresh but discovered that the earth was submerged in
water. How would his creations survive if there was no earth? He therefore requested
Vishnu to bring up the earth from under the water. (Kūrma Purana 1.6)”
The Kūrma Purana (1.9) tells a Hindu story of creation, summarised here: Brahma and
Vishnu together killed the demons that wanted to sabotage the creation of the universe.
After being frustrated in his creative work, Brahma cried, and died, but then Shiva was
born from Brahma – who revived. Shiva lived in all of the elements, including the sun,
water, sky, fire, wind and trees.
‘Shiva was to live in the sun, the water the sky, the fire, the wind, the trees, the bodies of
brahmanas and the moon’
Avatara “The supreme Lord said: ‘both you and I have had many births, O Arjun. You have
forgotten them, while I remember them all. (Bhagavad Gita 4.5)” Krishna can remember
his own previous incarnations, but humans like Arjun forget, and become too concerned
with the one life they are living presently.
‘Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth, …
and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being age after age’ Bhagavad Gita
Atman ‘Never was there a time when i did not exist, nor in the future will any of us cease to be’
Bhagavad Gita
‘No one can cause the destruction of the imperishable soul.’ Bhagavad Gita
The father said to the son: ‘Throw the water away and then come back to me again.’ The
son did so; but the salt was not lost, for the salt existed forever. Then the father said, ‘Here
likewise in this body of yours, my son, do you not perceive the True; but there, in fact, it is.
In that which is the subtle essence, all that exists has its self [atman]. That is the true, that
is the atman, and that is what you are.’ (Chandogya Upanishad 6.12)
Karma, Samsara, ‘As a person sheds worn garments and wears new ones, likewise the soul casts off its word
Reincarnation & Moksha body and enters a new one’ ~ Bhagavad Gita
‘The soul passes into another body at the time of death. The wise are not deluded by this’
