In-Depth Collation Between Argonians and Hinduism: Gods, Spirit, and Reality (Part 1)

“Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.”

“Hindus believe in the divinity of the four Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These primordial hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion.”

“Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.”

“Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments and personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and Gods.”

“Hindus believe that no religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine paths are facets of God's Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.”

Pervasive (adj.): Spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people.

Immanent (adj.): Existing or operating within; inherent.

Transcendent (adj.): Beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience.

Hinduism is unique amongst other religions in that it is both monotheistic and henotheistic, but most usually identify it mainly with Henotheism. In Henotheism, one worships one god without denying the existence of other deities. In Hinduism, there are over three hundred and thirty-three million gods; however, they are all just mere extensions of the Supreme Being, the one true God of the Hindu faith. Because of this, Hinduism consists of one God and has an extensive hierarchy of Gods. Some look at these Gods as mere symbols – personifications and representations of natural, mental, and spiritual forces. But the truth, however, is that the Mahadevas are individual soul beings, and down through the ages ordinary men and women, great saints and sages, prophets and mystics in all cultures have inwardly seen, heard, and been profoundly influenced by these superconscious inner plane beings.

The word used for the devotion of the Hindu gods is known as Bhakti, and is described as an “entire realm of knowledge and practice unto itself, ranging from the childlike wonder of the unknown and the mysterious to the deep reverence which comes with understanding of esoteric interworkings of the three worlds.” The Three Worlds are Hinduism’s view on existence. The First World is the physical universe that you can touch; the Second World is the astral/mental plane where the Deva (lesser gods) and the mortal spirits reside. The Third World is the spiritual universe where the main Hindu gods (Mahadevas) exist. Hinduism consists of the harmonious working together of the Three Worlds.

The Supreme Being and Primal God in Hinduism is often seen as Brahma, and whose existence is also the prime Parabrahman – the absolute omniscient consciousness. Brahma is derived from the Sanskrit ‘Brh’, which means to grow, manifest, expand, referring to the Brahma Mind of pure consciousness that underlies, emanates and resonates as all existence. At the same time, Brahma is also Purusha, the Primal Soul. He is the perfection of being, the original soul who creates/emanates innumerable individual souls - including the Gods.

One of the main reasons why the Hindu religion consists of so many deities (three hundred and thirty-three million gods!) is because India (the country where Hinduism was founded) consists of many peoples of many cultures of many languages, who all view the nature of the Supreme Being differently. Through history there arose four principal Hindu denominations—Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. For Sai-vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas – who see all Deities as reflections of the One God – the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. This liberal Smarta perspective is well known, but it is not the prevailing Hindu view. It is this diversity that explains why Hindus are profoundly tolerant of other religions, respecting the fact that each has its own pathway back to the Supreme Being, God. Further, the Mahadevas who live in the Third World cannot be likened to the men and women who live on earth. They exist in perfectly evolved soul bodies, bodies which are not properly differentiated by sex. They are pure beings made of pure consciousness and light; they are neither male nor female. To better understand the Mahadevas, we sometimes conceive them as being the man if they are strong in expression or the woman if they are gentle and compassionate. There are no husbands and wives in the vast, superconscious realms of the Third World. The husband/wife notion is a puranic myth. The term Goddess can refer to a female perception or depiction of a Third World being (Mahadeva) in its natural state, which is genderless, or to a Second World being residing in a female astral-mental body.

For some Hindus, the three deities Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva form a heavenly triad that fulfills the purpose of the Supreme Being (however, some sects within Hinduism worship each of the three as the Supreme Being on their own). Brahma is the Creator of the universe, the starter of all time. In India, the ox are sacred to him because they also create. Vishnu is the Preserver of the universe, and keeps the cosmos stabilized. According to Hindu belief, he has sent nine incarnations/avatars to walk amongst the earth. These include Rama (the seventh), Krishna (the eighth), and the Buddha (the ninth); his tenth avatar will supposedly herald the end of the world. Shiva is the Destroyer of the universe, and is also known as the Lord of Beasts and the Cosmic Dance. He destroys this universe to bring forth the next, continuing the cycle of constant death and rebirth. Because of this, Shiva is often a creator god as well.

It is, however, possible to free one self from this constant cycle. Vishnu’s ninth avatar – the Buddha – began this teaching in what would become the foundation of Buddhism. Born as an Indian prince named Siddartha Gautama in the area that is currently known as Nepal, he renounced all of his wealth and went through severe self-control and refrained from all forms of indulgences. Through this spiritual undertaking, he eventually achieved Enlightenment – the action or state of attaining or having attained spiritual knowledge or insight; an awareness which frees a person from the cycle of rebirth, no longer bound by the law of karma. Enlightenment (Moksha) is liberation from everything.

The core view of Hinduism is that God is not far away, living in a remote heaven, but is inside each and every soul, in the heart and consciousness, waiting to be discovered. This knowing that God is always with you gives an individual hope and courage. Knowing the Supreme Being in this intimate and experiential way is the goal of Hindu spirituality.

It is in the Hindu temple that the Three Worlds meet and devotees invoke the Gods of their religion. The temple is built as a palace in which the Gods live. It is the home of the Gods, a sacred place unlike every other place on the earth. Hindus must associate themselves with these Gods in a very sensitive way when they approach the temple. Though the devotees rarely haves psychic visions of the Deity, they are aware of the God's divine presence. As they approach the sanctum sanctorum, the Hindu is fully aware that an intelligent being, greater and more evolved than himself, is there. This God is intently aware of the worshipper, safeguarding them, fully knowing their inmost thought, fully capable of coping with any situation the devotee may mentally tell them. It is important that a Hindu approaches the Deity in this way - conscious and confident that their needs are known throughout the Three Worlds.

The physical representation of the God, be it a stone or metal image, a yantra or other sacred form, simply marks the place that the God will manifest in or hover over in his etheric body. It can be conceived as an antenna to receive the divine rays of the God or as the material body in or through which the God manifests in the First World. When one performs puja – a religious ritual – they are directly attracting the attention of the devas and Mahadevas of the Second and Third Worlds to the First World. That is the purpose of a puja; it is a form of communication. To enhance this communication we establish an altar in the temple or in the home. This becomes charged or magnetized through devotional thoughts and feelings which radiate out and affect the surrounding environment. Hindus can feel the presence of these divine beings, and this radiation from them is known as shakti.

##Part I: Applying These ideals To The World Of The Elder Scrolls. Parabrahman can be easily identified with Amaranth, with both consisting of having an individual – the Supreme Being – existing and manifesting throughout all things. The Supreme Being is the Godhead (Original/Previous/New/Current), and his/her consciousness is present throughout all things and beings within their Dream. Because of this, the Dream identifies with Purusha the Primal Soul. The Dream exists because it the Godhead’s ideal perfect creation, the perfect universe as they perceive it. Within the Dream exists innumerable diverse creations with their own souls, who (through CHIM/Moksha) can attain their own Amaranth. Because of this, the Dream (Purusha) is the Primal Soul of the Godhead (the Supreme Being) who is the Primal God, who existence defines Amaranth (Parabrahman).

The First World is Mundus, the physical plane, where all mortal creatures reside. The Second World is both the Dreamsleeve for the spirits of the dead, the Hist, and the waters of Oblivion for the Devas, with all three places recycling the soul for future reincarnation. The Third World is the Void, Aetherius, and the planes of Oblivion all at once, and is where the Mahadevas – the most powerful of deities – reside. Together, they are the Aurbis, the harmony that occurs when all Three Worlds flow equally with one another.

The continuing cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction are Kalpas. Each Kalpa begins at Convention, the foundation of the world. God and the Gods have already been established (however, some are changed from what they were before), and so are the Three Worlds. The Kalpa runs its course stably and correctly in all of its events from its beginning to its end. At the end, each Kalpa is destroyed (chiefly by Alduin, who eats the world) so the next Kalpa can be born. This cycle is a constant wheel of constant rebirth, until the wheel itself cracks apart on the Last Kalpa. In Hinduism, this cycle (along with time) is also seen as a wheel. Those that attain Moksha (CHIM) can free themselves from this cycle of rebirth.

The Et’Ada are the Mahadevas, the most powerful of the gods. The Et’Ada includes both the Daedric Princes, the Nine Divines, Magnus, the Magne-Ge, Y’ffre, and Lorkhan. Like the Mahadevas of Hinduism, they are neither male or female; existing as beings that were created and are embodied as perfect. However, each of the Et’Ada are typically perceived by – and often take on – the forms of either male or female avatars. Mephala takes on the form of a Hermaphrodite, showing that hir is neither male, female, or none, but all of them at once; Boethiah switches forth from being a male and a female all the time. The Devas are the Ada (Morihaus; Pelinal; Cultural Gods; Lesser Daedra), exceptionally strong beings that are under the authority of the Mahadevas. Each of these spirits are extensions of the Godhead within the Dream, as are all of the mortal races that reside on Tamriel and the other continents.

The Triad of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva equates with Anu, Nir, and Padomay and how they form a Supreme Being. Anu (Brahma) is the Creator; he is the one who creates the Dream and therefore creates the universe. Nir (Vishnu) is the Preserver; she gave birth to the Twelve Worlds of Creations, which would eventually go on to become the plane(t) Nirn, helping stabilize the Dream. Padomay (Shiva) is the Destroyer; he was the one that killed Nir and demolished the Twelve Worlds. However, Padomay can also be seen as the Creator as it is his actions that result in Anu beginning the Dream.

The Triad can also be equated with Akatosh, Lorkhan, and Magnus as well. Magnus is the Creator; he is the one that drew up the plans for Mundus. Lorkhan is the Preserver; he has sent many avatars to walk the Mundus (Shezzarines), and at least one of them, Tiber Septim (Buddha), has attained Moksha (CHIM). Akatosh is the Destroyer; as his Nordic aspect Alduin he devours the world to begin the next one. However, he is also Creator as he is also Auri-El, the beginning of time. Akatosh and Lorkhan themselves can adhere to this triad model when one looks at their aspects (Auri-El [Creator], Alkosh [Preserver], Alduin [Destroyer]; Lorkhan [Creator], Shezzar [Preserver], Shor [Destroyer]). Like in Hinduism, the gods themselves are perceived in multiple images that have diverse personalities from one another, which we attribute to mythopoeia within the world of The Elder Scrolls.